1. 1 - What was that anime about? Kunihiko Ikuhara
2 - Famous works
3 – Ikuhara’s Troupes Non-heteronormative relationships
• Symbolism
• Very Dark Turns
• People as objects/ flower symbolism
• Stylised nudity
• Fetizisation
• Character designs
• Construction sites, elevators and staircases
4 – Mawaru Penguin Drum Opening
A terminally ill girl named Himari Takakura is miraculously saved from death by a
strange spirit who resides in a penguin-shaped hat. However, in exchange for
extending her life, the spirit tasks Himari's brothers, Kanba and Shōma, to seek out
an elusive item known as the Penguin Drum with assistance from a trio of strange
penguins.
Characters bound by fate and escaping the curses passed down by their parents.
Abusive parents, overbearing adults and children commodity only wanted if talented,
beautiful or useful.
5 - Penguins - “They have wings but they cannot fly; they can swim but they cannot
stay underwater for too long. In that case, where do they really belong? They’re not
common animals (mammals) like cats and dogs. They’re birds that don’t look like
birds at all. The idea that they seem to have come from another world and have no
place of belongings ignite his imagination.” Penguins are manifestations of their
desires, insecurities and loss of identity.

2. 6 – The Child Broiler, The Child Broiler worked like a concentration camp, where
children abandoned by parents/society gathered. It would crush the children and
remodel them, making them transparent like a glass, hence they would become
ordinary people on streets that you would not spare a glance at, them being fully
alienated from society. This kind of existence symbolized the ‘ideal’ image of children
that society expected them to be. Individuality and disobedience were not tolerated.
Like a traditional East Asian culture, conformity was triumphant. The child was
supposed to follow the lead of others and not breaking traditions. Japan is
hegemonic and therefore believes in one nation working together rather than
individuals leading progression. Youths must conform and become part of a working
productive society and not hold it back. Children who are damaged have no place in
society, children with induvial ideals have no place and thus the child broiler is a
place to send this children that as is are not useful to adult society. Himari was
abandoned by her mother.
7- Masako’s Faceless grandfather Grandfather/father no face, represent a character
troop. He’s a representation of a force Masako has to overcome, she doesn’t want to
fill in the details of his face as he is “worthless man” and Yuri’s Sculpting Father, and
Yuri’s father was abusive. Adult wishes versus youth wish purity/innocence versus
experience/desire. Caged heart. Flash backs are all metaphorical representations of
their pasts. Japan had long been a patriarchal society, granting men the power and
rights while diminishing women’s status for centuries. In 1990s Japan, things had
improved, but the idea of male dominance was still very prevalent. Here, Mawaru
Penguindrum was not specifically criticizing 1990s Japan but the culture as a whole.
The old, conservative males had dominated the political sphere for decades, and
their failure to bring fresh changes bothered many Japanese. In society, the old-
fashioned hierarchy also prohibited refreshing ideas from blossoming, because
instead of wanting new ideas, they just wanted obedient followers. The traits that
people worshiped – masculine traits such as competitiveness, independence,

3. aggressiveness – were the reason why they could not break out of their own
dilemma.
8 – Boys in Boxes and The Apple, fruit of fate. Crushing shame of their parents.
Starved of patently love, parents cared more for their cause than the wellbeing of
their children. Shouma depressed as he couldn’t understand the society his father
wanted to build and didn’t want to be part of it. Kanba was more resilient and even
after being told he was useless still looked for a way to fight on and be part of society
hence finding the fruit of fate. Not ready to give up on shouma gave half to him, half
of his heart. Parents terrorists and their own shame being their children
9 – Seizon Senryaku and The Underground – this is an anime about the effect a
terrorist attack had on the generation living in its aftermath. Most importantly while
not directly saying it has clear reference to 20th
March 1995 members of the
Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo, under the order of their leader Asoko Asahara, released
sarin gas in five subway lines in Tokyo, killing thirteen people and injuring a thousand
more. This incident was the single most serious attack to have taken place in
Japanese soil since World War II, adding further despair to the Japanese people who
were experiencing the Lost Decade (1990s Japan) after the economic bubble burst in
late 1980s. Sanetoshi – Shoko Asuhara
10 - Humans have created a Wall of Severance to separate themselves from the
bears, who grew violent and attacked humans after a far-off planet known as
Kumaria exploded, turning into a meteor shower that fell upon earth. Two bears,
Ginko Yurishiro and Lulu Yurigasaki, sneak through the Wall of Severance and
disguise themselves as humans, enrolling in Arashigaoka Academy and taking an
interest in Kureha Tsubaki, a human girl who despises bears.
11 – The Storm, group dynamics and social pressure in schools. Sanctified bullying to
help the majority grow stronger and vent their stress by bullying and picking on the
weak. Unity through a common foe. Nail hammer hegemonic.

4. 12 – Same sex – s systems. Ok up to an age but not ok in actually society.
Homosexuality is entertainment ok as humour, fun a distractions something
attractive to look out but no place in productive society it is pure fantasy.
13 – Inter racial couples, a big no no japan is nationalistic and doesn’t look kindly on
polluting the blood line. This is evident in treatment of Korean Japanese. Non-
Japanese a threat to hegemonic society.
14 – The wall, Migrant workers are also looked at as second class citizens. Passports
not granted to migrants or first generation Koreans living there since the Second
World War. Ainu Hokkaido and Ryukyuan Okinawa and annexed islands. Racial
discrimination against other Asians was habitual in Imperial Japan, having begun with
the start of Japanese colonialism.[63]
The Meiji era Japanese showed a contempt for
other Asians. The Shōwa regime preached racial superiority and racialist theories,
based on nature of Yamato-damashii. According to historian Kurakichi Shiratori, one
of Emperor Hirohito's teachers: "Therefore nothing in the world compares to the
divine nature (shinsei) of the imperial house and likewise the majesty of our national
polity (kokutai). Here is one great reason for Japan's superiority."
Finally, there is debate about altering requirements for work permits to foreigners.
Currently, the Japanese government does not issue work permits unless it can be
demonstrated that the person has certain skills which cannot be provided by locals.
"Discrimination toward foreign nationals in their searches for homes continues to be
one of the biggest problems", said the head of the Ethnic Media Press Centre.
Organizers of the service said they hope to eradicate the racism that prevents
foreigners, particularly Non-Westerners, from renting apartments since there are
currently no laws in Japan that ban discrimination