「運命の至る場所」 (Unmei no Itaru Basho)
“The Place Where Fate Leads”

Well, it looks like Ikuhara’s intent on keeping me guessing until the very end, as I have even less of an idea on how Mawaru Penguindrum will conclude after watching this episode. And here I thought this precursor to the finale would confirm my suspicions that Momoka’s diary would transfer everyone’s fate to a better one. Instead, it took that idea and completely derailed it.

「美しい棺」 (Utsukushii Hitsugi)
“Beautiful Coffin”

When I stop for a moment and look back on how Mawaru Penguindrum started and where it is now, I can’t even confidently say I can succinctly sum up the plot off the top of my head. A lot has happened in terms of characterization and conveying a deeper message, and only now has the series started to address the underlying plot in a way that should make sense to all viewers.

「僕たちが選ぶ運命のドア」 (Bokutachi ga Erabu Unmei no Doa)
“The Door of Fate We Choose”

For once, an episode of Mawaru Penguindrum felt like it answered more questions than it presented.

「選んでくれてありがとう」 (Erande Kurete Arigatou)
“Thank You For Choosing Me”

If this latest episode was any indication, it’s looking more and more like Mawaru Penguindrum intends to keep the Child Broiler as a figurative representation, leaving its significance open to interpretation.

「私の運命の人」 (Watashi no Unmei no Hito)
“My Soulmate”

Well, it’s starting to look like all the stuff about Kanba being the ladies’ man was a bit of a red herring, because it turns out the actual person snagging all the girls is Shouma. Ringo may have been an inadvertent catch, but that doesn’t appear to be the case with Himari.

「だから私のためにいてほしい」 (Dakara Watashi no Tame ni Ite Hoshii)
“That’s Why I Want You There For Me”

The more I watch Mawaru Penguindrum, the more I wonder if the goal of this series is to illustrate the traumatic effects that bad and twisted parenting can have on children. This week, the story delves into Keiju’s past just like I had hoped, where we find out that he too had a terrible childhood because of his mother (Hisakawa Aya).

「許されざる者」 (Yurusarezaru Mono)
“Unforgiven Ones”

At first glance, this was the most straightforward and unambiguous episode in recent weeks. However, a closer look at some of the implications reveals that we’re really no closer to understanding what’s going on than we started.

「死なない男」 (Shinanai Otoko)
“The Man who Won’t Die”

Rock Over Japan! It feels like ages since I heard that song (nine episodes in fact). It’s just too bad this episode didn’t confirm or deny my interpretation of what happened to Yuri. Instead, it raised some new questions, the biggest of which was, “What the heck did I just watch?”

「世界を救う者」 (Sekai wo Sukuu Mono)
“The Savior of the World”

There’s little question that Ikuhara Kunihiko has a unique direction with anime, but I don’t even want to know what goes on in that head of his given the twisted developments in Mawaru Penguindrum as of late.