When studios need to release something, but can't come up with ideas, one of two things happen. They either look at what's selling and create something that they think will pacify the masses, at the cost of new and interesting concepts.
Or, they decide to adapt something popular from another form of media and hope for the best.
Adaptations can range from good to bad depending on a variety of factors. The loyalty to the source material, the director/studio in charge of the project, the form of media being adapted in the first place, and even the length of the source material can make or break an adaptation.
Boogiepop Phantom was produced by Studio Madhouse, a name that has produced many outstanding anime over the years. Of course, every studio has their fair share of failures as well. Luckily, Boogiepop Phantom, a portion of the light novel series by Kouhei Kadono, isn't one of them.
Despite being directed by Takashi Watanabe, a man whose main body of works are fanservice heavy comedy fantasy anime, Boogiepop is a departure from his usual style. Here, there is no fanservice or comedy. Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh, after all. There's still some fantasy/supernatural elements, but not in the over the top way his works usually involve.
Instead, you will find a dark story cataloging the corruption and insanity of humanity. Whenever there is a small flicker of hope, it is inevitably extinguished. Due to stellar sound and art direction, this feeling really sinks in as you continue on this hopeless journey.
No sound is wasted or out of place. Everything from the sounds of downtown Japan to the ticking of a clock serves to draw you into the world of Boogiepop. The music is oftentimes unsettling, making sure that you are never too comfortable. Even in the most mundane of scene, you can never really relax.
The art style is dreary as fits a setting like this, but the animation has started to age. It shouldn't be enough to bring you out of submersion, but if you look too hard you'll notice a few stiff animations here and there. The characters look too mundane in some cases, and can be difficult to tell apart right away, leading to more confusion in an already mind bending story.
After all, half of the anime you are going to be scratching your head as to what is going on. This show likes to make you think, and think hard. If you pay close attention, you should be able to keep things straight enough not to be completely lost, but this is definitely not a show to watch when you don't feel like thinking.
Most of the plot is revealed by the end, and the biggest questions will be answered. There are a few plot points that suffer because of the nature of the adaptation, however. The original light novels are separated into different story arcs, and unfortunately this adaptation only covers about one and a half of the over 10 arcs present in the light novels.
While the core information needed to understand this story is here, some of the things leading up to the current arc aren't well fleshed out, leaving you wondering how all this started.
All in all, Boogiepop Phantom is a dark and unsettling anime with an intricate plot that almost always delivers. The characters are interesting enough even if they aren't all incredibly developed. Combined with the near perfect sound direction, Boogiepop is a series you really shouldn't miss if you like intelligent plots, mature themes, and/or psychological horror.
