Kunihiko Ikuhara tends to be famous for his work Revolutionary Girl Utena for several reasons. He is remembered for creating a show that takes the more conventional tropes of magical girl shows and fairy tales and twists them in an unusual but pleasant manner. He also took some very sexually explicit material and infused it into a story without making it gratuitous. He is also known for using some pretty bold symbolism and metaphor while still making an accessible and entertaining product. But the piece of his legacy we will being looking at in Mawaru Penguindrum is his flair with visuals that are both stunning and yet crammed with meaning and purpose.
When I look at Revolutionary Girl Utena, I see so many techniques and a visual library that let’s you look past a low-budget. Working within a limited means can sometimes create innovation and push the limit. So even when a show like Mawaru Penguindrum has more of a financial push behind it, Ikuhara doesn’t leave behind his flair for the dramatic. He combines this with an odd grouping of motifs in spectacular fashion making Penguindrum, if nothing else, an eye-catching anime.
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