“There is an urban legend that children tell one another about a shinigami that can release people from the pain they may be suffering. This "Angel of Death" has a name, Boogiepop. And the legends are true. Boogiepop is real.”
Boogiepop is a light novel series written by Kouhei Kadona and drawn by Ogata Kouji. The premise revolves around the character Boogiepop. A Shinigami that takes over the body of Miyashita Touka and tends to deal with certain characters and creatures that post danger to the world. Most of the review will focus on the first story ‘Boogiepop and Others’ as that is probably the most well known stories, and one of the very few novels in the series that have been translated to English.

The story of the first novel ‘Boogiepop and Others’ goes under the idea of a man eating shapeshifter known as the ‘Manticore’ infiltrating a school, and Boogiepop has appeared to track them down. From there we are introduced to the cast throughout the novel till eventually there stories intersect and the picture is put together, which is not as obvious as one would thing, this is because of the writing the Boogiepop novels entail.

The Boogiepop novels have a distinct type of writing, in the sense that the story is not told through a linear fashion. Each chapter splits off from different segments of the story that slowly piece together a narrative. This allows for a layer of mystery, though it can lead to some confusion, most of the question you will have can be answered via the end of the novel. The greatest part about each chapter though is that if focuses on a specific character each time. This gives the author the time and ability to flesh out their characters as we read the novel from their perspective. Were able to learn how a lot of these characters think and act, allowing the reader to see the bigger picture through all the puzzle pieces the chapters provide. This also helps add the idea that the character Boogiepop embodies. We never get a chapter focusing of them, aside from the interactions they have with the characters. This is most evident in the conversations Boogiepop has with Keiji Takeda on the rooftop, this happened in the sooner chapters of the novel. In this segment Takeda would go up to the rooftop and just converse with Boogiepop. From there we are able to learn about Boogiepop as a character, how the character works and operates and even some of their thoughts that they embody when they appear.

The story itself not focusing on the characters is also quite interesting thanks to the non linear fashion. It is able to create a mystery that isn’t clear cut as most stories, instead of just asking what’s going to happen next, sometimes we have to wonder how. For instance during the novel we get a conclusion to event we hadn’t even realised had happened till someone mentioned it. This gives off a different vibe of asking what actually happened to get this result rather than what will happen after said post event.

Now for the my subjective view on the series. Personally I really enjoy these novels as a whole. They have a lot of mystery within them and I personally enjoy that a lot. The supernatural aspects of the novels are also quite intriguing and each novel seems to develop Boogiepop as a character more and more. This is quite evident in the novel “Boogiepop at Dawn” which focuses on the origin story of this Boogiepop, adding to the non linear fashion of the novels even on book counts. The Art that is featured in some of the novels isn’t the most amazing work but fits the aesthetic for the series making it quite fitting and pleasant to look at while shifting through the pages of the novel.

At least to me, while it is listed as mystery, horror and psychological. It has some creepy concepts, they aren’t executed in a horror type manner. So while it does deliver in a mystery and psychological standard, its doesn’t so much in the horror section.

Overall this is great light novel series that embodies a lot of mystery and psychological elements. While it has some horror themes it isn’t particularly scary, but if your looking for an enjoyable mystery with a side of supernatural occurrences and some psychological roots I’d definitely recommend checking this out.

PS - I came to these novels after watching some of the anime and I must say, they cut out a lot in the anime, so word of advice, if u want the best experience read the novels. The anime isn’t bad but comparing to the novel its kind of trash, doesn’t flesh out the characters at all in the anime, especially when mentioning Boogeipop. I feel like Boogiepops character isn’t even remotely as well written in the anime as it is in the novels.