Reviews of Boogiepop Phantom (2000) and related work
- Interquel: Boogiepop and Others (2000)
Boogiepop Phantom (2000
)
Easily compared to a puzzle. Various students in modern Japan become associated with bizarre phenomena, frequently connected to a release of tension in some form, whether it’s through the consumption of delicious anxiety bugs crawling around on people, or through the extraction of an inner child who can play with the sinister Pan-like Poom-Poom.
Weird supernatural horror with social commentary. Lots of characters recur and a coherent but non-linear plot is eventually revealed. However, there is not a great deal to it. Most episodes are essentially stand-alone, and many of them have quite nice concepts. The idiosyncrasies are many and sometimes annoying (“ping”), but the dreamlike mood coupled with some realistic dialogue works a lot of the time.
References here: Paranoia Agent (2004).
moving picture Japanese production animation fiction series
‣ Boogiepop and Others (2000)
The events surrounding the pillar of light.
A simultaneous element of the franchise, in live action. The mood is relatively bright mood, the horror almost incidental. Much more normal and comprehensible. If you intend to watch the series, you should probably check this out first.