Monday, February 24, 2003

Boogiepop Phantom

Kind of a tough anime to slot, it's not your typical anime... but is more of a horror / hitchcock style. The first 4 episodes are dense with information that is not explained until an episode or three later (all of the episodes that I've seen so far are that way at least). Flashbacks to something shown in another of the first few episodes, or even stranger, you'll see something in an earlier episode which seems like a flash back to a future episode (flashforward?).

Well, since it's confusing me... I'm gonna have to start taking notes and keeping track (spoiler alerts ahead). First up are the main characters... according to the title animations, I count 3 or 4 main characters (as they are labeled in the title animations):


Miyashita Toka - Not sure where she fits in yet... but she goes to the same school as Nagi (unless there are two Nagi's...).


Kirima Nagi - Rides a motorcycle, is (was?) hospitalized for some reason, might be a detective (for real or as a hobby?). Attends Shinyo Academy.


Kuroda Shinpei - I *think* he's a real detective, but he's not been given much air time in the first few episodes.


Boogiepop - at least, I think this is Boogiepop or "Death". Either a vigilante or some sort of astral guardian.

Then there are the characters that are in the first episode... some of which seem to show up later.


Tonomura Moto - attends Hijiridani High School (sophmore). Had a crush on Saotome, even though she hadn't seen him since Jr High after he stopped dating her friend, Yasuko. Suffers from the affliction characterized by compulsive hand washing / fear of germs (obsessive-compulsive disorder focused on on the hands).


Suzuki Yasuko - Moto's best friend. More of a free spirit then Moto.


Masami Saotome - He dissapeared during the events of a month ago. Went to Shinyo Academy after Jr High.


Jonouchi - A senior at Hijiridani High School who sees bugs attached to people's hearts (more on that in a later episode).

Which brings me to the timeline... there's "now" (which is when most of the first episode takes place), there's some event that happened a month ago (when a lot of young people dissapeared, with the locii of effect at or around Shinyo Academy), and rumors of a serial murderer(?) from 5 years ago.

Also interesting is the framing of the scenes, where the corners of the image have been darkened out (making you feel like you're looking out from a tunnel at the scene.

(laughs) I just found the rythm and the pacing for the first episode... it does build to a climax, but the cues are just not what one expects. The narration is so understated, which is what throws you off the trail. Still, it's taken me a few watch throughs and trying to keep track of the (3) different school names as well as the abundance of characters to figure out the key items to keep track of. (So many characters are thrown at you... you're often left wondering which ones you need to pay attention to.)

One link that might help is John's Boogiepop Phantom Shrine... although I'm probably going to draw different conclusions about some things then he has (which is why I'm trying to avoid reading his site until I've puzzled out the series for myself).

Labels: Anime

posted by Wuphon's at 9:52 PM