Boogiepop Phantom is a Madhouse adaptation of the Boogiepop novel series by Kouhei Kadono. This adaptation was made in 2000 and nearly twenty years later, Boogiepop is getting yet another adaptation in 2019.
...This review is of course centered on the original, and most likely in the future can and will be compared to the inevitable review I end up doing on Boogiepop 2019. ~~No matter how it turns out.~~
It should of course be noted that I went into Boogiepop Phantom with no actual knowledge of the novels and etc. So... this entire review was written without me knowing that for one, the entire events of this series is actually like a sequel to the first Boogiepop novel. In addition, Boogiepop 2019 is apparently going to be an outright adaptation of at least that novel.
#Something is out there. Are you safe?#
Jumping right into it, Boogiepop Phantom 2000 is perhaps one of the bleakest anime series I've ever watched. The atmosphere and the purposeful darkness that the entire series is wrapped up in honestly almost feels suffocating at multiple points of the show. Like you look at some of the other shows tagged under horror and it's... it's almost depressing. There's just not a single iota of genuinely effective creepy or dark atmosphere in these series.
~~And that's if they even try at all.~~
So when I watched Boogiepop, all at once it felt as if somebody just suddenly kicked me in the fucking face.
_"The reduced brightness and sepia color palette for most of the episodes, added to the anxieties and depressions of the characters, were designed to make the series play like a psychological horror. Production staff later commented that the color scheme was more effective than they had originally intended, and were surprised by how bleak the series turned out."_
I think Boogiepop 2000 is a very rare case for me in that I probably love the structure and the look of the show probably way more than the actual stories and characters it presents. Granted I like those too, but I'm not sure if I would as much if it wasn't for the presentation which I think I would go as far to call almost perfect.
...While I definitely want to know more and/or read the original novels, I kind of simultaneously don't? I don't know if that makes any sense but like... the point where I realized I absolutely loved this show is episode two. Like it immediately starts out with Boogiepop chasing a guy in the darkness, and the guy seemingly eventually gets away, and he finds this weird looking bug. He starts laughing, his hand starts shaking, and he compulsively starts devouring this weird gross looking insect.
Then, in a flashback, it's shown that he's just been going around and getting spiders from girls' chests and just compulsively eating them. That's weird, actually kind of disturbing, gross, and there's actual reasons for it. Because it turns out that there's another character that appears throughout the entire series that just spreads butterflies of light which show people their memories when they come into contact with them.
And yet there's also this guy who's like eating these disgusting fucking spiders, is in actuality consuming these girls' bad memories. Like there are just so many of these sorts of these things throughout this show that I just really love and probably should actively want to know like more about how they fit into this world because there are still some threads or questions I don't really know the answers to.
Like one of these earlier episodes, there's like this drug that more or less just makes the people who take it horribly dependent on it but also eventually drives them completely batshit insane.
And for the rest of the show in the back of my mind, I was wondering what happened to that or how did that fit into the rest of it? Because that episode where this guy who becomes rapidly more addicted to it to the point where he can't distinguish reality from his dating sim game leading him to become horribly creepy was amazing and disturbing.
This entire goddamned show I found myself thinking "where is all of this going" and actually NOT in a frustrating way. Like I was absolutely riveted throughout most of the episodes. Where is this going? Why is this seemingly exact same conversation between these two cops happening over and over again?
What about this serial killer in the news? What's with this odd smiling girl with these butterflies made of light? What the hell even IS Boogiepop??? What are they even doing or where are they taking these people that they're claiming to be saving???
#Conclusion#
I honestly can't think of the last series off the top of my head where I departed it with this many questions but also overwhelmingly enjoyed the experience of watching it.
I mean genuinely, the series does provide a conclusion to several of the threads that it mainly focuses on but I still have so many questions and partially really am interested in finding out more about the world of Boogiepop, whether it's through the new 2019 anime which I hope for the love of god is more than "just a remake", or through the original novels which will soon be released in English...
But the original Boogiepop Phantom 2000 is absolutely a must watch if you're looking for a horror anime. Like an actual creepy, dark and dirty, get under your skin, HORROR ANIME.
Obviously, I do think that the horribly bleak and dark tone and look of the show isn't for everyone, but personally, I just ate it the fuck up. I'm not gonna hate Boogiepop 2019 if it goes outright in a completely different direction as long ~~as it manages to be good while doing so~~, but I do really hope it doesn't outright drop the more horror stuff that is just... EVERYWHERE in the original.
A 9.5 out of 10 or 95 out of 100. As I said previously, it’s almost perfect in my eyes.
