I just marathoned the show up to episode 12, and I have to say I have not experienced pacing as mad as this since Gurren Lagann. I'll stay away from theorizing and whatnot, but I'll definitely say that with just the tiniest of tonal change (they'd just need to remove the Stripping Disco Princess), this show could be one of the most horrifying things in years, with its extremely thorough and usually straight take on the awful shit people do to each other, and the consequences thereof. Definite kudos to the writers there.
Also, to the spoiler-bar talk upthread: consider that sometimes a penguin is just a penguin. Knowing anime it's probably not, but it's what I'm subscribing to for the moment.