Post-Mawaru Penguindrum: a.k.a. My Brain Hurts, Help

You must play this while reading this post.  It is a requirement.  Carry on.

Stuck in your head FOREVER

So I just finished Mawaru Penguindrum a few days ago and....phew.  That was sure...something.  I'm not certain that my brain has quite managed to process it yet.  For the record, I am more comfortable with rants than proper reviews, so...bear with me.

SPOILERS.  JUST FYI.

Initial thoughts (two episodes in):  Aw, it's so silly and cute, despite these two brothers being distraught over their sister's apparently terminal illness.  Magical girl transformation sequences yay, and those penguins are adorable (and sometimes perverted).

Like I could resist a penguin gif.

SURVIVAL STRATEGY

Secondary thoughts: I have never wanted to eat curry more than I did after watching the first several episodes of this show.  Seriously.  I am hungry again just thinking about it.  LET'S DESTINYYYYYY

STOP TAUNTING ME WITH DELICIOUS CURRY

Tertiary thoughts: Oh stalking, how silly, and those hilariously off-key musical interludes, and....attempted rape, that's...what...?  When did I step off of the Happy-Go-Lucky-Mobile and get onto the express train to Rape and Mindfuckery?

The last half of the show suddenly becomes much darker extremely plot heavy (and I love how the first (first!) attempted rape scene is still not really in the dark half of the show).  Remember when everything was Fabulous Max and penguins?  Yeah...

Then Himari dies a billion more times, the trio's loving parents are actually high-ranking members of a terrorist cult, people we thought were (relatively) normal are actually crazy too (Tabuki and Yuri), suddenly the Takakura siblings are not actually related at all, Kanba talks to dead people, and what the FUCK is up with Sanetoshi and Momoka.

This translation killed me

From what I have been told, this level of mindfuckery is quite typical of Ikuhara (see: Utena).

This show does obscure symbolism like a brick to the face - no, make that a hundred bricks to the face.  Not that there is anything wrong with obscure symbolism, in general- but Jesus, Ikuhara, I'm not psychic. I was proud of myself for figuring out early on that '95' was referring to the 1995 Sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system, but some of these metaphors probably went right over my head.

Child broiler

And after finally finishing Episode 24, I pretty much felt like this:

What....what did I just watch?

Then by brain kicked in, and it went something like this:

EMO RAIN

Although I'm still not completely sure of what happened in the last episode, other than history apparently being rewritten.  Did that include the subway attack?  I wasn't terribly clear on whether or not the terrorist attack had been retroactively prevented, or if Sanetoshi the Magical Pink Douchebag (that is now his name) and Momoka just wandered off into whatever weird afterlife they were in and took Kanba and Shoma with them. Is this a reincarnation thing?  So Kanba and Shoma never existed?  And...the Penguindrum is half of an apple...?  Damn you and your cryptic shit, Ikuhara!  WHY DO I WANT MORE?!

And let's not forget the MUSIC: 

Conclusions:  First impressions can be deceiving.  Ikuhara is insane.  Go watch this show.  Because penguins.

Super special crossover time! (a.k.a. shit I found while searching for gifs):  I give you Homura in a Kyubey hat.

TIME TRAVEL STRATEGY