The nightmare never seems to end. During episode 15, we have three separate segments of characters stuck in their own dreams: Makoto’s mother, Sakiko and Kentarou. Play into Boogiepop’s strength, these characters have their own drama and each of their story explores different aspect of this phenomenal, all related to the King of Distortion himself. More impressively, these segments still have a progression. From passively in the case of Makoto’s mother to Kentarou who eventually tries his way to fix it himself. So far, more so than previous arcs, this “King of Distortion” arc is much more surreal and psychological, which very much within my domain. What Boogiepop does right in these individual segment is how it can draw out the drama, the “struggles” in the past these characters can’t get pass even to this day. One thing that both these characters aware is that they’re in a dream and the person they talk with is the King of Distortion. It’s interesting to note that he’s only there as a listener for these characters to confront their own traumatic past, and he appears to do nothing beyond that. He’s just there to open that hole that others hide in their heart. Boogiepop themselves is uncertain whether he’s a foe and not. It’s more that this strange phenomenal serves as a catalyst to something more destructive.
Tracking down the events of these three segments, we have Shizuka, Makoto’s Mom, who reveals that she’s pregnant by an unknown father, which she thought might be Teratsuki’s (although Teratsuki isn’t human hence he can’t impregnate a girl). I like what Shizuka was going through there, she’s a whirlwind of inconsistencies and that makes her utterly relatable. A sheltered girl with insecurities, for example. The way she keeps hanging on Teratsuki and her relationship with her son Makoto. Not until episode 16 with the revelation of Zooragi and what it means for Makoto should we know how her decision impacts him in a profound way. Then we have quite a sad story of Sakiko and her deceased childhood friend Hinako, whom she was looked up to, and was jealous of. Unlike other segments where these negative feelings were much more sinister and uglier, the trauma both Shizuka, Sakiko and Kentarou go through are more of a regret, of something they should’ve done better in the past and that lead to how they become the way they are in the present. For Kentarou, he has a crush with the awesome Nagi, and he immediately realises that the world he is currently experience is within his memory. Well, until he meets Makoto and learns that multiple dreams have merged anyway.
And the we come back to Nitoki’s perspective during the first half of episode 16. She has been a fascinating character to me. She knows about the true existence of Boogiepop, and she does her own research about multiple personalities. Suema does a perfect job of confusing us more by assert her theory that “there is no multiple personalities because we can’t really prove it”. While I don’t necessarily agree with her theory, it informs the attitude of Boogiepop the series – that all these psychological abnormalities, and at large all these supernatural recurring, are all come from within one’s mind. I certainly feel the deadpan remark of Boogiepop when they hand out the bento Touka made for Takade to her rival (and she indeed eats it). Nikoti then concludes that King of Distortion is her alternative personality (that would explain why it functions as a memory) but whether that means in a big picture is still up in the air. The King of Distortion himself refers to all this as an “experiment”, and I have a great sense that none of the character, even Boogiepop and King of Distortion, know how this experiment going to pan out.
All that lead to the big reveal where pieces start to fall neatly into its assigned place. Zooragi the monster. As the Moon Temple starts crumbling by an unknown force, we soon learn that it’s Zooragi who goes berserk. We know about him in the very beginning of this arc, but now we know his significant. He was Makoto’s painting about his father. This single detail can inform you how Makoto feel about the father he has never met or known. It’s interesting to note that Zooragi acts in accordance to Makoto and it’s Makoto who is on the verge of totally losing control. So we have the final showdown between Boogiepop and Zooragi, where they apparently chops Zooragi’s head off, so that Makoto can control himself and falls back to sleep. All this is, after all, just a product of human psyche, just like the King of Distortion himself.
