Boogiepop Phantom

Original Title: ブギーポップは笑わない
Romanized: Bugiipoppu wa Warawanai
Literal: Boogiepop Does Not Laugh

Plot Synopsis

One night, in an unremarkable city, a strange light appears in the sky, and the aurora drifts over the buildings. Things seem the same after that, but people begin to die in mysterious ways--some of them like the unsolved serial murders that plagued the area five years ago--and there are rumors at the local high school. Rumors of a being who can solve problems, take away pain, take away life. Some call it the God of Death. Others call this being Boogiepop. But Kirima Nagi, a bad girl on a mysterious mission, is interested in more than just rumors, and has seen things that most people don't even believe in...

Quick Review

Rating: 5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2004-07-06

Blending psychodrama, horror, and an X-Files-style plot into something dark and unusual, the experience of watching and putting together the pieces of Boogiepop Phantom is an original, unsettling, and absolutely engrossing experience. Each individual story follows someone as their world falls apart from within, while slowly giving the viewer the pieces of the greater picture that ties the series together, offering both a raw connection to a variety of disturbed characters and a challenging supernatural puzzle to keep the intellect engaged. Filmed from uncomfortable angles with a monochromatic palette of olive hues and scored with distorted fragments of music and commonplace sounds, the production establishes a relentlessly oppressive setting for its twisting plot and overlapping timelines, and the whole is completed by a large troupe of talented actors.

Boogiepop Phantom is a masterfully constructed work of art, maintaining a subdued but always powerful emotional character and stylistic theme from start to finish. Although far too dark and strange to appeal to many, I cannot recommend this twisting tale highly enough.

US DVD Review

The DVDs are fine productions. The video is beautiful--despite the darkness of so many scenes and all the gradients and intentionally grainy shots, it looked smooth and defined throughout, with no noticeable artifacts at all. The audio tracks are sharp and very clean as well; you get your choice of 2-channel Japanese or English, but the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack in English only. The menus are fittingly dark and well designed (though the same on each disc), and the episodes are well indexed. The extras aren't bad, either; there is an additional audio track with commentary by the English dub director, a variety of previews, and a few music videos (including an original CG one on the 2nd disc that is very well done and downright disturbing).

Content Guide

Rightstuf gave the videos a 15+ rating, which is about right, and it probably wouldn't appeal to many people younger than that anyway.

Violence: 3 - There is little physical violence, but when it does occur it is brutal.

Nudity: 1 - Nothing noteworthy.

Sex/Mature Themes: 3 - Nothing erotic, but many episodes feature strong themes.

Language: 1 - The subtitles are fairly mild.

Notes and Trivia

Based on a popular series of books by Kouhei Kadono. Interestingly, each episode has two titles--one in English, and another, sometimes different, subtitle in Japanese. Episode 6, for example, is titled (in English) "She's So Unusual," and subtitled (in Japanese) "The Way She Lives."

There is also a live-action movie, Boogiepop and Others, that RightStuf has translated. It's available in a special edition box set along with the anime series.

Availability

Available in the US from RightStuf on four bilingual DVDs, which also come in a box set, or as a special edition set that includes the whole series plus the live action movie. Was previously available on four subtitled or dubbed VHS volumes.

Looking to buy? Try these stores: RightStuf (search) | AnimeNation | Akemi's a(nime)Store