Not so fresh off the heels of the brilliant Revolutionary Girl Utena, Kunihiko Ikuhara comes out of hibernation for another strange story with serious implications. Through the fight over a mystical diary that slowly reveals the darker pasts of all involved, Mawaru Penguindrum considers the issue of fate and determinism, as well as questions of family and responsibility.
The show's visual style is fantastic, and if nothing else it's a feast for the eyes. However, there's also a lot of substance here too. A twisting (perhaps even convoluted) plot and a surreal sense of humour keep Mawaru Penguindrum from being a philosophical treatise, but even so it's a show with serious ambitions that are mostly fulfilled, and a series that deserves a lot of thought. It doesn't quite reach the transcendent levels of Utena, but it's still one of the best anime series of the year.
