Line #35 Anime/BoogiepopPhantom


1	[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Boogiepop_Phantom_6682.jpg]]
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3	''Boogiepop Never Laughs: Boogiepop Phantom'' is an anime spinoff of Kouhei Kadono's ''Literature/BoogiepopSeries'' of novels. The plot revolves around a mysterious pillar of light, a caped person called Boogiepop and the disappearance of a group of high school students.
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5	This anime is not an adaptation of any of the arcs of the series, but an original {{Interquel}} story that takes place between the first and second volumes, making also references to the {{Prequel}} sixth volume ''Boogiepop at Dawn''. It was created with involvement of Kadono himself.
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7	Though not a very similar show in plot and story, it is probably mentioned more often by comparison with ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' than in any other context. Both shows were animated by Shigeyuki Suga in his very personal visual style.
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9	----
10	!!Tropes in this anime:
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12	* AllThereInTheManual: In order to know what the Hell's going on, it helps to have read the series's first volume, ''Boogiepop and Others'', and prequel volume, ''Boogiepop at Dawn'' (or you must watch the ''Boogiepop and Others'' 2019 anime, which adapts both, before starting this anime).
13	* AnachronicOrder: The episodes are all over the place in relation to each other's place in the overall timeline.
14	* AnimeThemeSong: A funky, live-action, grainy, 70's throwback depicting a drive into the city for a night out.
15	* TheAntiNihilist: Panuru from episode 3, ''Life Can Be So Nice.''
16	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Kuroda and Manticore, in a sense; the former as a kind of living memory of his former self (similar to the "shadow" of Echoes that appears in ''Boogiepop at Dawn'', the novel Kuroda dies in), and the latter a shadow of its former self, having not actually died at the end of ''Boogiepop and Others'' as was previously believed.]]
17	* BadassNormal:
18	** Nagi Kirima, although the show's position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism means she still fails more often than she succeeds.
19	** [[spoiler:The original Boogiepop it/herself]].
20	* BatmanGambit: Nagi pulls a minor one on Kazuko when she asks her if she knows Touka, and if so how the friendship is going. This bewilders Kazuko (Touka's not even in their class) but also piques her curiosity (as Nagi knew it would; Kazuko's nothing if not curious). Sure enough, Kazuko later notices Touka and strikes up a conversation with her, and by the time they all graduate the two are best friends. It's not stated, but Nagi presumably did this either to get Kazuko out of her hair or because [[spoiler:she knows that if something bad happens Touka/Boogiepop would be Kazuko's best protection]]. Or maybe both.
21	* CreepyChild:
22	** Poom Poom, the Pied Piper-like entity that accompanies Manaka.
23	** The balloon children that Poom Poom draws from the people he gives balloons to.
24	** The robed girl.
25	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Everything is really brown, but this ceases at the end of the series, when the funky electromagnetic effect in the air causing all the anomalies finally dissipates.
26	* EvilCounterpart: Boogiepop Phantom seems to be this to the true Boogiepop, given that it has the shape of Manticore's human form wearing Boogiepop's clothes, although it is later revealed not to be the case.
27	* FalseCameraEffects: Most of the episodes have a vignette effect throughout.
28	* FlashBack:
29	** The entire plot is connected mysteriously to an event 1 month ago (which occurred at the end of ''Boogiepop and Others''), with references to an event 5 years ago (explained in ''Boogiepop at Dawn'').
30	** The entire series, with the [[MindScrew likely]] exception of the final episode, is made of flashbacks within flashbacks.
31	* HeroOfAnotherStory: The story is largely focused on Victims/Monsters of the Week, with the "main" plot occurring off-screen until the final episode.
32	* HeroicWannabe:
33	** Jonouchi
34	** [[spoiler:Nagi Kirima, more or less.]]
35	* HiddenDepths: Shows up all the time, but most notably in a character who [[StableTimeLoop prevents herself from committing suicide]].
36	* HugeSchoolgirl: Actually a past medical problem of one of the characters.
37	* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Boogiepop's cape and gravity-defying ribbon thing stand out from the austere realism of the rest of the clothing.
38	* IntroductoryOpeningCredits: The opening introduces Touka, Nagi, and Kuroda with names beside their appearances in it. Though ironically, in the majority of episodes, this is the most you'll ever see of those characters, as they are appear quite sparingly in the show itself.
39	* LowerDeckEpisode: ''Almost all of them''. Alternately, the entire series is made up of separate [[ADayInTheLimelight days in the limelight]].
40	%%* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: Yoshiki in episode 9, "You'll Never Be Young Twice".
41	* MindScrew: While being familiar with the first and sixth novels is imperative to begin understanding the series, it still doesn't detract that it is a quite impenetrable series.
42	* LivingMemory: Several character turn out to be this, even if by different reasons and methods each. The title Boogiepop Phantom and the series' antagonist, at the very least, are living memories of the first novel.
43	%%* NothingIsScarier
44	* OnTheNext: Eps. 1-11, with eerie multi-layered dialogue.
45	* OracularUrchin: Manaka is a perfect example of this trope.
46	%%* PillarOfLight:
47	%%** One sets the series in motion and is featured in several episodes.
48	%%** Another occurs when [[spoiler:Manaka dies]].
49	* SecretIdentity: [[spoiler:Toka Miyashita]] is Boogiepop.
50	%%* StepfordSmiler: Misuzu. ''So very much''.
51	%%* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Kuroda]]
52	* WeaksauceWeakness: One straight out of Greek mythology--[[spoiler:Echoes is unable to speak other than to repeat people's words back at them.]]

Context Anime / BoogiepopPhantom