To me this was a happy ending. Just a different form of happiness, right? I wonder if Himari was still childhood friend's with Double H after the fate transfered... She kinda left this a bit cloudy when she said she just "collected" everything from them. And did Kanba and Shouma became actual twin brothers this time? I don't remember Kanba saying he loved you Masako (evil Kanba xD) I guess that was really just a dream! xD
And well, look Sanetoshi lurking in the shadows. Indeed the perfect ending, no second season should spout... But he still wants to keep his curse on somehow... Oh my novel, exorcise this ghost. xP
I just watched it so I'm a bit stunned still... But hey it was quite a ride in there... Good to see there's still anime in this level nowdays.
Yeah, the flashback kinda shows the "penguindrum" was originally Kanba's. His purpose, his decision to live for Himari. Kanba gave half of that purpose to Shouma and now Shouma gives back to him.
Remember back in episode 17 the PotC did tell Kanba "the penguindrum is your..."
And it was true, the penguindrum was kanba's all along. It just happened that half of it was with Shouma.
Don't forget it was Shouma who shared the apple with Himari 1st and then Himari with Kanba & Kanba with Shouma.
They weren't real siblings but they did have a deep connection.
Also while I do see the similarity with Madoka. I actually prefer this ending. Maybe it's the execution, maybe because it comes back to Night on the Galactic Railroad or maybe because everyone still has someone in the end (yes except Sanetoshi)
Maybe I'm a little disappointed that Double H didn't have a larger presence in Himari's life at the end (in fact it appears in this reality she's just a fan.)
But the only thing that saved Himari's life and others at the end of series was their song, thanks to their song Ringo was able to cast spell which was "The Fruit of Fate". Other than that I'm really happy for Yuri and Tabuki. They deserved that happy finale from the beggining. Shouma finally confesed her love towards Ringo and both girls are now friends, living happily after thanks to their beloved ones. But there is still this sad feeling deep inside me towards Kanba. Even though his actions were all for the sake of saving Himari and did evil in the process but he also deserved happy finale but anyways he did since he saved Himari with all costs anyways. I'm also happy for Masako siblings at the same time. Masako still remembers Kanba even if she thinks it's in her dream. I'm going to miss Esmeralda's "Kyuhuh" voice. Horie Yui did really good job by voicing this cute penguin and yeah she was my favorite one amongst other penguins. And lastly I shed manly tears when Himari found note from her brothers.
PS: I interpreted this episode as like what they needed from the beggining is sharing love. Love is also at the same time fate. If you want to change fate you need to share. Sharing also means sacrificing something precious to you. So what I'm trying to say is (not metaphorically) apple that Kanba shared with Shouma is Penguindrum which also indicates bro love. When they shared fruit of fate they also found purpose in life. In order to save their hope and purpose, at the end they needed to sacrifice their soul. So in this sense Shouma sacrificed himself in order to save Ringo who was about the die as well as Himari was saved by Kanba by sarificing himself, enabling them both to save their precious ones in life. Ahh the more I speak then the more it gets complicated anyways... Later I need to rewatch this series in order to get better and full understading or better wait for Bluray series to see more naked Himari and Ringo :3
Anyways it was pretty good series at least it was top-notch one amongst other series that released this year so I'm going to add this series to the top of my favorite series.
Don't forget it was Shouma who shared the apple with Himari 1st and then Himari with Kanba & Kanba with Shouma.
But it's no the same.
I mean, even after getting to know both Himari and Kanba, Shouma's life was still aimless. He somehow gave purpose to Himari's life, and she somehow did the same for Kanba...
But Shouma had nothing even then. This is made explicit when he's inside the box and think this:
"I'll send a message to someone precious to me too. I wonder who... and what will my message be"
So even then he still didn't know whom he wanted to protect and what to live for. But Kanba was different!!!
That's why there's apple in Kanba's "box" but there's none in Shouma's. Kanba wants to protect someone, to live for the sake of someone. That someone is Himari. Shouma, on the other hand, doesn't know what to live for. He doesn't have a purpose, doesn't have an "apple".
When Kanba share his "apple" with Shouma, he's sharing his purpose with him. The purpose of "living for Himari's sake". He's sharing it with Shouma.
Kanba had to share this with Shouma because someone with no purpose can not "live". Or rather, their life would never amount to anything.
Anyway. in episode 24, all Shouma does, is to give back Kanba's porpuse to him (well, "half" of it). It was never Shouma's after all. The porpuse of "living for Himari's sake". It was Kanba's to begin with, since it was his personal decision to live that way.
Right after he gives Kanba what's rightfully his, he rushes to save Ringo, because that's his new (and real) purpose. This time is not a purpose that someone else is sharing with him (like the the purpose of "living for Himari's sake", which was Kanba's, originally), but truly his own. Ringo, in a way, is Shouma's true apple.
I mean, even after getting to know both Himari and Kanba, Shouma's life was still aimless. He somehow gave purpose to Himari's life, and she somehow did the same for Kanba...
But Shouma has nothing even then. This is made explicit when he's inside the box and think this:
"I'll send a message to someone precious to me too. I wonder who... and what will my message be"
So even then he still didn't know whom he wanted to protect and what to live for. But Kanba was different!!!
That's why there's apple in Kanba's "box" but there's none in Shouma's. Kanba wants to protect someone, to live for the sake of someone. That someone is Himari. Shouma, on the other hand, doesn't know what to live for. He doesn't have a purpose, doesn't have an "apple".
When Kanba share his "apple" with Shouma, he's sharing his purpose with him. The purpose of "living for Himari's sake". He's sharing it with Shouma.
Kanba had to share this with Shouma because someone with no purpose can not "live". Or rather, their life would never amount to anything.
Anyway. in episode 24, all Shouma does, is to give back Kanba's porpuse to him (well, "half" of it). It was never Shouma's after all. The porpuse of "living for Himari's sake". It was Kanba's to begin with, since it was his personal decision to live that way.
Right after he gives Kanba what's rightfully his, he rushes to save Ringo, because that's his new purpose. This time is not a purpose that someone else is sharing with him (like the the purpose of "living for Himari's sake", which Kanba shared with him), but truly his own. Ringo, in a way, is Shouma's true apple.
Well, that's just my interpretation...
Kazu I don't disagree with you I think Ringo was Shouma's true apple/purpose.
But you can't discount the fact that Shouma was the first one to give the apple to Himari (who was also lost). It was because she had this apple & found happiness that she was able to pass it onto Kanba in the first place.
Kanba then took his apple and gave half of it to Shouma thus sharing his purpose with him. Although it was only half an apple that half did save Shouma. He invested himself in his "family" until he found his purpose but he never felt whole or full. Hence why Penguin 2 was always eating because he was looking for his full apple (which was Ringo).
ut you can't discount the fact that Shouma was the first one to give the apple to Himari (who was also lost). It was because she had this apple & found happiness that she was able to pass it onto Kanba in the first place.
I'm not discounting anything. It's just I wasn't clear enough I suppose. I mean, if you think of the apple simply as "love" then you could say Shouma gives an apple to Himari, Himari gives it to Kanba, Kanba gives half of it back to Shouma, etc.
But that's no it (IMO). The point here is what someone choose to do with the love that was given to them, and that choice is a personal decision.
Kanba chose to live for Himari's sake. It was his decision and his alone. Of course, he had that choice because love was given to him (by Himari), but what to do with that love was still his personal decision.
Shouma was loved, by both Kanba and Himari. Yet, he didn't know what to do with that love that was given to him. He didn't have an "apple" because the "apple" is not just love but purpose.
That's why Kanba had to share his purpose with him. In other words, what I mean is that despite loving Himari very much, living for her sake wasn't something Shouma decided to do on his own. He was just following his "brother", "sharing" on what Kanba decided to do.
So at the end he gives it back to Kanba so that Kanba could sacrifice all of his life and self for Himari's sake. It was Kanba's right to so because it was what he decided to do on his own. That was a decision that Shouma never made.
I think that it's because the "apple", the "penguindrum", is a choice, the choice on what to do with the love that was given to you, that it breaks "fate". If you're loved, you may decide to give love to someone else too, and by doing so you may change that person's "fate". Or you may decide not to give it back at all, in which case, even though you have love, you still won't change anyone's fate and won't ever amount to anything.
At least that's the way I understood it. I know there must be many other ways to see all this though.
At least that's the way I understood it. I know there must be many other ways to see all this though.
I don't disagree with what you are saying but what I am trying to say is there was a bond between Shouma/Himari/Kanba that started with Shouma giving an apple to Himari. Himari had no will to live until Shouma chose her and gave her an apple. It was this Himari that put the bandaid on Kanba. If not for Shouma's act then Himari would never have showed kindness to Kanba inspiring him to live for her.
So I am saying everything between the siblings felt full circle to me.
And while yes half of Kanba's apple was not enough for Shouma it did keep him living even if not in a full sense. Shouma lived for his family while he was looking for his apple.
I don't disagree with what you are saying but what I am trying to say is there was a bond between Shouma/Himari/Kanba that started with Shouma giving an apple to Himari.
Well, you could say that Shouma started everything because he decided to rescue Himari. But if you think about it, he could only do this because he was already loved (ie: by his parents). So it's not only a connection between these three, and Shouma is certainly not the beginning point.
Ultimately, only someone who was loved can give love to others (the series hammers this point quite strongly), therefore we're talking about a connection of love with no beginning and no end IMO.
Well, you could say that Shouma started everything because he decided to rescue Himari. But if you think about it, he could only do this because he was already loved (ie: by his parents). So it's not only a connection between these three, and Shouma is certainly not the beginning point.
But I still think it is since the circle is
Shouma---Himari---Kanba---1/2 to Shouma.
And I understand that Shouma needed to find his own purpose/apple hence why he was never full but I still can't discount what Kanba did for Shouma that this did save him until he did find that apple.
This is from the Penguindrum event (or a Kossori, I'm not sure):
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Marie (Ringo VA)'s favorite scene is the one when Ringo is washing the dishes with Shouma "like a married couple" (sic). Marie and Ryouhei rehearsed that scene countless times and they kept changing the overall mood everytime they did it, but both of them were really happy with the final result.
So the three points i think i have gotten from this episode is that;
-The diary does not do anything. The 'magic words' of Okinome is basically 'self-giving' eg. by using her own body to shield everyone from the explosion (from the teddy bear bombs).
-The penguindrum is probably the vital organs of Shoma + Kanba to give Himari (and Mario?) the life to survive again.
-Kanba and Shoma in little boy form walking with penguins concludes they are now non-visible entities or dead.
One thing this last ep could have done without is the whole 'it was all a dream, nobody remembers' ending. In fact, that probably butchered every (if any) relevant plot in this series. Because seriously, what on earth could have caused super amnesia to befall the Sister, the Stalker, Himari, and everyone/everything in existence?
If this is the original creator's idea of 'true magic', then it was very unthoughtful & ridiculous (even for a ridiculous show). Other than that, it was alright.
Also I just realised that Satenoshi totally screwed up big time. Had he not given those scarves to Double H, then Double H never would've visited Himari's house and Ringo wouldn't have found the spell.
Location: I've moved around the American West. I've lived in Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Oklahoma
Age: 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by NaweG
So why is it I felt good about the other two, and this one left me feeling... meh? Maybe because it felt like in those first two there was a struggle and ultimately while it was bittersweet there was still some promise while this one seemed to be more of "best compromise that can be made given the rules"...
Indeed.
Since people seemed to have difficulty understanding my original complaint I shall try to expand on it.
First, here is Eschaton's analysis of the symbolism from a post over in the show thread at TV Tropes:
Spoiler for It's all about love:
As for the backstory: Originally, all three siblings were destined to "die" from malnourishment, not necessarily of food or water, but love, as per Yuri and Tabuki's comment about unloved children, and the entire idea of the Child Broiler. Notably, "Kiga, " which appears on the apples, means "hunger/starvation." For Shouma, there is an aspect of parental neglect and abandonment on the part of their actions and the consequences (this situation would then apply to #2 always consuming food).
But then Kanba got an apple, "The Fruit of Fate." He shares it with Shoma, saving them both. Shoma shares his half with Himari, saving them both, but the 'curse' or 'punishment' for sharing is that Himari must die eventually. In the end, Shoma returns his half to Kanba, who gives it to Himari who already has his half, saving her (a full apple) but he dies since he has no fruit anymore. In the meanwhile, Ringo uses a spell to transfer fates. However, the cost of the spell is being burned to death, which Shoma steps in and takes instead, since he was about to die anyways from the lack of a fruit. So Shoma and Kanba die as a result, and Ringo and Himari live.
So basically, the Penguindrum is life/love, and throughout the whole show the brothers have been trying to give those things to Himari, and in the end do so and come full circle. Thus the title comes into play, as the Penguindrum "rotates/spins" through all three.
A purposeless Shouma saved Himari and gave her a family, thus shared his apple with her; Himari was henceforth given a purpose, but keep in mind that Shouma received nothing in turn. Then Kanba gets accepted into the family and Himari gives him the bandaid to keep the pain away, thus Kanba decides he'll do anything for her; here Himari was unknowingly sharing her apple with Kanba, because she gave him a purpose (and the bandaid appears on #1). Kanba was able to actually receive the apple because he wasn't completely empty and devoid of purpose like Shouma himself was, as Kanba already had precious people he wanted to protect (Masako and Mario, his words on the cage are a reference to them) as such his "box" was able to connect to the outside world, if only for a moment and the apple reaches him. Interestingly, this changes with Himari, "going genes/instinct" not in incest, but by choosing her over his biological family, and Masako wants to reverse that (thus Esmeralda always taking Threetie's wigs).
When he shares the apple with Shouma, Shouma's purpose becomes precisely that: Himari no Tame Ni + Kanba = Takakura Family's wellbeing. That's the reason why Shouma is so single-minded about keeping the family united; because thats' what gave meaning to his existence, as such was what he inherited that day Kanba shared his apple with him. He, however, still remains kind of empty and from that comes his apparent uncapability to love, but Ringo comes around to change all that. When Ringo (whose name speaks for itself) comes around, she effectively becomes an apple for Shouma, a "whole" one all to himself, and she fulfills the part of Shouma that had remained closed-off to the world. He isn't able to accept it however until he lets his barriers down. The key difference here is that Ringo's metaphorical apple didn't give him a purpose, as he already had one, but gave him the will to break the chains of fate and be assertive, which is what he lacked.
Seito Sakakibara is a pretty blatant influence on Sanetoshi as a character too. He uses a lot of the same terms and phrasing as Sakakibara did in his creepy letter to the TV station. Sakakibara thought of himself as an "invisible entity" created by society (he calls out public education specifically) and that he had conversed with another such entity, the only other one like him. He claimed that he took credit for the murders he committed, that he otherwise could have gotten away with, to make the world recognize his existence.
The Sanetoshi - Aum Shinrikyo/Shoko Asahara connection seems pretty clear. The parallel to the actual subway attacks done by a fanatical group bent on "saving" society/others aside, there are other things. Seizon Senryakyu/Survival Strategy could be a play on Aum Shinrikyo's own "Perfect Salvation Initiation" (PSI) method, or their PR slogan which was "Aum Salvation Plan, " which promised to "help people with no direction or sense of future to redeem themselves" (aka, "those who will never amount to anything.")
Also- Asahara, the cult leader, was described by his followers as perfect, spotless. Because the souls of ordinary ppl are "covered with dirt. they are polluted. but Sonshi's (Nakahara) soul is different from ours. it is open, uncovered, without any dirt." A key point of Sanetoshi's character design is his immaculate white. He also presents himself as a doctor, same as Asahara who came from a medical background.
Sanetoshi is an embodiment of spite and hate, while Momoka is an embodiment of forgiveness and love. At the very core the opposition between Sanetoshi and Momoka is, simplistically, selfishness vs selflessness. Sanetoshi doesn't give a shit about harming others to satisfy his desires and uses the same ideology to win over followers (i.e. Kanba) to the same methods. He doesn't kill to end others' suffering, since that would require giving a shit about other people––Sanetoshi wants to kill and end the world because he doesn't like it, because he's invisible, and so on.
Obviously, combined with his imagery and behavior, he is effectively Satan, even moreso than Akio from Utena, and compounded by the role of the Black Bunnies as a Serpent role in Shouma's Mary's Little Lambs story. Furthermore, the Apple/Penguindrum is shared love and purpose in life, but also shared punishment, and in the same way Adam and Eve shared the punishment of mortality (living is punishment according to Kanba), but was also given the solution out of punishment, by love
The box metaphor is all about selfishness and self-preservation (survival strategies). Ultimately, the fate Sanetoshi is talking about––the "self-serving rules" that govern the world––is the cynical idea that people are selfish and––not even will not, CANNOT help each other because it's contrary to their best interests as dictated by "fate" (genes/instinct/whatever). Kanba sharing the fruit with Shoma when they were trapped in the cages effectively broke fate because he violated that principal. Thus, the boxes are fate, or what could be seen as the human condition itself.
Fate is not supposed to be taken as a fact or a concrete force at work determined by divine will, but something else. Fate isn't used in the classical sense here, necessarily— fate (especially in relation to unwanted children) is meant to be the future that people resign themselves to as a result of the selfishness of others (meaning those stuck in their boxes). The future that dictates they will never amount to anything. Altruism is what changes 'fate', or the bleak and awful future so many children face as a result of the lack of love. That is, genuinely reaching out for an unwanted person and making them a part of your life, make them feel needed, and giving them the power to do the same for others. To step outside your box and truly reach out to another person who needs love will change their life completely.
TL;DREpisode 1: "This is all about love."
I don't want to get bogged down in analyzing all of the symbolism. It's enough to say that it comes down to: "This is all about love"
Additionally, it is clear that Shouma and Kanba where from the beginning built up as opposing opposites. Once we realize "This is all about love" this contrast becomes clear.
Kanba represents "Love As Sacrifice." Kanba is constantly sacrificing himself for those he loves. As he becomes darker, and falls under the power of the Tempter (Sanetoshi), Kanba begins to sacrifice others for his love. Thus we see both the light and the dark sides of Kanba's conception of love as sacrifice.
Shouma represents "Love As Connections" (I can't really find the one word to describe this, but connection is as close as I can get). Shouma is constantly trying to build connections with those he loves. Entangling themselves together emotionally, creating a unity of souls. Shouma creates relationships of affection, affinity, and affiliation.
At the start, Shouma is the one who keeps Kanba rooted, Kanba seems to sense this as he originally tries to protect Shouma from the effects as Kanba falls into darkness. Shouma begins to become the light alter ego of the dark Kanba.
We see the strength in Shouma's approach in the first half of the show, as Shouma is struggling to save Ringo from her madness. Ringo is lost, but Shouma goes and finds her, and through the strength of his affection and affiliation he is able to infiltrate Ringo's defenses and call her back to light. Once Ringo realizes "I love Shouma" she then abandons her darkness and becomes a figure of light. She has been rescued by the connection Shouma built with her.
Meanwhile, in the first half of the show we see Kanba sacrificing himself for Himari, confident that he will succeed. The height of this is when he successfully rescues the hat (Himari's life source) from the garbage truck.
Then at the mid-point we enter the frustration stage. Ringo has been rescued, but the diary is lost. Shouma (representing Kanba's light half) is injured and threatened, Kanba begins to lose confidence that he can save Himari. Then the Tempter appears to Kanba suggesting he can save Himari by sacrificing others.
We also begin to see the dark side of Shouma: passive despair. Shouma is losing the connection to his family, both Himari and Kanba. He rejects Ringo. Instead of staying involved with Kanba he decides to just blindly trust in him. He becomes centered on himself- not selfish, just incapable of reaching out to anyone else anymore. Shouma cannot resist fate, he can only passively accept it. This reaches it's peak when he tries to use his connection with Kanba to call him back from darkness into light. Not only does this fail, but Kanba cuts off their relationship, shattering Shouma's family. We don't see as clear a scene of this as we do for Kanba, but the Tempter is also interacting with Shouma throughout this period; encouraging Shouma to stay passive and hopeless.
Then we enter the final stage when Himari is now on her (final) death bed. Kanba is called back to the light by his younger sister, but he rejects her, leading to Masako's destruction. Meanwhile Ringo reaches out to Shouma again, and he accepts her- Shouma begins to heal and is re-empowered to represent the forces of life to Kanba's forces of death.
Notice as we are going along that the other major contrast in the show (Sanetoshi and Momoka) is between these dark and light versions. Momoka represents self-sacrifice and connections with others. Sanetoshi represents sacrifice of others and a self-centered despair that he can never truly connect with others.
At this point it is all great stuff, a very well done symbolic story. It then falls apart in the final episode.
In the final episode Shouma uses his connection with Kanba (the Penguindrum), returning it to Kanba (a sacrifice of himself and restoring their connection), thus empowering Kanba to finally sacrifice himself to save Himari. Meanwhile Ringo tries to sacrifice herself to save Himari (and by extension Shouma and Kanba), but Shouma stops her, rejecting her offer and instead sacrificing himself to save Ringo (echoing his earlier sacrifice when he saved her from the car).
We are then left with Kanba and Shouma together in the "other world" and Ringo and Himari together in the "real world," with no memory of Shouma or Kanba.
There are three major problems with this ending:
1: The first problem is that Kanba is separated from Himari (his other half) and Shouma is separated from Ringo (his other half). Nor is there any hint that they will ever be reunited.
Now perhaps you might say that this is all about family love not romantic love and thus Shouma and Kanba being reunited is a good ending. This could be so: if the show had been setting that up! But that is not the direction the show was going. Himari was revealed to be unrelated to Shouma and Kanba. The show was filled with people trying to find their correct other halves, and all the mistakes and misjudgements along the way:
Ringo thought Tabuki was her other half, but instead she discovers it was Shouma (and once this discovery is made she becomes at peace with herself). Tabuki and Yuri both think Momoka is their other half, until finally they come to realize that they are each others other half (and so they become happy). Sanetoshi thinks that Momoka is his other half, but because she won't accept his self-centered destruction of the world Sanetoshi rejects her and tries to destroy Momoka (leading to his tragic end, alone and without love). Himari at first thinks Shouma is her other half, until she realizes that Shouma is Ringo's other half. Kanba knows from the beginning that Himari is his other half, but Shouma's creation of them as a family is blocking him.
The whole show has been building up to create the correct pairings that will lead each individual to happiness in a untied whole of man and woman. Kanba, Shouma, Himari, and Ringo in particular are at the correct age for this as they are on the verge of becoming adults, and forming a pair bonding with their other half is a major element of maturity.
Then at the end Kanba and Himari acknowledge each other as other halves, and Shouma finally acknowledges Ringo as his other half (the emotional climax of the ending as several people have noticed). But then they are ripped apart. Not only are they separated with no promise of being reunited, but Himari and Ringo both forget their other halves. This is particularly cruel to Ringo, as it essentially deprived her of half her character development with just a wave of a magic wand.
All four of the main characters are regressed to childhood. Shouma and Kanba explicitly.
WTH?!
2: Instead of the natural moral that love is both sacrifice and connections, requiring a balance of the two, we end up with an ending that suggests Kanba was right, love is sacrifice. This is driven home by the forgetting of Shouma and Kanba by their other halves Himari and Ringo. Not only are the connections severed in the end, but they are forgotten, erased as if they never were!
3: A major sub-plot was Kanba's inability to accept Himari's death. All men die, and part of maturity is acceptance of this. Not in despair as Shouma did, but in a healthy way. Kanba never accepts Himari's death, to the point that he chooses destroying the world as preferable to Himari dying. Kanba never rejects this viewpoint. Isn't that strange?
The natural ending would have been for Shouma to return the penguindrum to Kanba, for Kanba to try and sacrifice it to Himari so that she can live. Himari rejects this offer and embraces Kanba with the penguindrum between them creating a connection binding them together. Kanba then comes to realize that his purpose was not to sacrifice his life so that Himari can live on alone, but to sacrifice himself (so that he no longer is a figure alone running off in his own direction, but is instead bound to another soul) so that he and Himari can be united in the afterlife.
Kanba and Himari then enter the train of destiny together, with Shouma following them. Ringo tries to sacrifice herself to return them to life, but Shouma embraces her telling her he loves her and that this is their punishment that he accepts. As he begins to leave Ringo reaches out and grabs his hand and announces that she will share the punishment with him, pulling him back to her in an embrace. Revealing their own penguindrum between them binding them together as Himari and Kanba were bound.
We then see an epilogue with Ringo and Shouma together in life, remembering Himari and Kanba, with the understanding that someday they too will die and join them in the afterlife- while Kanba and Himari watch over them before leaving on their "journey" into this "other world."
That would bring the story to it's complete and final end. All things would be in balance and united wholeness, love would be established as requiring both sacrifice and connections, and death would be revealed as natural and not be feared- it's the separation caused by death that should be feared, not the end of life.
That would have been a good bittersweet ending. Instead the ending we got was a lesser downer ending.
This show was frustrating because it was all built up correctly and then at the end it missed the mark.
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Cross Game - A Story of Love, Life, Death - and Baseball. What more could you want?
Unfortunately that was a misunderstanding. The ending is the same. The novel's just going to expand it a bit with extended scenes and such.
Are you serious!!!! WHAT THE HELL MAN, SAME ENDING AUGH THIS IS GONA BOTHER ME FOR EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND NO KISSING ,wow what a freaking way to end!
To be forgotten is the same as being dead, just take those romance movie where the wife forget the husband!!!
I don't want to get bogged down in analyzing all of the symbolism. It's enough to say that it comes down to: "This is all about love"
Additionally, it is clear that Shouma and Kanba where from the beginning built up as opposing opposites. Once we realize "This is all about love" this contrast becomes clear.
I've gotta go with Kazu-kun. The penguin drum isn't simply love but purpose as well, and the one Sho gave to Himari isn't the one he received from Kanba -- in fact, I think it's a mistake to treat the apple too literally, as though it's an object being passed around. Shouma had no purpose of his own and had to borrow one from Kanba, which is why their penguin drum is symbolized by a split apple. But with Himari, Shouma didn't share his purpose with her -- he gave her one (himself).
I'd also argue that the diary was a sort of penguin drum as well and the reason the PotC was so cagey about it wasn't Kanba and Shouma's penguin drum. Rather the diary was the embodiment of Ringo's original purpose, to reunite her family. Notice that like Kanba's apple, the diary was split in half, but in this case it was because of Yuri's desire to bring back Momoka and Masako's quest to reunite her own family. But while all three goals involve love, there's a certain greediness to them, as though they aren't as purely motivated as Kanba's desire to save Himari. And in all three cases, they were better off abandoning the diary for something else -- Tabuki, Mario, and Shouma.
If all that apple giving is supposed to be metaphor, not literal, then it's probably a mistake to try to assign some kind of chronological order to who gave what to whom. The exchange may not even represent any specific action at a single moment in time. Giving someone an apple could be seen as being there for someone when they need you in their lives the most. Just don't ask me how that's supposed to make any sense in terms of Kanba and Shouma disappearing at the end.
