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 complete Collection

By noghri
15th Mar 06

Well here we have one of the most though provoking series available on the market and in a handy new Box set too.

What ADV said

One of the most critically acclaimed, uniquely terrifying anime series ever is collected together in a UK-Exclusive-packaged Complete Collection!

From Sadayuki Murai, the writer of Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Steamboy, and Takashi Watanabe, the director of New Fist of North Star and Casshan, comes a uniquely chilling experiment in animated j-horror. Studios MADHOUSE (Ninja Scroll, The Animatrix, Patlabor, Paranoia Agent) and SHAFT (Spirited Away, Mahoromatic) team up to bring Kohei Kadano's novels to life in this acclaimed series, now available in one complete set.

A scream in the night, and in that instant the world changed ... or at least, it appeared to. There have always been forces in the world and voices in the night: some friendly and other malevolent. Invisible until summoned; they slide through dimensions as people walk through doorways. They wait, and watch the doings of Man closely ... each for their own reasons. Sometimes, they appear ... and when they do, the world changes.

Everyone knows about Boogiepop: meet her one dark night and you are taken. People tell each other the stories and laugh: no one believes that she exists in this day and age. Still, there are some strange things that appear to be going on just below the surface. Darkness takes many forms, though. Evil and good intermingle. The glass shatters. Time stands still. There is something in the darkness. You aren't alone. Are you safe?

Five years ago, there was a string of grisly murders that shook the city to its core ... and in the present, psychic echoes reverberate.

Review

If you haven’t seen this series that introduction might sound a little out there, but that is Boogiepop all over. I would love to meet the type of people who think up these kinds of stories they must be the most interesting people in the world.
It’s kind of like watching the more bizarre episodes of the outer limits.

As far as urban legends go, Boogiepop is a strange one, Boogiepop is a supernatural being who collects souls that, according to her have no place in this world, she is widely known about in the cast of characters in the series.
I first watched this show about 18 months ago and the story mostly went over my head, I was watching the episodes pretty spread out and never really got a grip on the wide cast of characters involved or the fragments of the larger story line given in each episode.
I then watched Serial experiments Lain and thought that this genre of anime while very interesting just wasn’t for me. People asked me what I though of this and that, and I had no clue what they were talking about. I was, at that time just being reintroduced to anime after a long time off for many different reasons.

Maybe it was something to do with these reasons or maybe I just didn’t know how to take it. I approached the program thinking it would reveal its secrets as apposed to thinking about the storyline myself, I watched this series again this week.
I was pleasantly reminded of the quality of this show the animation is brilliant, its so moody and eerie it sets the perfect tone for the series. The way that the high quality animation is obviously filtered to achieve different effects needed creates a cinematic effect worthy of any blockbuster horror.

The soundtrack also draws you in, the great funky opening track helps to set your mood and as soon as the episode ends the closing music, which is so alive and up beat it actually sets you right to switch off. Its like if you watch a scary movie and are walking around your house at night, sometimes you cannot help but be jumpy no matter how illogical it is. But by watching something funny or bright afterwards will change the way your brain processes things and the mood is gone, I find this up beat track really pulls me back out of the dark that is Boogiepop.
The soundtrack, throughout the episodes is spot on, creeping you out at one moment and really betting your heart beating at others.

The storyline is as convoluted as they come, each episode is a self-contained story of an event in the same city. The story is told from many different characters and from many different perspectives as can been seen in the first two episodes where the same story is told from the individual point of view to two characters which interact with one another and other characters.
The self-contained stories are not necessarily the most interesting point. Although entertaining the story comes along by the overall story which is told in somewhat disjointed fragments designed to fit only when all pieces are available and thought about as a whole.

Individual episode contents: (may contain spoilers)

1. Portraits from Memory

A sudden appearance of a mysterious pillar of light pierces the sky. The city is thrown into a blackout, but quickly recovers. However, death is among them. Saotome, the ex-boyfriend of Moto Tonomura’s friend, disappears that day. The next day at school, several girls talking about an angel of death, a death god, named Boogiepop. Moto doesn’t believe in an angel of death, until one night she catches a glimpse of Saotome's ghost. Now, Moto is determined to find Saotome again and confess her true feelings to him. But is it really him?

2. Light in the Darkness

Hisashi Jonouchi is running from someone... or, rather, something. He sees a strange bug in the alleyway and eats it. He flashes back to when he first started seeing the bugs. They were spiders, over people's hearts. Only he can see them. Once he removes the spider, the person who possessed it forgets about what made them sorrowful. However, Jonouchi grew addicted to the spiders and started to crave them more and more, until it got out of control. Back in the present, after Jonouchi eats the spider in the alleyway, Boogiepop Phantom comes and “takes” him.

3. Life Can Be So Nice
Misuzu once had a friend a long time ago, named Panaru. Panaru had a great loving for the world, but was killed by a serial killer. Misuzu then decided to take up Panaru's love for the world. However, it neither was nor is a true love that Misuzu had. By accepting everything, she opens herself to another entity, which manipulates her into luring Naghi Kirima to a certain location. Fortunately, Boogiepop Phantom prevents the meeting. Misuzu then finds herself in an alleyway, where she meets her doom.

4. My Fair Lady

Yoji Suganuma is a loser a school. The only friends he has are those he talks to online. To top it off, he is also a dating simulation game addict, and has fallen in love with a girl named Rie. The only problem is, Rie is actually just bits of data on his computer. Yoji soon becomes addicted to 'Type-S', an attraction device. A girl who applied to work at the restaurant with him starts to look more and more like Rie, until the line of reality is forever blurred to Yoji.

5. Interlude

The rumours continue to grow about that incident, but what is the truth? One police officer may already know the truth! Morita and another cop discuss these events and a little bit is revealed. Meanwhile, Suema is certain that Nagi Kirima knows something about those terrible events, but Nagi refuses to reveal anything. Her quest to uncover Nagi's secret leads Suema back to the prefecture’s hospital and a very mysterious girl…

6. Mother's Day

Strained by the death of her father, the relationship between Shizue Wakasa and her mother weakened. It was never the same again, however, after Shizue sees her mother with another man. But when a serial killer murders Shizue, their relationship is left unresolved. Five years later, the memories of Shizue return to haunt her once again when a girl named Rika discovers her diary. She shares the diaries of Shizue and herself with Shizue's mother. The diaries reveal much more about Shizue than her mother could have ever thought…

7. Until Ure In My Arms Again

Mamaro was never like other guys. He is violent and merciless, and shows little love even to those in his family. He used to be close with his sister, but now he is slowly rejecting her. Mamaro (after the pillar of light incident) developed a want to “unassembled” everything and remove the useless parts. When he thinks that Paisely Park is useless, he attempts to take it apart too, however, he soon realizes that he doesn't have any powers. His sister is the one that has the power to grant his wishes…

8. She's So Unusual

This episode mainly revolves around Nagi Kirima, yet is told from the point of view of Ichiro Kishida. He knew Nagi in the past, but he adopted a new alias and re-entered her life as Ichiro Kishida. They go on a mission to stop the Manticore, a flesh eating shape shifter. They run into Boogiepop Phantom, who destroys the Manticore. However, the Manticore isn't gone forever...

9. You'll Never Be Young Twice

This episode revolves around three people, the first of which is Saki, a pianist. She is determined to make it into a music university, but she just can't make it. Then, Poom Poom gives her a balloon. After she let go of it, she killed herself. Quite a few people are now getting strange phone calls urging them to 'Come play with us.' Yoshiki, the one making the calls, gets taken in by Boogiepop Phantom and dissapears. Boogiepop is introduced as the angel of death in this episode, whether this is the case only time will tell.

10. Poom Poom

This episode revolves around Poom Poom, Manaka, and Paisely Park. More and more people are getting red balloons, making Nagi go to the park to see what's causing it. There are children versions there of everyone that had received a balloon. However, Boogiepop (not the phantom) arrives on the scene and causes Manaka to fall from the Ferris wheel. All the lights in the park go out, and Manaka appears to have aged quite a bit. Apparently, her powers made her age, and now that she used them like crazy, she aged greatly. All the phantom children disappear, along with Poom, leaving Manaka with Boogiepop.

11. Under The Gravity's Rainbow

This episode revolves around Manaka. It explains about her past, her mother, her grandmother, and her ability. After the flashbacks are done, Manaka starts to run from Boogiepop when Boogiepop Phantom intervenes and tries to kill her. Boogiepop frees her, stating that she hasn't enough power to cause a threat to this world, and Manaka runs off to the house of mirrors. Boogiepop finally meets Boogiepop Phantom. Manaka tells herself that she will not die; rather, she will become light. And so she does. A great light composed of the golden butterflies engulfs the land, causing time to skip. People start to see phantoms of themselves, events of the past long forgotten. Manaka makes one last visit, to her mother in the hospital. Since Manaka was born, her mother had lost her short-term memory, and could not remember anything for a long time. She even forgot that she had a daughter. However, Manaka arrived as light, and restored her memory using the butterflies. For just a moment, Manaka's mother knew who her daughter was. And then, it was time for Manaka to go, and she faded away. The very next day, Manaka's mother's book of memories is scattered all on the floor, and there's a new entry: Manaka came to visit today. When the nurse asks who Manaka is, she responds, "Manaka? That's what I was going to name my daughter, if I had one. Why do you ask?"

12. A Requiem

One year after the 11th episode, these events occur. Toka is going to take an entrance exam when she detects trouble. Indeed, as the manticore is still alive; it possessed the writer when the manticore was originally destroyed by Boogiepop Phantom. Boogiepop comes and destroys both the manticore and the writer, who had actually died a long time ago. Boogiepop then says, "I feel sorry for Toka Miashta. She was supposed to be taking an entrance exam now." Thus the series comes to the end, with us only just knowing who Boogiepop really was.

Overall Boogiepop phantom is one of the most original series I have ever seen. Its one of the most convoluted stories I have seen, but not in the same was as series like Lain.
That was an over complicated story to make you think more about its contents. This story however is much more straightforward, it is the method of story telling employed that is convoluted and complicated. It gives the bigger story in an ever-growing jigsaw that will not more sense as it goes along, until the very end.
The only reason that this method works and the reason that Boogiepop is so original is that the storyline and all the characters involved are so well thought out that you can take away as much or as little from the plot as you like. You could watch each episode as a stand-alone episode or watch all as the Boogiepop story. My favourite episode is probably Poom Poom, it’s a really insightful episode and Boogiepop has a lot of input in this storyline.

I don’t recommend trying to sit there trying to piece together the plot. It is a lot easier to sit there and just take in as much as you can and let the plot come to you. If you get too involved trying to sort out the plot, you will miss more and more of the story.
This I think is the reason I didn’t get Boogiepop the first time. Spend your extra energy on trying to keep track of the characters instead of figuring out who Boogiepop is and what is happening to the city.

I would recommend Boogiepop to anyone who enjoys a darker more thought provoking storyline other similar series are Serial Experiments Lain and Key the Metal Idol (which is unfortunately only available on Region 1 at present).
This box set retails about £50 which is a bargain price for all 12 episodes, these are the same 4 DVD’s that were sold individually, so the box set makes the collection very tidy and the artwork is very well designed.
Personally I hope we can expect more box sets of previously released titles. I think that ADV could do well to follow Beez and Manga entertainments example and release box sets of series from time to time as I feel they do cater to a different audience than those who buy volumes as they are released.

Overall this is definitely a series to watch. And why not buy it in a handy box set.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: Japanese 2.0 Language English 2.0 Language English 5.1 Language English Subtitles Commentary Track available on every episode Music Videos Image Gallery

Release information: ADV 20-02-2006

Notes: A DVD-only release containing all 12 episodes across 4 discs, presented in English 5.1, English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0 with English subtitles. Extras include: original Japanese promo spots; music videos; Special Edit of Closing Animation; original artwork; producer and character notes; ADR Director's Commentary across ALL 12 episodes; and ADV previews all in one case with great quality artwork RUNNING TIME: 340m RATING: 15 VIDEO FORMAT: DVD Region 2 AUDIO FORMAT: English 5.1, English 2.0, Japanese 2.0 SUBTITLES: English

-- noghri 15th Mar 06

Boogiepop Phantom Images