PLOT: I’m having severe difficulties reviewing this show as its fairly random at times, and I didn’t really know what was going on half the time! It takes a similar structure to Baccano!, in that it consists of a large cast of characters and the timeline jumps about the place to cover their stories, and often shows the same scene in different perspectives. Its also similar to Paranoia Agent as the viewer doesn’t really know what’s going on for much of the time and its full of quite strange characters. Another show that I could compare Boogiepop to is Ghost Hound as it covers a lot of strange phenomena and has psychological elements in it too. Strangely all this makes for compelling viewing and I have a feeling that if I re-watched the series everything would fall into place immediately. Also for a show with so many characters most are surprisingly well developed.
ANIMATION: Madhouse was behind the animation and its quite good. A very basic colour palate is used, almost sepia for most of the series and character designs are on the more realistic side of the spectrum. Normally I’m not a fan of series that are animated in such dark colours, but in this case the darkness really enhances the atmosphere of the series and the sense that you aren’t getting the whole picture at anyone time. Quite often the screen seems almost entirely black, except for the area around the character that particular section of the show is concentrating on. It’s very well done.
MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: I loved the soundscape of this show. It’s got such a strange mix of sounds ranging from classical to electro to chanting – everything very carefully selected to match the visuals and enhance the atmosphere. I also really liked the OP, which is by the same person who provided the OPs for xxxHOLiC, and has that same jazzy feel to it. The ED was also quite good, although I found it fairly forgettable.
Voice acting was great throughout – there are a large number of creepy children and troubled teens in this show and the seiyuu’s all did excellent jobs voicing their descent into insanity.
Overall a very interesting show, but difficult to review properly since it would spoil the mystery element.
