And finally, my top favorite new summer anime is revealed!
!!SPOILER ALERT!!
!!SPOILER ALERT!!
Mawaru Penguin Drum - 8 episodes, still airing
~Quick Review~
Storyline: Unique, heart-wrenching, hilarious
Characters: Well-developed, lovable, cute, crazy
Animation: Unfailingly beautiful; however, uses a lot of stock footage
Music: Fun, upbeat; nothing special but gets you involved in the scene
Overall: Butt loads of crazy comedy, but also has a unique heart-wrenching story
Where do I even start... well, first off - I LOVE THIS ANIME. You know, it's a little unfair that I'm reviewing these shows before they've finished, let alone some have barely started (see: Blood C), but I believe that within the first couple of episodes, you should be able to have a pretty clear idea of whether or not you enjoy what you're watching. On that note, I have so far enjoyed every minute of every episode of Mawaru Penguin Drum (now to be referred to as MPD). It caught my attention within the first 10 minutes of the first episode, and has since then kept me captivated.
MPD is a show centered around three siblings - there's the twins, Shoma (blue hair) and Kanba (red hair), and the youngest and only girl, Himari. All three of them live together in a cute little shack next to a playground. While their parents have shown up in some short flashbacks, it's still unclear where they are in present day. In the first episode, you learn that Himari has some sort of terminal disease, and a doctor tells Shoma and Kanba that she only has a few months to live. Despite being heartbroken by this news, the brothers do their best to go on living their lives with Himari as normal as possible. One day, the three of them visit an aquarium to see the penguins. Shoma and Himari go to the gift shop, where he ends up buying her a queen penguin hat. However, Himari soon collapses and later dies at the hospital. As the brothers mourn, they are surprised to see Himari suddenly spring back to life, wearing the aforementioned penguin hat. It turns out she is possessed by a spirit in the hat who has decided to extend her life in exchange for a device called the "penguin drum". While Himari is miraculously cured of her condition and returns to her normal state when the penguin hat is off, if she is not within close vicinity of the hat, she will die again.
![]() |
Penguin Queen Himari! |
Interesting, right? Anyway, the brothers are given the task to retrieve the penguin drum. If they fail to do so, then the spirit will permanently revoke Himari's life. It hasn't been made clear what the device looks like, but the penguin spirit tells the brothers that it may be in the possession of a girl named Ringo. From then on, you meet a multitude of fantastic characters and learn a little more about the relationships between the three siblings. There are many mysterious happenings that I can't wait to discover later on in the series. Kanba is the more serious and mysterious brother, as he oftentimes disappears without an explanation and he seems to have a closer connection with Himari and the penguin spirit as well.
![]() |
Kanba and Penguin Queen Himari making a strange exchange... |

Wrapping up, this show has been amazing thus far. The storyline is completely unique, the characters are deep, both lovable and hateable, and just plain crazy. My ONLY complaint is that the animators use stock footage in each episode when Himari transforms into the penguin queen. It's very magical girl-esque, which I love, but the stock footage gets redundant after a while. Oh well, compared to how great the show is besides that, it's a small complaint. I urge you to watch this show NAO because I need more people to freak out about it with.
You can watch it for free here and let me know what you think!
I will DEFINITELY review this anime again once I've watched it in its entirety, so be sure you come back to hear what else I have to say!
Love&&peace,
Sarah
Here's a little extra for this blog: