Forum - View topicThis Week in Anime - Just Who is Boogiepop?
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cookiemanstah
 Posts: 546 |
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One of the longest running and most iconic light novel series in Japan that remains a huge influence on people like Nisio Isin today. And somehow almost none of the books have been brought over. That’s why it remains obscure.
While you can blame Seven Seas and their absolute incompetence, I’m still baffled fans haven’t tried to bring it over unofficially either. Such people make monumental efforts to make things like Muv-Luv over but Boogiepop never saw such love. And it’s been so long and overdue. |
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mabber36
 Posts: 73 Location: georgia, usa |
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Still waiting on novel 7. This and Haruhi are the only light novels I like reading
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Aresef
Posts: 918 Location: MD |
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I watched Boogiepop Phantom on TechTV's Anime Unleashed block back in the day. It's an old favorite. I think it was actually that dating sim episode that got me into anime. I mean, I watched Pokemon and Digimon but there's that and there's watching it knowing and appreciating fully what it is.
I still need to see the Boogiepop and Others series. There was also a live-action movie called Boogiepop and Others that goes into the supernatural event referred to throughout Phantom. |
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meiam
Posts: 3450 |
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Not a single word about the phenomenal OST! Criminal!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uwrDqYhufM&t=192s |
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Aresef
Posts: 918 Location: MD |
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Yeah, that soundtrack was legit. |
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OtherSideofSky
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I remember watching one disc of this that my local library had back when I was way too young and having no idea what to make of it. I should definitely pick up the books at some point.
That might be a bit of a monkey's paw wish. Novels also suffer much more from the stumbles of amateur translators (and the better written the novel, the worse that issue gets). Plus, the time commitment and literacy level required to translate a novel even decently are much higher than for most manga or anime. (I can say with confidence that most people who complete four years of Japanese classes at a US university would struggle with it.) |
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Kicksville
 Posts: 1260 |
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I remember back in the day when non-fans would try to analyze why "anime makes no sense", chalking it up to ancient Japanese history or differences in psychology or whatever. But commonly what they'd seen was just one of those OVAs that told a small chunk of a larger story, missing the "buy the book/manga/trading cards" ad at the end when it came over.
Boogiepop's status as a side sequel recalls that kind of thing, although as long as you take a "don't sweat the details" look at it, it isn't difficult to appreciate for what it is, especially given its semi-episodic nature - I imagine they didn't necessarily expect everyone to have read the books when it was being made anyway. And on that note I think some episodes were definitely better than others, but I did really enjoy the last one and how it ties things up. The whole look of it is an interesting experiment for its time - it's mostly cel animation, but if I recall correctly it was put together digitally to give it that constant blurry vignette filter look. Although this also means upscaling was the only option all these years later. I don't think it's entirely necessary, but if you have access to a CRT TV, seeing it that way is even better. Boogiepop 2019 is fortunately also very good, although practically for different reasons. Since that was an anniversary project I don't know if we can count on more, but it would be nice. |
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dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1480 |
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There was also a live-action Boogiepop film at the time Boogiepop Phantom came out, which made it a little easier to put the anime in context.
That film was also blessed by an early (and distinctive) Yuki Kajiura soundtrack --- mostly jazz, no chorales in Latin. |
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Terry Lang
Posts: 74 |
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I watched Boogiepop Phantom way back. Not much that I can recall about it. I do know that I liked Boogiepop and Others a lot more.
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LightningComet
Posts: 51 |
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Agreed. "Torso" and "Boogiepop Me Up" get me hyped every time, but I like how "In Heaven" reminds me of Yoko Kanno's "Space Lion"; it just trades the film noir flavor for a grittier urban dark fantasy one. Maybe someday someone will use it for a Kara no Kyoukai AMV or something of such a genre. |
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gsilver
Posts: 654 |
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I don't remember too much about it, but I really liked Boogiepop Phantom when it first came out. Maybe I should try and sit down to watch Boogiepop and Others, then give Phantom a rewatch.
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Suxinn
 Posts: 251 |
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Oh man, Boogiepop Phantom is one of my favorite anime ever, but it's definitely not a casual watch. Despite my love for it, I can completely understand why this series never hit it big in the west. It's definitely a completely impenetrable series unless you already know the backstory.
Even putting aside the nonlinear narrative, as an interquel, it basically demands viewers to at least be somewhat aware of the broader Boogiepop universe in order to get most of the main narrative. And getting a grasp on the narrative is vitally important to a series that literally starts in media res and then proceeds to skip around time willy-nilly. I used to tell my friends to pick up the 2-volume Boogiepop manga adaptation (which was also published by Seven Seas -- is it still OOP or have they finally reprinted it?), if they didn't have the patience to read volume 1 of the light novel. But since it seems much easier now to either pick up the light novels or watch the 2019 anime (which I honestly wasn't fond of but to each their own, I guess), I'm hoping more folks will discover this absolute gem of a series. Because it's certainly a fun one to discuss with people, that's for sure! |
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jdnation
Posts: 2127 |
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One of the first anime series I was introduced to back in the day along with Serial Experiments Lain.
Rewatching it now, and after seeing Boogiepop and others, I understand and appreciate it more now. |
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dm
Subscriber Posts: 1480 |
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Also waiting on novel 7. Judging from your choice in light novels to follow, you might want to check out Otherside Picnic. I picked up volume 1, then went straight through the other three novels that have been released in English. |
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BlueAlf
 Posts: 1555 |
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I remember being mildly interested in this series around 15 years ago which then I dismissed. Then, a couple of years back, news of the Boogiepop and Others anime came out, which made me check out the available English novels, and only then I was really blown away.
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