Category: Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

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.

This is often the case for a series that is fragment and non-linear like Boogiepop, the beginning is often its weakest part. Not only because it has no real beginning, therefore no real “introduction”, it has to create the right kind of mood that represents the overall tone of an entire arc. Moreover, the lack of “big catalyst” also makes it hard for viewers to fully engage with what unfold on screen. The very first episode of Boogiebop suffers hard from that (by hindsight, that premiere is amongst Boogiepop’s worst episode so far). To say all that leads to my next point: this first episode of the new arc “The King of Distortion” is a successful opener. It feels a bit meandering at first, mostly because it shifts back and forth between side characters that we know next to nothing about them, but as soon as the paranormal event kicks in, everything starts to fall into place. Like the premiere episode of “Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh” arc, it begins through Takeda – Miyashita’s boyfriend – point of view. That fact alone gives me a good chuckle because despite appeared as serious as he is, his role is always that of a bystander. He has no real relation to the main events, therefore he’s more like a springboard for viewers before we jump into the event. Chronologically, this arc is appropriately happens right after that first arc, as many members from that cast comes back in a big way in this episode.

Everything in this episode revolves around the twisted statue that represents very well the very nature of distortion (I see it more as a walking naked woman but it’s just me). From what we gathered, it’s a “failed” project from millionaire called Teratsuki. There are some interesting nitpicks with that piece of information alone. The reason it’s “failed” isn’t because of its incompleteness, it is because Teratsuki dies mysteriously at the age of 56 and no one have a clue on the intention or even what to do with the Moon Temple architecture. Even his life was complicated before his death, he was a success in almost every field he was in (strongly indicated that he’s already evolved), and he was the person that Scarecrow investigated before he met Nagi in “Boogiepop at Dawn” arc. Precisely because people don’t know what to do with it, they make an exhibition out of it, and it attracts fair share of people lining up to get in. That Moon Temple in itself a mysterious identity, and we follow a whole range of different characters as they line up: A kid who encounters the King of Distortion in the image of Teratsuki himself (and based on what he said he’s a just-born), a random guy named Habara who meets the archery boy Tanaka, and a random girl named Michimoto who is having a fight with her date. I’m not even sure if they will become something important later on.

The one the is important, however, Niitoki, one of the surviving member after the climax of the first arc. First she sees her crush Takeda, then she pursuits Boogiepop and finally gets transferred back to the time she regretted the most – the Manticore event. The moment where the paranormal event kicks in remain one of the most breath-taking moments Boogiepop pulls up to date. As the doors closing the visitors turned into statues. Seriously, this is something that falls more in line with Ikuhara than most other anime, but I’m glad that Boogiepop goes there. Niitoki is taken back to meet Saotome, and I’m pretty sure there’s some hidden feeling, something much more about her own psyche than meets the eyes here. What is it about him (and not Manticore or her crush Takeda), that she feels regret the most? At the same time we have a look to another random security guard who appears to not be able to confess his love to the girl he likes. And even the King of Distortion himself. How was he born? It’s clear that he takes shape into whatever things people perceive him to be, but does he, like Imaginator before him, want to “evolve” human in some ways? Making them facing their own guilt past isn’t the bad way, after all, but to what extend he’s going to “fix” people? Boogiepop sets up a pretty intriguing first episode, one that again speaks to its adolescent theme, and one where Boogiepop themselves appears actively. Hopefully this arc also gives more justice to Miyashita, so far is sadly just a cardboard character with no real depth yet.

This new arc of Boogiepop, “Boogiepop at Dawn”, serves as a prequel to the current timeline, and I’m glad to say that I consider this batch of episodes to be Boogiepop’s best arc so far. It addresses many issues that I have in previous arcs. For once, the length is just about right as it squeezes all the relevant characters to their full potential. Most of all, unlike “Vs Imaginator” where the main characters are hardly relevant, this arc Nagi is the beating heart as everything revolves around her and she’s the one crucial element that ripples the water. In addition to that, both Suiko and Miyashita appear at the right moments. I agree with what Animosh said in his comment about Miyashita, as of now we know very little about her, as a result we don’t find much to invest to her own character except when Boogiepop persona takes over. Secondly, the supporting cast’s purpose feel much stronger than any of previous arc. Everyone has their roles that further affect the tide of the current. Most importantly, however, Boogiepop at Dawn delivers some emotional affecting moments that it often lacks (usually deliberately so). Episode 10 for example is one of its most resonate episode because I can clearly feel the weight of suppressed emotions Scarecrow has paid his life for. It is something raw, powerful, and yet beautiful.

My praise doesn’t stop there, either. With this arc, I have a better grasp on the themes Boogiepop as a whole franchise wanted to address. It’s all about “evolution”, be it evolving to something that surpass humans physical ability, most at the cost of losing their own humanity (Dr Kisuki) and vice versa (in Scarecrow and Sasaki’s cases), or be it the transition from childhood to adulthood (in our main Miyashita character). It’s no surprise that the original light novels target young adult as its main audience, and like Suema asserted few episodes back this is the phase where teenagers go through some psychological changes, and these supernatural characters are a physical manifestation of these psychological changes. Myths and gossips give presence to these beings, and they take advantage or devoid the weak. Lastly, the character’s weight and their chemistry sink their teeth deeper on what lies between the lines, underneath the surface: The fact that Nagi never finds out that Sasaki was her father’s killer; the fact that we never witness what Pigeon has gone through after the death of Scarecrow but we all feel it through her course of action; or the fact that the only good deeds that Scarecrow did to save Nagi would be the catalyst for many catastrophe events happened in the future. I was thinking to myself how Nagi’d react to Sasaki if she learn the truth, and I came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t affect her decision at all. Nagi is just that strong and perceptive.

I’m certain we can draw a parallel between Scarecrow and Mo Murder arc, even though at first they function in the opposite spectrum. They are both artificial human, and they are well aware of that fact (in hindsight it’s neat to show how well they blend in to the society – we don’t know about Scarecrow being an artificial human until the end of episode 10). The crack of the surface appears when Scarecrow befriends a then bed-sicken Nagi with an incurable disease. It’s her words that give him the courage of becoming Superhero: helping others even at the cost of his life. This tender moment where he meets (and names) Boogiepop before he dies really hit it home. And it comes off as rather bittersweet to know that this action causes a massive butterfly effects to the all the events later on. This arc does a nice job of depicting artificial human with their own heart in contrast with humanity who lost their own nature. Mo Murder character serves as a nice addition as well. Though he’s a hired murderer, he does try to protect Nagi out of the mess and pays his life doing so.

On the other side of the coin, Dr. Kisuki steps as a formidable villain for this arc. She’s the kind of character who obsessed with “fear” feeling to the point the feeling consumes her. The more fear her victims experience the more bloodthirsty she becomes, and by utilizing the drugs that Scarecrows used to save Nagi, she evolves into a monster. I’m in awe how her character fits very well with Boogiepop’s evolution theme and it plays as a nice contrast to Scarecrow, Echoes and the likes. The other smaller characters also fulfill their roles nicely. Chief among them are Nagi’s father who catches on with all this, and Pigeon shines in a little screen time she has. She’s definitely an unsung hero for this arc. For a character that appears so little she’s surprisingly poignant and heartbreaking. I’m not sure what the next arc of Boogiepop gonna be like (if I have to guess, I’d say it’s an arc about Miyoshita the character), I just hope that it’ll be as good as this one. Up until now, I’m more curious with Boogiepop meandering, fragment approach than its theme or actual characters’ engagement, but Boogiepop at Dawn proves that it still has its chops to become something more than just its presentation.

Boogiepop never makes things easy huh? Just at the end of this Imaginator arc we immediately receive the whole 4-episode OVA of the next one. Before we get into the next arc (which I will cover in its entirety in the next post), this Imaginator arc reaches its conclusion. I remain half-half on how I perceive this arc as a whole. On one hand, it ends conclusively. Everything falls neatly into its place and every characters have their own significance to the story. One the other hand, the art of telling nonlinear puzzle-like structure like this one is that it adds up at the end, both emotionally and thematically, in which I can only consider Boogiepop mildy succeed at (in cinema world, Atom Egoyan is the master of this approach). Maybe part of that is because I wasn’t that invested to Masaki – Orihata dynamic, and another part is that the main characters don’t really involved into the narrative. Sure, Boogiepop pops in and steals the spotlight in the climax, but it has more to do with her being afraid that her friend Suema would get involved. That bit alone is essential, however. Despite her claims that she’s mostly a watcher, Boogiepop does care for her friends and will actively bang in if there’s any risk included.

Jin Asukai takes up the main narrative in episode 8 where he mostly reveals his own cards. When get confronted by Suema (about Kinukawa’s feeling), he talks about his ambition, pretentiously so, of changing the world. He does have something in mind as he meets Spooky E and totally outclasses him. It’s interesting to note that they have the same kind of power: Spooky E for brain-washing, and Jin for heart-altering (or whatever that is, you could say breast-touching and I’m not going to argue against), but what differentiate their power is the mean: Spooky E uses it purely for manipulation, whereas Jin’s method is something more substantial. It remains unclear to me, however, how does he know about Orihata’s perfect rose? I might miss some details but does he know Orihata in the first place, or is she just someone he coincidentally meet. It remains clear within the last two episodes that he’s much more dangerous and harder to deal with than Spooky E. One thing he does right, however, is when he finally addresses his thought to his cousin Kinukawa, and by rejecting her wholeheartedly she snaps out of her current brainwash.

As for Masaki, although being manipulated by Orihata of becoming a fake Boogiepop to lure out the real one, when it comes to his feeling to Orihata he’s never two-minded about that. As the story goes, he is being ambushed by brainwashed Kinukawa and nearlygive her a finishing blow, if not by the intervention of his sister Nagi. Eventually, the real Boogiepop meets him and tells him the truth, and one I considered as the main theme of Boogiepop the series so far. Masaki knows that he’s being brainwashed and manipulated this whole time, so that explains his fixtation to Orihata because he’s brainwashed to do so. Now with this knowledge, what does his heart really want? The ending works well on that end, but one that I find a little predictable.

As for the Master Gardener, he thinks he’s in control but he makes one grave mistake, that the perfect flower he saw in Orihata is a fake, because Orihata isn’t human. With this reveal, I honestly don’t feel the need for Boogiepop to appear at all. Yes, she assures that she maintains the order, and that she will destroy anything that destruct the structure, but it feels a bit off to me where the arc starts with her against the true Imaginator and ends with her beating Jin, an Imaginator manipulator, and the inclusion of both Suema and Nagi feel superfluous at best. Well, at least things work out in the end.