Friday, 22 July 2011

Mawaru Penguindrum - Episode 3

Despite spending the whole of the last episode tailing Ringo Oginome in the hunt for this so-called "Penguin Drum", it seems that Kanba and Shouma still aren't exactly convinced of the true identity of the being which possesses their sister via that rather adorable hat - indeed, even drinking a bunch of milk won't convince them, leaving said hat no choice but to briefly kill Himari again to make her point.

That done, it's time to set out in pursuit of Ringo again, while the girl within their sights reveals another frighteningly overbearing obsession of hers - curry.  It seems that her latest plan is to feed the man she loves (and the man she stalks) Tamaki her curry as part of her strategy to find love and happiness with him.  The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, after all.

Having missed Ringo as she sets off for school, Shouma and Kanba do the next best thing - they break into Ringo's apartment for a snoop around, only to be caught out by her return which leaves them both hiding behind her sofa.  Eventually she leaves, curry in hand, for the home of her unrequited love.... and a meeting which quickly ruins her plan.  Rather, it somewhat ruins her plan, but at her mad and delusional best Ringo somehow manages to twist things in her favour both mentally and physically, before a decidedly bizarre accident featuring a fish, a penguin and curry leads her to the home of the Takakura family.  But where next for Ringo's supposed "destiny", and what of the Penguin Drum?  Hell, what is the Penguin Drum?

Certainly, this particular episode of Mawaru Penguindrum raises more questions than it answers - in short, we still don't really know what's going on, what Ringo has to do with any of it or what is likely to happen next.  Thankfully, the light-hearted treatment of these wholly mysterious elements as they toy with the concept of fate is half of what makes the series fun - the other half being the show's spot-on sense of slapstick humour, particularly as it pertains to those ever-wonderful penguins (who steal every scene here as always) and their equally oddball owner who, if all else fails, could easily find a part in Arakawa Under the Bridge.  I guess at some point I'll start demanding answers to all of those questions, but for now I'm more than happy for this series to carry ploughing its colourful, nicely animated and incredibly amusing furrow.

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