I'm going to gush some more about Penguindrum. You've been warned. Since I'm already going to be using a spoiler for this, as it pertains mostly to feels, I'll be putting
actual spoilers behind transparent text, so highlight at your own risk. I just feel like I need to put this somewhere, and nobody I know in meatspace has seen this thing. Mind you, I assume episode 2 is too early to be spoilers, otherwise the whole thing would have to be transparent. Kind of stream-of-consciousness. I don't want to edit it too much, because if I do linger I'll probably get too afraid to hit post.
So, I did not realize what I was getting into after the first episode. I figured there would be emotional slingshotting, but it wasn't until we got to see Ringo's personality that I quite realized the magnitude. See, she's basically Rule 63'd High School Bauglir, dialed up to 11. I... may have had a stalker phase then, although, to my knowledge, mine was unrelated to my dead older sibling or the separation of my parents, and realizing what I'd become and what I was doing to people was one of the most life-changing experiences that I can recall. Actually changing myself to stop being that person was one of the most difficult, and to this day I'm afraid of lapsing back into those old behaviors. I mean, I never actually did anything as bad as what she has, but I don't think there's a single thing she's done that I didn't consider (and dismiss because of the effort, or the likelihood of getting caught, but never because it was wrong), and all of her fantasies are just so damned resonant. That her fantasies of her romantic rival's evil nature also turned out to be correct despite having no basis in actual fact is just a coincidence.
So, basically, I've been spending every minute she's on screen going, "Oh god, Ringo, I understand why you think this is okay, but it isn't and you're just making everything worse for everyone and-". I'm not a great student of anime or anything, but I cannot remember ever seeing this kind of character portrayed this way, in any medium. There are tons of selfish, evil creepers, and some lonely, unrequited romantics, but I can't remember a storyline that was sympathetic without justifying. And having somebody I already have such conflicted feelings on (because I hate past Me, but at the same time I get it, and how much it hurts, and how the person you want seems like the answer to all your problems, because of course it's love, and that solves everything, right?) just makes the rest of the show that much more of an effective shot right to the feels, which is a phrase I keep repeating because it's just so damned perfect.
There are other characters I empathize with and see elements of myself in, but there's nobody who manages it on the same scale as Ringo does.
Also, I think I conflated postmodernism with surrealism in an earlier post. My bad.
Also, Vector, let me know when you hit episode 14. There is a pun. It's a huge spoiler, but upon getting the joke, my shit became so thoroughly lost that I know exactly how fast it's going. I want to make sure I'm not making a big deal out of nothing, for instance if it's entirely a coincidence (I doubt it in this show, but maybe).
Author
Topic: I like anime, do you like anime? (Read 3142495 times)