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「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. I never quite understood how the theory about Kanba being adopted came about, especially when he’s seen in all the childhood photos, but this latest Child Broiler revelation does seem to imply that Himari is. It’s still a little confusing though, since we still don’t have a tangible grasp on exactly what the Child Broiler is (i.e. is it just a figurative existence?), but I like how this twist stresses Shouma’s importance to the story. Lately, it’s been suggested that Kanba and Himari are the central pairing, making Shouma and Ringo feel like a build-up act towards them. Now, the twins’ roles have been reversed and most of the questions I have are surrounding Shouma.
As a result, I’m admittedly struggling to make sense of the turn the series has taken with this episode. Just as I was starting to feel “comfortable” about what’s going on, my understanding of things gets jumbled around. For instance, Kanba takes things in a rather unexpected direction with the revelation that he’s still in contact with his parents, who are continuing their sketchy activity toward some yet to be revealed purpose. The biggest thing to take away from that is how he was willing to sacrifice Himari just to keep their whereabouts a secret. Then there are the implications from Sanetoshi’s dialogue about a “game” and hoping to get everyone to do for him what their parents couldn’t, which surprisingly, involves the destruction of Momoka’s diary. Up until now, I was under the impression that he wanted to see who can use its supposed powers to change fate from its current course, but this almost makes it seem like he wants to completely derail it. On the plus side, this episode did clear up the confusion on who Himari’s “destined person” (or “soulmate”) is from episode nine. I was inclined to believe it was Mario back then, but now it’s been confirmed to be Shouma (with the Child Broiler backdrop and all).
At the moment, Himari’s “true” identity is the biggest mystery – seeing as Masako seems to know more about her than Sanetoshi — so I was actually hoping for some quick answers from Masako’s blue memory-recovering penguin balls. Without any, I’m still wondering if I’m supposed to be reading into the parallels of the current situation and what happened in the past. However, I can’t seem to draw too many connections, outside of how Shouma saving Himari from the Child Broiler mirrors Momoka saving Keiju. I don’t see Himari taking over the role of Keiju or Shouma as the new Momoka, so I didn’t really care to explore that idea any further. In all likelihood, what the Takakuras are going through now is a continuation of Momoka’s legacy rather than a repeat of it. With only five episodes remaining, hopefully everything will start coming together soon.
* Masako is my favorite character to watch, especially now that she’s intent on “crushing” Himari. I really liked the big forehead standoff, plus the pissed-off expression she had in this scene. I’m a bit biased though, as she’s voiced by one of my all-time favorite seiyuu, Horie Yui.
* Full-length image: 09.
ED6 Sequence
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ED6: 「HIDE and SEEK」 by トリプルH (Triple H)
Watch the 6th ED!: Streaming ▼
Preview & End Card
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I can’t help but notice how similar Himari looks to that girl who looks like Inori in Guilty Crown.
Not really…
Any one else think the art was a little off this week? Like look at Kanba’s face here …
https://randomc.net/image/Mawaru%20Penguindrum/Mawaru%20Penguindrum%20-%2019%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
Same art/director as ep 10…
Ah, yeah, looking back at the episode 10 caps, they do look the same.
And thanks, Divine
I’m not disputing the artistry at work here, and I’ve enjoyed the emotional punch of the last two eps (especially 18). But it feels to me as if Ikuhara is playing a “gotcha” game sometimes – trying to pull the rug out from under the audience just because he can. Enough with the twists that no one could possibly have predicted – let’s establish what’s happening and go about resolving it. I thought we were headed that way, but this episode has given me doubts.
We’ve known very little about the three “siblings” themselves compared to the other characters at this stage, so I think this twist propels their story accordingly – not that it was totally unexpected. Anything could happen in five episodes of course.
Episode 18 left me a little unsatisfied.
I hear ya. There’s not many episode left, and they keep on adding twists after another.
I can understand people getting frustrated with these twists, but we are getting answers.
After watching episode 19 of Code (somewhere around 19) and saw how Lelouch lost the Black knights, I asked the same question: “What could happen in five episodes?”
And well he only managed to beat his brother, become king of Britannia and end off with one of the best deaths in anime.
However, I have the feeling the last 5 episodes of this anime won’t turn out the same considering how the plot twists don’t seem to fit, well I don’t like the turn the anime is taking anyways.
“I have the feeling the last 5 episodes of this anime won’t turn out the same considering how the plot twists don’t seem to fit” How so? I think it all fits despite how random and out of element some of its twists are.
MPD used the twists better; Code Geass didn’t
The random and out of element are part of the not fitting.
While I’ve always always felt that Ikuhara’s been pulling plot twists using abstract symbolism just because “he’s Ikuhara and he can,” they have all been executed very well and rather smoothly. Although I’d like to see some answers to some of the bigger questions such as the origins of Sanetoshi and the hat, I’m going to give the series a chance answer all of them. The overall product has turned out very exceptional so far, and I actually have faith that Ikuhara can make it even better and end the series on a high note.
Wait wait wait, Horie Yui? *Mind blown* I totally couldn’t tell. *Checks myanimelist staff page* Wow … o_o
On another note, I really doubt this going towards Shouma x Himari. If the flashback is showing the real deal, I think he’s rather a savior than her destined person (even if the episode title was about that). But then again, this show is the most amusing roller coaster I’ve been on so I’m pretty sure anything can happen. I’m always proved wrong with my theories (except for school, I’d be screwed otherwise lol).
Btw, I wonder if the penguin-hat-Himari is Momoka.. She wants the diary so badly.. Hmm hmm hmm.. She was in that doctor’s library. Nah, probably another one of my oh-so-fail hypotheses… I’ll just.. shut up and watch. 😡
But she was also upset when she realized that Ringo and Shou were getting close to each other.
Then there’s Kanba’s feelings towards her…..
i guess is the same concept with momoka saving tabuki end up burning her hand , well in shoma case, he ‘might’ lose memory recollection during the time saving himari in boiler , that is why he he act as a ‘brother’ instead of ‘fate person’. as for himari , i think she suffer memory loss
Do we know all the interpretations of ‘destined person’? Because it could be something more like ‘person who was destined to save me’ than, say, lover. If we look at others with this idea (say, Tabuki and Yuri) the theme of being saved is as much, if not more important than romance. I guess if I was about to be crushed into shards of transparent glass I might consider whoever saved me as playing a very important role in my fate.
Also, Hat = Momoka isn’t such a crackpot theory, I think quite a few of us are floating that idea (and I’m not inclined to disagree) 🙂
The episode has the subtitle “My Soulmate” I think it means romantically.
I’m rather intrigued that Kanba seemingly risked Himari’s life to keep his parents’ whereabouts secret – unless peraps he really doesn’t know and they only contact him. Either way Ikuhara’s left himself a big job to tie away all these loose ends. The next 5 weeks are going to be quite something!
Shouma – well it was obvious that he was going to be involved in the plot at some point, but it’s interesting that he might be the only Takakura by blood out of the three siblings. Masako did take Himari rather personally, it was hard to gauge if she may be his long lost sister, or a love interest, or both. At this stage, nothing would surprise me.
Am I the only person who thinks Sanetoshi was bluffing when he told Himari he didn’t know her past/her truth? This is the guy from the library who knew about Triple H, the man who has his nose in everyone’s business! I suspect he thought it more fun to see how she would find out, or perhaps felt she had to find out for herself (which may be a bit of a theme in this series, what with the nature of the penguindrum remaining as elusive as ever..)
It’s also hard to guess if Himari really is ‘healed’ or if, as she suspects, her disease will still take its course. After all this I will be a bit cheesed off if they kill her, I’m hoping for an ending with minimal martyring because this series has really had enough of it…
The flashback transition screen made it clear that Kanba knew all along and held out even when Himari was about to be killed.
It was also heavily foreshadowed in the last episode with Tabuki’s accusations.
Kanba’s denials just didn’t ring true.
I don’t understand what Himari meant when she asked, “maybe your present turned into meat.” Was that a pun?
I think she just meant maybe Kanba sold the unwanted gift to buy the expensive steak. I think she was just saying it in the most inadvertently cute and whimsical way possible.
This was my understanding too. Himari thought Kanba might have sold Masako’s gift to buy steak, which incidentally, made her “love” declaration that much funnier.
wait what??? How does the Diary interfere with Dr. Sanetoshi’s plans?
It can change your destiny.
Sanetoshi seems to be fulfilling destiny and setting it back on the right track.
The diary with a right user would be a kink in his plan.
My guess is since fate is off track, thanks to Momaka, they need the diary to revive Momoka. Momoka has the power to challenge Satoshi and save the world.
Ringo is so manly. She teases Shouma a lot!
Shouma looks to be momoka.
nani nani? so HImari will fall for shoma now? another twist to form a love triangle?
“I’m admittedly struggling to make sense of the turn the series has taken with this episode. Just as I was starting to feel “comfortable” about what’s going on, my understanding of things gets jumbled around.”
This series is made of that. I’ve never quite felt on even footing watching it; but it has been the best ride of the season so far. It’s the only series I am addicted to this year (Madoka was more than an addiction).
Look, we’ve been given the subway of fate, the library, and now the Child Broiler that somehow doesn’t really broil so much as smash. The only thing I am going with at this point is that none of it is that deeply symbolic. That was never a chisel, and we know exactly who the bird in the cage is supposed to be.
Also the Flashbacks either lie, or tell a very guarded version of the truth. Because the feeling I get is that neither Yuri’s Father nor Tanubi’s Mother were all that great to being with; just really really horrible parents whose children put a thin gloss of glamour over just to cope. This may be true of the Sibling’s parents as well.
So if fantasy over reality is the name of the game, Momoka may not be all that much a good person either. She may have very very selfish reasons to do what she did. Either that or Yuri and Tanubi never learned to appreciate her sacrifices for them.
One feeling I got, seeing the Child Broiler for the second time. Is the world these characters inhabit just a large adult version of same?
I’m more interested in the following:
The identity of the Princess of the Crystal. Is she Momoka from the future/alternative timeline/fate-line?
What does the Train of Fate represent?
Is the PenguinDrum less a material object and more of a metaphor for gaining one’s fate, a goal?
These furtive answers are suggestive:
Episode 9: “The answers probably lies at the destination of fate”
Episode 13: “I want to find out whether the concept of fate exists in this world.”
This anime continually takes random turns and whatnot which doesn’t seem to be melding together well imo.
Anyways despite not liking the recent turn in events, I am still very interested in what the plans of the parents were. I’m curious to know for what reason would you bomb a city. Of course I probably shouldn’t be too excited for an answer to that cause that answer might be completely messed up like many others in this anime.
Oddly enough, I never wanted to watch this series at the outset. Nothing about it seemed to jazz with me. Then I saw the Rock over Japan sequence on Youtube and thought, “this is absurd, nothing this absurd can be taken seriously”. Ironically, serious is just how I have taken it.
I’m in the same boat you are. It’s not unexpected to Shouma to finally step up to the plate and be a major player in the series, but I’m at the point where scratching my head every week is getting….yeah.
I hope Shouma and Ringo end up together!!
Shouma being Himari’s destined person isn’t that surprising, given the silhouette from 9 looked too much like him to not be him, IMO.
What was more surprising to me, however, is that not only is Himari not related to Shouma, she’s not related to Kanba, either. In fact, the parallels in this episode seem to suggest that she may be related to Masako (foreheads, penguins, their talks with Sanetoshi, etc.). Just as well, this episode and Masako’s previous episodes seem to suggest that Kanba may be related to Masako, too. Not wanting to leave him with “that family,” and in this episode, suggesting that Himari stole her place.
Where does this leave Mario? Is he not related to Masako, thus why she refers to Mario in honorifics?
Similarly, where the hell is Shouma from? He parallelled Momoka, but he can’t be Momoka… or can he? If he’s Momoka reincarnated, does Ringo having feelings for him mean that she has feelings for her reincarnated sister?
Basically, this show is ending with the people whom we thought were related not being related at all.
At any rate, I do think Ringo has too much plot armour to not end up with Shouma, or at least be given the most evidence to suggest they’ll end up with the reciprocated feelings. Disregarding pairings and relationships, I really hope the storyline wraps up nicely in the next 5 weeks.
Im glad Im not the only one that thought Himari and Masako are sisters. Also I cant seem to figure out what the apple means in this story. The anime started with two kids talking about a apple, one of the characters name means apple and Shouma gave a apple to Himari at the end. I just cant think of any theories right now.
As of yet, there’s no definitive conclusion to what the apple symbolism means, but the beginning of the show had the two kids talking about their usage in Galactic Railroad. Taken from the Penguindrum LJ community: “…apples (which from Galactic Railroad are supposed to be “the universe” and a symbol of death chosen out of love)…”
I personally haven’t seen or read The Galactic Railroad, but if you’d like to, I believe you can do so here. http://www.grex.org/~n8rxs/main.htm
I was kind of getting the feeling/hoping(after the I’m pretty sure sure “first time” scene with Kanba and possessed Himari) that Himari was adopted, especially since her eye color is not the same as Shouma and Kanba. I still think that Ringo is going to die in the end thoughh, especially with the new OP having her on fire. I feel like someone has to die in order for Himari’s life to be saved. Like the penguin-thing said, she is only extending Himari’s life.
It is interesting how Masako knew that Himari is not related to all of them. I mean, she IS Kamba’s stalker, but still… I have a feeling that maybe Kamba didn’t know?
The fact that Kamba is still in contact with his parents was a SUPER BIG SURPRISE to me. I want to know why he has not said anything. Does he believe in what his parents are talking? Or is he just using them for the money?
I think that Shouma being Himari’s “fated person” is not romantic. Yuri and Tabuki also called Momoka their fated person.
Keep up the good work. Even with your explanations I’m still lost. I’m sure I’ll be 10x more lost when watching the anime w/o any explanation.
This show is driving me insane. Well maybe it’s supposed to drive me insane.
i guess is the same concept with momoka saving tabuki end up burning her hand , well in shoma case, he ‘might’ lose memory recollection during the time saving himari in boiler , that is why he he act as a ‘brother’ instead of ‘fate person’. as for himari , i think she suffer memory loss . it seem that shoma is the key to keep the family together and holding still from braking apart.he ‘might’ the one who create the takumura family… scene shop from ep 18 https://randomc.net/image/Mawaru%20Penguindrum/Mawaru%20Penguindrum%20-%2018%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
There are 5 episodes left. Are we ever going to learn about Mario?
Probably not.
then what was the point of the other penguin hat?
That’s such a monotheistic thing to ask.
So I guess two questions raised in this episode are: who is Shoma? Who is Himari? We have five episodes to go figure that out. Makes me wonder if the last episode will be extended…
i guess shoma is another ver of momoka or he might be the reincarnation of momoka
Masako’s my favorite character in MPD too and her many facial expressions this week was very fun to watch.
I loved that pissed off face as well.
Your forehead is mine!
“I don’t know where my father is!”
“Yeah, right.”
Debosuke confrontation was so good.
Useless Shouma is useless.
oh great. More questions than answers pop up and they destroyed the wincest! Bad ep but I’ll still watch to the end.
lol this show is always adding new twists!
I doubt Sanetoshi knows less than Masako as he has some kind of divine omniscience.
I noticed in the childhood pics that Shoma and Himara are ALWAYS in the foreground, whereas Kanba is usually in the back. But i have long given up on trying to make too much sense of those hints as this anime enjoys confusing us so much!
I still believe Ringo will do transfers tho as the op is pretty revealing about it.
Does anyone the name of the track played in the first minute of the ep? It was also played in the previous ep during the tabuki x himari x kanba event.
Umnei no ko tachi
Thanks mate.
So the incest wasn’t really incest after all. I’m disappointed.
Any chance of you posting a full-length image of the end card?
https://randomc.net/image/Mawaru%20Penguindrum/Mawaru%20Penguindrum%20-%2019%20-%20Large%2016.jpg
Poor animation checking this episode. Dr. Sanetoshi’s leg is transparent here.
I’m not over with the KanbaxHimari : remember the strange relationship between Kanba and the Princess of the Crystal ? There’s definitely something behind it. She told him “You can do it (save Himari-chan) because the Penguindrum is your…”
Until now, Kanba’s been the only character giving his life/heart/blood/whatever countless times to the Princess of the Crystal in order to save Himari. And each time, the Princess is completely naked, hahaha… remember the project M as Maternity ? Moreover, Sanetoshi was referring to the hat as “the veil of the bride” (ep. 13). If the Princess is the bride, she seems to have chosen Kanba over Shouma.
And what about a connection between Sanetoshi and Shouma ? After all, we know Sanetoshi is a strange guy with magic powers close to Momoka’s. We assume he’s been talking about her when he’s saying there’s another being like him in the world.
That means we only have two “fate gamers” : Sanetoshi and Momoka/Princess. Shouma doesn’t seem to remember anything about magic or fate : maybe he was just Sanetoshi’s puppet ? Moreover, Sanetoshi seems quite interested by Himari/the princess, trying to kiss her in the library (ep. 13). He failed because of the Princess, suddenly taking over Himari’s body, putting her finger on his mouth : “Don’t”. Maybe because she actually chose Kanba, and not him, as her fated one !
My theory : Momoka is back as the princess of the Crystal. She has chosen Kanba for her survival strategy (aka a baby aka her own reincarnation in the real world ?). Sanetoshi is like her,he wants her but she doesn’t. At the same time, he seems to be playing a game with/against her, related to fate. Maybe he was his soulmate in a previous timeline (before Momoka messed around with fates) and putting the train back on tracks means Momoka is going back to him ? That’s why he wants the diary destroyed : to go back to the original timeline and do what he wants with Momoka with her losing the “game”.
What I don’t understand is Shouma’s role. I’d like to think Sanetoshi has been controlling him so that he could create all this crap about Himari (who’s destined to revive Momoka) being Shou’s soulmate. It’s the perfect way to prevent Kanba and Himari/Momoka from getting any closer and initiate the survival strategy.
(Yeah, I definitely want Kanba x Himari, and I’m definitely going crazy because of this show…)
*superior to Momoka’s.
Mmh… not pretty sure about this. If that was the case, Momoka couldn’t have escape from him ! Remember he can’t even touch her diary, even though she’s dead. (But “death is just the beginning” was saying an unkown boy in the first episode as he was walking by the siblings’ house…)
Momoka/Sanetoshi kinda makes me think of Yuuko/Fei Wong Reed in TRC 😀
Interesting thoughts, Hara, but I do have some disagreements with you. The first is that Dr. Sanetoshi started the game after meeting Momoka, so she couldn’t have had anything to do with it. There was nothing to escape, since all he was offering Momoka was love: real love. Episode 13 doesn’t have the attempted kiss between Himari and Dr. Sanetoshi, that was in episode 9. Episode 13 is the one with Momoka and Dr. Sanetoshi in the library.
You’re right, mea culpa, that was ep. 9 !
The ep. 13 was also a very interesting episode too, yeah. Sanetoshi saying to the hat : “Goodbye my love, see you again in that world”.
Sanetoshi started the game after meeting Momoka because he discovered she could see the same “scenery” as he. Before that he was bored. But then, he decided to “test” the world, to see if fate really does exist… probably to have Momoka change her point of view ? To make Momoka his ? Momoka refused to side with him, that’s what I mean when I said she “escaped”. It’s really obvious in ep. 13 : she’s running around the library as spotlights are chasing her.
It feels like Sanetoshi is chasing her and she’s only trying to run away from him. That may be why she is setting a “survival strategy”.
I don’t think the penguin hat has anything to do with Momoka. Dr. Sanetoshi gave up on her a long time ago and moved on to Himari. Remember, in episode 13, he said “eventually she will see the same scenery I do,” but Momoka already saw it, so he couldn’t have been talking about Momoka.
I’m not too sure about the translation team. They missed the “electrifying” sushi joke in episode 17, and the title of this episode isn’t Soulmate, it’s My Destined Person. The difference is important.
No, it’s pretty much the same thing. “Destined person” may be the literal meaning but “Soulmate” is the appropriate English translation. That’s the way it’s always translated.
Himari has a really big (fore)head.
I love this episode because it did clear up the lingering dislike Masako had for Himari every time she mentioned “that girl”. It was never “your sister” with her or “playing family”. Which had me thinking that Himari was indeed adopted into the family and the fact your never see photo’s of the family younger then a certain age or baby photo’s.
Also Masako and Kanba seemed really close as children but Kanba treats her like a stalker (which she is slightly) curently. Somethng happened to change their dynamic together and the arival of Himari into a family with just twin boy’s would change thing. I think both Masako and Kanba are aware that Himari is not a Takakura as well as the parents.
That fact that Shouma and Himari share their fate together to change Himari fate instead of being able alter it like Momoka has also changed to course of events.
The fact that Sanetoshi can not do anything to change other people destiny is a real revelation. Himari and Mario are only temporarily alive due to his influence. He can also not directly tell someone to do something to change fate. He could not simple ask Masako to burn Momoka’s dairy only try to infuriate her into blaming the book for everything and destroy it.
Sanetoshi is neither a god or a puppeteer only an omnipresent bystander (he can only see fate on the sidelines) that can only play head games to get what he wants. *__*
I’m not going touch how Shouma made it to the Child Broiler for Himari. I’m sure that will be explained next episode.
It does make Kanba’s efforts to be Himari “Destined Person” in a new light and why the spirit inside of Himari keeps telling him it’s futile after the first time.
No wonder Shouma is the butt monkey of the show. He goes thru all that effort to rescue Himari, only to have her clearly in Kanba’s corner.
I think the Child Broiler is where Papa Takakura works.
With whole factory vibe of this show, it would not surprise me.
Whatever happens in this show that child broiler has to be taken out.
I feel a bit weird that we still don’t know anything about Momoka. I feel like we don’t really know Tabuki or Masako either.
Thanks for referring back to episode 9. The scene with Shouma and the child broiler didn’t make sense at all back then. This makes me think Ikuhara puts hints on places where you wouldn’t have a clue and that you would have to re-watch the whole anime to fully understand. That said, re-watching the show becomes a necessity. Orz
Super strona – polecam!
Super strona – polecam!
Nieźle, nigdy nie myślałem o tym w ten sposób, chyba pogoogluję jeszcze
Prawie ze wszystkim się zgadzam…
Daje do myślenia, przynajmniej tak mi się wydaje;)
Muszę to jeszcze przemyśleć, ale wpis bardzo interesujący
Super strona – polecam!