Review on BoogiePop Phantom: "Boogiepop wa Warawanai": from DVD Cover:
"Every once in a while an anime comes along that is very special. One that uses the medium as an artform to tell a
story that is both complex and yet fundamentally very simple. Boogiepop Phantom is one of those anime series. It is a
Horror, Psychological and Supernatural anime series that has 12 episodes. It won't be to everyone's tastes, as
it is at times an almost relentlessly grim tale where people often act with the best of intentions but end up performing
some of the most violent acts possible. To make matters worse, the story is told in fragmentary and non-linear fashion,
with each episode making a sensible storyline, but, in the process, following one character and weaving around the large
storyline that goes on in the background. It is extremely intricately constructed, with characters appearing in the
background of a few episodes, to then be brought in the frontline and their particular story being explored.
It is like a puzzle box and can take some time to sort through and place everything in its correct position.
If you don't want to exercise your memory and deductive skills, your psychological analysis and patience, then this
anime isn't for you. But the satisfaction of recognizing a character from eight episodes ago, to finally understand
exactly what they had been doing, it's quite large. This is helped too by the large story, with its musings on the
dangers of changing either too fast or (more unusually for anime) not changing fast enough and becoming mired in the
past. In its own way, it is quite an uplifting story, with a resolute message: change is to be embraced, not feared, and
allowed to unfold at its own pace.
This series begins with a hint at what is going on with three distinct characters, each explored later on.
All of the characters appearing in the story were touched in some way by a mysterious pillar of light
that exploded into the night. As a result of that, their lives have been affected - in a deeply personal way,
as the psychology of the characters is explored.
The anime uses a set of visual devices, pretty much throughout all of the episodes, like a muted colour palette, and fairly rapid and abrupt edits that leap around in time. The net effect is a deliberately gothic feel, as we explore the stream of consciousness - waving between memories, sometimes events that are yet to come, and the present moments. This would be much harder to follow were it not for a superlative and amazing soundtrack. Rightstuf can be very proud of their work (as they have taken full advantage of dreamlike and surreal feel of the series) to deliver a soundtrack that makes you so glad that you're an anime lover. The soundtrack envelopes the listener with sounds that are regularly using all the speakers in subtle and not so subtle ways. Voices will drift around the soundstage and the ambient sounds are ever present. The musical soundtrack is tightly worked in and a lot of subtle effects are used to help delineate matters for the viewer.
With a series like this a lot of the fun of it comes from puzzling over it yourself and coming to your own conclusions. Make no mistake, this is a special anime series for those willing to invest the time to understand it. There is sufficient depth in it to deserve repeated viewings and at least two will be required to begin to pick up on the subtleties present. The name might seem silly but the series is far from it".
Personal Opinion: I have seen this 12 episode series 3 times already and I came to the same conclusion as after watching
Paranoia Agent or Serial Experiments Lain: Genius! Simple Genius! I recommand this series to you with all my heart and
those of you who have already watched it, please post your comments
and opinions on this topic. Thank You!
