Penguin Enishi

I didn't know what to start with after the hiatus (there is so much I need to catch up on!) so I eventually decided to go for the review that spent the most time as a pile of notes:

ペンギンゑにし

Company: Frillia Record
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.01.27
Official site: http://frillra.jp/pengin/


Penguin Enishi is a story about a small shrine in that is nicknamed 'Penguin Shrine'. The head priest recently died, leaving the shrine in the hands of his two sons, Miki and Tane. However neither of them is an official priest, and if the head office doesn't send a new priest, the shrine will be abandoned.

Miki (CV: Ono Daisuke), the oldest of the two, is trying to obtain his qualification as priest. But even though he gets the top score at the exam, he has no supernatural abilities and therefore fails the exam everytime. Meanwhile Tane (CV: Shimono Hiro), the younger one, does seem to have abilities, but he is still in high school and cannot become a priest yet. The two of them are actually half brothers, they have a different mother.

A little while ago a talking penguin calling himself Enishi (CV: Nakata Jouji) suddenly appeared at the temple, claiming that he is a god. Miki is sceptical, but Tane is overjoyed so the penguin gets to stay. Now all he does is eat a lot and cause trouble in the neighbourhood (although he does claim that he can be useful, stating excellent skills with word and excel among his strong points).

Meanwhile Hazumi Ten (CV: Sakurai Takahiro), who is Tane his halfbrother (although Tane refuses to see him as a brother) and works as a police officer, brings along the ghost of boy (CV: Suzumura Kenichi). The only thing the boy remembers is Miki his name. While trying to find out his identity, they discover that his name is Nishimaki Kento, and that he was a year under Miki and Ten while they were at high school, and slowly they start to discover why the only thing that he could remember was Miki his name...

Between all of this there are scenes with Chidou Nene (CV: Maeda Ai), Ten and Tane their mother. She left her first husband (Ten his father) and remarried Chidou Daiju (Miki and Tane their father) but left the house and has been living on her own for a while. Nene seems to have become the love interest of Ichikawa Tadamaki (CV: Koyasu Takehiro), although his motivations can be doubted, and neither does he seem to be entirely human...

I'm trying to summarize all this while trying to avoid spoilers, as this is an interesting story. Not all is as it seems in the beginning, and there are some interesting developments. There is a lot of humour as well; especially Enishi is a good comic relief. The pacing of the story was really good as well, and I'm interested in seeing how it will develop (especially with regards to Ichikawa his intentions).

In this review the relations between everyone may seem a bit hazy, but it is all very simple. When in doubt, just take a look at the character chart on the official site here.


Conclusion
A good story, not too much supernatural activity, the right amount of humour and penguin induced chaos, and lots of potential for the next part. Also Koyasu-sama and Sakurai, just saying.