Boogiepop Phantom

Publisher
ADV
Director
Takashi Watanabe
Production
Madhouse, Project Boogiepop, TV Tokyo
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
12 episodes
Year
2000

Boogiepop Phantom: Evolution Two

By John Huxley
27th Apr 04

Episode Summary

Episode 4: My fair lady

Yoji's concept of the world is what he sees on his monitor. For him, the only real thing is the generated girl he plays with every waking moment. Then, one day, reality intrudes on his world and the girl of his dreams appears. She's so very nearly perfect... with a little help she will go the rest of the way. You see, it's really all so very easy...

Episode 5: Interlude

Morita and Yamamoto are two typical cops in what seems like a sleepy town. It wasn't always like this: there was that string of murders five years ago, but most of their days are spent going over reports and chatting about the mundane events of their lives. So, how does one define "mundane"?

Episode 6: Mother's day

Shizue and her mother didn't really know each other: the death of her father saw to that. Driven apart by a mutual lack of understanding, Shizue's death and the discovery of her dairies sends her mom through Shizue's short life. Her few joys. Her many disappointments. A crystalizing event. And at last, a moment of clarity for each.

Volume Review

As Boogiepop Phantom goes on there seem to be more questions asked than those answered. Despite finding out the identity of both the serial killer and Boogiepop, nothing is yet clear. The first episode doesn't help much, either. A boy, Yoji, is a computer geek who spends all his time playing dating games and chatting on-line (sounds familiar...). When he's introduced to a new drug called �Type S' he becomes unable to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, and his dream girls from his dating games become mixed with those in real life. If you've ever played a dating game, or even met someone who has, you'll be able to identify with the character in this episode (until he goes bonkers at least). As with all the other episodes, the tragic ending isn't exactly a surprise.

The second episode, Interlude, is anything but an interlude. This is the first we hear of a shady organisation pulling the strings. The majority of the episode concerns two cops who chat about life to pass time in the midnight hour. Only, one cop is doing all the talking, and he's talking about some very weird stuff. I did find myself enjoying this episode because of the hopeless inevitability of it all. You know exactly what the cop is talking about and exactly what's going to happen. But that doesn't make it any less exciting when it eventually does happen.

The third episode, Mother's Day, is a bit of a weepie. Shizue's mother reads through her deceased daughter's diary, reliving the events leading up to her death. Neither is a particularly evil person, yet they both led an unhappy life and with Shizue's death, they'll both die that way, too. Not nice, not funny but thoroughly effective.

Despite more questions than answers, things are starting to come together. If you watch carefully you can spot several clues as to the future of the series. But clues aren't enough, and all that remains are three individual stories that aren't strong enough on their own. Having said that, I do have high hopes for the rest of the series, and I think that these episodes will be worth another watch in the future.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English subtitles, Japanese 2.0 and English 5.1 audio, Director's commentary 1.0, 100 second promotion, "Evolution" (disc 3) promotion, Fruits video, ADV Previews

Release information: UK release date: 18th August 2003, ADV

Notes: Very similar features to the last volume. So, back to the directors commentary. Unlike the last DVD, they have different people for each episode and the commentary stops during the titles before starting again for the next episode. Not really a big issue, but I did prefer the old format slightly. They also changed the audio levels so the commentary is a lot quieter than last time, which can make it difficult to hear them during certain scenes (especially when a voice actor is speaking over their part...very confusing!). It's still a welcome addition, although I don't feel that it was quite as useful as the last time around. Again, no problems with the visuals or audio. Clean and crisp.

-- John Huxley 27th Apr 04

Boogiepop Phantom Images