First lets make a proper analogy. Imagine a plotline of an anime (or novel, or a movie, etc...) As a thread, or a series of threads. If its a series of threads, it would refer to the anime having multiple plotlines. In many cases anime would have either a single thread, of a couple threads lined up alongside each other (in parallel, several stories going on at once) or one after another (in series, more commonly scene). Usually (unless the series is bad) the threads are distinct, there is a beginning and an end, and all is cool.
Mawaru Penguin Drum, as anyone could guess, is a parallel series. But it does more than just be a parallel series... because in many lines, there doesn't seem to be a proper ending (or beginning in some cases). In those cases the threads seem to go on into nowhere heading into different directions, and you really don't know what you're looking at except for a horribly knotted middle part which turns out to be the plotline for the anime itself. This can be the best analogy in my mind about Mawaru Penguin Drum. I can't exactly say this is a great thing, but since the knotted part was so interesting I can't say its a bad thing either.
Now, to take a look at some of the threads.
By far, Yuri and Takako (was that his name? :V) had the most developed stories, therefore they actually had a beginning and an ending. This is ironic because they are the most minor of the main characters. But they are (I think) the only characters where we know where they come from, we know what their conflict is, and we know how it was resolved. Actually, Matsume (?? the rich girl) was fairly complete too, although the truth and her real past got muddled together at the end.
Himari is great. Himari is wonderful. Himari is the main reason to watch this show. However, she is also a character of mystery. Her beginning, at least, isn't quite clear along with a good amount of her past. (Or maybe I just really wanted to see more Double (Triple?) H. WHERE IS MY MOE) However her issue is much less conspicuous than the others, and for the most part, acceptable. It's acceptable that she was orphaned, brought to an orphanage (I swear this is the child broiler and I can't really think of any possible case for it to not be) and then rescued by Sho. And in the end she lived a fairly happy life (Somehow got her parents back... we'll talk about fate transfer later). So what the heck is up with the transformation scene?
The transformation scene is a good chance to transition into Sho and Kan, but first it in itself needs some discussion. First off, I believe the Himari with the hat is still Himari (rather than Momoka). Instead, it just brings out her inner persona, along with some tucked away knowledge that she somehow has. And this means Himari is actually a pretty sadistic person in nature. I say this because of the way she treats foods while preparing them (cabbages and potatoes or something), she seems to be amused at treating them in a rather cruel manner.
Now, the Penguin Drum. WTF IS THE PENGUIN DRUM. One solution is that its the spell that Momoka/Ringo needs to transfer rate. This is a perfectly logical solution. It could be that, just like Momoka, the spell actually got split in half too and was placed into both Kan and Sho. Bringing them together allows the spell to be cast. This would make sense to see why Momoka told Sho to rush to the train, even though the diary was burned up. But, the spell wasn't cast by Sho and Kan, it was cast by Ringo... who happened to have the lyrics to the song sung by Double H... who got the spell from Himari..........
What the f_ck?
Ahem. Kan and Sho did in the end recite the fate transfer spell. In fact now that I think about it, Kan probably did that so that it was possible for Sho to be born (the two caged scene I think is before they were born, the apple being giving them the opportunity to live, the sharing of the apple showing that they both had only "half-life" to live with, and the spell actually letting them do that). The half-apple might also support the divided spirit of Momoka (or the diary) lies within them rather than the hat(s). I think this is the case because of the lack of Mario's presence. (WTF, WHAT HAPPENED TO MARIO) So then, what exactly are Kan and Sho? Likely from what I just said, they just happened to be born at the same time, but one of them (or both of them, at first) weren't allowed to live. And then some fancy spellcasting happened and voila, they exist. The ending I suppose just emphasized that they weren't really allowed to exist in the first place, and they transfer their existence mostly to Ringo and Himari in order for the fate transfer to work properly.
Fate Transfer I imagine is a lot like in Stein's Gate where people actually hop over to different dimensions. This can be most clearly seen in Yuri's arc, where after the fate transfer, somehow her father disappeared. There are a few discrepencies though, like why Momoka still knew her and what about Takako... but I think this could just be explained as Momoka being some overseeing allmighty being (out of the box amirite) and Takako possibly meeting her after the fate transfer. (BTW Loli Yuri is great.)
Ringo is the reincarnation of Momoka, without any memories. A good enough excuse. That's also probably why she can cast the spell. However, unlike Momoka, she was not "out of the box".
Satoshi or whatever that guy's name is probably just too illogical to make any sense out of. Somehow he and Momoka are opposing entities; whether they were actually human in the first place is debatable. The whole fact is that the two entities are so illogical that we can't even make a good conclusion on their story, if they were even human, or why they were even there.
And, as I stated before, Mario is the most baffling character. He shows up with a hat and then DOESN'T DO ANYTHING?!? WHY?!? WHY IS HERE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE THEN?!? JUST TO GIVE THE GIRL ESMERELDA?!? :V
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