Iwa ni Hana: Mawaru Penguindrum - Commentary & Analysis

Episode 9: Koori no Sekai / 氷の世界

Episodes 10 Responses »

Sep 102011

1) A word on Gandhi’s seven social sins displayed in front of the library:

What do they correspond to in Mawaru Penguindrum? Some preliminary guesses:

Wealth without work -> The money (in the yin/yang penguin mark paperbag) that Kanba obtained
Pleasure without conscience -> Kanba’s kiss on the sleeping Himari
Knowledge without character -> Tabuki (once his true colour is revealed?)
Commerce without morality -> Pingroup?
Science without humanity -> The red bullets used by Masako to erase other people’s memory
Worship without sacrifice -> Ringo’s belief in Fate and the Fate Diary?
Politics without principles -> ???

Episode 8: Kimi no Koi ga Uso demo Boku wa / 君の恋が嘘でも僕は

Episodes 2 Responses »

Sep 042011

1) No.2 usually likes to eat just about anything happily. If you recall how No.2 ate half of many sandwiches and put them right back on the table in the last episode, that was a signal that something was the matter with No.2.

Could it be, that ordinary food like sandwiches was no longer satisfactory to him? To add to this point, No.2 also did not look too happy when he tasted the sandwiches at all. He also bit the sandwiches in such a way that makes them resemble the letter “M”.

The meaning of “KIGA”

Symbolism 1 Response »

Aug 272011

According to Wikipedia JP, while the word for “penguin” in Japanese is commonly known as “pengin” [ペンギン], it can also be written in an old-fashioned way as:

人鳥（じんちょう）-> Jinchou

The first kanji means “human” and the second kanji means “bird”.

企鵝（きが）-> Kiga

The first kanji means “standing” and the second kanji means “goose”. This word for “penguin” is still commonly used in modern Chinese.

So now we know what “KIGA” means on the KIGA apple…

Episode 7: Tamahomare-suru Onna / タマホマレする女

Episodes No Responses »

Aug 262011

1) A word on the stars:

Let me draw an analogy: Say you have rubbish in your room. You put them in the garbage can, and your room is considered “clean”. But if you don’t put them in the garbage can, your room is considered “unclean”. Physically speaking there is no change in the things that are in your room (ie. rubbish and garbage can), it is only the difference in the their relationship to each other that determines whether your room is “clean” or “unclean”.

Likewise, the stars are not an indication of any meaning in themselves, it is only their relation to other objects on the screen that makes the difference.