Back to the regular Weekly Penguin programming – starting off with the second half of the amazingly good anime series Mawaru Penguindrum. Before reading this post, I'd recommend you to check our World Penguin Day special post from last weekend, as it covers the basics of the show.

Now, this being the latter half of the show, I obviously can't delve deeper into the plot, as that would spoil everything. What I can say is that the 1000 puzzle pieces of backstory I mentioned in the earlier post finally start to click here and things do ramp up to the grand conclusion. This second half is considerably darker in tone and thus has perhaps a little less penguin slapstick, but that doesn't mean the penguins have a smaller role. On the contrary, the penguins are used cleverly to accentuate the sense of peril the characters find themselves in.

There's one non-spoilery thing I do need to bring up. After all, before I learned what the show is like, one thing made me hesitant to give this series a go. It's right there on the box cover – it's rated "18" for "sexual threat". Combine that with the extravagant and skin-tight supernatural penguin costume Himari is wearing on the cover, I wasn't sure if this was one THOSE anime shows – and if it was, I didn't want to see penguins anywhere near something like that.

HOWEVER, rest assured, Penguindrum is NOT hentai or even sleazy. On the contrary; despite sexual themes handled across the series, thanks to the use of symbolism the show is anything but! The rating in question comes from a single scene which is spread across two episodes as a cliffhanger. This scene is nowhere as horrible as it may sound on the box and I'd actually argue that, considering the subject handled, you likely wouldn't be able to handle it in a more sensitive manner. So no, don't be afraid of the rating. In fact, the box is split into three separate discs with their own sleeves and the rest of the discs are labelled as "Rated 12".

To wrap-up Mawaru Penguindrum, it was refreshingly surreal, thought-provoking, well-written and often times both funny and sad. In other words; it's the best aspects of Japanese animation rolled into one and themed around penguins – what's there not to like? In fact, even though I was once a huge anime fan, over-exposure to it and the clichés that come with it, I've been staying away from the medium for quite a while. However, after Penguindrum, I think I need to check out some of the other things I might have missed during my absence.

That's the power of Penguindrum; no matter how jaded you might have turned against medium, it's so Fabulous Max you can't help but to say 'yup-yup' and go along for the ride!