Film Review: Re:cycle of the Penguindrum Parts 1 & 2

By J.D.

How do you deal with the loss of a loved one? What would you do to save them from death? Is fate something that can be changed and if so, what would the consequences be? Why did we receive three penguins in the mail that apparently only we can see? Re:cycle of the Penguindrum is a movie series that explores a lot of questions both dramatic and comedic. I got to see the North American premiere of both movies at Anime Boston 2023. Here are my thoughts.

Re:cycle of the Peguindrum is a two part compilation film of the original 2011 anime series directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Yurikuma Arashi, Sarazanmai). The original series animated by Brain’s Base (Baccano!, Durarara!!, In/Spectre) but for the movies, Lapin Track who worked on Sarazanmai takes over. While obviously cutting some parts of the original series to keep the two films from being six-hour affairs, the films also add in new music and even new scenes which are mostly a new framing device consisting of Kanba and Shoma visitng the Hole in the Wall Library as children.

The story kicks off with the death of Himari Takakura who is magically resurrected by the spirit residing in a magical penguin cap which transforms her into the Princess of the Crystal and tasks her brothers Shoma and Kanba with finding the magical Penguindrum to extend her life. To find it, the Princess tells them to follow a girl named Ringo Oginome who has a magical diary that can predict the future. (A future diary if you will.) This eventually leads them to discover the truth of their family, the reality in which they live and how it all connects to a terrorist incident that occurred 16 years prior on the day Shoma, Kanba and Ringo were born.

I first watched the original anime a few years ago and while I remembered the broad strokes of events, seeing the movies reminded me how much I had forgotten. One of the things I did remember was a conversation referencing Night on the Galactic Railroad and in preparation for seeing these, I watched that as well. It’s not required watching but for first timers, it might help you catch some of the foreshadowing and give you some “I understood that reference” moments like mentions of burning scorpions. (Also, Burning Scorpions is the name of my pop punk band.  We’re playing Chain Reaction on Feb 30.)

Even with my preparation, I had trouble understanding some of the characters who are introduced in the second half of the movie like Masako Natsume and especially her younger brother Mario. (Their other brother Luigi was apparently cut for time.) These characters’ roles are all reduced down to the bare minimum to keep the plot from grinding to a halt while still providing the necessary conflict and information needed. I think there might be just enough there for people new to Penguindrum but just barely enough to keep them from being more confused than the original series made its viewers.

Despite this, I found the movie worked more on an emotional level than thinking through the plot. The plot takes massive twists and turns flipping everything you thought you knew on its head and making you rethinking everything but the emotional core of these people who care about each other and the lengths they will go to protect one another remains. There a probably enough scenes talking of the importance of family of all kinds to make Dominic Toretto tell Ikuhara to tone it down a little but it’s that love that I think will keep people invested in these films.

The art and animation as well as the music were already great in the original series and here, they receive an upgrade. My only gripe on the music is that “ROCK OVER JAPAN”, the song that played basically once an episode in the original series only gets heard once in the course of both movies. It’s such a catchy cover of an 80s J-rock song that I wanted to hear it more. There are also some sections with clearly live action video of real places in Japan with the characters animated on top. These work mostly as breaks from the hectic pace of the films but they still struck me as odd even for a series with magic talking penguin hats. 

Overall, I think this is a good set of movies held down by having to condense too much material into too little time. The film packs enough emotional punches to keep viewers invested as the plot takes a few confusing turns and they’ll never be let down by the art and the music  For fans of the series, this will be a welcome return to the zany and emotional antics of the series.  For newcomers, welcome. Yes, most of us barely understand it too. If you enjoyed this, please give the original series a shot as well.
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The movies are now streaming on HIDIVE with a physical release, including an English dub, coming this summer. 

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Rating: B-
 
+ Right mix of drama and zany hijinks to have you laughing one minute and crying the next.
+ Great art and music.
+ New frame story adds a bit more to the overall experience.
 
- Rushed pacing, especially in Part 2.
- Lots of new footage is just live action shots of locations with characters in them.

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