[JP] Mawaru Penguindrum Vol.1-8 + Triple H album
I should stop setting dates or give time frames for my posts considering I hardly ever get them done on time. =s
There's less pictures per volume this time because I'm doing all eight volumes in one post. Didn't plan on getting these originally but as the show aired and my love for it grew stronger I caved in. Thankfully Penguindrum remained a strong series and was not greatly disappointing unlike a certain other show I was into (coughguiltycrowncough). In fact, it even got into my all time favourites list. The BD release not spanning 11 damn volumes was a plus too.
Oh right, the review.
Each volume comes with a BD disc with three episodes and audio commentaries, soundtrack + audio drama CD, endcards, 12p booklet and info sheet with staff interviews all housed inside DVD sized digipaks with a clear plastic sleeve. I've done a rundown of each volume with three pictures for the cover art, contents and booklet sample respectively.
Volume 1:
Video Extras: Teaser CM 1-6
Audio Commentary: Kunihiko Ikuhara (Director), Miho Arakawa (Himari) & Marie Miyake (Ringo)
Audio Drama: The Murder Case of Penguin #0 - An AU where Himari is a detective, Shouma her assistant, Ringo a nosy reporter and Kanba a playboy cop. Together they get involved in the mystery behind the murder of Penguin #0.
Booklet: Princess of the Crystal genga (key frames) collection. They're all from her Survival Strategy scene and are really, really nice.
Volume 2:
Video Extras: Clean OP/ED
Audio Commentary: Kunihiko Ikuhara (Director), Subaru Kimura (Kanba) & Ryohei Kimura (Shouma)
Audio Drama: Tabuki-Only Girl's Game - Ringo goes ecstatic over an otome game featuring Tabuki as different stereotypes, but as she proceeds further...
Booklet: Lily Hoshino character collection featuring her original drafts including past designs.
Volume 3:
Video Extras: TV Spots
Audio Commentary: Kunihiko Ikuhara (Director), Miho Arakawa (Himari) & Marie Miyake (Ringo)
Audio Drama Synopsis: Himari and San-chan's Exciting Cooking! - Himari and #3 give a lesson on how to bake bread, but Himari later takes a nap and the Princess of the Crystal takes over.
Booklet: A collection of various backgrounds in the show.
Volume 4:
Video Extras: None
Audio Commentary: Kunihiko Ikuhara (Director), Yui Horie (Masako) & Kazusa Aranami (Mario)
Audio Drama Synopsis: Masako Gets Into TV Shopping! - As it says, Masako finds herself sucked into the world of TV shopping and things get out of hand.
Booklet: The Wonder of the Crystal World, an in-depth look into the Crystal World with sketches and notes detailing the various elements in it.
Volume 5:
Video Extras: Clean OP2/EDs
Audio Commentary: Kunihiko Ikuhara (Director), Yutaka Koizumi (Sanetoshi), Megumi Iwasaki (Shirase) & Miho Arakawa (Himari)
Audio Drama Synopsis: The Inner Chamber - Yuri Edition - An AU where Tabuki is Shogun and Yuri his concubine. Yuri tries to use a rare frog in an attempt to gain his favour and be chosen to 'Mont Blanc' (fancy Penguindrum way of saying 'sex') with him, but things go wrong and she ends up falling in love with Ringo instead. (Yes, she)
Booklet: Ringo Sexy Collection. Genga of Ringo's fanservice scenes.
The music in this volume is mostly the ones from Ringo's ep4 fantasies and also the instrumental version of The Tragedy of M.
Volume 6:
Video Extras: Clean ED
Audio Commentary: Kunihiko Ikuhara (Director), Akira Ishida (Tabuki) & Mamiko Noto (Yuri)
Audio Drama Synopsis: Koushien Showdown Chapter - An AU where the Takakura brothers are baseball players and Tabuki their coach. It's the decisive round and Shouma's about to use a forbidden pitch that comes with a terrible price!
Booklet: A collection of genga by Terumi Nishii. This is probably my favourite of the booklets next to the Princess of the Crystal one. It's gorgeous and makes me wish they'd release a genga book for the series, More pictures of the booklet here: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Volume 7:
Video Extras: Clean EDs
Audio Commentary: Kunihiko Ikuhara (Director), Subaru Kimura (Kanba) & Ryohei Kimura (Shouma)
Audio Drama Synopsis: Penguin-WAVE - Sanetoshi's radio program featuring Double H as his guests. This is the one with the 'coming out' of the true underdog of the series and launcher of the Yamashita x Shouma ship. w A translation of that part of the drama can be found on the penguindrum lj community.
Booklet: Triple H Visual Book, a collection of Triple H genga from the show and the EDs.
This volume contains variations of the Children of Fate theme music.
Volume 8:
Video Extras: Clean ED, PVs
Audio Commentary: [Not too sure. This is IIIRC] Kunihiko Ikuhara (Director), Miho Arakawa (Himari), Marie Miyake (Hikari & Ringo) & Yui Watanabe (Hibari)
Audio Drama Synopsis: Clamming - The Takakuras go to the beach to dig up sea shells but weird things keep happening one after the other. Himari finds and gets possessed by a penguin hat, a foreigner sea spirit shows up and and alien named Ringo invites them to Planet Destiny!?
Booklet: A collection of genga of famous scenes throughout the show.
This volume contains the music used in the final episode. It's impossible not to think of the fate transfer scene when listening to them. ;___; The placement of the last audio drama track where Himari utters "We'll always be together" in her sleep after Children of Fate - I Love You really struck a chord with me. ﾟ･｡(｡/□＼｡)｡･ﾟ
Here's what the volume spines look like lined up:
The apple on Vol.8 is a neat touch. I actually missed it the first time. lol
Gamers had a two part box to hold all eight volumes as their store exclusive gift but sadly I couldn't afford to give up Amazon discounts for it. This is what they look like.
And while I'm at it, here are some pictures of the Triple H album:
This took a lot longer to write than I hoped it would. >__> I won't be going into that much detail for other group reviews without Penguindrum levels of love, that's for sure.
I'd like to do another post for the Complete Guide, Official Anthology and Lily Hoshino artbook someday just for the sake of completion, but first I'll have to get the artbook, which'll be whenever I can fit in an order of books. I hate book shipping prices.