User Reviews

Do not judge a book by its cover or by its title in this case. Boogiepop Phantom sounds very childish, but if one were to search deeper, one would find something far more sinister.

The story of Boogiepop Phantom is simple: an urban legend, Boogiepop is an entity that is believed to be responsible for the recent disappearances of high-school students. The city is currently still entangled in the grisly murders of five years before, where the killer was never found. Many suspect Boogiepop, but no one can confirm anything. Then the light appeared, and everything began change, and with this change, comes a common theme within Boogiepop Phantom: nothing is what it seems. Like the title before it, the story is, in fact, not simple at all: prepare to rack that brain of yours.

The animation is pretty decent. It isn't for eye-candy viewers though, for its dark palette doesn't allow for the bright colors seen in almost all other anime. Thankfully, the picture is clear, so the darkness of the animation is never a problem. However, the series is dark for a reason. The overall atmosphere of the story is very morbid, and depressing. Every episode encounters situation of death, but not with action blazing shootouts. Characters commit suicide, or are killed by Boogiepop, in quite a ghastly manner. Boogiepop Phantom never gets gory, but some of the deaths are definitely not for the faint of heart.

Sound as a whole, is very good. The voices themselves are not excellent, but they get the job done, and easily bring the characters to life; very important as the story is based upon the characters and their views on the overall story of the night that changed their lives forever. The music is very atmospheric, and adds greatly to the thriller aspects of the anime. The opening and closing themes are very upbeat, a complete contrast of the story.

There's no right or wrong in Boogiepop, just a point of view. It's this perspective that drives Boogiepop Phantom forward, and while it's not the greatest thing you'll ever watch, it sure well is the most confusing: the ending will have you with more questions then answers. However, this is the beauty of Boogiepop. It is a serious anime, dealing with serious issues such as the human conscious, and that is enough to separate it from the crowd.

I think this was one of the very first horror anime shows ever I watched, along with the violent Shutendoji OVAs.

I only had the chance of watch a couple of episodes, and honestly, a lot of the themes totally went over my head, but I always was fascinated by the eerie atmosphere this series had.

Rewatching it as an adult, I found it to be a very interesting work, albeit I do have to admit it is very confusing at moments. This is because this isn't an entirely independent work, but a spin-off from some light novels which are kinda hard to find in the west (At least in a official manner)

I guess having at least certain familiarity with those books would allow viewers to understand better certain background elements from this series, though it isn't entirely necessary having read to enjoy the positive elements from Boogiepop Phantom.

I would say that, at moments at least, the confusion works in its favor, considering the series takes the perspective of the ordinary humans, who are involved in supernatural events they cannot comprehend (Tough the reaction from some of them tend to be frankly weird)

There is a hero fighting the evil forces threatening the city from the shadows, but she plays a very secondary role. I think if the show had taken her perspective, the series would have been much easier to understand, but nowhere as unique. (From what I understand, that is what the 2019 series did, but honestly the opening alone left me with no desire to watch it)

While I personally liked this show, I must say it definitely isn't for everyone due its weirdness and confusion factor. Think something like Serial Experiments Lain, instead of some conventional horror work.

The animation and the soundtrack are pretty great too. I guess that contributed a lot with my enjoyment.

"Boogiepop Phantom" (2000) is a 12-part TV series that takes Japanese animation into some of the new psychological dimensions pioneered by "Serial Experiments Lain" back in 1998. Like "Lain," it focuses on a cast of troubled Japanese high school kids, but steers clear of the earlier series' cyberspace trappings, drawing instead on the more subtle horror stylings found in such live-action Japanese successes of recent years as RING and UZUMAKI. Most of the teens highlighted in "Boogiepop" are visited by imaginary characters or "see" things or people that their classmates can't. The elusive female title figure, a self-proclaimed "Angel of Death," appears on occasion to try to intervene on behalf of the tormented kids. One seemingly normal girl, Nagi Kirima, emerges as the series' sole heroine. Not untouched by trauma herself, she is aware of all the weird goings-on and actively tries to investigate and do something about them.

Based on a popular series of novels by Kadono Kouhei (as yet unavailable in English), the series plays interesting tricks with time, jumping back and forth between past and present incidents in the teens' lives, often presenting certain events from different characters' viewpoints. Five years earlier, strange phenomena occurred in the small Japanese city where the series is set, set off by an inexplicable beam of light that burst forth at night from the city up to the sky. A series of unsolved killings took place around the same time. All of the characters in the cast were irrevocably affected by that time and experience frequent flashbacks to those events.

Eventually, in the course of the 12 episodes, it becomes clear, at least to this reviewer, that the series is really about the psychic pain of growing up in the Japanese social system. Children are not adequately protected by the adults in their lives and their childhood dreams are inevitably shattered quite early. One fanciful imaginary character, Poom Poom, who seems to have emerged from the psyches of two separate wounded souls, acts as a Pied Piper to all the troubled kids, inviting them to an abandoned amusement park that comes to spectacular life at his command. One riveting scene, arguably the key to the whole series, involves a confrontation at the park between Poom Poom and the indignant Boogiepop herself. The stories behind Poom Poom's creation are particularly heart-wrenching and reflect the kind of everyday trauma that creative, sensitive kids experience quite frequently, not just in Japan, but in almost any large, faceless bureaucratic school system. The live-action film BATTLE ROYALE, a major Japanese hit of 2000, offered a similar message of indictment of Japanese society and its treatment of children, but the longer form "Boogiepop" takes a less visceral, more multifaceted approach, relating the kids' stories one by one and detailing exactly what went wrong and at what point.

"Boogiepop" has been accomplished via the digital animation process that dominates Japanese animation today. While the digital process is often simply a lazy substitute for the greater complexity of hand-drawn artwork, it is used quite creatively here and is well-suited to the particular psychological mood created by the shifting points-of-view and subjective storytelling. This is a far cry from traditional Japanese animation and its stylistic advances should be judged on their own merits.

"Boogiepop Phantom" stands out as an extremely demanding and challenging piece but one that will strike the more serious fan as an anime work of art, employing technical skill, visual imagination and keen insight to illuminate the hidden layers of the human condition.

I'll start with, this show is one to taste. While it is constructed immaculately, the themes and presentation will not suit everyone. If you dislike series which don't end with giving you a clear message or ending point, this is assuredly a show you'll want to pass on. Conversely, if you want a show to challenge you, and demand of you to put its pieces together to form the greater whole, Boogiepop Phantom is one of the best. Similarly, be prepared for a very dark, emotional look into people and life. Suicide is an extremely common theme, and a large percent of the characters you follow do not survive, if you show to cheer you up at every chance, or one you expect to follow a character through their dark times until they triumph, best look for Mizaki.

Centered around a theme of regret and memory, it is constructed uniquely, with each episode following a different character, as their actions interconnect, all centered around the same mystery. While many episodes overlap in their frame of time, there is an overall story that develops which comes to a conclusion at the end, in its own way. There are few clear cut villains (about two, neither of which last the entire series), and it is more about the opposing ideals. While there is a lot of clashing personalities, there is little 'action'. Opposed to anime norm, fights are over quick generally done in a single stroke, and not the focus of any scene, and most conflicts are resolved mostly with a discussion, followed by a single element to remove one side so the show can continue with whatever message that episode delivers.

While the show is about these messages, it includes mystery, starting with a series of murders, finding who, why and what the murderer is through the lenses of the different characters throughout different phases of the 5ish year span most of the stories are told. The occasional 'action' scene, often chases and suspenseful moments of hiding and tense conversation.

The show's strongest point is its style. It has almost no waste, using every line of dialog and shot to add to its story or inform the viewer of a character or concept, from including construction in many backgrounds to reinforce its message of the need for change, to the sepia rich colors used in most episodes to remind you of the past. The music reinforces this in the absolute best way it can, using piercing notes, off key music, and chaotic static noises to reinforce character confusion, uncertainty and insanity, to finally Boogiepops iconic whistle in its clarion tune piercing through all of it.

It is not without flaws, due to its dedication to realistic characters, it is at times hard to tell them apart, and telling them apart is at times vital. This is made harder with its heavy sepia tone, at times so dark its hard to see, while a few strange English translation choices obscures some parts, though not too bad (and the acting is on target, though feels flat, it is by design given the low key tone of the show, it can make it disengaging, particularly those who are on the fence with the style).