Anime 37451 Boogiepop Wa Warawanai 2019 Reviews

Once in a while, there may come a show with complex storytelling and character roster that is much more than what it seems. The light novel medium is such a style of Japanese novel literature where imaginations are endless. As one of the earliest light novel originators, Boogiepop Phantom’s presence could be felt as far as back in the early 2000s. While I have seen that show many years ago, it felt like Boogiepop Phantom was missing something, or perhaps needed a boost to regain its popularity again. It’s 2019 and here we are again, connected by a powerful entity known as the Boogiepop, a ... legend among community who came to judge humanity.

Consisting of 22 light novel volumes, it’s obvious the show doesn’t have the time to adapt every single one. The 2000s’ series ended up being an anime original while this show commits to a much more faithful adaptation. Jumping into the new Boogiepop may seem like a walk in the park but make no mistake, this show is not so easy to understand. In fact, I would recommend re-watching scenes and episodes at any chance to get a better experience. And it all begins with the first 3-episode arc: Boogiepop Does Not Laugh.

Before I venture deeper, do be aware that while the anime overall has interconnecting themes, it follows non-linear storytelling structure. In fact, it adapts an arc format where each arc consists a series of episodes together. From this adaptation, we get four arcs with “Vs The Imaginator” being the longest. That being said, I should mention that the first arc will most likely make or break for most viewers. Essentially, we are introduced to a supernatural entity known as Boogiepop, the urban legend with a keen insight on observing human behavior. But as the show progresses, it’s shown that her ambiguous actions may be more puzzling than what it seems. Who is Boogiepop? What exactly does it want? Why is it here in our world? These are some of the questions many will have in their mind for this first arc. Indeed, it shouldn’t take long to realize humanity is in jeopardy with the presence of “Synethic Humans” among society. On the outside, they may look like us but on the inside, they are beings with a twisted ambition. Their existence also proves how weak humans are by manipulating our free will. It’s a fate worse than death when you realize the atrocious acts manipulated individuals can commit. Spooky E is a prominent example during his reign of terror during the “Boogiepop vs Imaginator” arc. Having no second thoughts about harming or even killing humans, he represents pure evil as an agent of the Towa Organization.

That also brings in a big question. Just what exactly is the Towa Organization? While it’s an organization responsible for creating synthetic humans, no one truly knows their real agendas. The catalyst of this mysterious group is a character named “Echoes” who came to Earth to judge humans. The first episode establishes him as a being who is confused about human behavior. The Towa Organization seems to organize ways to test humans through dangerous experiments, many which result in deaths or disaster consequences. Their main goal throughout the show revolves how to control human’s way of evolution. It’s a complex concept that may take untold amount of time to achieve. In addition, the Towa Organization is known to have great influence in the world, capable of escaping the law and defying authority. I think it may take some time for viewers to figure out their purpose in the show because as I mentioned before, there’s multiple subplot building on in each arc that can get very confusing.

The remainder of the course of the series also explores other important themes such as human choices. Some characters in the show (who are ordinary humans) play important roles to make differences in certain outcomes. If you remember before, free will allows people to accomplish great things if they put their mind into it. On the other hand, Boogiepop is someone that has potential to accomplish imaginable feats. It’s why she is perceived as a main adversary against the Towa Organization. In a way, I even see her as a successor of Echoes. However, Boogiepop isn’t necessarily an “overpowered character”. In the final arc, she wonders if defeating the King of Distortion is possible. But in essence, it’s her wise words and wisdom that I find more appealing than other characteristics. Her words may be interpreted differently depending on how you perceive them but by the end of the day, she really lives up to her name of being a legend.

Madhouse is responsible for once again to bring Boogiepop to life and for what’s worth, it’s somewhat well made in terms of accurately committing to its ominous atmosphere. There’s no doubt the quiet and eerie mood lives throughout the entire duration of the show. This especially applies to the static shots in the opening episodes. It also uses a clever amount of raw character emotions to show how humans react under extraordinary circumstances. My main criticism though lies with some of the raw animated scenes as at times, it feels off . This shouldn’t hold the show back altogether but can weigh down the enjoyment on occasions. Luckily, the music, OST, and theme songs for make up for this with its well-timed choreography and directing.

We live in a world now where almost anything is possible. For a show like Boogiepop, its world contains ideas that you can’t even begin to imagine if any of it became real. Being one of the most influential light novels, many writers have followed its origins and made work that became worldwide attractions. Now I will say this anime is really not one aimed for the casual audience. Many episodes may require re-watches as any scene may hold significance or clues to the show’s plot. It’s also recommended to watch this in marathon sessions than a weekly airing. But hey, once you get hooked into the world of Boogiepop, you may want to stick around for more.

I don't understand at all about this series what do they mean by the god of death? and what is their job? why they don't have a container or body to carry out their activities and why they should live side by side with humans like parasites.

Boogiepop has a sequel that was in 2000, the storyline was taken from modern Japan where people were less sensitive to other people's problems at the beginning of the episode I thought they made a series that made no sense until they saw their third episode unchanged, but somehow they very solid in the fourth episode and I decided ... to give a review of this series, the storyline goes according to the rhythm that fits the puzzle pieces to reveal the mysteries one by one neatly arranged.

MadHouse I will not give a concrete explanation everyone must have their own opinion about this studio, at first I thought madhouse is a studio that is very powerful in its adaptation but they are reluctant to carry out further production. anime in general, character designs are also very rigid they make designs that are less attractive unlike in the previous series, but they are very solid in the gore section or what we usually call sadistic scenes, blood splatter and the color of the blood looks genuine.

MythRoid is a very solid artist in making the opening theme they often fill or perform in various anime series (such as Re; Zero). While in the voice part they have worked well they are very suitable with the character they are playing.In this series has three main characters who have different characteristics, I will give a comment to Boogiepop namely the girl who acts as the god of death why does she care so much about humans? doesn't a god have no nature or lust to do something to humans, do they want to change the way we think?

Initially I didn't really like or interested in this one but somehow after watching the fourth episode I was very interested in this one series and I was looking forward to the next episode but very much loved they only adapted eighteen episodes.

"Seems to me the place you fight cruelty is where you find it, and the place you give help is where you see it needed.”
-Philip Pullman

Boogiepop is a psychological anime series which accuracy is comparable to Kara no Kyoukai. It focuses around variety of different weaknesses and gimmicks of the human mind in a manner that fully respects its audience. The story-telling is superb; subdued, incredibly well balanced, almost as if the show is in perfect harmony with itself. It doesn't tell or advice, rather asks questions and introduces concepts without any shade of agenda.

This approach can definitely seem like style over substance to some ... viewers, but as far as I am concerned, it is thus far a solid package which different sides such as story, art, characters can't be separated or taken out of the context because otherwise it would simply not be itself anymore.

The pacing is slow, it's hard to tell at this point how the series will deliver and what its success will be with later episodes and how the payout turns out. But that's one thing I appreciate here. I can predict with rather high certainty how much I will like something already based to the first episode because I have seen a lot of anime and know my own taste, but Boogiepop is still a mystery to me. Perhaps my opinion will take a 180 turn later on, but currently I am looking forward to watching more on a level that modern anime rarely achieves. That's worth a great deal as something this interesting isn't been made even every season.

So far I have been watching this with such focus and been so deeply immersed by its world and style I can't be but happy that this is being made. I wholeheartedly recommend this to those who like stuff such as SEL, KnK, Texhnolyze, Wolf's Rain, Dennou Coil, Haibane Renmei, Noein or Shigofumi. Boogiepop might be the closest thing to any of those that the anime industry will ever produce again. A modern gem reminding its viewers what mature anime once was.

The name Boogiepop is pretty stellar. It’s catchy and unique, of course, but it also has a wealth of meaning behind it not many people are aware of, at least not here in the West. The name Boogiepop is a self-deprecating inside joke Kouhei Kadono, the author of the original novels, thought up to mock himself and his struggles in actually getting said novels published. Kadono has always been something of an arthouse writer, and he had quite a hard time getting any of his initial works published since he had yet to make a name for himself and all the publishers he approached said ... they simply couldn’t turn a profit printing pieces with such little popular appeal and no audience base, even after—according to Kadono—honestly admitting how good they were. To successfully break out into the market, Kadono made a compromise with himself. He decided to tone down his more abstruse, niche stylization, his self-proclaimed “boogie” writing, and tone up the more accessible, popular style which the inherently cynical publications were willing to print, hence the name Boogiepop: a forced dichotomy between the imagination of an auteur and the creative restraint of a corporate shill, “boogie” and “pop.” The original anime adaptation of the series, Boogiepop Phantom (2000), which was also produced by Madhouse, is founded on that so-called “boogie” style. It seeks to be tonally expressive, narratively experimental, visually symbolic, deep seated in the thematic gravity of the novels which the adaption team clearly had an genuinely intimate understanding of, and most importantly, it sought to market itself toward a largely mature target audience. On the other hand, this new adaptation, Boogiepop and Others (2019), is founded on the “pop” style, which seeks merely to appeal to the lowest common denominator of kids and teenagers with obtusely frenetic action, archetypal writing, generic self-insert character designs, spoon-fed theming, and as much modern anime pandering as they could fit in the package.

While my irrepressible love and respect for the masterful novel series this terribly disappointing and wildly misguided adaptation was based on will inevitably turn this review into a thinly veiled diatribe, there is a fair deal of credit to give where it’s actually due. Firstly, the show looks gorgeous…in ways. As mentioned, the artwork is stylistically abysmal. It doesn’t look like Boogiepop should look nor feel like Boogiepop should feel; it’s simply the most accessible, basic art style imaginable which has completely abandoned the textured, almost brooding darkness which characterized the original novels and the atmospherically brilliant original adaptation. However, the actual technical quality of animation—while plagued with about as much inconsistency as any other anime these days—can get stupidly high and make the show a feast for the senses if not for the discerning eyes. I remember hearing the Natsume Team at Madhouse had dropped One Punch Man and being utterly dumbstruck. Why in the world would they’ve dropped one of the industry’s most profitable titles in decades? The manga is always best selling and the anime was an international success, so what could possibly have taken precedence over such a commercial giant? Apparently, this. Director Shingo Natsume utilized many of the same connections he called upon for One Punch Man and Space☆Dandy and landed the show with some positively daring fight choreography and bombastic sakuga—sometimes even to a fault, seeing as a significant portion of episode directors working on the project clearly did not share his creative vision for Boogiepop, but for now I’m getting ahead of myself. Despite the exceptionally clever, thoughtful, and inventive antagonists of the novels being reduced to needlessly enigmatic, vapidly motivated, edgy shounen-style villains, I’d be lying if I said their respective confrontations and subsequent defeats weren’t animated about as well and with about as much personality as Madhouse could’ve managed, and even if the moment-to-moment of the show looked boring as hell, when it occasionally went all out, it brought to life scenes I never thought I’d see outside my imagination, and even I can’t deny that gratification.

Even with the visuals being so strong, at least technically, the audio is even better, and more importantly, more emblematic of what Natsume was actually going for with this evidently fallacious adaptation. While the sound design—a facet of production which is seemingly overlooked to a greater and greater degree with each passing day as studios realize their main audience, young people, lack any critical sense for quality soundscapes—is expectedly lackluster, the actual score is outstanding. The composer, Kensuke Ushio, truly is the rising star of the anime industry, praised for all his rightfully acclaimed work from Devilman Crybaby’s revolutionary synthwave, Liz and the Blue Bird’s outright emotive orchestra, Koe no Katachi’s SFX-based composition, and Ping Pong: The Animation’s unforgettably rousing, electrifying soundtrack which amounted to one of the best anime has ever seen. While his music for Boogiepop and Others (2019) doesn’t quite reach the heights of his more legendary work, it’s still as magnificent as you’d expect given his repertoire, but the fact his distinct style is what Natsume was looking for in a composer speaks volumes about why this adaptation feels so off. If you’ve had the pleasure of listening to Ushio’s music before, you’ll know what I’m talking about, but the fact Natsume thought Ushio’s calming aesthetic jibed with the experimental identity of Boogiepop in any way whatsoever really shows why he missed the mark. The novels are mature, and therefore root their humanity in their nuanced characterization. Almost every novel after the first is fueled not by character, but by mystery, spectacle, and metric tons of Kadono meticulously expounding on his genius theming and bizarre concepts, all of which simply do not play well with Ushio’s soft, ambient sound. Boogiepop is contemplative and poignant, certainly, but while the first book wherein these few chapters of concentrated emotion lie would fit well with Ushio’s music, these moments are cut from the anime in their entirety, or worse yet, edited around to such a degree they lost all the catharsis which they had in the original. And this is the problem with Boogiepop and Others (2019): if you’ve read the novels, then the characters and themes will’ve lost all thought, and if you haven’t, then how could you even invest in such a hollow cast or be intrigued by such vacuous symbolism in such a seemingly aimless storyline?

Natsume has more than proven himself as a talented director in the past with his work on One Punch Man, the action spectacle you all know and love, and the infinitely better yet infinitely lesser known police procedural, ACCA: Jusan-ku Kansatsu-ka, and if One Punch Man showed us his phenomenal action direction and ACCA his equally phenomenal character direction, then Boogiepop and Others (2019) showed us just how well he could combine the two into a show as (potentially) exciting as it is (potentially) contemplative. Sadly, the script absolutely annihilated any sense of flow which those two works had and greatly limited his skill as a director. The writers of this adaptation very blatantly ordered scenes as if checking off boxes on a bulleted list and make no attempt to add characterization, style, personality, or nuance, simply wanting to show X, Y, and Z just for the sake of having shown it. Myriad scenes had frankly choppy execution, were poorly edited, had awkward pacing, and were made with poor sound design and messy audio mixing. Additionally, what exactly is shown on screen has been greatly edited and sometimes completely censored from what the original anime adaptation was willing to show in gore and what the original novels were willing to show in nudity. The characters are empty husks, since they’re given no time to be anything otherwise. It absolutely speeds through the narrative and character arcs alike, zooming past all the central themes, every chance to humanize the cast, and the alluring tone which had me and so many others in love with the original works. I know I sound like a broken record, but this is all yet another manner in which this new adaptation derails itself from its more adult source material and constricts its own charisma to sell out to the younger, more vast, more accessible audience who just want to watch some flashy action sakuga and go home. They cram an entire chapter of the novel into episode one alone—one of the most dense setup chapters to a novel I've ever read in my life into a single twenty minute episode—only to then cram the next three chapters into episode two, unceremoniously blazing through a major character death which served as the entire emotional crux of the original novel just so they could get to the fight sequence in chapter five as soon as possible, even though their speedy pacing totally killed the tension it would’ve had if they had properly built up to it.

To be fair, this problem lessens as the show continues because Natsume entrusted more technically pivotal scenes to outsourced key animators, episode animation directors, and in the case of the Boogiepop Overdrive arc, even a whole new storyboarding team. There were some Ex-Sunrise/Bones animators, some WIT Studio animators in both the show and the opening, and even some Trigger boys. Obviously, this had them ending up with the drastically inconsistent levels of quality I mentioned forever ago, which just so happened to align the “worse” at the beginning and the “better” at the finale. I mean, in hindsight, that opening itself told me everything I needed to know about this new adaptation in a hopelessly forthright fashion. With MYTH & ROID being as invested as they’ve historically been in the projects they're involved with, the opening theme for Boogiepop and Others (2019) is great. It’s nowhere near as unique, striking, tone setting, and memorable as the opening theme for Boogiepop Phantom (2000), but it still got it right more than the rest of this show did, and it warns of what the show had in store for me by being paired with an opening animation which is just a bunch of pseudo-symbolic bullshit having nothing at all to do with Boogiepop or its original message. MYTH & ROID’s theme, “Shadowgraph,” is about loss of self and general despondence and dissociation with social norms and stigma, which, while not directly touching on Boogiepop’s central theme of normalcy, is at least directly relevant to the narrative and characters, but the visuals and animation itself are nothing of the sort. And speaking of theme songs, the lack of insert songs in this show was actually, physically painful for a fan as obsessed as I am. They didn’t play Oingo Boingo’s “No One Lives Forever” during the big Manticore scene even though a song that old would've been a breeze to get the license for—especially for a production team able to get the permission to air five weeks worth of made-for-TV anime back-to-back, by the way—nor did they have Boogiepop appear at the school whistling Composer Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” despite the fact it MADE that scene in the novels, only to then use it later in the Boogiepop VS Imaginator arc anyway. I swear, it’s almost like the staff forgot when and why they should care.

I apologize for dropping my eloquence and devolving into a ranting, raving fangirl in the last little moments there, but hey, I warned you it would happen. Bringing it all back to a place of critical review, though, I think it’d be healthy to unbiasedly examine what we ultimately have here. We have me, some fanatical Boogiepop Superfan who recognizes the perfection of the original novels and will criticize anything and everything which isn’t equally infallible, and a well made yet emotionally, thematically, and stylistically unfulfilling and often destructively unfaithful adaptation. If someone watches this and likes it despite everything I’ve bitched about, then that’s awesome. They have another anime to enjoy. And if someone watches this and sees its hollow core for what it is, then they’ll just read my review or others like it, go check out the originals, and love them instead. Neither scenario is negative. Sure, I’m disappointed a godsent novel series and its superb original adaptation weren’t followed up with by an equally outstanding work of art, but nothing it did offended me, because while it certainly fails to fan Boogiepop’s flaming brilliance and all which makes the series so legendary, it didn’t go and make Boogiepop downright bad. So, at the end of the day, I honestly recommend this show if you’re for some reason hesitant about getting straight into the classics, if only as an introduction to the Boogiepop franchise and giving you that initial push. I know that’s cheating, but I’m honestly just worried if I’m too critical, then I’ll scare people away from one of my favorite titles to date and force them to miss out on what could be one of theirs as well. The last thing I’d want is for you to shy away from a timeless masterpiece because a less than competent adaptation team failed to fully capture its magnificence and some hack asshole on MAL gave the whole property a bad name by going in too hard on their work, which itself is both the worst version of the story, and not even all that bad.

Thank you for reading.

“I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion.” — Jack Kerouac

An enigmatic atmosphere, laden with superfluous platitudes, is not an indicator of a show’s sagacity; often times, the mystifying element is used to feign sophistication, when, in fact, the overall narrative and character development are rather paltry. Add in the gratuitously gory action sequences with the cynical (i.e. edgy) antagonists, and Boogiepop Never Laughs is an amalgamation of high-school-level philosophy and modern day rule-of-cool absurdity.

“If confusion is the first step to knowledge, I must be a genius.” — Larry Leissner

No. Just because a person withholds critical information, does not imply ... they are brilliant (same goes for an anime). Any anime worth its weight in salt, should offer a tangible concept/message — especially during the initial build up period — to give the viewer an inkling of what’s to come; thus, achieving a greater outcome when said puzzle comes together. Take Neon Genesis Evangelion, for example, even though the ending was exceptionally “shocking,” it made sense within the context of the clues that were sprinkled throughout the series. Shinji’s depression/anxiety was a recurring ailment that finally came to a head in the imaginative finale (and once again in the End of Evangelion). As for Boogiepop (2019), it’s not understood who these characters really are, so any revelations will seem exceptionally random or out of place.

“A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem.” — Albert Einstein

Yes. Boogiepop (2019) — at this juncture — seems to lack a defining theme that holds the cryptic, vague narrative structure together. Anyone who claims they are enjoying the series thus far, are being swindled by charlatan-like tactics. While the method of perplexing the viewer is notably polished, the apparent end goal seems rather redundant/useless. Perhaps this prediction will be proven wrong, but the general tone through the first four episodes seems to suggest that this will be the case.

“Washing dishes is the anecdote to confusion. I know that for a fact.” — Maira Kalman

If there are any redeeming qualities, it would have to be the production values and the OST. Another quality job by Madhouse Inc., but it was expected for the highly praised company with the reputation of being one of the best in the anime industry. If you appreciate the upper echelon of animation eye-candy, with a mysterious narrative back drop, then Boogiepop (2019) may be up your alley, but don’t expect much else.

I wrote this review after watching the 4th episode.

Moe, tsundere, imouto, hot springs, the beach, fan service, etc. These are driving forces in many of the popular anime of the day, a cotton candy landscape. Sure, cotton candy is good now and then, but I suspect most of us would start to get queasy at its saccharine scent if we encountered it on a daily basis. That's exactly why and anime like Boogiepop is so refreshing. It's a nice bag of black licorice following the holiday sweets; an anime truly fit for the season of winter.

The story is wonderful, but not ... easily followed. Many people say that it's confusing, but that's more a lack of experience than a fault of the anime. Yes, you will probably get lost if you try to watch this while simultaneously checking social media and texting your friends. The story is a mystery, so even with your full attention you won't be aware of every detail of the situation. Adding to the confusion at first is the fact that the story is non-linear, so you have to keep track of when things are happening as well as what exactly happened. It's probably also true that the story would be easier to keep track of if all the episodes were already out and it could be binged, but on the other hand I think some of the fascination of the anime would be lost that way. Kaleidoscopes aren't any fun when you just blankly stare into them;it's in the turning motion that the beauty is revealed. Overall, I give the story 10/10.

The art is well done and fits the mood of the story very well. In my opinion, it's closest in style to anime like Steins Gate and Psycho Pass. It's nice that the characters have very realistic designs, but I do have to complain that a little more effort needed to be put into differentiating the characters. I had to think to myself one too many times "Who is this?" to give a full score here. Overall, I give the art 9/10.

The sound in this anime is done in a fittingly creepy minimalist style, OP and ED excepted. It's the salt in your baked goods, almost never drawing attention directly, but were it not there everything would taste completely off (I actually made this mistake once with brownies...oops.) The Op is a beautifully done piece by MYTH & ROID and the ED is just as fitting. Overall, I give the sound 10/10

The characters feel very real, though their individual motivations are spelled out much less than is common in other anime. We see the characters by their actions instead of being told who they are. I particularly enjoy that almost all of the characters are quite intelligent without needing backdrop idiots to shine. You know that characters are done well when a character you only met a few times can die and you feel genuinely sorry about the event. If you're looking for traditional anime archetypes, sorry. Overall, I give the characters 10/10.

Finally, enjoyment. I find myself looking forward to this anime on a weekly basis, watching it shorty after it becomes available. The episodes really consume my attention, leaving me afterward with the superbly pleasant feeling of having just consumed a good meal without overeating. Enjoyment is definitely a 10/10.

FYI My overall score is only a 9/10 since I don't feel comfortable giving a 10/10 at this point in the series. It may change assuming I get around to updating this review.

You know there comes a time when an anime series needs your attention. Not because of the quality of the show, but the fact that if you want to get the full experience of the show, you need to sit down, watch it and pick up any details can be answered and explored later on. Of course not everyone has time for that, but some people like to pick apart anime to fully understand it. This anime is one of these cases. An anime with an interesting structure of storytelling, character development and how to get everything out of it.

Sit back, relax and get ... your surgical kit on because you are about to dissect an anime and its meanings as I present to you the anime review for Boogiepop and Others. Lets begin.


Story: 7.5/10

Set in modern day Japan, the story follows the growing rumours of a mysterious, cloaked figure that deals with all kinds of supernatural events. They call it Boogiepop. A person who only a few people have come into contact with due to them being involved in these supernatural events. They are naturally curious as to why these events happen and what exactly is Boogiepop. With all these events happening, Boogiepop must stop them in order for balance to maintain in this world.

The show is very arc focused. Each arc deals with some kind of supernatural phenomenon where a handful of characters get dragged in and eventually run into Boogiepop as it also must deal with these events, although they are dealt with rather disappointingly swift as soon as Boogiepop enters the scene. But you see, this isn't some shounun battle anime. This is a mystery thriller and Boogiepop acts as the protector? Maybe? Because you see, there are mysteries that make us theorise and put pieces together in order to make sense of it. Now that could mean that the story could not make sense in general, unless it was intentional. Maybe the show wanted you to go back and re-watch earlier episodes again. But now, you will have a better understanding after watching later episodes. The four arcs are told differently in this regard. Where it is a prequel arc, or an arc that is shown in the wrong order. They tell the story in a way that requires your attention. For some people, it might get them engaged, others might be turned away; which is why the method of storytelling is rather rare. But the fact that it encourages you to re-watch episodes means that its rather unique way of storytelling is rather refreshing. To get me engaged in a story not by a gripping narrative, but by filling out the blanks.

Now a good mystery always keeps spoon feeding the viewer answers but still leave some mysteries to keep the viewer engaged. I would say the show manages to do this pretty well. There always seemed to be some kind of answer as to what some of these things mean. The main mysteries of this show are what exactly is Boogiepop, why do these supernatural events keep happening and what is this mysterious Towa Organisation that people keep mentioning. The show did eventually give me answers to most of these mysteries by either saying out loud or by piecing together some events to make more sense out of them. But still, I felt like the show still kept me in the dark with some of these mysteries and I feel like I didn't get the answers I was looking for. So it isn't all perfect. But it didn't deter me from enjoying the overall mystery of this show.


Characters: 7/10

There are only a handful of characters that appear in multiple arcs but other than that. The characters are rather secluded in their own story. Some of them are just innocents that got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, others are actively finding out the truth about certain events and people to get a sense of closure. I wouldn't say that there is really a bad character in this series as they all play their part. They all have their role to fill in the story and even then, if you don't like a specific character, chances are they aren't going to return in a different arc.

Of course, the main character the show focuses on is Boogiepop itself. Since we don't know what Boogiepop is exactly, it leaves us to theorise. Is it some kind of genetic experiment that escaped, is it merely just an alter ego, is it simply the supernatural protector of humanity to keep things in the balance or is it some kind of otherworldly creature who sees humanity as precious beings? Okay that last might be a bit ridiculous but you get what I mean. You question what exactly is Boogiepop doing, what is its purpose and where it came from. Only through watching, re-watching and putting pieces together will you get some idea. Although I am disappointed that we don't get some clarity on Boogiepop's human persona, Touka Miyashita. Is she an alter ego for Boogiepop? is it the other way round? or has she merely been used as a vessel for Boogiepop? We never really find out, even with re-watching some episodes. And considering people have seen Boogiepop's face, you would think that they would ask questions for Touka about anything wrong with her and is she okay. But no.

Another recurring character is Nagi Kirima as throughout the arcs, we see her whole character progression and how she came to be. Being a rather "unconventional" girl due to events from her past and her way of doing things. Nagi is kind of like the non-supernatural version of Boogiepop because, like Boogiepop, she likes to uncover supernatural phenomenons as well; leading to multiple confrontations between Boogiepop and Nagi. I like Nagi in this regard because she has her own sense of keeping balance because of what she experienced in her past, it feels like she is the only one that can do it when Boogiepop is not around. She is prepared, she's confident and has a lack of fear for these things. She makes for a nice character to watch how she grows into the Nagi we see present day.


Animation: 8.5/10

Ahh yes, Madhouse, one the most beloved anime studios of all time. They are known for putting a good budget on an anime to make it look good with fluid animation. While they usually do it in battle centric anime, it doesn't mean they can't do it in other series. And they have done a good job with this show. While there are moments where Madhouse can flex its muscles and produce some really good looking scenes, what sold me was the show's art style. More specifically, the lighting. Now that might sound a bit strange but the lighting in this series is really well done. The way they do sunsets, the lights that illuminate the city. It really does look good. Now the art style in general takes a more different look than the original material, but I would say it still looks good. I wouldn't say it looks better, but looks different in a good way. There were times though when characters looked poorly drawn so it isn't perfect.


Sound: 9/10

The soundtrack is rather ominous with a heavy use of techno and minor instrumentals to add to the ambience. It generally plays in the background, adding to the supernatural elements of this show. But that is a good thing and the right thing to do because the music shouldn't be a distraction. The focus should be on the story to unravel the mystery. So the music mustn't be a distraction. So it doesn't use anything bombastic to distract you, but uses more sombre techno music and instrumentals to add the supernatural elements that is going on here. This is especially true when the music sounds like its playing backwards, giving this very creepy vibe.

MYTH&ROID have become somewhat of a fan favourite amongst anime viewers. While they haven't done much openings, their openings for Re:Zero, Saga of Tanya the Evil and Overlord III are amongst people's favourites. So here they come again with another great opening called "Shadowgraph." This opening is just fantastic with its ominous music, great vocals, great visuals and well used symbolism highlight Touka not knowing what is going on or about Boogiepop until she embraces it with open arms. Like many other openings this season, its a standout and helps solidify MYTH&ROID as a fan favourite amongst anime viewers.

The ending sequence as well is enjoyable, mainly due to its art style being really pretty to look at as well as the fluidity of it all. But the song is also good. "Whiteout" by Riko Azuna is another good techno piece that is backed by strong lyrics and a great pace to it all. If it weren't for a certain ending sequence from Kaguya-Sama, this would probably be my favourite ending sequence this season.


Conclusion:

Boogiepop and Others manages to tell an interesting story with plenty of mystery and intrigue to it to keep the viewer watching. Yet it manages to encourage people to re-watch episodes to get a better grasp of the story and the mystery overall. But it is also very niche. Only some people will get the full effect of this show as others will not have time for that and will just take what they get. Which means that this anime could become very divisive in the near future. I for one, think this show is very solid due to its overall mystery, great atmosphere as it invokes a very supernatural atmosphere and with animation and soundtracks that add to a scene. Yet I also know that people will definitely not enjoy this as it is too confusing for them. This leaves me to believe that the episodic, week by week structure
of Boogiepop went against it when trying to tell this kind of story. But since all of them have been aired, this isn't really an issue now.

Boogiepop is a show I would recommend if you are looking for an in-depth Supernatural Mystery show to get your teeth into.


My Personal Enjoyment: 7.5/10


Overall score: 7.9/10 Recommendation: Consider it

First of all before giving a review.To the people who are planning to watch,are currently watching or dropped it halfway.
Please for the love of anime, be very patient with this series,because its really worth it

Boogiepop is adapted from the novel/manga and not original like the 2000 boogiepop series)
Its a psychological,Horror series which is shrouded in mystery and revolves around a enigmatic supernatural entity known as boogiepop,
which possesses one of our MC's miyashita touka.Boogiepop though rumored to target and murder people in a really mysterious way is actually
is a guardian who awakens and manifests itself when the world is in danger or an enemy appears,enemy ... that is in the eyes of Boogiepop.

The reason being this series can slow paced and confusing at times,you will be like "What just happened,who's this,what does that even mean",
but that's the beauty of this series, its like a beautiful puzzle which viewers cannot envision at first but when it comes together,that to when
it does it comes in a amazing fast paced manner,it just hits and blows your mind over literally.

This show focuses on theme and meaning of humanity in various spectrum.From the beautiful,mysterious side of humans to the dark and disgusting side.
It has different arcs which starts with random scenes and characters on which light is shed much later which mostly revealed to be related to a new enemy
and threat which is constantly at play at a psychological degree which begins at a personal level, slowing growing to social and global scale,through various
mediums including unfathomable chain reactions of character interaction and conversations.

Each different arc every time has a majority of new characters with some of the original main cast constantly involved.But the best part is each time when a new character enters with a new arc,almost every single one of them has a interesting personality,character
and a decent backstory,which makes it more intriguing to watch & keeps the viewers attention hooked.

Also the characters are not only backed up by their words about who they are but by actions too, and i am talking about really good and surprising fighting and action choreography,
which for a psychological horror animes was really a feast for my eyes.

There are really good badass characters in this show, one of favorites would be Nagi,one of the main cast.Her character, with her backstory and development really caught my eye and made
her one of the most interesting characters.

One of the best parts which i myself personally find is even though the series revolves around,boogiepop makes the least appearance, while the other characters play out their part
in the episodes and the arc in a proper fashion while boogiepop enters as a savior at the last moments with its beautiful yet mysterious dialogues which will just mesmerize you.
Another reason why boogiepops dialogues are beautiful is the fact the amazing script and even more amazing and breathtaking Voice acting of Yuki Aoi. I could listen to boogiepops like
an ASMR over and over, its that addictive. Hats off to her.

During this show, with every episode i just find myself getting totally lost and immersed in the world this series presents,i just love how its made including the characters.
The narrative structure,its like we are presented with different pieces of story at different points in time that get pieced together gradually. It creates a nice mystery to her as well.

The ideology,the mindset of humanity, how every scene and conversations between characters just plays with the viewers mind in a complex but beautiful manner, the concept/message from the
build up period to the finishing of each arc and episode just pure guilty pleasure for a mature audience.
Another thing i am glad to see the horror aspects is done with specific scenarios and very mild gore element which can at times spook and take the audience by surprise.

Animation wise, Madhouse has done a really good work on this series.The character designs and animation pretty well fit the aesthetics of the show.It mostly reminds me of Parasyte maxim, another great horror show,
so you kinda understand what i am talking about. Its really well done. Only problem i had was sometimes i had trouble sometimes distinguishing characters,as most of the designs were quite closely similar.
Other than that setting of show, the background sceneries with its slightly dark, but tranquil element captures the atmosphere in high levels.
The production and filter usage also were quite top grade.

The sound/OST is another great part of this series.
Starting off with OP and ED,especially the OP "Shadowgraph" arguably the Best Op of this season and my personal favorite,Myth and roid again with a home run with a beautiful and breathtaking track.
Every time i hear it gives my a tranquil feeling and giving me goosebumps at the same time,its that good. ED also quite satisfying to listen to and fits well.
The OST's and background music is just great and well adapts to the story line and scenarios,while giving the feel of mysterious, tension and bit of horror, also during the fight and climax scenes
it picks up the pace, while giving a chill and tranquil vibe during amazing and deep conversations between characters.
Also as i mentioned earlier Voice actors have performed well and given justice character,especially Yukii Aoi with Boogiepop,her calm and soothing voice for boogipop is eargasm for my ears literally.
The studio and staff just delivered a great package to the viewers.

Coming to the end of the review,i would say this is the underrated show of the season,people have been dropping it due to slow pacing and the confusion the plot causes at the start,but are not patient
for it to unfold in an amazing manner which is the unique selling point of this show.
It needs immense focus at times but its worth it and i could say its quite a masterpiece in its own way.
We might not have another boogiepop, its that unique and kind of a gift from the anime industry to the mature audiences.

Watching this show,it really made me realize how much I miss watching a good horror/psychological story, no wonder this series is so beloved and influential towards other LN's.
This show needs more recognition and appreciation. Really highly recommended.

Boogiepop (2019) is a faithful adaptation of the novel/manga and is not an original story like the one released in 2000.

Since the series had recently started airing he fourth episode and it is a new arc, it gave me the sense that the series will be focusing on different arcs and different characters, emphasizing on the fact there will be amazing world building that we will see really soon.

-The story focuses on the theme of humanity and immediately as the series start we get to see the disgusting nature of human beings and how the good characters are more 'obvious' to our eyes if ... that makes sense.

-Soundtrack is top-notch, OP is great and ED is decent for my taste but the background music gives you a sense of tension and mysterious vibe that fits the anime really well.

-I will get straight to the point, the story seems to do something that I wish more anime wold do, like Baccano, it gives you a different perspective of the situation which adds a sense of mystery and intrigue plus life to the anime.

-The directing is really good, it has great cinematography and storyboard and captures the weirdness and absurdity really well.

-Animation and art is pretty good, it seems to be a style similar to Sora Yori or A Place Further than the Universe in English.

-Characters are not really given enough time to be attached as we still do not know who Boogiepop is or what she does exactly but the anime reassures that we are on her side alongside some other interesting characters.

-I really am enjoying it and it is too early to say the show will be a masterpiece or a disaster. The pacing might be slow or too fast at times and a little confusing so it requires immense focus. All I would say is that this series has potential to be one of the best in the mystery genre.

Well, after powering through for around 10 episodes I finally have to give up on this show. It's truly a shame, this was the series I was most hyped for this anime season and it turned out to be my least favourite.

I went into this show 100% blind so I cant say anything about how true it is to the source material.

The thing is, just because story telling is non-linear doesn't suddenly make it genius. I wouldn't put this to the same level as shows like serial experiments lain, baccano! and the monogatari series. All very different shows but each with the non linear ... story telling format which beckons the audience to attempt put the pieces together.

Here there was a mystery...I guess? I couldn't seem to care about it. I couldn't seem to care about anything. the characters are extremely bland and I cant seem to gain interest in any of them. The plot was equally uninteresting, at the end of each episode I couldn't find myself thinking "ooh i wonder what happened next!" I just didnt care at all. This series failed to evoke any emotions from me at all. Happy, sad, angry, curious. No, I was just bored.

The character designs are also very poor. Boogiepop has a unique outfit but each character looks too similar to each other, and once again bland. Its a common complaint ive seen that people keep mixing up the characters and I have to agree.It might once again have to do with the fact that each character is so unreasonably boring.

The best way to watch the series is by watching the OP and then skipping to the ED. Because nothing in the middle really matters.

If you liked Parasyte: The Maxim and Durarara!, this show may be for you! Based on the four episodes I have seen so far, Boogiepop is somewhat of a mix between these two anime and has a lot of potential. The non-linear storytelling keeps you on your toes as you try to piece together the overarching plot.

What are some specific things I like? I like stories that don't treat their viewers like small children. Boogiepop doesn't disappoint in that sense. There are no useless side characters whose sole purpose it is to explain the plot to the viewer. The opening and ending music is great ... (if you like Myth & Roid, which I do). The voice acting is incredibly authentic in some scenes, and even the "worst" performances are believable. The soundtrack fits perfectly. Not only does the music build tension but it inspires you to ponder the secrets of life. It is more mellow than the Parasyte and Durarara! soundtracks.

The horror aspect seems lacking in my opinion, but that may be because I have immunity to fear related debuffs. Still, you can probably watch Boogiepop at night even if you get scared easily. It does not heavily employ jumpscares. Also, the character development is slow and in some cases missing due to the non-linear plot. However, it is not significantly detrimental to overall enjoyment.

Finally, you may notice that my review rating and my personal rating are different. I try to rate reviews objectively, and my personal rating is how much I personally enjoyed the series.

Lackluster adaptation of a great book series. This anime adapts it's source material at such a fast pace that all the nuance and character moments are lost. The first Boogiepop book was full of inner dialogue and had 6 different narrators that saw a central event through different lenses. The beauty of Boogiepop is learning about these narrators and how they view life and what they think is "normal" and then seeing how they react to supernatural occurrences. The anime adapts this first book in 3 episodes and completely lacks inner dialogue. So, the anime feels pretentious with characters spouting out haughty lines with little ... to no context. Because of this the first episode was kinda boring and up it's own ass. Not to mention the anime literally cuts out the most interesting narrator completely, essentially leaving one of my favorite characters in the first book, Kamikishiro, a husk of her book counterpart.

Then there's the production. It looks bad. Animation is lackluster and not very plentiful while characters look bland. They completely changed the character designs from the light novels. Even the light novel and manga adaptation artist went on twitter to complain about these character designs. Characters are also often drawn with no face which really bothers me.

The action animation is sometimes decent and sometimes laughably bad. The rotoscope looking fight scene of episode 3 was so just weird looking I couldnt help but laugh. However, The music from Kensuke Ushio (Liz Blue Bird, Devilman Crybaby), the op/ed, and Yuuki Aoi's voice acting is probably the best part of the show. Also there's weird directing with a lot of cutting from a scene with swelling music straight to silence in another scene which throws me off and annoys me every time it happens.

I wouldn't recommend watching this as all it'll do is spoil the amazing novels in an unsatisfactory way. I'm not saying you can't enjoy the show, I'm sure plenty of people who like a nonlinear mystery story could find it interesting, but as a reader of the light novels I just can't see this as anything but an uninspired butchering of a classic series. I usually dislike the whole "read the manga" stereotype but for real, the difference is night and day when it comes to the Boogiepop Anime vs Light Novels.

Not worth watching as it doesn't make the most of the animated medium. You're probably better off reading the books.

Relies too heavily on dialogue for telling the plot and not showing the plot. If all the dialogue is poorly-hidden exposition for a plot that would otherwise be impossible to understand, you need to reconsider whether or not this story should be adapted into a visual medium such as anime. The story is probably good, but impossible to tell as it is all explained by characters whilst events seem to be occurring behind the scenes for uncertain reasons.

Between 12.50 and 14.08 in the second episode, you ... will hear some of the laziest dialogue I think I have ever heard in an anime (bar Speed Racer). I transcribed it all and read it back to myself to get the full impression of how lazy it was. It sounded like bad fanfiction.
For example (I've edited to make it spoiler free):
“You mean we’ll be able to get those guys who’re trying to get me because I’m a X, right?”
This is a cheap shortcut. It's also just not how people talk to each other. If the person she was talking to already knew that she was being targetted because she was a "X", then a simple "Oh great, so we can get back at those guys?" would have sufficed. If Boogiepop is going for a naturalistic, magic-realism style, the dialogue too should fit this description. I actually thought that some of the characters were possibly androids/aliens because of their stunted and overly descriptive dialogue style.

The story has not been properly adapted into the animated format, so it succumbs to lazy storytelling through exposition, which in turn sacrifices the credibility and individuality of the characters. Again, should this have been made into an anime? Moreover, the characters all suffer with same-face. I was perpetually mixing up the two main female AND the two main male characters, and I watch anime regularly, I'm not a newbie (not to mention I work and research in this field). The main characters, even when all in uniform, should be distinct against one another.

On the topic of indistinguishable main characters, the animation is cheap, frequently making use of panning and zoom shots (of still images) to fill time. Additionally there is an overuse of boil animation to show trembling or emotion, in almost every scene, making all characters seem as though they are perpetually emotionally unsettled. Even if this is the case, there are many ways to show nervousness in a character without using a boil technique.

A good anime will always visually show the viewer important information instead of engineering it into poor dialogue for the purpose of explaining the plot - but this probably costs too much money. This isn't just in episode 2, it's across all three first episodes which I wasted my free time watching. Shame, I usually love MadHouse.

I'll try a few more episodes because it seems to be trying something new, but probably won't stick with it.

Three points for awesome music/foley sounds, voice actors, Boogiepop's character design, and opening sequence.

The only reason I feel compelled to write a review is because based on reading others, I truly don't know if I missed something or watched a different show. There's a difference between skilled nonlinear storytelling to build intrigue and just dropping information out of order for the sake of novelty. It's just a bad story but out of order. The show was so sloppy, had so many stories peter out into lame dead ends, and spent most of the dialogue spouting stiff self-serious nonsense. I love introspective and abstract media, this is just not it.

Something that I feel is never mentioned is the ... relationship to the trailer. WHY was the trailer so much cooler than the actual show?? Why did they animate separate footage that was completely unrelated to the story?? Who was the fire skating wizard??? Is there a secret I don't know about??? Please help.

There's so many distinctly bad episodes that even on a second watch with an understanding of the plot, I can't even begin to fathom characters justification for their actions. Nobody acts like a person. The first episode is hot garbage. I love hearing about potentials that might be happening off screen but are still too vague to know why the even matter for 20 minutes. The girl who is also Boogiepop may as well not be a character, her only purpose is to be an arbitrary connection to the other students where all this crAaAzYy stuff is happening, despite her not contributing anything. The way that magic or aliens or whatever operates in this world is so incredible fuzzy I wish they had said 'because fairies.' Magical realism can be so compelling if you don't use ambiguous magic as a weird crutch to wrap up story lines.

There is the rare occasion where someone says something that could maybe provoke a singular thought, but not nearly enough to justify the stale exposition or philosophizing that goes on for majority of the show. I can't reflect on things that have no anchor in reality. So many of the storytelling choices were so strange or weird, I'm not sure if I should be blaming the source material or the adaptation, but I'll leave the original alone out of courtesy and ignorance.

I hate this show. It haunts me. Nothing makes sense. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I have to live with these memories now and I'll never forgive them for that.
If you enjoyed this show, you are valid and I'm jealous I can't have fun with you.

So the overall quality is not bad, but the script is really jarring, which is too bad since this anime ends up being a lot of dialogue with an action episode to cap off the "arc". I'm reviewing this at the conclusion of the third "arc" because I do think I've got a grasp on the anime as a whole.

Art 7/10
The big attention getter is the art and animation, the PV and other aspects led to this anime getting SUPER hyped before it was released, which has, inevitably, effected my impression. Although action episodes are rather spaced out the base line of quality is there, ... and the action is generally pretty entertaining, there are integral flaws that i'll get back to when discussing characters though.

Story & characters 3/10 & 4/10
There are 2 major issues with the script, forced achronological order and super dark moments that absolutely don't fit except to help prop up the unearned "psychological" tag.

So my theory is that the biggest contributor to the writing, its hard to tell with several directors and character designers, was very character focused. writing out a few really strong characters and then trying to tie them together with a bunch of less well thought out characters in the spirit of other zanier and less serious action sci-fantasy.
Speculation aside the result is, very few characters you're endeared to and a lot you really couldn't care less about. It doesn't help that the writer can only do like 2 types of personalities (a variation of stoic and an obsessive). They come together in a messy arc with very straightforward, to the point of killing suspension of disbelief, themes.
Everyone is always on the same psychological page, characters praise each other for their wit and intelligence, you can practically see the writer patting themself on the back with every cringe moment in the dialogue. Its a wonder that this work can be called psychological when each arc is pretty much just one cardboard cutout delivering yet another "reason you suck (or alternatively their hope in death)" speech to other cardboard cut outs.

It also doesn't help that the action episodes always use a mix of mind control, electricity, and super strength (boogiepop the only exception) to get over what always ends up being a violent confrontation, all justified due to some overbearing organization.

I could go on but I think I've already rambled enough


In the end, if you like light novels that are super dialogue heavy, or are just getting into anime, this has a lot of what you might like. Its tries to be really clever and the "twists" might actually have some meaning to you. Otherwise its just another edgy flick.

I'm currently using the three episode rule (you watch three episodes of a show and use it as a basis to continue watching or not).

After watching three episodes, I understand that Echo is an Alien and he is basically studying humanity.

The manticore is Echo's clone, after eating someone they can mimic their voice and appearance.

Masami Saotome is the guy helping out the manticore.

I found it hard to understand the story as the perspective changes often and other than "being friends". It's hard to find anyone's motivations for why they are doing anything. I couldn't even tell who the main characters are ... supposed to be. Other than being "not normal" or being in a relationship, characters don't have any individuality. The character designs are also quite bland and generic, so it didn't use itself as a visual medium very well.

We are barely given any exposition and are just blindly thrown into the story and conflict. All I got was that the Boogiepop girl appears when bad things are happening, or something to that extent.

Other than just being "not normal" Masami's actions aren't supported by much and this manticore just trusts him for some reason.

I was very confused, to say the least. If you like this show I just don't understand what it's trying to do... my loss I guess???

Boogiepop is a DC Universe comic about a girl who becomes a superhero after being bitten by a radioactive private detective. Unfortunately, she has a terminal case of chuunibyou, so she dresses in a ridiculous outfit, speaks in a weird voice, whistles a random Wagner melody she once overheard on the radio and spouts the typical chuuni nonsense like “so this is the will of the world” and “I’m the terror that flaps in the night.” There are other people with superpowers, who all want to make the world a better place, usually by killing or brainwashing everyone, so she’s not so bad in comparison. ... There is a mysterious organization whose stated goal is to prevent the emergence of said superpowered freaks, except everything they do achieves the exact opposite - a scalding and totally intentional satire of the ineffectual nonprofits and NGOs that do nothing but create lofty jobs for moral busybodies. There is a guest appearance by Batman, who’s a waifu, because anime. Also, there is a random non-sequitur alien, because JoJo has a random non-sequitur alien, and everyone must know that the author loves JoJo.

If that synopsis doesn’t strike you as very accurate, it’s about as good as everything you hear about this series. Boogiepop employs a convoluted non-linear structure, which, actually, is the best thing about it. Unfortunately, a big chunk of the audience finds it 2confusing4me and another big chunk thinks convoluted equals profound. In its essence, Boogiepop is a cheesy urban fantasy with on-the-nose social commentary about 1990s Japanese society plus some cool mystery elements. It’s also an anime adaptation of a series of books. I’d like to elaborate on the social commentary, mystery and adaptation aspects.

The problem with doing social/political commentary is that it risks becoming outdated very, very fast, and this is exactly what happens here. For example, one of the plotlines (in the original book) involves a gay teen who can’t process feelings he has for another guy because he literally doesn’t know what “gay” is. How plausible does that sound in the Current Year? The anime does a good job of addressing such narrative problems, but that, in turn, attracts ire of the source material readers doing their usual “they’ve changed it, now it sucks” routine. Also, the social commentary here is quite hamfisted to begin with. Said teen is then brainwashed into essentially being a robot, and given an instruction to “await further orders without attracting any attention.” Because he was originally a delinquent, this makes him no longer skip school or get into fights, which prompts all adults around to commend how he has now reformed into a good, productive member of society. Gee, I wonder if there is some sort of message here. It’s only natural, though. Don’t we all have profound conversations with strangers that conveniently fit whatever narrative our author is preaching? That’s just how life works.

Like I said, mystery is a good part of this show. Here is how a typical Boogiepop arc is structured: The first episode begins in medias res, throwing a bunch of characters and supernatural concepts at you, as well as posing some conflict. You’d expect it to dial back to the start and provide some explanations next, but the story instead throws in even more characters and concepts, and there are probably at least two plotlines developing in parallel. It seems overwhelming, but the last episode of the arc actually ties up all the loose ends neatly, providing the necessary answers (key word is “necessary”, doesn’t mean it spoon-feeds you). The plot never tries to be confusing just for the sake of being confusing, there are plenty of things with the sole purpose of helping the viewer to keep up. For example, there is a scene of a character smoking a specific pack of cigarettes shown three times from three different angles just to establish which events happen in what order. The show challenges you to pay attention and appropriately rewards you for doing so. Unfortunately, the non-linear structure kinda fizzles out in the second half of the season, making it less enjoyable.

My last point is that Boogiepop originally is a series of books. This, however, is an anime, and anime are not books. It seems to me that a lot of source material readers struggle to understand that concept. Books can be long. Books can have dozens of plot points explained entirely through narration. Books can be written 20 years ago - the outdated social commentary point. Anime, however, has these things called “episode length”, “pacing”, “show, don’t tell” and “not putting your audience to sleep”. Most criticism I’ve heard coming from disgruntled source material readers is about how this Background Character B should have had two episodes worth of backstory, or how they’ve cut this very important “the guy walks alone for an entire chapter, thinking about stuff” moment. So, if you’ve heard this anime is bad because it is a bad adaptation - that’s uninformed nonsense. Considering the narration-heavy nature of the source, it is adapted about as well as it could’ve possibly been adapted by someone whose name isn’t Oishi Tatsuya and whose studio isn’t SHAFT. If we’re talking about medium-specific things - the animation is not exactly sakuga material, but it competently does its storytelling job. For example, the first big fight looks goofy out of context, but it perfectly sells the narrative point that the fighters in question are supernatural monsters that only look like humans, who obey neither limitations of human anatomy nor gravity. The voice acting of Boogiepop and the OP/ED songs are the high points of the production.

5/10 for a mystery show with some fun to be found, as long as you bother to pay attention and don’t mind anvilicious preaching (or Pokemon-level artistic license on evolution).

A Truly Hidden & Underrated Gem - A Compelling and Entirely Unique Look Into a World with Superpowers and 'Villains'


To give the reader a brief rundown of this show and what to expect from it, it involves a series of 'cases' that span several episodes each, where a new 'threat' to humanity makes itself known—in the form of a new 'power' or 'ability' evolving in a person and being used—that threatens to disrupt the status quo of society. From there we see how these powers and the world, as well as the leading character Boogiepop—a product of these new divergent "powers" itself—interact with one another, ... with the abilities often being complex and powerful, and with the people, and reality, often changing with them. Due to this, more often than not these powers need to be 'overcome' by humanity, with each case—other than Boogiepop and a select handful of recurring characters—introducing a new set of characters affected by the power, whose task is to overcome it. The presentation of each case is often non-linear, requiring at least some attention to make sense of, but with a fairly typical story structure despite that—with always a clear beginning, middle, and end.

What makes Boogiepop as a story so special and great to me, is that in this world full of such mystical and grand characters, powers, and organizations, it always just comes down to the common people rising above to overcome the threats faced. Despite what it might look like initially, 'Boogiepop' the character, however powerful they may seem, is quite literally a phantom within the plot itself—without ever really having much of a defining impact on the world or result themselves. They are only ever there so much as an emphasis and guide for the ordinary, everyday human characters of the story to shine and do their part, and to highlight their greatness and potential. It always invariably ends up relying on them, and their actions and qualities.

Even with all its dark themes and world—and most of its themes are dark—at its heart 'Boogiepop *and Others* ' as a story is ultimately very optimistic. It's a celebration of humanity and our 'possibility'. On the surface, the author does depict humanity "evolving" with these fantastical new powers and abilities, but it is ultimately always in the mundane yet concerted, ordinary and human-achievable actions through which they are overcome, and through which we truly 'evolve' and move forward as a species. Those powers, much like Boogiepop, only serve to bring these out and shine a light on what is otherwise very grounded human feats.

I'd recommend ignoring the ratings and giving this show a try if this sounds interesting to you, or if you especially love amazing soundtracks (courtesy of Kensuke Ushio of Devilman Crybaby, A Silent Voice, and Ping Pong the Animation fame), heavy atmosphere, and thoughtful, moving thematic exploration. This show isn't designed to be loud, flashy, or mass-appealing—the beloved cult-classic Boogiepop novels aren't that kind of story—the heights and climaxes of the story are built slowly, often in a non-linear fashion, and are only really going to be rewarding if you're following the themes and can empathize with the characters and ideas they present. For me, it was and is a highly rewarding, unique, and emotive show, beautiful in the passion of its writing and execution—and extremely rewatchable with all its amazingly developed thematic peaks and moments.

It's that type of show you find yourself replaying tracks and moments of, weeks, months—even years after. Certain moments and stories from this I can't see myself ever forgetting to be honest. It's been over four years now since I first watched it, and I'm still passionate enough to write this review on another revisit.

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-- slight spoiler talk follows from here, where I rant in torrential form, but minor detail, about one of my favourite arcs --

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Perhaps my favourite episodes and story in this, and that which I feel reflects the series' best, is that of episodes 10 to 13. The arc involves two 'synthetic humans'—'tools' of an organization used to carry out their dirty work, and search for and subsequently eliminate threats—reaching self-realization as they come to critical points in their lives, where the growing 'bugs' of guilt, doubt and questioning inside them overwhelm and threaten to blossom. It shows us the critical events in their history leading up to this, and the humans that changed them; the humans they killed, and were sent to kill, as well as, in the end—their defining moments—and the humans they save. It is a story that contrasts some of the best of us coming to be the worst, with the worst of us coming to be the best, in each of the characters' defining moments. It focuses on the messiness of us as beings—and the potential beauty that such things as guilt, regret, and otherwise minor interactions and interrelated events can come to lead to. The unpredictable causal chain of our lives that can lead us from the best to the worst, and from the worst to the best, giving the ever-present chance for us to aspire and grow, and to change directions as people—rising above circumstance history—and achieving a new definition in the story of our lives. How such a simple thing as Nagi Kirima's brief but sincere words of enthusiasm and support to Scarecrow, and his aspiration of becoming a crime-tackling hero, can further sprout an invisible but infinitely entangled and complex series of events that end up affecting every character's path in the story.


*“Would you be able to cast your regret aside and return again? Return to the moment when your heart was at its most beautiful?”*


It's an incredibly heartfelt and emotive story, and what Scarecrow, and later Mo Murder both come to do in this arc, and the place they get to, represents the most beautiful thing in the world and of us humans to me. In but two such short, brief moments, all their development, history, and lives as synthetic humans come to a head, and they each achieve the most human of acts—they opt for danger and self-sacrifice for the sake and rescue of another. To do such an otherwise illogical and risky, but *good* thing for another; all in a situation where the other party will likely never even learn about or appreciate it—or they likely won't live through to see it blossom in any way. And to get to that result—and not regret it or the loss of everything in your final moments...

It reflects us rising above our urges, instincts and base desires. We as animals. To act in such a way against our very selves and self-preserving nature. No other being in the world can manage this, certainly for what's little more than a stranger—it is our gift alone. And we with all our intelligence and sentience so rarely manage to achieve anything close. But rarely, every so often, we do manage it.

It must be when we listen to that little 'bug' inside, no matter how small and crushed down it may have gotten over the years, that just wants to do and be something good for another like us. The chance doesn’t come around often, if at all for most of our lives, but when it does—and we manage it—it can only be when our hearts are at their most beautiful point. When we 'break through' and become something more than just the sum of our animal parts and our history—where our sentience, will and humanity are realized in but a moment. When we do something just for the intangible concept that is the principle.

Sure, there are plenty of stories with characters and much greater 'heroes' in them that put others before themselves, as well as sacrifice themselves. Such a thing isn't very unique to this story. But here, it is made especially profound and emotive as with both characters' stories, you see every beat that leads them to their resolutions, where they start from—very low; flawed and morally troubled, chained to the orders of an organization—and where they end up. That 'bug' inside them growing and steering more and more their actions.

Nothing especially "big", different, or dramatic ever happens to the characters to change or set them on this course either. Just a long series of small events, thoughts, interactions, words... It isn't clean—their heroism—and certainly not very 'cool' to watch, it's quick and messy, and there's not really a happy ending to be found in the story either. There's even a struggle with regret and doubt after said heroic acts. And neither manages to 'absolve' themselves in the story or any of the things they did wrong and the crimes they committed... But it is in this messiness and harsh reality, and in seeing their journeys and inner turmoil play out that something extremely believable and compelling is found. Something that sticks out and stays.

It is often said that without fear there is no bravery, or—the more fear that exists, the chance for greater amounts of bravery—and I think that logic holds for acts of greatness and heroism as well. Great characters achieving and doing heroic things is... great, but to write terribly flawed and damaged characters achieving heroic things, and showing that journey believably, I think, is much more special a thing, and Boogiepop does it perfectly here.


*“Humans do not possess a single, focused will. They just have countless bugs buzzing around in all directions inside their hearts. It's fine when all these bugs are headed toward the same meal as one, but when they split apart... People take actions that can only be described as incoherent.”*


There are countless cases one could learn about, throughout all the great conflicts, depressions, and tragedies of history, where everyday people, assuredly flawed people, manage to break through our nature and achieve this, and undoubtedly countless more forever untold; locked away in the everyday noise, or the long and unseen history of the world. Ordinary people sheltering the persecuted and knowingly facing death and torture for it, people running into fires, and firefighters running up burning skyscrapers... Teachers shielding their students with their own bodies, and soldiers jumping over grenades just to save their comrades and friends... Starving brothers giving the last morsel to their starving sisters, and personnel going down with ship or reactor, just to save and protect as many as they can in the role that only they could fill...

If there is a God—or an audience of our experience out there—I am sure this is when they are their most proud, shocked, or affected. Like you or me, who watched the brief stories of 'Scarecrow' and 'Mo Murder'. It is where our souls and characters are truly seen and shining. A soul developed bit by bit over a lifetime, achieving definition in one tiny, beautiful moment, with the decision to do away with self-preservation, the fundamental law for all life, and to hurt or lose ourselves for another like us. These events are not fiction, flukes, or one-off anomalies, and such transcendent beauty is an irrefutable possibility within each of us. Even in the worst and most hopeless among us—as were the characters of Scarecrow and Mo Murder.

If we could control time, and observe with our own eyes our history - the lives of these people, and these events, would surely be the most impactful. It is where I would go. How many journeys would it take, I wonder—being confronted with and seeing first-hand those undeniable acts of purity—to believe and love in all of life and humanity.

I think, just one...

The 'Boogiepop and Others' story, as mentioned previously, is about the greatness of humanity. And nowhere does it achieve this focus and message as perfectly as in this arc for me. If nothing else, I am sure the story of these characters and the themes of Boogiepop will stick with me for a long while still. Though I feel I could just as well rant about the other stories and themes of Boogiepop and Others. They are all explored in such a satisfying and rewarding way correlating to the amount of attention you give it, with the right amounts of subtlety and scope to never come across as heavy-handed or convoluted. The ideas presented and the messages contained always feel perfectly complete by the end of their respective arcs, with compelling presentation and, in my opinion, very profound and memorable conclusions. It is a great feat of the writing to be so compellingly positive in such an otherwise dark and murky story and world, with so few if any 'happy' endings or especially 'good' characters.

In a world now so chock-full of stories and shows of superpowers, heroes, and heroic feats, I think 'Boogiepop and Others' remains truly special. It achieves the same exciting displays of power, intriguing mystery, and excitingly dangerous 'villains' and bad guys, but not very far into its heart does it do away with all of it, choosing to focus on none of it, and it is much more special for this—with a far more powerful, memorable, and motivating sense of positivity and hope than just about any other 'super' story out there.

Something about this one just... stuck with me. The audio design is undoubtedly great. The visuals are on point. It's a fascinating string of events. And yet, I don't think I could in any way rank Boogiepop this highly from an objective point of view. I can see how some people would think that it's needlessly confusing and that the entire experience is overly sparse. The characters don't really get much time for us to understand who they are, and the movers and shakers of the world are left, perhaps, too vague in the background. To engage with it fully, the show is asking a ... lot of its audience; perhaps more than it has any right to.

However, as my score and initial proclamation indicate, this may be top ten material for me. Something about the experience struck a chord within my soul, a yearning that I haven't felt in a long while. Can I tell you, objectively, what makes it this good for my subjective tastes? No, I cannot. Maybe, in its own paradoxical way, not knowing why the experience has meant so much is one of the reasons it means so much.

If you're up for a challenge, give this a watch. You'll either have something mediocre to enjoy or be unable to put into words why you remember it so fondly after you finish.

Why??? Why are the top seven reviews, the ones who watched up to episode 4?? What's so good about episode 4???? To satisfy my curiosity, I gave boogiepop a watch hoping I'd get a clear explanation of the series on episode 4. Lucky me, I was still somewhat kept in the dark with a cliffhanger. Yay for no explanation.

Boogiepop is basically about a grim reaper who takes the form of a highschool girl, and who's job is basically to extinguish evil on earth. Whether it's a monster in the form of a highschool girl, or a monster in the form of a highschool girl. Have ... I mentioned that BOOGIEPOP might've encountered a monster in the form of a highschool girl? And that this grim reaper's name is BOOGIEPOP? Boogiepop.

As you keep watching, you wonder... Who is the main character in this show? Is it Boogiepop? Is it a highschool girl? Or is it a monster in the form of a highschool grl? Boogiepop is a mystery anime where if you even blink, you'll get lost in the amount of lore and plot they're trying to dish out at you.

Do i recommend Boogiepop? If you don't wanna enjoy your food while watching anime, I recommend this anime.

Overall Score: 7 out of Boogiepop
Boogiepop score: Boogiepop
Boogiepop: Boogiepop

thank you