Boogiepop Phantom Episode 5 Discussion

grayrebornnhy said:
I guess my conjecture from 2 episodes ago was correct - the policeman was one of the earliest victims of Manticore. "Say, Morita-san, haven't we had this conversation before?"

Regardless, the amount of information given in this episode is so heavy that as a viewer, I can make several predictions to what the story is going to unfold.

Number 1: we are implied that the butterfly girl Manaka, was a result of experimentation as observed when her mother (the one who had the brain damage), got injected by some weird serum by that suspicious doctor who was also the doctor that talked to 'spider-dude' Jonouchi of 1st-2nd episode about the 'miracle experimental drug'. Thus, I imply that the serum is that drug, just that it worked differently for Jonouchi as compared to Manaka.

Number 2: Although, we do have to note that there are similarities between Jonouchi's powers and Manaka's. Both involve insect motifs (spiders versus butterflies), and they are representations of memories. The difference might be a result of their experiences and opinions of the world - since Jonouchi started off as a guy who had his mother gone and living a life of angst, the power bestowed upon him is a result - the ability to see grief and guilt memories of people which he can remove and 'eat' up; Manaka being a girl born into the world with that power with no prior experience, hence is naive and free of earthly desires, making her powers highly 'engulfing' in nature which results in people near her to be recorded into her memories, while also inducing effect on those who look into her to remember their memories at once.

Number 3: This precise drug is the drug that was created by Illuminati (let's call it Illuminati for now, since we don't know its real name yet), as mentioned by the policeman Morita-san (also the one who ate off 'world-is-beautiful' girl Misuzu)

Number 4: Manticore, who is involved in all these incidents, is the one mentioned to be an experimental object who escaped from the lab to kill, no, assimilate, to be precise, with the help of a 'dead' Saotome to transform the world order. (I say 'dead' because I believe that Saotome isn't truly dead, he is, in my opinion, in a stage which cannot be defined as alive nor dead)

Number 5: The detective who talked with Nagi in the first episode might most likely be the one responsible for hijacking the drug created by Illuminati and delivered it to the prefectural hospital. The female doctor is still rather unknown at this juncture; she might be one of the members of the organisation, or a stealthy one at that to figure out the power of that drug during a currently unknown situation.

Number 6: My final conjecture is that Miyashita Touka, that girl who went into a coma around the time of Manticore's escape, might be a representation of Boogiepop, or is Boogiepop herself. This is implied near the end of the episode when she warned Suema-san (glasses girl), "There's a difference between missing the old days and being stuck in the past," an attempt to 'free' her off the spell of Manaka (another conjecture), or maybe just because Suema is very obsessed to resolve the mystery of the murders and disappearances. Another implication is that it was mentioned in this episode that she was 'possessed by a fox spirit', telling Suema.

As much information there is out, we still have yet to look into much of Nagi's role and importance to the Manticore-Boogiepop-Illuminati links as well as Touka's role into all of this. Even if she is Boogiepop, we have still not seen why she is so, only implied in this episode. I hope this anime will get better as it goes on, which is interesting me greatly. I love shows which propel me to think and grab information. 5/5