Students whisper about the urban legend “Boogiepop”-- a mysterious shinigami who comes to take children away-- when kids start disappearing. Teachers dismiss the disappearances as runaways, and the police think they are the work of a serial killer.

In reality, Boogiepop is a defender of justice who fights against the evils hidden from normal society.
The missing children were actually taken by the Boogiepop Phantom, who claims to be the savior of children. In actuality, these children are enhanced humans given abilities by technology created by the Towa Organization, the true serial killer set out to kill its own creations.

Boogiepop refuses to let the Towa Organization and its followers have their way. With the aid of Nagi Kirima, the shinigami fights against Manticore, another creation of the Towa Organization, seeking to restore peace.

Contributed by DokiDokiChan

Story & Characters

The story is told in a disjointed manner and that is what makes Boogiepop Phantom extremely difficult to understand but also makes it something special. The episodes feature different characters and stories but as the series approaches its end all those seemingly random fragments make sense and together they form the well written plot of this original anime. It is amazing how some scences that once seemed unimportant are retold from another character´s point of view and then suddenly gain importance. The plot also jumps from the present to the day where it all started and sometimes even back to events that took place five years ago.
The characters are all tragic and complex. There are symbolic links between the characters in the story and fictional characters from fairy tales like the Pied Piper and games which contribute their part to that masterpiece. The only thing that could detract from the characters may be the fact that there a bit too many of them which leads to the viewer just forgetting them before they can become important for the plot (let alone remembering the names).
As the confusing storytelling being a part of the presentation rating I will only rate the quality of the story in this category. So judging from the script-writers abilities the story and characters are of very high standard.

Rating: 10

Art

Unfortunately the art is quite poor. The backgrounds are mostly dark and without details, the character designs are simple which may lead to the viewer mistaking some characters as others. The animation work is quite static and lacks dynamic movements that I would gladly see in some action or drama scences. I guess this is all due the low production budget the production team had because of the excentric story they wanted to tell. I think this is the fate of original anime that don't want to bend to the mainstream.
The director pays compensation for the poor art though; he creates an awesome mysterious atmosphere and makes the dramatic plot even more gloomy and sad. He does this for example with the mostly brown and grey colour scheme, the lighting and the camera angles or focuses.

Rating: 5

Sound

The sound is one of the best aspects of this anime. Although the OST consists mostly of simple electronic house tracks it is its use that makes it great; blurred voices, intense sound effects or noise and the music that sometimes sounds a bit damaged form together a truly outstanding sound experience. The electronic music is supposingly due the fact that electromagnetical waves and power play a major role in this anime. The next episode preview is presented with a paradoxly seeming happy orchestral track that is mixed with random and incomprehendable voices. Those tracks surely aren't enjoyable as normal music but they play a major role in creating the fanatastic atmosphere.
The OP and ED are two songs that normally would not fit in this kind of anime but I am thankful for those songs because they made me feel better after the psychological anime journey. I think this is also the effect the creators wanted to achieve because otherwise you would get depressed.

Rating: 10

Presentation

This is the point where I will come to that strange presentation. As already told in the first category the story really is confusing and hard to understand. Personally I like difficult and artistic anime but this one surely overdid it in its strangeness. That is why watching Boogiepop is a bit frustrating until the last few episodes where the mysterious riddle is solved bit by bit - of course in a disjointed manner again. Important facts are only told once in the anime so you will have problems in understanding if you do not watch this show attentively.
On the other hand there is this really good directing style featuring some shocking scences mixed with individual drama. So to sum it up; Boogiepop Phantom is a show for people who like difficult anime like Lain or Paranoia Agent (although these two shows are much easier to understand).
The individual drama stories are quite believable and seem to be taken directly from life. Most people may have experienced the same problems as the characters in this anime did.

Rating: 5

Final Verdict

7.5000 (good)

Reviewed by harakiri, Jan 24, 2006

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