Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator

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Book Review (Volume 1)
It's impossible to describe any Boogiepop light novel without also describing the whole Boogiepop franchise. So, as briefly as possible:

It all started with the first Boogiepop novel, Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh, which told a supernatural adventure story from the perspectives of a handful of different students at the exclusive Shinyo Academy. The centerpiece of the story is the eponymous Boogiepop, a personality born in humanity's collective subconscious, and bubbles to the surface of an individual's consciousness whenever grave danger to humanity appears. Boogiepop has access to strange powers normally "walled off" to the conscious human mind, and uses those powers to attack the monsters (in human form) that threaten the very special students of Shinyo Academy.

That first novel won awards, and spawned a franchise:  over a dozen novels, several manga, an anime series, and a live-action film. More impressively, all this is written by Kouhei Kadono (or, in the case of the anime adaptation, carefully supervised by him).

Which gets back to the book I'm reviewing here: Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator part 1, the first of two light novels, and the immediate sequel to the original Boogiepop novel. Like all the Boogiepop novels, this one is divided into several parts, each narrated from the perspective of a different character, but all centering on the same events. In some cases, you get to see the same event from several different characters' viewpoints, which often gives you a new appreciation for what the heck's going on.

And "what the heck's going on" is the major question in this novel, as it is in all Boogiepop stories, and for me was the biggest problem. I love this franchise, and I love that these stories play out in a world of mysteries. But in VS Imaginator part 1, for the first time, I started to get confused. I couldn't keep track of all the characters, and the plot was just sluggish.

This is odd, because this novel has some distinctive and memorable characters. Two, in particular, who basically fall in love. And I'm sure are going to pay dearly for doing so. It's just that kind of set up.

See, Boogiepop has always excelled at portraying a couple of themes:


 * The philosophies of teenagers. These philosophies are often immature, and get their owners into trouble.
 * The inherent randomness of reality.  Sometimes, despite our best intentions, life farts in our general direction.  And nobody is at fault for this.
 * When we get into trouble, sometimes we are at fault.  There's almost always a point at which one could have said, "No."  But humans are weak.

Unfortunately, for a number of characters, these themes aren't fully developed, so I got a bit lost.

However, this is the first of two parts. I'm reserving final judgment until I read the second part (which I do own; I'm trying to get through Kino no Tabi volume 1 first).

Don't want to make this sound too negative; I really only had one complaint. Overall, I certainly enjoyed the first part of Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator, and look forward to the second part. As usual, this is a novel of distinctive characters, finding their own voices and beliefs, in a dangerous world.