Boogiepop wa Warawanai

Title:Boogiepop wa Warawanai
Boogiepop Never Smiles
Boogiepop Phantom
ブギーポップは笑わない
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , ,
Notables: ASAKAWA Yuu
CHIBA Saeko
ORIKASA Fumiko
R1 License - Right Stuf Intl
A light in the sky, followed by a strange aura and grisly murders. Each character tells there own connection to the event and to a similar murder spree 5 years ago. All of the different stories are slowly tied together by seemingly minute similarities and the story of Boogiepop is unraveled. (Text from AnimeNewsNetwork.com)


[12 TV-episodes based on the novel series by Kouhei Kadono-sensei. The novels are currently being released by Seven Seas, who are getting rave reviews for actually understanding how Japanese novels should be published.]

1min Series Trailer - ANN Video
See related series: Boogiepop and Others.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Unevaluated 8 8 7 7 9 9 Dreamer [series:512#2279]
After reading all the reviews... a ton of them, I decided to pick this one up to see what all the fuss was about. Well......

Art, Animation & Character Designs
The artwork was dark, disturbing and well done. Artistic is probably another good word to use here.... akin to Serial Experiments Lain. The bland and sometimes washed out colors found here and there added to the dark and spooky feel of the series. Character designs weren't exactly great. I'd say below the norm but still bearable.

Music
The OP was different. It wasn't your usual high-pitched female vocals to a happy pop piece. Instead, it was male vocals to an almost jazz-like piece that didn't sound all that bad. Nice. The soundtrack for the most part was eerie and sorta freaky. It worked for the feel of the series.

Series and Episode Story
The best thing about this series is the plot. Very mysterious, eerie and well done. What's interesting is that the plot isn't presented in a normal linear fashion. Rather, it's often fragmented, and may not appear to make a whole lot of sense to begin with. But after you watch it fully through, and maybe once or twice more, you'll come to appreciate and enjoy the story. Very suspenseful and it draws you in.

Overall, great series with lots of weird things that keeps your eyes peeled and mind pondering on the plot.

Last updated Thursday, May 14 2009. Created Thursday, May 14 2009.
Watch 7 7 8 6 7 7 Ggultra2764 [series:512#1552]
There were a number of ways where Boogiepop Phantom reminded me of Serial Experiments Lain. Both give off mysterious environments where you don't know what is lurking and they slowly unveil more answers and mysteries to their worlds as the series progresses. But while Lain's intrigue comes from its believable look at man's increasing dependence on technology, Boogiepop's stem more from horror and heavier elements of science fiction. While a unique approach, Boogiepop Phantom gets too into its mysteries for me to get too hooked into it.

Each episode of the series focuses on a single character who has some kind of connection to the mysterious phoenomena taking place in the series. Whatever this phoenomena is, it takes advantage of the vulnerabilities of people and more details are unveiled about what type of problem is taking place in the series. Yet at the same time, each episode brings about different mysteries to be looked at. In terms of the smaller picture, Boogiepop succeeds in giving you and resolving its mysteries. But, the bigger picture is an entirely different issue. No clear answers are given to bigger questions like what the organization was behind the problem and the true nature surrounding the mysterious Boogiepop.

In terms of artwork, Boogiepop has decent shading and detail with its scenery and character designs. But, scenes taking place at night gave me fits as the brightness in these scenes was so dark at times, I had to get up close to my monitor to make sense of what was going on.

Boogiepop tries to be as dark and mysterious as Lain. But, it gets too immersed with this approach where it doesn't solve all its mysteries and scenes in dark alleyways force you to watch up close to see what's going on.

Last updated Wednesday, December 10 2008. Created Wednesday, December 10 2008.
Buy 10 8 7 10 10 8 psychoboy [series:512#469]
as the other reviewers have stated, you get out of this series what you put into it. it took me a few tries to get through the first dvd. then i put the thing away for 2+ years. i decided to pull it out recently and give it another shot. this time it paid off. i finally made it through (now more than once!) and found it to be a rewarding experience. so now nto my review with no spoliers.

art - 10

the overall look and feel of this series is quite unique, the reivew calling it 'dark and depressing' and questioning whether or not the animators had heard of color obviously didnt make it all the way through. there is a reason for the drab coloring and it is quite important to the plot and in episode 12 you understand why as the coloring for that episode is different. everything has a place in the art.

animation - 8

there isnt a lot of action here overall and a lot of it is talking heads.

character design - 7

while the characters are all drawn well, there is A TON of them and all shown at different ages, so it can be difficult to determine who is who, expecially the first time through.

music - 10

i counted the ambient noise in with the music. themusic is well done and placed very carefully as are all the sounds. i bought the dvd box set which ahs the 2 cd sundrack and an extra music cd and are great to listen to on its own, if you like ambient/techno type music.

series story - 10

there is so much story here and so many story lines to follow it can be overwhelming, but everything fits together. if you like psychocological and/or philisophical stories that make you think long after viewing this is for you. there is so much to 'chew on' here. its best watched on episode at a time and perhaps even watch each episode 2 or 3 times before moving on to absorb everything.

episode story - 8

the only knock here is that everything is told out of order. eposide 4 mostly takes place for the first 3 and episode 9 is told in reverse (kinda like that seinfeld episode).

its very challenging, but well worth the effort. highest possible recommendation.

Last updated Wednesday, September 06 2006. Created Wednesday, September 06 2006.
Buy 10 10 10 10 10 masami satomei [series:512#1839]
one of my favorite series of all time
just...classic
you must buy this...just watching it will definitly not do---you WILL need to see it more than once to fully understand it (and I highly recommend the commentary, its really thought-provoking)
I absolutly love everything about this series. There are no fillers...every single thing thy show is relevant, so pay attention
and buy it now
now

Last updated Sunday, February 13 2005. Created Sunday, February 13 2005.
Buy 8 8 9 10 10 MarX [series:512#1033]
One of the first series I have seen that use time like that... Not as much bloody but psychologically enthralling... Here is how the time thing works...
Some five years ago: There was a rash of killings that had stopped very suddenly as they had started..
Next, one month ago: A night light had appeared inexplicably that had changed the city to the feel of the day to day routines of the people in the city... In its wake it left a strange rainbow in the sky...
Finally, the present day: Children are disappearing without a trace. Rumor has it that they were taken away by a being called Boogiepop, the modern day Angel of Death. But is Boogiepop real, or just an urban legend?
Got it.. (Thought it might help if someone saw the series and couldn't figure out the time thing...)
Anyway, I like the dark feel of the series.. I also like how they gave the hazy feel through out the series until the final episode when it all makes sense (Kind of)..
Though this series is complex in a sense.. It may not be for everyone...
Recommend here...
~ ~

Last updated Saturday, January 10 2004. Created Saturday, January 10 2004.
Rent 10 8 9 9 7 10 Marcus [series:512#679]
What you get out of Boogiepop Phantom depends what you put into it. To fully appreciate this fascinating series, you'll need to watch it multiple times and not care if you don't get everything first time. Unfortunately, so many people are put off by its fractured story and general wierdness, and just give up. Boogipop's plot may seem to come straight out of a B-grade horror movie, but there is so much more to the series than this. The parallels with Lain are obvious, and I also found similarities to Evangelion and its deep character introspection.
The series is largely an episodic one, each exploring different characters, and different aspects of the central story. But these episodes are shown out of chronological order, and across three time frames (5 years ago, 1 month ago, present). Placing each episode in the context of the story is left almost entirely up to the viewer. This is not easy, as the links between episodes are sometimes not obvious, and the multi-layered plot can be difficult to follow. The characterisation is excellent, with the brutally realistic depiction of individuals suffering inner turmoil being an important element of the series.
The one possible negative is that the series seems to have tried too hard to remain faithful to its original work (a manga- I think). A number of storylines and characters were not developed well enough, and quite a bit was left unexplained. Perhaps it may have been better to focus more deeply on a smaller section of the original. Then again, if you want everything spelled out for you, you shouldn't be watching this series anyway. Rent the first few episodes and make up your own mind.

Last updated Sunday, February 15 2004. Created Friday, November 07 2003.
Watch 1 1 dhrachth [series:512#962]
Dark & depressing and the animators apparently have never heard of color. And, then there was a lack of character development to suck you in. Way too arsty besides.
Maybe that kind of thing floats your boat, but I didn't like it. Check out an episode or two before springing for a set.

Last updated Wednesday, September 10 2003. Created Wednesday, September 10 2003.
Buy 9 10 10 10 10 10 Yousei [series:512#755]
The style of this anime was easy to catch up on and I thought it was just extremely creative. Although each episode is somewhat concentrated on a particular person within the series, you still have a good understanding of what is actually going on. This series just draws you in and makes you so anxious to see what'll happen next, and the constant blurring in the earlier episodes aren't much of a bother. The sound is amazing as well. Even when the music and sound effects are clashing together, it went along perfectly. It was a great buy in my part. If you're not really into the whole 'dark, gruesome, and mysterious' aspects out there, you can still find Boogiepop to be enjoyable to watch.

Last updated Friday, July 11 2003. Created Friday, July 11 2003.
Buy 10 10 10 10 10 10 poneru [series:512#638]
I loved this series!!!!!!
Its dark and sort of creepy so it may not appeal to everyones tastes, but it is awsome. The tint on the animation gives it this cool, lurking effect. I was hooked byt the first episode. The complex plot line sorta was confusing at first, but thye way it all eventually flowed togeter was incredible. I could rave about every single aspect of this series....but take my word, you have to see it for yourself. If you're into the whole dark, funky, Lain atmosphere, wou'll love this series too.Well? what are you siiting here for? WATCH IT!!

Last updated Thursday, June 05 2003. Created Thursday, June 05 2003.
Buy 9 9 9 10 9 9 AerosolWriter [series:512#525]
It seems in Tokyo theres a connection and somehow or another people are suffering from pain, not caused by bad people but through there sadness that they create subconsciously. Some people try to take advantage of you, when you created your own hell, and it seems to be your escape. Boogiepop Phantom will help.
When you first watch the series you will notice a couple of things, Every episode is a different story, and each have hints of another episode, there is also a blur around the screen that will gradually become less blurry as you go through the series. There are three times frames that comes up in every episode (week ago, month ago, ect.), which you should pay attention to, it can help you understand the very last episode which gives away everything. Boogiepop Phantom gives a sad, twisted, and demented atmosphere that is represented perfectly.
Another thing thats great about the series is the music, even though, maybe techno isnt your favorite, it fits just perfectly and gives the vibe that your being chased. If you get the DVDs each will come with extra features, such as commercials and a really creepy music video. I suggest buying the box set, its a great anime that can be forgotten easily and would be great to watch again alone in your room with the volume on your TV high.

Last updated Tuesday, February 04 2003. Created Tuesday, February 04 2003.

Other Sites
NameURL
Boogiepop Novels http://www.gomanga.com/manga/boogiepop.php
Seven Seas website for the English translation of the novels.

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