Boogiepop Phantom

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Year: 2000

Director: Takashi Watanabe

Creator: Kouhei Kadono

Studio: Madhouse

Anime Analysis
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Every teenager should watch this show.

Why does it deserve analysis?
Boogiepop Phantom re-tells several stories in the "Boogiepop" psychological horror novel series. It's colored (almost) entirely in sepia tones. There are over a hundred named characters in its 13 episodes.

This is not your average anime.

Boogiepop Phantom is about adolescence. It's about the beliefs we form--healthy and unhealthy--and the consequences thereof.

Each episode focuses on a particular view of the world. Some lead to early deaths. Many lead a protagonist to realize that their precious worldview is utterly inadequate. More crushing, some protagonists never realize it.

Implications / Thoughts about the depth of its premise
I have to call out specific episodes:


 * A girl works hard at playing the piano at a professional level. Her parents are happily sacrificing to pay for her lessons. Her hopes are dashed, and her reaction is typically extreme for an adolescent, and nonetheless deeply sad. Better, the show demonstrates the destructiveness of her reaction by showing us her reaction's results. We see the pain that grows out of that decision.
 * Another girl is so desperate to grow up that she throws away the stories she's written, which are her only personal, creative outlet.  Ironically, she turns into a child--emotionally stunted.
 * A shy boy receives the gift of telepathy. He hears his friends...judging him constantly.

Perhaps appropriately, Boogiepop Phantom has only the phantom of a plot arc. The events of the series do absolutely lead to a climax and a finale, but this is a show about its characters and their viewpoints.

Moreover, while fantastic elements weave through the show, the few recurring characters exist to protect the world from those elements. There's an interesting shot in the final episode, in which the characters are taking a break from their high school graduation ceremony. They stand next to a balcony, and the two protectors stand on either side of a girl who has no clue what's going on. It's a powerful image: ordinary and extraordinary people, surrounding the innocent world to protect it.

This is no ordinary show.