It follows the efforts of two brothers, Kanba and Shouma, as they attempt to save their sickly little sister Himari from death by cooperating with a magical penguin hat.

A terminally ill girl named Himari Takakura is miraculously saved from death by a strange spirit who resides in a penguin-shaped hat.

However, in exchange for extending her life, the spirit tasks Himari's brothers, Kanba and Shoma, to seek out an elusive item known as the Penguindrum with the assistance from a trio of strange penguins.

Other characters, such as Shoma, Kanba and Himari Takakura, are children of the terrorists who performed the 1995 attack; in the story "they will be forced to account for the crimes of their parents".

[11][12][13][14] Sentai Filmworks screened both films at Anime Boston 2023,[15] and released them on Blu-ray (with an English dub) on July 4 of the same year.

[16] Almost two years after the premiere of the anime series, a manga adaptation by Isuzu Shibata began serialization in the monthly magazine Comic Birz on May 30, 2013.

[22] Penguindrum was part of the Jury Selections at the 15th Japan Media Arts Festival in the Animation category in 2011.