We are, at first, thrown into a tragedy. We meet brothers Kanba and Shoma and their frail sister Himari. When Himari dies, we expect that we are witnessing the catalytic moment for these two young men.

The tragedy becomes a fantasy, as a magic hat revives Himari, but the fantasy turns into farce with the appearance of three cartoon penguins with all the charm of a drunken frat boy.

From farce we are thrown into a horror movie, as we meet Ringo, and her energetic stalking of her teacher in the name of destiny. When we meet her teacher, Tabuki and his girlfriend the actress and singer, we are transported from horror to romantic comedy.

And then, then, finally, as the first disk of Penguindrum comes to an end, we suddenly realize that none of these characters are sharing the same reality.

We’re in the roller coaster car and we’ve just reached the top of the first hill…and we’re in for a heck of a ride.

Penguindrum is available on DVD or Blu-Ray from Sentai Filmworks.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Many, many thanks to Okazu Superhero Eric P. for sponsoring this review and allowing me to poke around in Ikuhara’s head for a little bit. ^_^