Penance starts out fairly tame, with five young girls, and one being seduced by an older man to her death. The mother is understandably angry and upset and blames the other girls who are as old as ten for not helping to find the murderer. She inappropriately places some kind of curse on these little kids, but let's face it, it's no worse than some angry religious Karen in a rich neighborhood in the American South.
However, the kids grow up, and that's where the insanity really starts. Sae reacts to her friends' murder by becoming anorexic and refusing to become a woman. A disturbed but wealthy incel follows her from childhood through a Japanese matchmaking service (yes, this is where the weirdness truly begins) and she reluctantly agrees to marry him. There's a moment where the viewer believes for a second that the Japanese tradition of matching young people through marriages might be a good idea. Sae declares happily she never imagined this kind of financial security and commitment for herself which is why she always had avoided dating and didn't want to be a woman. For a split second we think Sae is making the right decision by choosing the nerdy successful guy who will give her a beautiful house with a promise of lifelong commitment.
But then this freak admits he was the French doll theif from her childhood and he tracked her down because she had a "girl's body" and he basically wants to marry her so he can control her, keep her at home, and only jerk off to her wearing doll dresses as a perpetual virgin. It's VERY CREEPY. Everything you've heard about men watching anime marrying blow up dolls. A complete expose of Tokyo creeper culture. Anyway, so Sae ends up BEATING HIM TO DEATH WITH A LAMP (wouldn't you?)
That was her "penance".
The second woman is a very strict, almost evil, teacher. And this again is supposed to be a commentary on Japanese people pushing their children too hard to be perfect and overachieve. But somehow nothing will ever be as weird as the first episode.
However, the kids grow up, and that's where the insanity really starts. Sae reacts to her friends' murder by becoming anorexic and refusing to become a woman. A disturbed but wealthy incel follows her from childhood through a Japanese matchmaking service (yes, this is where the weirdness truly begins) and she reluctantly agrees to marry him. There's a moment where the viewer believes for a second that the Japanese tradition of matching young people through marriages might be a good idea. Sae declares happily she never imagined this kind of financial security and commitment for herself which is why she always had avoided dating and didn't want to be a woman. For a split second we think Sae is making the right decision by choosing the nerdy successful guy who will give her a beautiful house with a promise of lifelong commitment.
But then this freak admits he was the French doll theif from her childhood and he tracked her down because she had a "girl's body" and he basically wants to marry her so he can control her, keep her at home, and only jerk off to her wearing doll dresses as a perpetual virgin. It's VERY CREEPY. Everything you've heard about men watching anime marrying blow up dolls. A complete expose of Tokyo creeper culture. Anyway, so Sae ends up BEATING HIM TO DEATH WITH A LAMP (wouldn't you?)
That was her "penance".
The second woman is a very strict, almost evil, teacher. And this again is supposed to be a commentary on Japanese people pushing their children too hard to be perfect and overachieve. But somehow nothing will ever be as weird as the first episode.