Mawaru Penguindrum: A story of Fate, Love, and Sacrifice
An amateur’s passionate commentary on Kunihiko Ikuhara’s stroke of genius
warning: spoilers ahead!
Emotional, profound, and heartwarming, Mawaru Penguindrum is truly an anime that touches and penetrates deeply into my innermost feelings — I swear I would’ve cried if I weren’t watching it together with my younger brother. However, unlike those cheap tearjerkers which often only play with cliché tragedies combined with melancholic music, Mawaru Penguindrum evokes sentimental feelings in a genuine way, complementing its tragedies and heartwarming scenes with a sense of depth, seriousness, and mystery through its philosophical dialogues, symbolism, and other forms of metaphor. Despite the silly, comical behavior of the penguins, or the seemingly lighthearted atmosphere of the early episodes, Mawaru Penguindrum is an undoubtedly serious anime with unparalleled philosophical (and even theological) depth.
Fate & Suffering
“I hate the word “fate”. Birth, encounters, partings, success and failure, fortunes and misfortunes in life. If everything is already set in stone by fate, then why are we even born? There are those born wealthy, those born of beautiful mothers, and those born into war or poverty. If everything is caused by fate, then God must be incredibly unfair and cruel. Because, ever since that day, none of us had a future. The only thing we knew was that we would never amount to anything.”
-Shōma Takakura
The anime starts with a monologue from one of its two main characters. It voices the character’s despair over the concept of fate and predeterminism. In his anguish he reprimands God for being utterly cold-hearted and unjust, for bringing such agony and suffering to him and his family; that is, if such a being even exists.
Shōma questions the purpose of our existence in the face of predeterminism. What would be the point of living if everything has been predetermined by fate? Those who have borne witness to the most tragic misfortunes in life would really understand what he meant. We have people, even children, living in this world born with disability, extreme poverty, sickness, intellectual impairment, and other severe disadvantages. We have children born to broken families, into environments with extreme violence, into tragic and traumatic experiences such as the death of one’s parents.
“Why are people born? If we were created only to suffer, is it meant as some kind of punishment? Or a cynical joke? If that’s the case, animals that adhere to the survival strategy programmed to their DNA are far more elegant and simple. If there really is an existence worthy of being called “God”, I want to ask him just one thing. Is there really fate in the universe? If a man ignored his fate, his instincts, and his DNA’s command, to love someone. Dear God, is he really human? Just wondering… I hate the word fate”.
-Kanba Takakura
Kanba, the second protagonist in the series echoes Shōma in his lamentation on fate and suffering. He implicitly questions the point of having consciousness, intelligence, or free will (or perhaps just an illusion of it) if in the end every one of us are still subject to uncontrollable fate, destined to endure the sufferings of life. He asks whether God is playing with us through some kind of divine and eternal joke, giving us just enough sentience to think that we are free, while still laughing at us from the skies above, pulling the strings to put each of us back to our predestined course. Wouldn’t it be much simpler if we were all born just like animals, simply following rudimentary instincts of survival?
The early episodes of Mawaru Penguindrum set up one of the key themes of the anime and the central problem it is trying to resolve: The cold predeterminism of fate and the suffering of life. This is something our most profound philosophers and thinkers have always been asking throughout history. Buddhism’s fundamental premise, for example, is that life is suffering; its teachings attempt to provide a way in which suffering could be avoided. Similarly, existentialist thinkers such as Leo Tolstoy, Soren Kierkegaard, and Albert Camus have contemplated on the absurdity of life and humanity’s despair over it.
Original Sin
Interpreted through a theological lens, Mawaru Penguindrum correlates suffering and punishment to the Christian concept of original sin.
“I was the one who messed up your fate in the first place! My brother Kanba and I were born on that day. And it’s our fault your sister passed away. 16 years ago, my parents, Kenzan and Chiemi Takakura, were senior members of the organization responsible for the pain and suffering of countless innocent people. So, my family killed your sister.”
“No, you will never be able to forgive us. You will continue to monitor our family’s misfortunes until we’ve met complete and utter ruin. Everyone did. Everyone abandoned us. The three of us were forced to live on our own.”
-Shōma Takakura to Ringo Oginome
The three children of the Takakura family, Kanba, Shōma, and Himari Takakura were bestowed a punishment to atone for the sins of their parents, committed before they had even been born. This is akin to Christianity’s doctrine of original sin, where all men are born in an innate state of sin as a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and fall from Eden. The punishment given upon the Takakuras are further explained metaphorically in episode 12’s short tale about Mary and her three lambs:
Mary had three adorable little lambs. The sight of them walking in the pasture turned everyone’s heads. The little lambs’ wool shone like angels’ wings. Mary couldn’t wait to spin their wool into thread. But one day, Mary awoke to a surprise. The apple tree in the garden had withered. It was the first tree in the world. The tree that bore golden fruit each year. It was Mary’s other dear, dear treasure. Mary ran to the apple tree and broke into tears. The apple tree’s light had once been the source of world’s love, future, and dreams. Now, the world is shrouded in darkness. Mary cried on and on and the lambs’ consolation fell on deaf ears. That’s when, suddenly, a voice rained down from the sky. “Don’t give up, the world has not ended yet”. When Mary looked up, there were two strange, huge black bunnies sitting on a rock. The black bunnies said, “You know the Shrine of the Goddess deep in the forest? Go and collect ashes from the flaming torch inside. This tree will recover the instant you sprinkle the ashes over it!” Mary declined. Their taboo forbade human contact with the torch of the Goddess. “You’re just going to borrow some ashes! The world will be filled with light once again! The Goddess will be pleased, too!” tempted the bunnies. That night, Mary stole the ashes from the shrine and sprinkled them over the apple tree. Just as the black bunnies claimed, the apple tree was revived. Mary was overjoyed, dancing under the tree, blind to the three little lambs. However, the Goddess was furious, it was, after all, a taboo. The Goddess decided to punish Mary. But… the punishment was ultimately up to the Goddess’s whim. The Goddess chose the smallest, youngest lamb. The lamb she chose was a gentle and kind girl, who likes to cook and knit, and always worries about her good-for-nothing brothers. She was but a little girl.
*note: Himari Takakura was given an incurable sickness that will eventually result in her death as a punishment for their parent’s sin
The story parallels the biblical Fall of Man, the account of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden. The apple tree sort of resembles Eden’s tree of knowledge of good and evil, although their telos in each narrative is quite different. Just as a serpent tempted Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, the two black bunnies on Mary’s story tempted Mary to do something taboo, which in turn angered the goddess and caused her to be given a punishment for her sins. Similar to Christianity’s doctrine of original sin where “innocent” babies are born into a state of sin and the punishment that follows, the goddess decided to choose Mary’s youngest and most innocent lamb (Himari) as the object of punishment.
In later episodes, Mawaru Penguindrum also introduces a concept called the ‘Child Broiler’ where innocent, unwanted children abandoned by society are thrown into a place where they are disposed from society, to be made “invisible” and to become nothing.
This is the Child Broiler. It’s where unneeded kids are gathered. We’ll turn into invisible entities here, and eventually vanish and cease to exist in this world.
-Random kid in the Child Broiler
We will be crushing you into pieces now. There is nothing to fear. You will just become indistinguishable from another. You will just become invisible entities.
-Child Broiler Officer
The Child Broiler could be interpreted in a number of ways. Looking at it from a sociological perspective, it could be a metaphor of today’s society where most men fall prey to the pressures of being socially acceptable, to the demands and curses of mediocrity, to be just another part of the crowd, the herd, deprived of any uniqueness and individuality. Children are destined to become “invisible” entities indistinguishable from the crowd, a mediocre part of society with no original self. From a theological perspective, the Child Broiler could be interpreted as an allegory of original sin, where innocent children are “predestined” to “never amount to anything”, to continue their lives without any significant value or virtue and be destined to eternal damnation, due to their original sin.
Shōma Takakura: “Hey Dad, what’s the Child Broiler?”
Kenzan Takakura: “The destination of children abandoned by society. We can’t do anything about it. We can’t save them. It’s a Frozen World.”
Shōma Takakura: “What will happen to children who went there?
Kenzan Takakura: “They become invisible.”
Shōma Takakura: “What do you mean?”
Kenzan Takakura: “They will never amount to anything.”
Shōma Takakura: “Are you saying they’ll die?”
Egotism and Individuality
Besides the general concept of fate, suffering, and punishment, some other characters in the series despair over a more specific problem, the egotism or selfishness of people in present society, which they argue is the fundamental cause of evil and suffering in this world:
“This world is on a wrong track. It’s all about winning and losing. Who is ranked above and below you. The profitable and unprofitable. The accepted and unaccepted. The chosen and unchosen. They never try to give… all they care about is taking! What a miserable world we live in. A world ruled by those who will never amount to anything. This is already a Frozen World. But fortunately for us, the Flame of Hope is still burning strong. The holy flame. Tomorrow, we will cleanse the world with that flame. Now’s the time to take back: The beautiful world where mankind only needs true things to survive! This is our Survival Strategy!
-Kenzan Takakura
Kenzan Takakura, the father of the series’ three siblings, and first leader of the Kiga Group (formerly Penguinforce) organization, believes that the world is depraved as its people only care about themselves. Their system is corrupted as it promotes cold, impersonal, and inhumane hierarchies. Instead of helping and caring for each other, people these days are so immersed in climbing our man-made social ladders, focusing on each of their personal needs and cold-heartedly pushing others aside in the path to get on top.
“I realized one morning that I hate this world. This world is made of countless boxes. People bend and stuff their bodies into their own boxes. And stay there for the rest of their lives. And inside the box, they eventually forget what they looked like, what they loved, who they loved. That’s why I’m getting out of my box. I’m one of the chosen. That’s why I’m going to destroy this world.”
-Sanetoshi Watase
Here Sanetoshi Watase, the series’ main antagonist and the founder of Kiga Group, echoes Kenzan’s view. People’s tendency for egotism engenders coldness and heartlessness, depriving them of their identity and self, of their love and compassion.
Rebellious Spirit
Not only with regards to the diagnosis of the problem, Sanetoshi and Kenzan also share a common belief in the solution: that we ought to cleanse the world of its corruption by destroying it. By bulldozing it to the ground and rebuilding it from scratch. It is… their Survival Strategy!
“Human beings are such inconvenient creatures. Why you ask? Because they can never escape the box called “self.” Those boxes don’t protect us. They take things precious to us away. Even if someone was next to you, you can’t tear down the wall and bond. We’re all alone. We will never gain anything inside our boxes. There are no exits. No one can save you. So, we can only destroy… the boxes, the people, the world!
-Sanetoshi Watase
Sanetoshi’s character is archetypal. It is the metaphor of the evil rebellious spirit, akin to Lucifer. It is the curse or spirit that haunts each one of our souls. It is the demon inside every one of us which tempts us to rebel against the world that God has created. It is the evil that drives us to reject hope and faith, one that prefers to revolt against the world and burn it to the ground.
“Simply put, you’re all cursed by a ghost. I’m an embodiment of the curse. I want to show it to her face this time. The sight of the world’s destruction to the girl in the hat.
-Sanetoshi Watase
Love and Sacrifice
As an antithesis to Sanetoshi’s despairing view and rebellious attitude towards the world, the anime introduces Momoka, a symbol of hope and love.
“I think everything in this world is beautiful, the sky, the birds, bugs, frogs, flowers, and even the rocks. Because, If God created this world, could there really be anything dirty and ugly in it?”
-Momoka Oginome
In contrast to most other characters in the show who are occupied with the ugliness and suffering of the world, Momoka takes on the infinitely optimistic view that everything in this world is beautiful.
As the title of the episode where she was introduced, ‘Saviour of the World’ suggests, Momoka is the hero figure for most of the series’ characters that are in despair. She is the one that brings a spark of divine hope to light up the darkness of desperation, suffering, and non-meaning. She is the one who gave the infinite power of love to those unloved children desperately in need of it.
However, true love always comes with sacrifice. Momoka, as a representation of Christ, is able to perform miracles or ‘transfer of fate’ for a price.
“I can transfer onto another fate, by chanting a spell from this diary and praying to God. Then I can transfer onto another fate, just like making a transfer on the subway.
This is our little secret, okay? I transferred the rabbit at school onto another fate. The rabbit was actually supposed to die. But I used the spell and changed her fate.”
-Momoka Oginome to Yuri Tokikago
Besides being a symbol of hope and a sanguine view of the world, Momoka is also an embodiment of love and sacrifice. She repeatedly sacrifices herself to help those around her without any doubt or hesitation.
“The scenery of the world changes when a fate is changed. But no one notices the change. But my body remembers.”
*shows bandage in her finger.
“It’s the price. You get punished when you use the spell to transfer fate.”
“At this rate, you’ll die, so I’ll free you using my spell. I wouldn’t mind getting another bandage for you.”
-Momoka Oginome to Yuri Tokikago
Momoka’s love is something that saves the unwanted children from the Child Broiler. As a figure of infinite compassion, one that loves everyone and everything in the world, she provides a home for those children who are lost.
Momoka: “We’re going home.”
Tabuki: “Where to? I don’t have a home to return to.”
Momoka: “Return to the person who needs you.”
Tabuki: “No one needs me.”
Momoka: “I’m talking about me. You always played piano in the music room, right? You probably didn’t know, but I was always listening”
Tabuki: “Then you will abandon me, too! I can’t play piano anymore. “
Momoka: “I don’t care about that. What I heard was… your heart.”
-
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
-Matthew 11: 28
In the face of hopelessness and despair, in situations where people surrender to the abyss, just when these children accept that they will never amount to anything and yield themselves into the Child Broiler, Momoka sacrifices herself to bring them to salvation.
Momoka: “Don’t go!”
Tabuki: “Let me go. I’m going to become invisible and be set free!”
Momoka: “No! You have to be yourself!”
Tabuki: “Why? No one would…”
Momoka: “I love you. So, don’t turn invisible. Come back to me.”
Tabuki: “Let go of my hand!”
Momoka: “No!”
Tabuki: “But your hand… Just let me go, my life no longer has any meaning.”
Momoka: Then… Then, live for me!
Momoka is the embodiment of love, which is the antidote to the pain and suffering of the world, one that brings upon salvation to the punishment of original sin.
“Live for me!” She is one that gives a meaning, a purpose… in the seemingly hollow, empty, pointless, and meaningless lives of these children that would never amount to anything.
“And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised”
-2 Corinthians 5:15
As an answer to the Child Broiler, interpreted as a metaphor for conformity, of being part of the crowd without any unique self or individuality, love is something that saves individuals from merely being part of the herd, from being just a number. Love is something that makes a person special, turns them into a somebody, lets them become something meaningful to another person. It is something that breathes meaning into non-meaning.
This is Momoka’s answer to the coldness of fate and the suffering of the world. A solution through hope, love, and sacrifice, an antithesis to Sanetoshi’s rebellion. It is her… Survival Strategy!
Battle between Good and Evil
Now, as the two contrasting theses have been set forth (the two Survival Strategies in the face of fate and suffering), the battle between Good and Evil must commence. The opposition between the two propositions was first shown in episode 13, during Sanetoshi’s first encounter with Momoka:
“What do you think of the word “fate”? Does the concept of fate exist in reality? To put it simply, are people’s futures set in stone when they are born, never to be challenged? Do you believe in such a rule? Will you listen to my story for a while? In the past, you see, there was this girl and she just appeared out of the blue. To my surprise, she was the same kind of person as me. And she had the same kind of eyes. At first sight, I realized I wasn’t a solitary existence in this world. I was so happy. That’s right. Until I met her, I was all alone in this world. I had not a soul with whom to share the scenery before my eyes. And not a soul with whom to share the music in my ears. But… I heard the voices all over the world. I could hear the whole world crying out, “save me.” It’s true. Thus, I could see the optimal path for the world. Seriously. But, it saddened me. Because the moment I saw her, I knew we were never meant to be. Yes. She refused to side with me. She rejected me. She rejected me, the only person who could see the same scenery.”
-Sanetoshi Watase
As the two spirits of Good and Evil, as the two divine beings, Momoka and Sanetoshi share the same omniscience. They truly see the world as it is, they hear the screams of suffering and feel the despair of the souls of the earth. However, the two definitely do not share the same idea. Momoka rejects Sanetoshi’s contention that the solution to this suffering is to destroy and rebel against the world.
“I want to find out whether the concept of fate exists in the world, and whether or not that rule governs the universe. I want you [Momoka] to witness it as well with me. That’s right, you two [Kanba and Shōma] search for the Penguindrum together. Find out if it really exists. Eventually, you [Momoka] will see what I see. Let us observe what will become of the siblings.
Farewell, my love, the only one who can see the same scenery as me. See you again, in that world.”
-Sanetoshi Watase
Unlike an earthly battle between men or nations, with swords clashing or bullets flying, the divine battle between Good and Evil takes place in each human soul. Its arena is in each of our actions or decisions. The decisive pivot which determines whether Momoka or Sanetoshi will triumph lies in the characters’ decisions, lies in what Shōma, Kanba, and Ringo will do. This is similar to the story of Job in the Christian bible where Satan tries to prove his point to God by tempting His champion (Job) and seeing his reaction: whether he would fall into temptation or remain faithful to God. Sanetoshi wants to prove to Momoka that humans will inevitably succumb into evil and despair.
However, there’s a significant difference between how Momoka and Sanetoshi influence the characters’ actions. While Sanetoshi tempts them to follow his commands, Momoka guides ambigously, giving them slight clues of what they need to do, while leaving the characters to do good out of their own free will.
Sanetoshi: “Do you get it now? I can save Himari.”
Kanba: “Yes”
Masako: “No, the world and fate cannot be altered by Houdini’s magic”
Sanetoshi: “Let us go. You have so much to destroy. Let’s see how many you can kill with the power of love.”
Kanba: “Yes. I’ll destroy as much as I can.”
Sanetoshi: “Now, you’re my best friend.”
“Listen, you lowlifes who will never amount to anything. Obtain the Penguindrum”
-Momoka Oginome (as the Penguin Queen, the girl in the hat, episode 1)
“Good morning. You’re finally awake, Shōma Takakura. Hurry, the Destiny Express is about to depart. You have to get on. Don’t miss the train, the black bunny is trying to destroy the world. You two are the only ones who can stop it. You and Kanba. And on that train you two will find… Your Penguindrum!”
-Momoka Oginome (as the Penguin Queen, the girl in the hat, episode 23)
*note: What the Penguindrum refers to is not revealed by the Penguin Queen until the very last episode. It remains an ambiguous concept throughout the show.
Conclusion — Let’s share the fruit of fate!
The final conclusion to the problem, to the battle between Good and Evil, climaxes at the series’ final episode, at the destination of fate! Here we have Sanetoshi, so close to successfully convincing Kanba to succumb into the forces of evil. At the decisive moment, however, Ringo interrupts and claims that she knows the secret spell to initiate Momoka’s Survival Strategy, to initiate the transfer of fate, to save the Takakuras from their punishment and save the day.
Ringo: “I’ve come to transfer fate, I’ll use the spell in the diary to save Himari!”
Sanetoshi: “You don’t give up, do you? But how will you do that? We already burned the diary. You don’t know the spell, do you? The most important phrase Momoka left behind.”
Ringo: “I know the phrase.”
Sanetoshi: “You can’t be serious”
Ringo: “I know the most cherished phrase. I will bet everything on that phrase”
Sanetoshi: “Are you sure? If you use the spell, you’ll end up paying the price. The cursed fire will burn you away from the world’s scenery.”
Ringo: “I’ll take the punishment! I want to save the people I love no matter what.”
As demonstrated by Momoka, performing a miracle to transfer fate comes with a price. Ringo Oginome would need to sacrifice herself in order to save the Takakuras. However, she is willing to do it out of love. It is the sacrifice that serves as an intensifier. It is the sacrifice that makes the love truly fervent, passionate, genuine, and profound!
“Let’s share the fruit of fate!”
-Ringo Oginome, initiating the transfer of fate
Sharing the fruit of fate is a metaphor for giving love, for sharing the gift of love with your fellow brothers and sisters. It is, as Momoka showed, something that gives meaning to this otherwise empty life; to all the pain, suffering, and punishment that we need to endure.
“As it turns out, living was a punishment. I’ve been punished in small doses as a member of the Takakuras…
…But, still, we were together. We took all the punishments, no matter how small and trivial. They’re all precious memories. Because the only reason I felt alive was because you two were there. Because I was able to be Himari Takakura. I don’t want to forget everyting, lose everything.
-Himari Takakura to Kanba and Shōma, ep 24
It was fun. Thank you. I’ll return what you shared with me on that day. The life you gave me. Our love and our punishment, too. We’ll share them all. It was our beginning. It was our fate!
-Shōma Takakura, ep 24
“Kan-chan, this is the Penguindrum”
-Himari Takakura to Kanba
It is finally revealed at the end that the Penguindrum, the apple, the answer to the mystery of living, is love! It is the willingness to sacrifice what you have and to share your life, your fate, with the ones you love. The Penguindrum, the apple, does not have any meaning unless it is shared. Love is not a stationary object, its flowers will only bloom when it is shared with each other.
This is the formula that will give meaning and strength to endure the sufferings of life; it is Momoka’s answer to fate, to life!
“I love the word “fate”. I believe that I’m never alone.
-Himari
This is something that Sanetoshi does not understand. He does not believe that love could transcend and triumph over the misery of life. However, the story’s main characters discovered this, and at the very end, they were enlightened and obtained the one true eternal meaning that transcends fate itself.
“None of you will ever escape the curse. As I could not, residents of the boxes like you could never gain anything. You will all simply disappear without leaving anything behind in this world. You won’t even leave a fleck of dust behind. You will never be happy!
-Sanetoshi to Kanba Takakura
“Shōma… I have obtained… true light!
-Kanba Takakura
The central thesis of the story has actually been encapsulated at the very beginning, on episode one, through an initially enigmatic and perplexing dialogue between two boys:
“Like I said, the apple is the universe itself! A tiny universe in the palm of your hand. It’s what connects this world to the other world”
“The other world?”
“The world Campanella and other passengers are heading to!”
“What does that have anything to do with an apple?”
“The apple is also a reward for those chosen to die for love!”
“But everything’s over when you’re dead.”
“It’s not over! What Kenji was trying to say is that’s actually where everything begins!”
“I’m not following you, at all.”
“I’m talking about love! Why don’t you get it?”
-Random conversation between two boys, ep 1
The apple, the Penguindrum, or love, is the universe itself. It is the meaning which transcends all others. A tiny universe in the palm of your hand, an infinity in a finite form. It is also what connects this world to the other world, it is something that moves you above and beyond the material world, it is something that is… eternal. It is ultimately the infinite and eternal reward for those who are willing to die for love! It is the beginning of a truly everlasting life, a meaning that transcends time and space.
In short, Mawaru Penguindrum is a story about love. It is an allegory for the thesis that sharing the gift of love is the formula for meaning. In addition to that, Mawaru Penguindrum explores a number of other interconnected philosophical themes such as fate, suffering, egotism, conformity, individuality, Christianity, sin, punishment, and the battle between good and evil. Some of its episodes also discuss additional side themes such as child abuse and self-esteem. Mawaru Penguindrum might seem very confusing, absurd, and bizzare, especially for those unfamiliar with metaphorical stories with a lot of symbolism. However, once you’ve really connected with the story, the experience is not like any other. I have not been able to find any other anime or western movies/series that comes close in terms of philosophical and emotional depth. Mawaru Penguindrum is truly a work of art, a genius’ master stroke that deserves my most ardent appreciation.
Huge thanks to Niklas Lesmana Tjitra for the discussions and recommendations to this piece.
