Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019)

“I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion.” — Jack Kerouac

An enigmatic atmosphere, laden with superfluous platitudes, is not an indicator of a show’s sagacity; often times, the mystifying element is used to feign sophistication, when, in fact, the overall narrative and character development are rather paltry. Add in the gratuitously gory action sequences with the cynical (i.e. edgy) antagonists, and Boogiepop Never Laughs is an amalgamation of high-school-level philosophy and modern day rule-of-cool absurdity.

“If confusion is the first step to knowledge, I must be a genius.” — Larry Leissner

No. Just because a person withholds critical information, does not imply ... they are brilliant (same goes for an anime). Any anime worth its weight in salt, should offer a tangible concept/message — especially during the initial build up period — to give the viewer an inkling of what’s to come; thus, achieving a greater outcome when said puzzle comes together. Take Neon Genesis Evangelion, for example, even though the ending was exceptionally “shocking,” it made sense within the context of the clues that were sprinkled throughout the series. Shinji’s depression/anxiety was a recurring ailment that finally came to a head in the imaginative finale (and once again in the End of Evangelion). As for Boogiepop (2019), it’s not understood who these characters really are, so any revelations will seem exceptionally random or out of place.

“A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem.” — Albert Einstein

Yes. Boogiepop (2019) — at this juncture — seems to lack a defining theme that holds the cryptic, vague narrative structure together. Anyone who claims they are enjoying the series thus far, are being swindled by charlatan-like tactics. While the method of perplexing the viewer is notably polished, the apparent end goal seems rather redundant/useless. Perhaps this prediction will be proven wrong, but the general tone through the first four episodes seems to suggest that this will be the case.

“Washing dishes is the anecdote to confusion. I know that for a fact.” — Maira Kalman

If there are any redeeming qualities, it would have to be the production values and the OST. Another quality job by Madhouse Inc., but it was expected for the highly praised company with the reputation of being one of the best in the anime industry. If you appreciate the upper echelon of animation eye-candy, with a mysterious narrative back drop, then Boogiepop (2019) may be up your alley, but don’t expect much else.

Well, after powering through for around 10 episodes I finally have to give up on this show. It's truly a shame, this was the series I was most hyped for this anime season and it turned out to be my least favourite.

I went into this show 100% blind so I cant say anything about how true it is to the source material.

The thing is, just because story telling is non-linear doesn't suddenly make it genius. I wouldn't put this to the same level as shows like serial experiments lain, baccano! and the monogatari series. All very different shows but each with the non linear ... story telling format which beckons the audience to attempt put the pieces together.

Here there was a mystery...I guess? I couldn't seem to care about it. I couldn't seem to care about anything. the characters are extremely bland and I cant seem to gain interest in any of them. The plot was equally uninteresting, at the end of each episode I couldn't find myself thinking "ooh i wonder what happened next!" I just didnt care at all. This series failed to evoke any emotions from me at all. Happy, sad, angry, curious. No, I was just bored.

The character designs are also very poor. Boogiepop has a unique outfit but each character looks too similar to each other, and once again bland. Its a common complaint ive seen that people keep mixing up the characters and I have to agree.It might once again have to do with the fact that each character is so unreasonably boring.

The best way to watch the series is by watching the OP and then skipping to the ED. Because nothing in the middle really matters.

Not worth watching as it doesn't make the most of the animated medium. You're probably better off reading the books.

Relies too heavily on dialogue for telling the plot and not showing the plot. If all the dialogue is poorly-hidden exposition for a plot that would otherwise be impossible to understand, you need to reconsider whether or not this story should be adapted into a visual medium such as anime. The story is probably good, but impossible to tell as it is all explained by characters whilst events seem to be occurring behind the scenes for uncertain reasons.

Between 12.50 and 14.08 in the second episode, you ... will hear some of the laziest dialogue I think I have ever heard in an anime (bar Speed Racer). I transcribed it all and read it back to myself to get the full impression of how lazy it was. It sounded like bad fanfiction.
For example (I've edited to make it spoiler free):
“You mean we’ll be able to get those guys who’re trying to get me because I’m a X, right?”
This is a cheap shortcut. It's also just not how people talk to each other. If the person she was talking to already knew that she was being targetted because she was a "X", then a simple "Oh great, so we can get back at those guys?" would have sufficed. If Boogiepop is going for a naturalistic, magic-realism style, the dialogue too should fit this description. I actually thought that some of the characters were possibly androids/aliens because of their stunted and overly descriptive dialogue style.

The story has not been properly adapted into the animated format, so it succumbs to lazy storytelling through exposition, which in turn sacrifices the credibility and individuality of the characters. Again, should this have been made into an anime? Moreover, the characters all suffer with same-face. I was perpetually mixing up the two main female AND the two main male characters, and I watch anime regularly, I'm not a newbie (not to mention I work and research in this field). The main characters, even when all in uniform, should be distinct against one another.

On the topic of indistinguishable main characters, the animation is cheap, frequently making use of panning and zoom shots (of still images) to fill time. Additionally there is an overuse of boil animation to show trembling or emotion, in almost every scene, making all characters seem as though they are perpetually emotionally unsettled. Even if this is the case, there are many ways to show nervousness in a character without using a boil technique.

A good anime will always visually show the viewer important information instead of engineering it into poor dialogue for the purpose of explaining the plot - but this probably costs too much money. This isn't just in episode 2, it's across all three first episodes which I wasted my free time watching. Shame, I usually love MadHouse.

I'll try a few more episodes because it seems to be trying something new, but probably won't stick with it.

Three points for awesome music/foley sounds, voice actors, Boogiepop's character design, and opening sequence.

The only reason I feel compelled to write a review is because based on reading others, I truly don't know if I missed something or watched a different show. There's a difference between skilled nonlinear storytelling to build intrigue and just dropping information out of order for the sake of novelty. It's just a bad story but out of order. The show was so sloppy, had so many stories peter out into lame dead ends, and spent most of the dialogue spouting stiff self-serious nonsense. I love introspective and abstract media, this is just not it.

Something that I feel is never mentioned is the ... relationship to the trailer. WHY was the trailer so much cooler than the actual show?? Why did they animate separate footage that was completely unrelated to the story?? Who was the fire skating wizard??? Is there a secret I don't know about??? Please help.

There's so many distinctly bad episodes that even on a second watch with an understanding of the plot, I can't even begin to fathom characters justification for their actions. Nobody acts like a person. The first episode is hot garbage. I love hearing about potentials that might be happening off screen but are still too vague to know why the even matter for 20 minutes. The girl who is also Boogiepop may as well not be a character, her only purpose is to be an arbitrary connection to the other students where all this crAaAzYy stuff is happening, despite her not contributing anything. The way that magic or aliens or whatever operates in this world is so incredible fuzzy I wish they had said 'because fairies.' Magical realism can be so compelling if you don't use ambiguous magic as a weird crutch to wrap up story lines.

There is the rare occasion where someone says something that could maybe provoke a singular thought, but not nearly enough to justify the stale exposition or philosophizing that goes on for majority of the show. I can't reflect on things that have no anchor in reality. So many of the storytelling choices were so strange or weird, I'm not sure if I should be blaming the source material or the adaptation, but I'll leave the original alone out of courtesy and ignorance.

I hate this show. It haunts me. Nothing makes sense. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I have to live with these memories now and I'll never forgive them for that.
If you enjoyed this show, you are valid and I'm jealous I can't have fun with you.

So the overall quality is not bad, but the script is really jarring, which is too bad since this anime ends up being a lot of dialogue with an action episode to cap off the "arc". I'm reviewing this at the conclusion of the third "arc" because I do think I've got a grasp on the anime as a whole.

Art 7/10
The big attention getter is the art and animation, the PV and other aspects led to this anime getting SUPER hyped before it was released, which has, inevitably, effected my impression. Although action episodes are rather spaced out the base line of quality is there, ... and the action is generally pretty entertaining, there are integral flaws that i'll get back to when discussing characters though.

Story & characters 3/10 & 4/10
There are 2 major issues with the script, forced achronological order and super dark moments that absolutely don't fit except to help prop up the unearned "psychological" tag.

So my theory is that the biggest contributor to the writing, its hard to tell with several directors and character designers, was very character focused. writing out a few really strong characters and then trying to tie them together with a bunch of less well thought out characters in the spirit of other zanier and less serious action sci-fantasy.
Speculation aside the result is, very few characters you're endeared to and a lot you really couldn't care less about. It doesn't help that the writer can only do like 2 types of personalities (a variation of stoic and an obsessive). They come together in a messy arc with very straightforward, to the point of killing suspension of disbelief, themes.
Everyone is always on the same psychological page, characters praise each other for their wit and intelligence, you can practically see the writer patting themself on the back with every cringe moment in the dialogue. Its a wonder that this work can be called psychological when each arc is pretty much just one cardboard cutout delivering yet another "reason you suck (or alternatively their hope in death)" speech to other cardboard cut outs.

It also doesn't help that the action episodes always use a mix of mind control, electricity, and super strength (boogiepop the only exception) to get over what always ends up being a violent confrontation, all justified due to some overbearing organization.

I could go on but I think I've already rambled enough


In the end, if you like light novels that are super dialogue heavy, or are just getting into anime, this has a lot of what you might like. Its tries to be really clever and the "twists" might actually have some meaning to you. Otherwise its just another edgy flick.

I'm currently using the three episode rule (you watch three episodes of a show and use it as a basis to continue watching or not).

After watching three episodes, I understand that Echo is an Alien and he is basically studying humanity.

The manticore is Echo's clone, after eating someone they can mimic their voice and appearance.

Masami Saotome is the guy helping out the manticore.

I found it hard to understand the story as the perspective changes often and other than "being friends". It's hard to find anyone's motivations for why they are doing anything. I couldn't even tell who the main characters are ... supposed to be. Other than being "not normal" or being in a relationship, characters don't have any individuality. The character designs are also quite bland and generic, so it didn't use itself as a visual medium very well.

We are barely given any exposition and are just blindly thrown into the story and conflict. All I got was that the Boogiepop girl appears when bad things are happening, or something to that extent.

Other than just being "not normal" Masami's actions aren't supported by much and this manticore just trusts him for some reason.

I was very confused, to say the least. If you like this show I just don't understand what it's trying to do... my loss I guess???

Why??? Why are the top seven reviews, the ones who watched up to episode 4?? What's so good about episode 4???? To satisfy my curiosity, I gave boogiepop a watch hoping I'd get a clear explanation of the series on episode 4. Lucky me, I was still somewhat kept in the dark with a cliffhanger. Yay for no explanation.

Boogiepop is basically about a grim reaper who takes the form of a highschool girl, and who's job is basically to extinguish evil on earth. Whether it's a monster in the form of a highschool girl, or a monster in the form of a highschool girl. Have ... I mentioned that BOOGIEPOP might've encountered a monster in the form of a highschool girl? And that this grim reaper's name is BOOGIEPOP? Boogiepop.

As you keep watching, you wonder... Who is the main character in this show? Is it Boogiepop? Is it a highschool girl? Or is it a monster in the form of a highschool grl? Boogiepop is a mystery anime where if you even blink, you'll get lost in the amount of lore and plot they're trying to dish out at you.

Do i recommend Boogiepop? If you don't wanna enjoy your food while watching anime, I recommend this anime.

Overall Score: 7 out of Boogiepop
Boogiepop score: Boogiepop
Boogiepop: Boogiepop

thank you

Dropped it at episode 6 after realising I was practically forcing myself to watch it.
Guess if I can't find a glimpse of enjoyment past the first half of an anime, it's not really worth it.
The only thing I honestly liked and that lured me in for a while was the opening, beautiful song and well executed animation.

I was extremely confused by the lack of character and context presentation and the non-linear narrative of the first episodes. If it had been just that though, I would have actually been thrilled to know more and praised the unique directing.
What did not convince me was all the rest. ...
The people in the story had this very monotone, uninteresting or frankly ugly design that was coupled with either boring dialogue or jarring statements. From the very beginning there’s a bunch of characters that are thrown to us and swiftly removed before we even begin to recognise their faces.
What was most uncomfortable to me was the lack of a main character, or rather the lack of a stable point of view. It’s unclear who the narrator of the first episodes is, and the sense of being left behind only amplifies in the second arc of the anime: new characters out of the blue, unclear character hierarchy (Is this the main character of the new arc? No wait, we’re getting a monologue from this girl now.. But this is all narrated from that other background character’s point of view??), the previous arc and its consequences are as good as gone.
I’m not asking for spoon-fed narration but at times it really felt like watching a theatre rehearsal through a keyhole, an incomprehensible, unrelatable sequence of disconnected clips.

This to me is an unsuccessful execution of that typical novel structure involving lots of dialogue and slow building before an intense, action filled arc epilogue.
Bakemonogatari, for example, comes from and it’s even inspired by the same kind of novel, but it’s worlds apart in terms of anime adaptation. An anime is meant to be watched, and you can’t demand uninterrupted attention and focus from the viewer without giving them a little bit of visual entertainment and pacing. Otherwise you’re be much better off producing an audiobook instead.
I get that in the Monogatari series we also see a constant effort in the script in order to be entertaining and light, which does not fit the atmosphere of this anime instead. And yet, I’ve watched verbose, monologue laden mistery-horror anime (such as Shinsekai Yori), that through music, photography, and editing made even the most mind boggling lines go by smoothly and even made you forget about some questionable handling of the storyline.

It might be I’m missing the whole point of this anime, but even though I tried, I failed to connect with it in any way, cognitively, emotionally or even just aesthetically, so I’ll end it here.

P.S. Huge letdown with the bait PV. Very little connection with the anime stylistically.