Boogiepop Phantom - Evolution 3

Rating:
Summary: Utterly bizzaare
Review: "Like Lain, but dark and creepy."
Each episode is essentially an independant vignette, all of which interweve into one story. The story arc is not told linerally. Most of the arc is in episode 1. After that, the story is developed by adding layers, and flashbacks to develop the past.
Boogiepop has many truly strange elements where fantasy and desire become reality. However, they make it work *so* well. I'm eagerly awaiting DVD 4. Having just finished Lain, I can see the influence in characters and art (but Boogiepop appeals to me a bit more).

Rating:
Summary: Utterly bizzaare
Review: "Like Lain, but dark and creepy."
Each episode is essentially an independant vignette, all of which interweve into one story. The story arc is not told linerally. Most of the arc is in episode 1. After that, the story is developed by adding layers, and flashbacks to develop the past.
Boogiepop has many truly strange elements where fantasy and desire become reality. However, they make it work *so* well. I'm eagerly awaiting DVD 4. Having just finished Lain, I can see the influence in characters and art (but Boogiepop appeals to me a bit more).

Rating:
Summary: HORROR AND INVENTIVENESS AT ITS BEST
Review: In Evolution 3 of the constantly layering anime that is Boogiepop Phantom, the plot of what is really going on in this show becomes a little clearer and a little more confusing. I have given up on having the hope that I will understand everything by the end of the last three episodes.

Episode 7 is about Mamoru and Sayoke Oikawa, a brother and sister who share a dark secret. After Mamoru witnessed the beam of light that has awoken psychic powers in his classmates, his mania for discarding and destroying useless things has become murderous, killing those he deems unsuitable for his utilitarian outlook. Episode 8, "She's So Unusual", shows us a little more about Nagi Kirima, a girl with a mysterious past rooted in the serial murders that occurred 5 years ago. I was a little confused by her mission of hunting down the Manticore, and Nagi herself is a little confused when a freelance writer shows up in town and seems to be the exact copy of a detective she once cared for. Episode 8 is an anthology of sorts in which various dejected and lonely teenagers heed the call to go to an amusement park where they can make friends, and return to their childhood, for a price....

This is a great series. I have never experienced anything with the complexity and multi-layering of this piece. It reminds me of great literature at times with so many facets and fates crossing and the depth of the characters, oh man. The only complaint is that maybe the plot could be a little clearer even though you get used to the jumping back and forth in time after a while. I just don't see how they're going to wrap this up in three more episodes. The sound environment of this dvd is first rate, with many creepy effects. This is definately a series that you will have to watch many many times to notice all the events that happen in the background and all the interconnectedness of the characters. Great work. There will be a live action movie dvd version of Boogiepop released very soon.

Features 2.0 Japanese and 5.1 English w/subtitles. A music video and a promo are the only skimpy extras.

Also Recommended: Resident Evil (the games and the first movie), Dawn of the Dead (original version), The Grudge (DVD), The Eye (DVD). The poems and stories of Edgar Allen Poe, The Dark Domain by Stefan Grabinski. Lastly, any work by Stephen King.

Rating:
Summary: When the Sky Becomes a Pulsing Loom
Review: In the beginning, all things were as normal as normal could possibly be. People were operating as individuals were expected to function, some in stranger ways than others but still serving a purpose nonetheless, and then the events began occurring. First, the bright flash of light could be seen funneling into the sky, turning the heavens a rainbowesque coloration that was no rainbow at all, and was followed by the phenomena that began occurring within a number of hosts. Some people found themselves inflicted by something akin to having the most disturbing sort of powers, noted as a step in the next evolution of mankind by those that hunt them, and then kids from high schools began disappearing from all over. That's when the rumors of the angel of death, BoogiePop, began to surface and things really began to taking odd byways through life.

Within the 3rd DVD, many things are explained to the viewer for the first time, which is something of a welcome relief to those of us watching the show one DVD at a time. The entity known as the Manticore is showcased in a way that explains its mysterious existence, BoogiePop is shown to be something that is, in a sense, a messenger fulfilling its purpose, the person trying to stop BoogiePop is looked into a bit, and the light in the sky is looked at closely for the first time. into a bit more. We also are granted a look at the composite humans that have been shown in little detail while they've gone about "visiting" the gifted children of this electromagnetic world, and we get to see more of the people that have found themselves with abilities that surfaced on that night. What's more, we found out how long this is expected to plague the city, although we have no idea what will happen when everything reaches a climax.

This series is remarkable in the way that it can piece together events that seem unrelated in one story and evolve them in the next, constantly keeping you looking for more in each and every frame. This makes a puzzle that is actually twelve individual pieces interconnecting into one complete piece, letting each stand alone and yet seem more and more fulfilling each time you find out a little more of equation. The music in the series is also done really well, with the sound effects accenting the darkness in many of the scenes, setting a tempo that seems foreboding and menacing. Then there's the storyline itself, something that is melodic and paced but that is dark and beautiful at the same time, hooking the mind and making you want more.

If you've yet to check out the series, I would suggest watching them in order to understand exactly who people are and what's going on. Taking them any other way makes them confusing in many rights, and I'm not certain much of the tale would make sense if you deviate from the episode order. You should also be aware that some of it is a bit graphic and the tales are the happiest of sorts, which makes them all the more likable in my book. Recommended highly.