Mawaru Penguindrum is an original anime directed and written by Kunihiko Ikuhara, who also directed Revolutionary Girl Utena, with "family" as its theme, and the original creator "Ikuni Chowder" is the name of a creative group centered around Ikuhara.

The work frequently references and draws motifs from Kenji Miyazawa's Night on the Galactic Railroad.

The birthdate of the characters (March 20, 1995) and the date of the subway terror incident in the story perfectly match the date of the actual Tokyo subway sarin attack, and since the model "TSM Ogikubo Line" almost overlaps with the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, it has been pointed out that the sarin incident may be one of the motifs of the work.

Director Ikuhara felt uncomfortable with wrapping descriptions reminiscent of the 1995 incident into an unrealistic fantasy, and he remained uncertain until the end about what distance he should depict it with.

According to the English version of the article, the characters Masago Watase and Momoka Oginome are said to reflect Ikuo Hayashi, a physician who was an executor of the Tokyo subway sarin attack, and a female student who witnessed him just before the incident.

The work was selected as an Recommended Work by the Review Committee in the Animation Division of the 15th Cultural Affairs Agency Media Arts Festival (Heisei 23rd fiscal year), nominated for the 43rd Nebula Award Media Division in 2012, and was chosen by Polygon as one of the best anime of the 2010s in 2019.

Many of the ending themes are performed by three voice actors (Miho Arakawa, Yui Watabe, and Marie Miyake), who play Himari, Hibari, and Kanba respectively, actually singing as the unit "Triple H" under the idol unit "Double H" name within the story.

In commemoration of the broadcast's 10th anniversary, the two-part theatrical film RE:cycle of the PENGUINDRUM was released in 2022, consisting of a reedited version of the television series with new parts added.