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type_wildWonky, please bear over with me.
Edited 20.02.2017, for slightly less wonkiness.
I. Kanba and Shouma, atonement and punishment
The common interpretation of the climax of Mawaru Penguindrum seems to be that Kanba saves Himari and Shouma saves Ringo, with which I don't agree. At all.
Shouma and Himari save Kanba.
Ringo saves Himari.
Shouma saves Ringo (and indirectly Himari).
Kanba saves no-one.
Throughout the series, Kanba has saved Himari's life in a series of dramatic sacrifices, but not one of them has changed her fate. Himari's fate is to die from the illness that might or might not be the Takakura Curse, and that fate is merely postponed by Kanba's sacrifices. Right before Himari returns the penguindrum to him, Kanba tells her that "I still haven't done anything for you", which is an astute observation. Where Kanba's past sacrifices saved Shouma's life and kept Masako away from the Kiga Group, and his present sacrifices save Masako's life and keep Shouma way from the Kigao group, nothing he does changes the fact that Himari's illness/curse is going to kill her.
The one who changes the tracks on which Himari is bound is Shouma: It is Shouma who saves her from the child broiler, Shouma who shares the fruit of destiny with her, Shouma who buys the penguin hat, Shouma who finds the bloody penguindrum and ultimately, it's Shouma who takes the punishment for changing her fate. It's Ringo who frees Himari from the curse, and while Ringo and Himari meet independently of Shouma, I have a hard time seeing Ringo stick around the Takakura children as closely as she does if Shouma hadn't succesfully altered her fate as well by saving her from herself. Anyway, notice how all of Shouma's actions are not conscious sacrifices like Kanba's, but simple, desperate acts of love. This naive approach is one that we only see one time from Kanba: when he shares the apple with Shouma in the box.
Kanba is willing to sacrifice everything and everyone for Himari's sake. He becomes the ultimate tragic villain, refusing to acknowledge that killing people for Himari's sake is the opposite of what Himari wants. Regardless of whether or not the Takakura siblings should be punished for their parents' sins, Kanba actively becomes as bad as their parents were. He is a child of the Penguin Force thrice over: by the Natsume dad, by the Takakura parents, and finally by his own conscious choice. This, the ending makes clear, is not the right path to follow if you want accomplish your well-intended goals. It's not entirely clear if the in-universe karma punishes Kanba for his crimes, though I have a hard time seeing how him blowing up in blood is anything else after Shouma and Himari both bled in a far more lenient "punishment". Whatever the case, the narrative most certainly doesn't reward his actions: he makes the choice of evil, and he fails at what he wants to do. It's Ringo who has the power to save Himari's life, and it's Shouma who pays the price for it.
And of course Shouma has to pay that price. His self-perception is built on acknowledging the sins of his parents and taking on the blame of their actions. Shouma has elected to carry the guilt that his parents wouldn't; and since he did so on his own volition, the only thing that can lift that burden from him is atonement. He has to be punished to be free. Kanba loves their parents (Kanba knows what unloving parents are like), and follows in their footsteps. Shouma hates their parents, and hates himself because he believes that he carries their sin. To make matters worse, Shouma brought the same sin onto Himari by making her a part of the Takakura family, which means that Shouma is ultimately to blame for her illness/curse. Shouma can't let himself return Ringo's love because he believes he carries the responsibility for Momoka's death. When Ringo saves Himari's life, and Shouma takes the punishment in her place, it isn't merely the act of saving Ringo: it is his chance to be atone for his sin against Ringo AND his sin against Himari. Shouma cannot be freed from his guilt by anything else than making up for the suffering he believes he caused these two girls. That is why it is so bloody beautiful when Shouma tells Ringo that he loves her - not because it is a confession of love as he dies in her place, but because it is a testimony to that he finally, finally, has escaped the curse placed onto him by his parents.
II. Ringo and the apple thing
The conversations between Shouma and Himari as children make it clear that the fruit of destiny is a play on the fruit from the tree of knowledge. Thus, sharing the fruit of destiny is the original sin, which - I've seen someone point out - suggests that Himari's curse is not punishment for the sins of their parents, but punishment for the children having shared the fruit of destiny between themselves.
Anyway, onto Ringo who is steeped in the apple symbolisme (her name means apple, okay). If we continue reading the story in the light of Christian symbolism, then Ringo's actions and character arc makes her a symbol of both sin and absolution.
When we initially meet Ringo, she's nothing less than a criminal. She stalks a man, breaks into his property, drugs him and very nearly succeeds in raping him. Her attitude towards Shouma is abusive, and she is utterly callous to both his, Tabuki's and Yuri's feelings on the matter. But after Shouma's sacrifice for her, she starts changing until we reach the final episode, where she sacrifices her life for the happiness of the Takakura children (or she would have if Shouma hadn't interfered and taken the punishment in her place).
More importantly, Ringo was directly affected by the sin of the Takakura parents, the sin for which the entire society believes that the Takakura children should be punished. Everyone, that is, except for Ringo who above all should have the right to claim revenge. Indeed, Ringo is willing to absolve their sin and suffer in their place (see the Jesus shot there as she cries out the spell to save Himari).
And recall Momoka's spell: sharing the fruit of destiny is literally also the spell for transfering destinies, but as we know, transfering destinies is an act for which you are punished. Whether the Takakura children were performing the spell when they shared the fruit is never made clear, but it make sense within the rules set by Momoka's power: they change their own destinies by sharing it, but suffer the punishment for it through Himari's illness.
Like Ringo, the apple is a contradiction: on the one hand it is the ultimate sin that dooms the Takakura children, on the other hand it is their way to salvation. Shouma and Himari can live and the three can be a family because the apple was shared, but the punishment for sharing the apple is cruel. If it had been a little less than three years since I saw Night on the Galactic Railroad, this is probably where I'd make a point about how Penguindrum alludes to that apple symbolism at least as much as to the Bible (read all about it here). Of course Ringo the apple girl is two-fold: the story refers to two vastly different meanings of the apple outside of its own frame.
(IIRC, the apple that Kanba found in his box had a Pinggroup sticker, as did the one Shouma shared with Himari, probably suggesting that the life that it gave them was a life in the shadow of the Penguin Force/Kiga Group. This would mean when Kanba was "chosen", he was chosen to that life. The price that Shouma and Himari paid was their involvement with the same sin - which was still better than their original fate, which was to die! By that logic, it also makes sense that it was Kanba who willingly returned to the Kiga Group)
Edited 20.02.2017, for slightly less wonkiness.
I. Kanba and Shouma, atonement and punishment
The common interpretation of the climax of Mawaru Penguindrum seems to be that Kanba saves Himari and Shouma saves Ringo, with which I don't agree. At all.
Shouma and Himari save Kanba.
Ringo saves Himari.
Shouma saves Ringo (and indirectly Himari).
Kanba saves no-one.
Throughout the series, Kanba has saved Himari's life in a series of dramatic sacrifices, but not one of them has changed her fate. Himari's fate is to die from the illness that might or might not be the Takakura Curse, and that fate is merely postponed by Kanba's sacrifices. Right before Himari returns the penguindrum to him, Kanba tells her that "I still haven't done anything for you", which is an astute observation. Where Kanba's past sacrifices saved Shouma's life and kept Masako away from the Kiga Group, and his present sacrifices save Masako's life and keep Shouma way from the Kigao group, nothing he does changes the fact that Himari's illness/curse is going to kill her.
The one who changes the tracks on which Himari is bound is Shouma: It is Shouma who saves her from the child broiler, Shouma who shares the fruit of destiny with her, Shouma who buys the penguin hat, Shouma who finds the bloody penguindrum and ultimately, it's Shouma who takes the punishment for changing her fate. It's Ringo who frees Himari from the curse, and while Ringo and Himari meet independently of Shouma, I have a hard time seeing Ringo stick around the Takakura children as closely as she does if Shouma hadn't succesfully altered her fate as well by saving her from herself. Anyway, notice how all of Shouma's actions are not conscious sacrifices like Kanba's, but simple, desperate acts of love. This naive approach is one that we only see one time from Kanba: when he shares the apple with Shouma in the box.
Kanba is willing to sacrifice everything and everyone for Himari's sake. He becomes the ultimate tragic villain, refusing to acknowledge that killing people for Himari's sake is the opposite of what Himari wants. Regardless of whether or not the Takakura siblings should be punished for their parents' sins, Kanba actively becomes as bad as their parents were. He is a child of the Penguin Force thrice over: by the Natsume dad, by the Takakura parents, and finally by his own conscious choice. This, the ending makes clear, is not the right path to follow if you want accomplish your well-intended goals. It's not entirely clear if the in-universe karma punishes Kanba for his crimes, though I have a hard time seeing how him blowing up in blood is anything else after Shouma and Himari both bled in a far more lenient "punishment". Whatever the case, the narrative most certainly doesn't reward his actions: he makes the choice of evil, and he fails at what he wants to do. It's Ringo who has the power to save Himari's life, and it's Shouma who pays the price for it.
And of course Shouma has to pay that price. His self-perception is built on acknowledging the sins of his parents and taking on the blame of their actions. Shouma has elected to carry the guilt that his parents wouldn't; and since he did so on his own volition, the only thing that can lift that burden from him is atonement. He has to be punished to be free. Kanba loves their parents (Kanba knows what unloving parents are like), and follows in their footsteps. Shouma hates their parents, and hates himself because he believes that he carries their sin. To make matters worse, Shouma brought the same sin onto Himari by making her a part of the Takakura family, which means that Shouma is ultimately to blame for her illness/curse. Shouma can't let himself return Ringo's love because he believes he carries the responsibility for Momoka's death. When Ringo saves Himari's life, and Shouma takes the punishment in her place, it isn't merely the act of saving Ringo: it is his chance to be atone for his sin against Ringo AND his sin against Himari. Shouma cannot be freed from his guilt by anything else than making up for the suffering he believes he caused these two girls. That is why it is so bloody beautiful when Shouma tells Ringo that he loves her - not because it is a confession of love as he dies in her place, but because it is a testimony to that he finally, finally, has escaped the curse placed onto him by his parents.
II. Ringo and the apple thing
The conversations between Shouma and Himari as children make it clear that the fruit of destiny is a play on the fruit from the tree of knowledge. Thus, sharing the fruit of destiny is the original sin, which - I've seen someone point out - suggests that Himari's curse is not punishment for the sins of their parents, but punishment for the children having shared the fruit of destiny between themselves.
Anyway, onto Ringo who is steeped in the apple symbolisme (her name means apple, okay). If we continue reading the story in the light of Christian symbolism, then Ringo's actions and character arc makes her a symbol of both sin and absolution.
When we initially meet Ringo, she's nothing less than a criminal. She stalks a man, breaks into his property, drugs him and very nearly succeeds in raping him. Her attitude towards Shouma is abusive, and she is utterly callous to both his, Tabuki's and Yuri's feelings on the matter. But after Shouma's sacrifice for her, she starts changing until we reach the final episode, where she sacrifices her life for the happiness of the Takakura children (or she would have if Shouma hadn't interfered and taken the punishment in her place).
More importantly, Ringo was directly affected by the sin of the Takakura parents, the sin for which the entire society believes that the Takakura children should be punished. Everyone, that is, except for Ringo who above all should have the right to claim revenge. Indeed, Ringo is willing to absolve their sin and suffer in their place (see the Jesus shot there as she cries out the spell to save Himari).
And recall Momoka's spell: sharing the fruit of destiny is literally also the spell for transfering destinies, but as we know, transfering destinies is an act for which you are punished. Whether the Takakura children were performing the spell when they shared the fruit is never made clear, but it make sense within the rules set by Momoka's power: they change their own destinies by sharing it, but suffer the punishment for it through Himari's illness.
Like Ringo, the apple is a contradiction: on the one hand it is the ultimate sin that dooms the Takakura children, on the other hand it is their way to salvation. Shouma and Himari can live and the three can be a family because the apple was shared, but the punishment for sharing the apple is cruel. If it had been a little less than three years since I saw Night on the Galactic Railroad, this is probably where I'd make a point about how Penguindrum alludes to that apple symbolism at least as much as to the Bible (read all about it here). Of course Ringo the apple girl is two-fold: the story refers to two vastly different meanings of the apple outside of its own frame.
(IIRC, the apple that Kanba found in his box had a Pinggroup sticker, as did the one Shouma shared with Himari, probably suggesting that the life that it gave them was a life in the shadow of the Penguin Force/Kiga Group. This would mean when Kanba was "chosen", he was chosen to that life. The price that Shouma and Himari paid was their involvement with the same sin - which was still better than their original fate, which was to die! By that logic, it also makes sense that it was Kanba who willingly returned to the Kiga Group)
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