Boogiepop Series / Characters

Boogiepop and Others along with its various novels and adaptations contain a rich cast of characters.

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Main characters

Boogiepop

^{Click here for his Boogiepop Phantom incarnation}

^{Click here for his novel incarnation}

"I am automatic. When I detect adversity approaching, I float to the surface. That's why I am Boogiepop-phantasmal, like bubbles."

Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (JP, Phantom), Aoi Yūki (JP, 2019), Deborah Rabbai (EN, Phantom), Michelle Rojas (EN, 2019)

Boogiepop is a mysterious figure who protects (stalks?) the city. A thing of legend, few know what Boogiepop actually looks like and even fewer know what Boogiepop actually is.

Absurd Cutting Power: And not only limited to his wires. In the novel, he uses a single swing of a regular knife to somehow cut a rope and a chain (the latter being something no knife should be able to cut in the first place) at the same time.
Adaptational Attractiveness:
- The original novel describes Boogiepop as wearing black lipstick and pale makeup, to the point Keiji compares it to a bizarre noh mask the first time he sees it. Most adaptations and artworks ditch this in favor of Touka's regular face to make the character less freaky; Boogiepop Phantom is the only medium that retains something of it by keeping the lipstick in a subdued way.
- While Boogiepop is often depicted in the novels' artworks as having Touka's hair bunched up under their hat, thus looking more boyish, Phantom lets Boogiepop have Touka's longer hair even in costume. The 2019 anime, on the other hand, doesn't give Boogiepop long hair, because Touka's new hairstyle is already semi-short to begin with.
- In the novel, the floppy edge of Boogiepop's hat partially hides his eyes due to it being too big. This is a detail that virtually no adaptation includes, instead always leaving his face well clear in shots. Only the opening of the 2019 anime shows Boogiepop's hat obscuring his eyes, but it is part of a gloomy dream sequence and never happens in the anime proper.
Adaptational Badass: The 2019 anime expands Boogiepop's powers and makes them much more overt and spectacular. In the light novels, Boogiepop is mainly a hand-to-hand fighter, trusting in his wire tricks and superhuman physical abilities to do the job, and even his most supernatural powers are often subtle or entirely unseen. In the anime, in contrast, Boogiepop also uses telekinesis, giant wire traps summoned from thin air and other impossible stunts in plain view, sometimes making him look like a full-fledged Reality Warper.
Adaptational Personality Change: The character's gimmick explicitly includes being The Stoic, to the point the first novel's title outright states Boogiepop never laughs, and it is only over time that he gains more emotional range. This is not the case in the 2019 anime, where Boogiepop is much more expressive from the first minute; Aoi Yūki's portrayal, with its ironic and condescending drawl, also makes Boogiepop more of a Mellow Fellow in general. To exemplify this change, and in a probably intentional paradox, the anime version of Boogiepop actually laughs, the very action he's supposed to be incapable of, in the very first episode, while in the light novel series Boogiepop doesn't even show a true smile until King of Distortion.
Aloof Ally: Is unambiguously a defender of the world, but not always the most approachable character, and the 2019 anime also makes them sound constantly sarcastic.
Ambiguous Gender: Boogiepop may inhabit a female body, but it's hard to say what gender Boogiepop is, or whether he's a gendered being in the first place. In the novels, Keiji describes Boogiepop as having a "boyish, soprano voice", while Nagi believes it sounds "like a boy's, like a girl's, like both at once", and this is reflected in the 2019 anime, where Touka's seiyu puts up a deep, ambiguously-gendered voice whenever playing Boogiepop. Many characters who have only heard about Boogiepop also tend to think about "him" as a male.
Ambiguously Human: Is Boogiepop the alternate personality of the human Touka? Is Boogiepop an alien? Is Boogiepop an actual shinigami? Although various theories are posited in- and out-of-universe, it's never explicitly stated. Later volumes heavily imply Touka is an MPLS (evolved human) and Boogiepop is the manifestation of her evolution, but that's it.
Ambiguous Situation: Boogiepop states that while Manticore is inhumanly strong, he can use the dormant strength within humans too. Depending on the adaptation and translation, this can mean many things, from Uninhibited Muscle Power to 90% of Your Brain (which in this case would be MPLS).
The Anti-Nihilist: Boogiepop espouses to Takeda the belief that "A world where you couldn't dream or think about the future is just plain wrong."
Badass Cape: When Boogiepop is in charge, it typically dons a cape and hat (which Touka subconsciously carries around in a Spalding bag). If Touka does not have quick access to Boogiepop's cape and/or intends to make a quick appearance he will not always make the effort of putting the cape on.
Barefoot Loon: The 2019 anime's ending shows Touka standing unshod on the beach, after which she appears on the school's roof, presumably as Boogiepop, still playfully barefoot. This likely reflects how Boogiepop's personality compares to Touka's, being almost trascendentally dismissive of his vision of society.
Blow You Away: Implied to be one of his powers even in the novels. A too-convenient sudden wind, which somehow affects everybody in the room but Boogiepop, throws Asukai off the Paisley Park tower after their confrontation, and afterward, another gust of wind appears to distract Aya enough for Boogiepop to disappear.
Break Them by Talking: A master of this, often needing only a monologue to psychologically defeat his enemies. It's unclear whether this is a superpower itself or just sheer charisma.
Combo Platter Powers: Boogiepop's powerset is not clearly defined and often boils down to what he needs at the moment. He has variously shown Offscreen Teleportation, Super-Speed, Super-Reflexes, immunity to other MPLS abilities, Blow You Away, Master of Threads, Absurd Cutting Power and even Dream Walker abilities. The 2019 anime expands them further, also including explicit Mind over Matter, if not more.
Dragons Up the Yin Yang: The novels' artist drew Boogiepop's cloak with a random taijitu in front of the collar, which gets retained in Boogiepop Phantom, but dropped in the live-action and 2019 anime adaptions (the latter shows it in some character designs, but not the series itself).
Dramatic High Perching: Occasionally appears in high, narrow places.
Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Downplayed, since it was only one image, but one of the first images of Boogiepop in the novels depicts him as wearing lots of black bandages around his arm (which is carried into the live-action film), but this is done away with in later drawings. From then, Boogiepop is only depicted with belts around his arms or just with the sleeves of Touka's clothes.
Early-Installment Weirdness: Many of what are known as Boogiepop's perennial traits were actually implied to be circumstantial stuff in the first novel. Here, Boogiepop never did anything exaggeratedly supernatural, rather only fighting with martial arts moves that were explained as being powered by Uninhibited Muscle Power, and his monofilament wires were just a trap tied to a tree he set for Manticore (which Boogiepop even needed gloves to manipulate without cutting himself). It was not until VS Imaginator that he started showing inexplicable powers such as ninja-like agility, manipulation of wind and immunity to other powers, as well as using the wires as a portable, borderline magical weapon that could cut or trap at will.
Eye-Obscuring Hat:
- Boogiepop's signature hat is described as being too big for his head, flopping over Touka's eyes. In the anime adaptations, while it doesn't cover her eyes, it does cast a shadow over Touka's face enough to do the trick sometimes.
- The opening of the 2019 series pictures Boogiepop with his eyes eerily hidden when Touka spots him behind level crossing barriers, right after seeing herself with Hidden Eyes.
Flash Step: Uses a few of them, as while fighting the cops in the anime.
Instant Knots: Often done with his wires.
Knows the Ropes: The wires he uses as weapons. In Boogiepop Phantom, the wire has a weighed, pointed tip like a Chinese meteor hammer.
Kung-Fu Wizard: Has some non-physical supernatural abilities, especially in some continuities, but usually favors fighting with Touka's body. Bonus points given that in the light novel, Takeda literally describes his movements as resembling kung fu or tai chi.
Larynx Dissonance: His voice is described as sounding quite different from Touka's. In 2019 anime, when Boogiepop doesn't bother with changing into costume, the only way to distinguish him from Touka is just a change in the voice and manner of speech, which becomes noticeably deeper and drawling. Even in the novels, characters can tell that Boogiepop has taken over Touka (though they only see this as Touka acting weird) because her voice changes.
Legacy Character: As revealed in Boogiepop at Dawn, his hat and cape were inspired from Kuroda's hat and trenchcoat at the moment of dying, when Touka found him. Boogiepop's signature facial expression also comes from the hurt Kuroda's attempt to smile in that scene, as it does the whole shinigami's schtick, which was just an occurrence by Kuroda upon seeing Touka's shadow. Even the badges in Boogiepop's hat are implied to be placed to simulate the look of Kuroda's armored hat after receiving a stab from Mo Murder.
Leitmotif: The overture of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Master of Threads: Some kind of power is possibly how Boogiepop does his most convoluted no-hands Razor Floss tricks in all continuities, as the tricks described in the novels often come across as a bit improbable; Niitoki even states the wires move as if they were alive. The 2019 takes this to the extreme, with Boogiepop being able to conjure up, without using his hands even, a massive wire trap tied to several buildings that hoists Manticore five meters up into the air.
Mind over Matter: In the 2019 anime, he uses telekinesis to dispose of two meddling cops in an original way, throwing them around as if Boogiepop were physically doing martial arts moves on them.
Nonchalant Dodge: Asukai shoots him almost point blank, but Boogiepop dodges it with ease. In the anime, he completes it with an acrobatic jump and a brief Enemy Rising Behind.
Offscreen Teleportation:
- His most uncanny trait is appearing and disappearing whenever he wants, often across implausibly long distances. Sometimes it is done for Stealth Hi/Bye, others for combat, and others just to mess with people. The ability seems to have its limits, though, as Boogiepop at Dawn has the title character complaining that it took too long for him to catch up with Nagi and Fear Ghoul, implying it could be simply another application of his Super-Speed or Flash Step rather than literal teleportation.
- Subverted in the anime, where Boogiepop once does it openly in front of Takeda to make a point during his speech. Again, though, it could have been just a Flash Step, as Takeda was looking at the floor at the time and the viewer doesn't get to see the move either.
Outside-Context Problem: It takes several volumes for the Towa Organization to understand what exactly they are fighting against. From their point of view, Boogiepop is a wholly unknown party, seemingly impossible to capture or defeat, who constantly appears in the right place to destroy their plans.
Paper-Thin Disguise: Boogiepop looks exactly like Touka wearing a cape and hat over her school uniform (or what she is wearing at the time). To be fair to her classmates, between the obscured face, the vocal changes, and the dark in which Boogiepop is usually spotted, she may be harder to recognize. When they get a good look at Boogiepop, however, it is easy for them to recognize that Boogiepop is Touka.
The Peeping Tom: He says Takeda that he (Boogiepop) could be considered a silent witness of his relationship with Touka, which makes Keiji quickly flustered. Notably, the anime version of Boogiepop lets out a small laugh right after.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: While Boogiepop is surprisingly short, as Shinjiro Ano observes, he has no problem taking on the likes of Spooky E and Zouragi, with the latter of the two being a Notzilla.
Powers Do the Fighting: In the 2019 anime, where only the most extreme occasions require Boogiepop to get hands on.
Promoted to Love Interest: In a way. In the novels, Takeda comes to see Boogiepop as a friend after getting to know him. In the live-action movie, Takeda is (at least more explicitly) in love with Boogiepop as he nearly confesses so, before the latter vanishes into Touka for a final time (to him).
Purple Is the New Black: Boogiepop is described as a "black-hatted figure" in the text. Adaptations have his costume ranging from blue to purple.
Razor Floss: Boogiepop's main weapons are steel microfilament wires that cut and/or bind at will, almost to the point of being Combat Tentacles. At points, they are even able to destroy concrete and objects it shouldn't be able to damage.
Sharing a Body: With Touka. Boogiepop is typically hidden in Touka's mind but comes out when danger is present and then disappears back into her when the danger is gone. This isn't a strict rule, though, as Boogiepop tends to come out sometimes to give advice to characters such as Kazuco and then disappear right back again, with Touka acting as if nothing happend.
Shinigami: Since Boogiepop is a guardian of sorts who tries to stop those going around killing people, many rumors have started about him being an "angel of death".
Showy Invincible Hero: Very little manages to even surprise Boogiepop during his battles - it's the way those end up turning out what really matters.
Signature Headgear: Boogiepop has a rather unique signature hat, which resembles a large, brimless top hat with a floppy lower edge and a few metal badges.
- In the live action movie, it's more of a mask that can be be lifted up to double as a hat.
- At somepoint between the Manticore incident and the Asukai Jin affair, a chain was added to the hat. This chain is never mentioned in the text, and only depicted consistently in Ogata Kouji's illustrations. All in all, a useful visual hint to indicate prequels.
Spider-Sense: Is able to detect when danger is nearby, causing Boogiepop to emerge from Touka.
Star-Spangled Spandex: In the novels' artwork, Boogiepop's cloak is often depicted as having stars and galaxies on its insides. Boogiepop Phantom keeps this detail, while the 2019 anime does not. The live-action film, for its part, puts a large focus on it by having Boogiepop leap up and open their cloak, leading to a sequence where the camera floats through space.
Stealth Hi/Bye: His signature. Nagi eventually becomes accustomed to it.
The Stoic: Boogiepop isn't very expressive (to the point the series is called "Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh" in Japanese), but does gain more expression through human interaction. Downplayed in the 2019 anime, where Boogiepop shows a bit more of emotion since the very start, including laughter, although it is still quite subdued.
Super-Speed: Commonly described to move much faster than even synthetic humans.
Too Many Belts: While it's difficult to see because of the cloak, Boogiepop wears a lot of belts. Typically, one is on his neck, like a choker, while his hands, wrists, and ankles have multiple around them. Though this isn't consistent, as sometimes the belts are there and sometimes they aren't depending on the drawing and episode.
The Un-Smile: His signature facial expression is a sort of asymmetrical smile,^quote inspired by Kuroda after he was hurt in his face.
Wrestler in All of Us: In the anime, he takes out one of the cops by telekinetically flipping him and locking him in a hammerlock.

Touka Miyashita

^{Click here for her novel incarnation}

"I wanted to mess with your mind a bit. Sorry."

Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (JP, Phantom), Aoi Yūki (JP, 2019), Deborah Rabbai (EN, Phantom), Michelle Rojas (EN, 2019)

Touka is a perfectly normal high school girl with normal friends, a normal family, no involvement in any of the supernatural activity, and no abnormal interests. Her boyfriend is Keiji Takeda.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Slightly. She has shoulder-length dark brown in the novels, but both Boogiepop Phantom and the 2019 anime give her a lighter color and a shorter cut.
Ascended Extra: Despite dating (and sharing a body with) leading characters, Touka is only seen briefly in the first couple of books. In later books she is more heavily featured.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: While not shown prominently, Touka does have a desire to help others in need. This is seen in Boogiepop Phantom in which she offers to help its first focus character find Nagi Kirima when that character asks for Nagi. She is also outright described in the first volume by Akio Kimura, who was Adapted Out of the 2019 anime, as having a hero complex, since she was butting into his troubled love life.
Demoted to Extra: In the 2019 anime, Touka has slightly less characterization compared to what little she gained in the books due to certain character interactions being minimized or outright cut.
The Generic Guy: Touka is by all accounts a normal high school girl, and is characterized much like any Japanese high school girl would be.
Official Couple: With Takeda.
Ordinary High-School Student: Touka is an entirely ordinary high school student by day, and frequently becomes taken over by Boogiepop at night.
Non P.O.V. Protagonist: Touka is the only character that has never held a chapter that focuses on or is told from her point of view. Which adds to the ambiguity of just how aware she is in regards to Boogiepop.
Plucky Girl: In contrast to Boogiepop, Touka is rather joyful and happy no matter what life throws at her.
Secret Identity: Touka as Boogiepop. Subverted in that almost everyone figures it out instantly. Except herself, although she might be aware of it to some degree.
Sharing a Body: With Boogiepop. While she is somewhat aware that she may be doing things she doesn't remember, she isn't clear what's happening when she's not in control. When she was younger she had a lot more knowledge of this arrangement, but for her own good she has been made to forget.

Nagi Kirima

^{Click here for her Boogiepop Phantom incarnation}

^{Click here for her novel incarnation}

"My father died when I was ten. [...] So what? I don’t know. I just kind of gave up living normal after that.”

Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (JP, Phantom), Saori Onishi (JP, 2019), Rachael Lillis (EN, Phantom), Morgan Garrett (EN, 2019)

Nagi is an alleged delinquent girl who seemingly can't be bothered with school, leading her to have a bad reputation among teachers and fellow students. Outside of school she acts as a vigilante of sorts, leading her to have a strangely symbiotic relationship with Boogiepop.

The Ace: Despite all the sleeping in class, skipping and suspension, her grades are still among the top. And God help you if you have to engage Nagi in physical combat.
Academic Athlete: She's a ridiculously good student, even despite being functionally a slacker, and an even better martial artist. Ironically, she is instead known as a delinquent in her school.
Action Girl: While a lot of Nagi's badassery is done through her smarts, she still performs amazing athletic feats.
Adaptational Attractiveness: Downplayed. Nagi's physical description in the novels is intriguing, as she is described to have a manly face and voice, even if she is still described by her schoolmates as looking like a top model (she's explicitly said to be more attractive than Naoko, who is a cutie herself). Accordingly, she is drawn in both the novels and Boogiepop Phantom as looking rather androgynous, even masculine. The 2019 series, on the other hand, makes her more conventionally attractive appearance wise by giving her a more feminine design.
Adaptational Wimp: The 2019 anime has Nagi knocking out nine mooks brought by the controlled Kotoe, but this feels little compared to the same battle in the novel, where Nagi faces numberless waves of thugs and is explicitly said to be fighting five and six of them at once at every turn.
Badass Normal: Nagi has no special powers (anymore) and no alternate personality to help her, but she is incredibly athletic and a brilliant fighter, and often manages to hold her own against the supernatural creatures she finds herself up against.
Charles Atlas Superpower: Her insane fighting skills are not easily explainable by sheer training, but this seems to be their sole origin.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: Outright describes herself as having a messiah complex.
Crimefighting with Cash: Uses the money from her father's books to buy equipment to help her heroic activities.
Disappeared Dad: Her father Seiichi Kirima, a criminal psychologist, has died about 10 years ago, but still manages to remain important in the story.
The Dreaded: Wins the "title" of "most likely to be a serial killer" in the class. People in the school, teachers included, think even interacting with her is intense enough.
Expository Pronoun: Uses the masculine ore along with masculine speech manner, even when speaking to her own father. However, she can switch to the feminine style if situation calls.
Failed a Spot Check: Thrice in the first novel.
- She fails to notice that Suema almost getting killed by Fear Ghoul is not public knowledge, revealing her direct involvement in the incident.
- She unknowingly comes very close to cracking Saotome's facade. Had she questioned him further instead of brushing him off as a mere normie, things could have gone quite differently.
- Another one near the climax. Nagi somehow does not understand why Niitoki, the Disciplinary Committee President who personally checks the daily number of students and also has a reputation of taking things seriously, would go searching for Naoko, while at the same time not questioning the presence of Saotome, who has no interaction with Naoko whatsoever. This costs Nagi her life.
Fatal Flaw: Nagi completely rejects normalcy as a way of life, seeing it as disappointing at best and dreadful at worst. This turns into a flaw when she dismisses normal people and fails to see that they too can strive for, and capable of, committing great good and evil.
Hacker Cave: She does a lot of work in a room that resembles one. While the novels describe it as having multiple computer screens, the 2019 anime modernizes it to just be one.
Iconic Outfit: Leather jumpsuit with metal guards, and steel-toed protection boots, although the first novel describes it a bit differently.^note
Playing with Fire: This would have been her special ability had it been allowed to develop.
Precocious Crush: Hers was apparently Shinpei Kuroda, although it seems neither of the two realized.
Red Baron: Is known as the "Fire Witch" around school, since she is rumored to practice black magic.^note
Royalties Heir: Her main source of income is the royalties from her dad's books.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Her main modus operandi in the story.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Her stepfather is quite well-off and influential, which is one of the reasons why the school is willing to overlook her discipline problems.
Skipping School: Nagi doesn't show up to school much at all.
Static Stun Gun: Nagi uses a "stun gun" to dispatch her foes. The weapon looks like a compact stun gun in early depictions, but later appears to be "stun rod". In particular, the way Nagi defeats Kisugi involves her use of this.
Triple Shifter: Frequently sleeps in class to make up for all those all-nighters.
Wrestler in All of Us: The light novel has her defeating Kisugi with an Aikido throw and an undescribed armlock, but the 2019 anime changes it to a Lou Thesz press and a cross armbar.
Younger Than They Look: Back when she was fourteen, Mo Murder noted she looked way older, likely due to all her life's trauma. Rika even believed Nagi's claim to be twenty-something, although with some surprise.

Kazuko Suema

^{Click here for her Boogiepop Phantom incarnation}

"Five years ago, things had all happened without me knowing about them. I only found out when everything was finished. My own will played no part in the matter.

If there was danger, I wanted to see it."

Voiced by: Kyo Nagasawa (JP, Phantom), Reina Kondo (JP, 2019), Annie Benkovitz (EN, Phantom), Natalie Hoover (EN, 2019)

A girl with an unusual interest and knowledge in criminal and abnormal psychology. Being a close friend of Touka and classmate of Nagi, she ends up involved with multiple plots.

Adaptational Wimp: In the books, Kazuko possesses a keen perceptiveness and a penchant of dissing out Armor-Piercing Question, and gets really worked up whenever she smells something's being hidden from her. All of these make her a force to be reckoned with in verbal sparrings, where she can put the likes of Nagi (intellectual and physical prodigy, utterly fearless) and Asukai (basically a mindreader) into defensive stance. In the 2019 anime, although her role in the plot remains the same, she stops questioning Nagi at once when the latter says "it's not your business."
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the live action film adaptation, she has an infatuation with Nagi, which is absent from the original (she does feel sympathy for Nagi's loneliness and comes to admire her, but just that) and all the other adaptations.
Agent Scully: She tries really hard to be rational, not believing the rumors about Boogiepop, and only half-heartedly believing Nagi's claims that it was Boogiepop who saved her from the serial killer. The events of the series make her change her mind.
The Anti-Nihilist: Surprisingly for her interests, she fully adheres to Seiichi's ideas about independent thinking and one's own meaning of life.
Brainy Brunette: Has black hair and is quite intellectual.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: She always tries to involve herself with the mystery of the week, but often she arrives when it has already ended.
Cute Bookworm: Even carries a stash of criminology books in her bag all the time.
Jerkass with a Heart of Gold: While she can be a bit rigid and irritable at times, especially towards things out of the ordinary, she is usually nice to everybody and ultimately means well.
I Just Want to Be Special: Her experience with the serial killer left her with a certain frustration at being just an ordinary girl, incapable to directly fight threats like Boogiepop or Nagi. Ironically, in the novels she eventually gets what she wants by becoming a MPLS.
Invisibility with Drawbacks: Later into the light novel series, she gains this as her MPLS ability. She can cloak people out of sight, but satellite cameras can see through it.
Invisible Introvert: A girl not terribly good with people who later gains the ability to cloak people.
Nerd Glasses: Has them, underlining her nature.
Not So Above It All: She refuses to believe in the urban legend of Boogiepop, and even less that Boogiepop saved her from the murderer years earlier as Nagi told her, but when Asukai is sharing with her his creepy plans of saving the world, Suema instinctively and confidently lashes back that Boogiepop already saved her. She is embarrassed with herself right afterwards, but doesn't take it back.
Tsundere: Type B. She is usually nice if uptight, but people, more often Nagi, can make her easily angry.

Recurring characters

Keiji Takeda

^{Click here for his novel incarnation}

Voiced by: Chiaki Kobayashi (JP), Matt Shipman (EN)

Keiji is a normal high school boy living a normal life and dating a normal high school girl (Touka) until he befriends Boogiepop.

The Cameo: Although he doesn't appear in Boogiepop Phantom, he can be seen in a photo in Touka's room in Episode 5.
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: The first novel implies that, even if baffled, he is ultimately attracted to Boogiepop's existencialism at a very personal level. When Boogiepop gives his speech about a world where people can dream, Keiji thinks to himself that, even if Boogiepop looks like a clown, he would like himself to be a clown like him.
The Generic Guy: Like Touka, he has a fairly normal life. Although his life is slightly more chaotic than her own, it is still within what a high schooler could be expected to experience.
Official Couple: With Touka.
Only Friend: To Boogiepop, who says that he didn't do anything other than fighting before meeting Takeda.

Masaki Taniguchi

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro (JP), Christoper Llweyn Ramirez (EN)

Nagi's younger stepbrother.

Academic Athlete: He's an academic overachiever, enough to draw the envy of his classmates (and the admiration of his female classmates) on his first school day, and is also a great martial artist.
Adaptational Personality Change: His version in the 2019 anime is significantly more coolheaded. In the novel, he gets angry at Aya for having used him in the fake Boogiepop scheme and later cries secretly about it, while in the anime he instead only gets a bit of Tranquil Fury before leaving and deciding to act.
Adaptational Wimp: The novel has him doing rather improbable martial stunts, like sweeping the legs of three grown up men with a single kick, a fight in which he also faces no less than six men. The 2019 anime renders it a bit more realistic, with the thugs now being just three and Masaki having to use a lot of strikes and throws on them to put them down.
Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair is a tad lighter and shorter in the 2019 anime.
Badass Normal: Like his stepsister, he's an amazing hand-to-hand fighter trained by Sakakibara. He has also a previous background in Karate.
Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: He surely finds Aya appealing, but he never feels like making a move on her openness to sex, in part for how awkwardly nonchalant her propositions are.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: Not to his stepsister's Messiah complex levels, but he still likes the idea of impersonating Boogiepop and becoming a street vigilante, which Towa capitalizes on through Aya to try to draw out the real one.
Determinator: Tries to take matters into his own hands and rescue Aya against all odds.
The Dulcinea Effect: Downplayed, as his relationship with Aya develops over time in the novels, but it is still demonstrated rather early on to what extents he's willing to go for her sake.
Leeroy Jenkins: While academically brilliant, he's not the kind of person to think a lot before charging into action, a trait both Nagi and Sakakibara warn him about. He himself notes that this leads to him finding himself not knowing what to do.
Nice Guy: A lot of his problems come from being this, especially towards Orihata.
Official Couple: With Orihata.
Skilled, but Naive: Masaki Taniguchi is a bit too trusting and never once questions why this mysterious girl that he met and started dating tells him nothing about herself and wants him to pretend to be Boogiepop. He has to be saved twice, once by his sister and once by the real Boogiepop, from the mess he's gotten himself into.

Aya Orihata

^{Click here for her novel incarnation}

Voiced by: Kana Ichinose (JP), Jad Saxton (EN)

A student who becomes Masaki's girlfriend. She hides a couple of secrets.

Adaptational Modesty:
- In the novel, she only wears the shirt she rips off when she confronts Masaki's bullies, leaving her nude from the waist up and requiring him to lend her his jacket. In the 2019 anime, she wears her own jacket over her shirt and uses it to cover herself afterward.
- As spotted by a weirded-out Shinjiro, in the novel Aya goes solely in her underwear while in her flat, even coming out to her balcony that way. In the anime, she doesn't have this habit and instead wears a T-shirt and shorts in the same scene.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair is reddish brown in the light novels' artwork, but the 2019 anime makes it dark silver grey (curiously, the same dye job Echoes receives there) and gives it a shorter and messier haircut. The latter point actually makes it Truer to the Text, as the novels described her hair as unruly, yet their illustrations and covers showed it rather plain down.
Adaptation Personality Change: In the novel she's consistently described as inexpressive and straight-faced, at least before her Character Development, but in the 2019 anime she can affect a semi-normal frequency of smiles and endearment to manipulate Masaki (although seemingly not other targets, possibly because he makes her subconsciously happier).
Artificial Human: She is one of Towa's synthetic humans.
Do You Want to Copulate?: Her first appearance has Aya bluntly asking Masaki if he wants her sexually, and according to him, this kind of dialogue is far from weird for her.
Dramatically Missing the Point: Although it ends up being fortunate, it's notable that she only tries to save Masaki from his bullies because, upon seeing his anger at the whole situation, she misinterpreted that he was somehow angry at her, even without knowing her at all.
Driven to Suicide: The guilt of manipulating Masaki into impersonating Boogiepop leads her to consider suicide, but she's talked out of it by a timely Suema.
Emotionless Girl: She is introduced as a quiet if polite girl of few facial expressions. Later defrosts.
Heel–Face Turn: She follows twisted orders from Towa, which include manipulating a boy into becoming a vigilante to to try to lure out another, but eventually, after learning Towa has abandoned her, she sincerely joins the leading gang.
In Love with the Mark: Being created to sleep around to test if artificial humans can get impregnated, she falls in love with one of her targets and compromises her mission by staying faithful to him even although doesn't want to have sex yet.
Innocent Fanservice Girl: Dancing with Shameless Fanservice Girl, although ultimately more of the former. Due to the nature of her mission, she knows her body and feminity can arouse other people, but she seems to be genuinely unaware of its subtlelies and of personal boundaries, at one point licking some ketchup from Masaki's lips without any sexual intention whatsoever (and much to his embarrassment anyway).
No Social Skills: Her ways to fulfill her mission are a bit rough to say the least. Her very first option to save Masaki from his bullies is ripping her shirt open and offering them sex, and whenever she tries to have sex with Masaki himself, her way to propose it is either to ask him directly or to tell him plainly that she will do whatever he wants.
Official Couple: With Masaki.
Really Gets Around: Though Aya fails to have sex with Misaki, she did "do" lots of guys before him to the point that she has a reputation among the boys of the school.
Rei Ayanami Expy: It's right in her name, Aya. Like Rei, she's a quiet, soft-spoken Artificial Human with dark secrets and a troubled life who becomes a love interest for a male character, defrosting and becoming a real person thanks to it. The third novel's cover even depicts her in Rei's hair color and trademark nudity. The 2019 anime only amps the similarities up by giving Aya a combo of hair color and cut vaguely resembling Kaworu Nagisa's.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She falls in love with Masaki for his kindness and attention.
The Stoic: Aya is normally serene and collected. She eventually becomes Not So Stoic due to Masaki.
The Vamp: She was created for the goal of copulating, and occasionally uses her sexuality and femininity as tools for extra purposes. Ironically, she is not a bit seductive or sultry; her only way to do it is just proposing sex with a straight face.

Kentaro Habara

Voiced by: Yuji Murai (JP), Eric Vale (EN)

A highschool hacker that becomes Nagi's sidekick.

Genius Bruiser: He's almost at the level of the Kirima family in martial arts and intel abilities, which is not little, and without the advantage of any special training.
Hopeless Suitor: He has a half-serious crush on Nagi, but she isn't interested in such things.
Overshadowed by Awesome: Kentaro is a skilled hacker, combatant and driver in his own right, but accompanying Nagi who can do all of the above a bit better, coupled with his desire to keep her from harm's way, gives him kind of an inferiority complex.
Playful Hacker: Steals data from companies and sells it in the black market to make a living, and later starts helping Nagi because he's fascinated with her (and because she saved him from thugs).
Sidekick: To Nagi.

Kei Niitoki

^{Click here for her novel incarnation}

Voiced by: Shino Shimoji (JP), Jill Harris (EN)

The lively president of Shinyo's Disciplinary Committee, who has, or used to have, a crush on Takeda.

Adaptational Wimp: In the novel, she tries to fend Masami off with Nagi's electric baton, which actually impresses them. In the 2019 anime, as Nagi didn't bring it with her (she instead knocked them out with strikes), Niitoki's role falls down to just being angry at him.
All Love Is Unrequited: Her crush on Takeda is not returned, and it makes things awkward between not only her and Takeda, but also her and Touka. However, the other part of the cause between the awkwardness that Touka and Kei have is implied be because Kei is one of the few people to know that Touka and Boogiepop are the same person.
The Heart: She's the nicest and most moral of the recurring characters.
Nice Girl: A kind-hearted girl whose actions prove instrumental to save the world.
Older Than She Looks: She's a third year student, but her petite frame and youthful face makes people think she is younger.
Secret-Keeper: One of the few who knows the connection shared between Boogiepop and Touka.
Wardrobe Flaw of Characterization: In the 2019 anime, she wears her school uniform with bright white sneakers instead of the proper dress shoes. This is usually associated to Japanese Delinquents, not class representatives like Kei, which helps establish her as a rather unorthodox approach to her job.

Other students

Akio Kimura

A second-year student who gets into relationship with Naoko.

Adapted Out: Akio is omitted in the 2019 adaptation. Several of his lines are transferred to Nagi instead.
Ladykiller in Love: He secretly dates multiple girls at the same time, and has flirted even more. This stops when Naoko disappears, after which Akio realizes she is his true love.
Nostalgic Narrator: Akio's chapter describes what kind of person Naoko was through the lense of him reminiscing their time together.
The One That Got Away: Years after Naoko went missing, Akio still counts her birthday and dates no other.
Polyamory: Both Akio and Naoko acknowledge that the other has other lovers, but they still get along nonetheless.

Naoko Kamikishiro

^{Click here for her novel incarnation}

"Life is brief, young maiden, fall in love."

Voiced by: Ayaka Suwa (JP), Skyler McIntosh (EN)

Naoko is a friendly and happy-go-lucky (if a bit badly behaved) high school girl. She is featured prominently in the first novel of the series.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Is described as having blonde hair in the light novels, but the 2019 colors her hair light brown.
AM/FM Characterization: Her favorite song, which everyone remembers her by, is the romantic ballad Gondola no Uta.^note
"Life is brief, young maiden, fall in love;
before the crimson bloom fades from your lips,
before the tides of passion cool within your hips,
for those of you who know no tomorrow."
Best Friend: Of Nagi.
The Cameo: Appears as part of a flashback by Nagi in Boogiepop Phantom.
Nice Girl: While immature and punkish, she is a very kind-hearted girl.
Good Samaritan: She helps a distressed Echoes when no other human being does. Thanks to her, the entire human race passes the Secret Test of Character... for now.
The One That Got Away: She is this to Kimura, who cannot move on for years after her sudden disappearance.
Polyamory: Both Akio and Naoko acknowledge that the other has other lovers, but they still get along nonetheless.
Telepathy: Her MPLS skill, although it seems she can only do it with Echoes.

Kyoko Kinoshita

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kyoukokinoshita_anime.png

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (JP, Phantom), Amina Sato (JP, 2019), Kristen Nelson (EN, Phantom), Madeleine Morris (EN, 2019)

A classmate to Kazuko Suema who gets addicted to Manticore's drug.

Alliterative Name: Kyoko Kinoshita

Shiro Tanaka

Voiced by: Aoi Ichikawa (JP), Dallas Reid (EN)

Member of the Archery Club. He was going out with Naoko during the events of the first volume. Later becomes relevant again during the King of Distortion arc, which is ultimately his work.

Achilles in His Tent: Flees, understandably scared shitless, when Manticore attacks. However, later returns and finishes it with his arrows under the guidance of Boogiepop.
Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair is light brown in the novels' artwork, but solid black in the 2019 anime.
Big Bad: Of the King of Distortion arc, as the title character is his own apparent Superpowered Evil Side.
Catchphrase: The King of Distortion talks constantly about "turning suffering into gold", which is a hint of his whole intention.
Despair Event Horizon: His relationship with Naoko brought him to this.
Driven to Suicide: After all is said and done in the King of Distortion arc, Tanaka closes down his mindscape by falling into an abyss in front of Boogiepop and Niitoki, which the anime portrays in a way clearly evoking suicide (with him even showing a contented smile before hitting the ground). Subverted because, being a mental world, he doesn't die, but simply wakes up with his purpose fulfilled.
Epiphany Therapy: The ultimate goal of the King of Distortion is to help people confront and solve their psychological burdens, even by force if it's necessary.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: From his perspective, by his own fault, nothing good came from his relationship with Naoko. He first let himself get roped into a relationship without loving her, then failed to do anything about it, and when she died, he couldn't even feel as devastated as he believed he should.
Lotus-Eater Machine: The King's power, although it turns out it's actually well-meant.
Master Archer: Practises kyudo, which comes handy in order to handle Manticore.
My God, What Have I Done?: He accepted going out with Naoko without reciprocating her love, mostly out of kindness and hoping he would grow to love her back over time. However, this never happened, and when Naoko died, he found himself feeling guilty for having allowed her to live a lie. It is only after Niitoki assures him that Naoko was still happy that he can finally let go.
Oxymoronic Being: Which is the source of the problem. The King of Distortion sincerely wants to help people overcome their pains, but this sole existence is due to the fact that his creator, Shiro, couldn't help himself with his own suffering in the first place. Once Boogiepop and Niitoki lend them a hand, Tanaka comes to terms with it and the King withdraws.
The Stoic: He's very calm and collected, almost shy, especially compared to his friends (he's only Not So Stoic when he witnesses the fight with Manticore). However, this only comes to torment him after Naoko dies, as Shiro finds himself very biase about it, and ultimately comes to believe he must be necessarily a bad person for not being crushed by her death.
Superpowered Evil Side: Subverted. Shiro is the unconscious creator of the King of Distortion, which causes a crisis in the Moon Temple, but as Boogiepop points out, the King is not really malevolent and actually helped several people to solve their inner regrets.
Super-Power Meltdown: He causes the Moon Tempe incident with his dormant MPLS powers stirred by his own soul pains.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The King of Distortion intends to heal people's minds, but his way to do it is by causing a mass incident and trapping them in a dangerous Lotus-Eater Machine where few people can find the solution without external help.

Shinjiro Ano

Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (JP, Phantom), Yoshiaki Hasegawa (JP, 2019), Bill Rogers (EN, Phantom), Orion Pitts (EN, 2019)

A classmate to Masaaki that finds himself in love with him before being targeted himself by the Towa Organization.

Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The 2019 anime portrays faithfully his breakdown while in front of Shinyo Academy, but excises the bit where Ano ultimately manages to chuckle and brush it off, thus seemingly leaving him in unhelped despair.
Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair is light brown in the novels and Phantom, but solid black in the 2019 anime.
Armoured Closet Gay: Closet bi in this case. He joins Masaki's bullies fearing they would ostracize himself if they ever found out he is also attracted to guys and is in love with him of all people.
The Cameo: Has one as Sayoko Oikawa's classmate in the seventh episode of Boogiepop Phantom.
Bisexual Love Triangle: Lampshaded. Ano falls in love with Masaki, but after all the brainwashing affair, he moves on and starts going out with an unnamed girl. His next chapter of life is much more peaceful, but he still feels unconsciously melancholic for how different would it have been with Masaki.
The Peeping Tom: While spying Orihata's windows in order to discover who she really is, he gets turned on at the thought she might be masturbating. He is disgusted with himself for this, though.

Kotoe Kinukawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kotoekinugawa.jpg

Voiced by: Kana Asumi (JP), Mallorie Rodak (EN)

The cousin of Jin Asukai, whom she has a crush on.

Alliterative Name: Kotoe Kinukawa
Brainwashed and Crazy: Spooky E makes her his puppet for some time.
Kissing Cousins: She wants to be this with Jin and was happy that her parents didn't adopt him, as this keeps a marriage with him possible. Jin knows this, but doesn't reciprocate.
Shed the Family Name: Vicariously, as her father, originally surnamed Asukai, adopted her mother's surname as per the Japanese custom when a family is richer than the other.

Sakiko Michimoto

Voiced by: Minami Tsuda (JP), Christina Kelly (EN)

A girl who visits the Moon Temple while going out with a classmate.

Death Seeker: Wants to be slain by Boogiepop, believing herself to be at fault for being alive while her friend Hinako, whom she mistreated, died in an accident.
My God, What Have I Done?: Had a petty fight over a boy with her best friend Hinako, but although she repented the horrible things she said to her, she never got to apologize to her due to Hinako's tragic death.

Towa Organization

Spooky E

^{Click here for his Boogiepop Phantom incarnation}

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (JP, Phantom), Yoji Ueda (JP, 2019), Christopher Nicholas (EN, Phantom), Chris Rager (EN, 2019)

An obese field agent for the Towa Organization.

Acrofatic: Incredibly agile despite his girth.
Adaptation Dye-Job: In the novels he has graying brown hair, which later turns completely gray as a possible side effect of his synthetic nature. In the anime it is always dark blonde.
Adaptational Attractiveness:
- His cameo in Boogiepop Phantom diverges starkly from his description in the novels, instead portraying him as a completely plain-looking dude with a beanie and a coat. Whether this is meant to be real Spooky E or just a person mind-controlled by the real deal is not clarified.
- While his version in the 2019 is not exactly pleasant, it still adapts out his most disgusting traits from the novel, like the Tainted Veins on his palms, his need to lick his entire hands to keep skin conductivity while brainwashing people, and his furious scratching of his ear wound.
Adaptational Nice Guy: The 2019 anime makes him much less brutal towards Aya, as well as generally more professional. In the light novel, he beats her up in the park before Masaki comes to the rescue, while in the anime he only does the Neck Lift part of the beatdown while looking more disdainful than aggressive. The anime also has the Spooky-possessed Kotoe kicking a garbage bag to vent his rage, while in the novel he kicked Aya herself and thrashed her on the floor to make a point.
Adaptational Ugliness: While his body type is otherwise similar in both continuities, the light novel's art gave him a squared jaw and elegant slicked-back hair, whereas in the 2019 anime he has a triple chin and a really naff mane of hair (actually closer to how he is described in the text).
Artificial Human: Is a synthetic.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: His synthetic body apparently lacks equipment down there, which is a source of frustration for him even if it makes him immune to any Groin Attack.
Black Eyes of Evil: Is described with completely black eyes, which the 2019 anime's character design interprets as unnaturally large black irises.
Better to Die than Be Killed: When Asukai removes his aggression and leaves him unable to fulfill his mission, Spooky efficiently kills himself before being caught in his manipulations.
The Cameo: Has one in episode 7 of Boogiepop Phantom, where he appears in order to brief Snake Eye about his new mission.
Face Death with Dignity: Before committing suicide as a consequence of Asukai disabling his aggression, he only comments he had always wanted to try something of the sort, whatever this means.
Fat Bastard: Very fat, as well as very evil and petty.
Psychic Powers: Which seem to be based on electricity. He can brainwash people to turn them into "terminals" or downright uploading copies of his own personality on them to make them "copies".
Psycho Electro: He's an unstable thug with electric powers.
Shock and Awe: His powers, nicknamed Spooky Electric. He can generate lightning to zap people, as well as to brainwash and/or possess them.
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Completely averted. He tries to shoot Boogiepop with a silenced gun in the moment he sees it; it's just that Boogiepop is simply not that easy to kill.

Scarecrow / Shinpei Kuroda

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinpeikuroda.jpg

^{Click here for his Boogiepop Phantom incarnation}

Voiced by: Wasei Chikada (JP, Phantom), Atsushi Miyauchi (JP, 2019), Christopher Nicholas (EN, Phantom), J. Michael Tatum (EN, 2019)

A Towa agent who poses and works as a detective. His encounter with a young Nagi changes the lifes of both.

Adaptational Badass: In the light novel, he manages to flee from the hospital thanks to a metal plate hidden in his hat, which deflects Mo Murder's knife and makes him sprain his weapon hand. In the anime, the hat seems to house a device able to emit some kind of psychic lightning, which destroys Mo Murder's hand outright.
Adaptational Ugliness: Both the novels' artwork and Boogiepop Phantom portrayed him as a stylish bishie, while the 2019 anime makes him a rugged old dog-type of guy instead.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Black hair in the novels' art and Boogiepop Phantom, brown in the 2019 anime.
Artificial Human: Like many other Towa agents, he's a synthetic human.
Back from the Dead: Manaka Kisaragi brings him back from the death as a living memory in Boogiepop Phantom, although ironically Kuroda is amnesiac and goes under the identity of a journalist from Tokyo named Ichiro Kishida.
Body Horror: Kishida shows Manticore Phantom's Nested Mouths after being possessed by it. And then, Manticore Phantom's entire torso grows out from his own.
Demonic Possession: Kuroda, as Kishida, is possessed by Manticore Phantom in Boogiepop Phantom, as they are both memories generated by Manaka Kisaragi.
The Dulcinea Effect: Nagi's kindness and words of encouragement for his dreams make Kuroda sacrifice his life in Towa to save her, although at the end he admits how crazy the whole thing was.
Hardboiled Detective: Actively cultivates this look, with an old-fashioned hat and a dark coat that ironically draw attention on him sometimes.
Identical Stranger: From Nagi's perspective, Kishida is a Kuroda lookalike. Obviously, he's him, but she doesn't know.
I Have Many Names: Shinpei Kuroda, Scarecrow and Ichiro Kishida.
Nerd Glasses: Wears them as Kishida.
Redemption Equals Death: Assaults a laboratory of Towa to steal a medicine that will save Nagi, being taken down by Mo Murder in the process.
Small Role, Big Impact: His participation in the story serves to give Nagi her debut as a vigilante (and to save her life) and Boogiepop the inspiration for his attire, signature facial expression and shinigami status.
Super-Senses: He can learn the physiological state of someone with just a look.
Tagalong Reporter: In Phantom, he believes to be a magazine writer named Kishida who is seeking to write an article about Seiichi Kirima, and teams up with Nagi for a time.

Mo Murder / Masanori Sasaki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/masanorisasaki.jpg

Voiced by: Shuhei Sakaguchi (JP), Aaron Roberts (EN)

One of Towa's main assassins, who outwardly resembles a meek salaryman. He strikes an uneasy alliance with Nagi while investigating a series of murders.

Artificial Human: Is a synthetic human.
The Cameo: He's seen, though not clearly, in Kishida's flashback in the episode 8 of Boogiepop Phantom. Another flashback in the episode 12 shows him again, from his back.
Ceiling Cling: Does it in the anime to avoid being seen by Nagi after murdering her father. In the light novel, he instead hides in another room.
The Dulcinea Effect: When he actually meets Nagi, who is just the daughter of a target he respected, he develops a surprisingly zealous need to protect her.
Hidden Depths: In later volumes it's revealed he was the mentor of a couple of synthetic kids, Minoru Sera and The Mincer.
Hitman with a Heart: He is not a rotten guy and doesn't like to think of himself as a murderer, to the point he avoids thinking on his target's loved ones because it hurts them. This eventually leads him to act to protect Nagi, who also sees this side of him.
Redemption Equals Death: Seeing Nagi is going to try to take down the Fear Ghoul, Sasaki attempts to do it himself before so she can be safe. Unfortunately, it turns out their enemy had predicted this, which ends with Sasaki dead.
So Proud of You: He is secretly happy to see Nagi turned into a brave, lively young woman after all the traume he gave her himself by killing her father.
Torso with a View: How he is killed by Kisugi.
Vibroweapon: Has the ability to turn knifes into this and internally rupture organs with his hands.

Pigeon

Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (JP), Sarah Wiedenheft (EN)

A quirky female agent, mainly acting as a messenger.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair color in the novels is not mentioned, so it is likely not the gawdy blond and pink dye she uses in the anime.
Artificial Human: As usual in Towa.
Gyaru Girl: In the 2019 anime, she is given a punk/gyaru outlook.
Love Makes You Crazy: It turns out she was in love with Kuroda and hated Sasaki for eliminating him. She seems to become a bit unstable for this, which Kisugi takes advantage of to pit her against Sasaki.
Meaningful Name: Pigeon, as in a carrier pigeon.
No Name Given: Unlike most of her colleagues, her civilian name, if she has one, is never revealed.
Stealth Expert: This seems to be her specialty, sneaking in Kuroda's room without him noticing.
Super-Speed: Another of ther abilities.

Kyoichiro Teratsuki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kyoichirouteratsuki.jpg

Voiced by: Tōru Ōkawa (JP), Christopher Wehkamp (EN)

Another artificial agent of Towa, an eccentric millionaire and chairman of the MCE Corporation.

Heel–Face Turn: Betrays Towa, although this only comes out after his death.
My Death Is Just the Beginning: A heroic example, as he does it to trump Towa.
Turned Against Their Masters: Billionaire Teratsuki Kyouichiro was originally designed and put into place by the Towa Organization to provide them with powerful leverage over national economies. However, he came to oppose Towa once he had grown powerful enough, and designed the Moon Temple specifically as a means to test and search for individuals who had the strength, intelligence, and willpower to oppose Towa.

Eugene / Yuu Tenjiki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boogiepopeugene2019.jpg

An agent specialized in assassinations.

Adaptational Early Appearance: He doesn't really appear in the original King of Distortion novel, as Teratsuki's recording cuts just before Eugene enters the room, but in the 2019 anime, his assassination of Teratsuki is shown. This is a subversion, however, given that the anime previously omitted the Pandora arc, where Eugene would have made his true first appearance.
Adaptational Superpower Change: In the novels, he has the power to secrete a liquid that destroys human bodies. In the 2019 anime, he has the ability of either summoning or shapeshifting into a black shadow scythe that cleaves through objects.
Ambiguous Situation: His "appearance" in the 2019 anime is so divergent from everything shown about him in the novels that it's unclear what's up with him in this version. The viewer only gets to know it's Eugene because Teratsuki recognizes him and says his name aloud.
Artificial Human: Another synthetic human.
The Cameo: Has one in Teratsuki's recording in the 2019 anime, although he (or maybe his power) is only seen as a strange scythe-shaped shadow.

Snake Eye

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (JP), J. David Brimmer (EN)

An assassin that poses as a police officer named Morita. He receives the mission to kill the evolved humans caused by Echoes' pillar of light.

Ax-Crazy: His assassination of Misuzu is surprisingly messy. He first rips her apart with his hands and then two gunshots are heard, implying she was alive during all the process before he put her out of her misery.
Battle Strip: Throws off his jacket and shirt before attacking Mamoru.
Canon Foreigner: Is original to and only appears in the Boogiepop Phantom anime.
Kill and Replace: By his own admission, he killed the original Officer Morita and took his place.
Rubber Man: He can make his body long and flexible like a snake's.
Psychic Powers: Like Spooky E, he can delete memories of people. In his case, he has to look into their eyes first.
Super-Strength: Seems to have it, as he sends Sayoko flying with a backhand without even looking.
Too Dumb to Live: Taunts Mamoru for not having evolved powers, yet doesn't pay attention to Sayoko, who turns out to have them and promptly uses them to destroy Morita.

Independent villains

Masami Saotome

^{Click here for his Boogiepop Phantom incarnation}

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (JP, Phantom), Jun'ya Enoki (JP, 2019), Crispin Freeman (EN, Phantom), Stephen Fu (EN, 2019)

A student that allies himself to Manticore.

Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair is black in the original novel, yet brown in both Boogiepop Phantom and the 2019 anime. In the latter, he also has blue eyes.
Admiring the Abomination: His reaction to Manticore threatening to kill him on the spot? Falling in love with her.
Death Seeker: He has the disturbing fetish of being killed by a more powerful female. This made him fall in love with Nagi and later with Manticore.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Him and Manticore mutually fall in love. In a rare instance of genuine ''Villainous Sacrifice'', he shoves Manticore out of the way when Echoes attempts a Taking You with Me and is disintegrated by the beam of light.
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: He has a generically attractive appearance, but his true personality is twisted beyond even his own imagination.
Unholy Matrimony: With Manticore.

Manticore

Voiced by: Mayumi Asano (JP, Phantom), Ayana Taketatsu (JP, 2019), Simone Grant (EN, Phantom), Trina Nishimura (EN, 2019)

A clone of Echoes produced by Towa. She takes the shape of her first victim, Minako Yurihara, and forms an alliance with Masami Saotome.

Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The 2019 anime includes an additional scene in the Tristan cafetería where Manticore is suddenly startled by a broken glass reminding her of her imprisonment in Towa.
Adaptational Expansion: Her Shapeshifter Default Form is never really described in the novel, being only said that it resembles a girl (and judging by her line before attacking Masami, this might be just the shape of some girl she killed previously). Meanwhile, the 2019 anime shows Manticore onscreen, revealing her as a thinner, more feminine version of Echoes.
Adaptational Modesty: In the novel, Manticore is naked upon being found by Saotome, and later loses all of her clothing in the pillar of light. The 2019 anime gives her the remnants of a hospital gown in the first scene, and both this anime and Phantom make her retain the school uniform after Echoes' attack.
Adaptational Abomination: In the novels and the 2019 anime, she devours her preys with its mouth and hands (although by different means in each). This might look horrific enough, but Boogiepop Phantom adds a touch of Body Horror by giving Manticore the ability to produce a sucker tongue to feed on them.
Academic Alpha Bitch: Yurihara happened to be a top student with an aloof personality, and Manticore reproduces it perfectly.
Animate Dead: Has this ability. Her reanimated preys don't even realize they are not alive anymore.
Antagonistic Offspring: Echoes considers her his child, as she was created from him.
Bloodier and Gorier: In the novel, she "eats" its prey by turning their bodies into a purple gas with is tongue and then breathing it. Such a fantastic method is abandoned by all adaptations: in Phantom, she feeds on them by a sucker tentacle, while in the 2019 anime, she devours them the old fashioned way with her mouth.
Ceiling Cling: Does it in its introductory scene before pouncing on Saotome.
Clone Angst: Technically a clone, although clearly with some bad differences from the original. This makes her feels inferior to Echoes, her original.
Escaped from the Lab: She escaped from a top-grade security lab of Towa.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She really falls in love with Saotome and becomes greatly despaired at his death, the despair quickly turning to rage.
Kick Chick: In the anime, it's notable that she uses a lot of kicks, aside from having a female shape.
Kill and Replace: Did this to Yurihara with its shapeshifting powers, and later states she will do it again to Nagi.
Makeup Is Evil: An interesting variation. The novel states that when Manticore copied Yurihara's appearance, she also adopted the latter's makeup color, believing it to be her actual skin tone.
Nested Mouths: In Phantom she has a sort of sucker tentacle inside its throat.
No Biological Sex: The novel states that she does not have genitalia in any shape. It's implied she at least has external sexual characteristics down there, though, as Masami only learns about her sexlessness long after seeing her naked.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Literally so. In the novel, the white of her eyes turn red in rage after Saotome is killed.
Rule of Symbolism: She is pretty much an Anthropomorphic Personification of school life pressure. It is no coincidence that the monster of the story takes the form of a girl with top scores, no social life, no genitalia, and her makeup being her true flesh, i.e. the very model that the school enforces on the students. First it kills the mind of the victim, starting with their affection and then their capability of independent thinking, and eventually devours them when their body can endure no longer. The first chapter demonstrates that, from a bystander perspective, Manticore's havoc is indistinguishable from students breaking down or running away from their stressful life.
Touka Miyashita (describing her preparation for college exam): "That was pretty stressful, you know. I thought it was going to eat me alive."
Super-Speed: Inhumanly quick and agile.
Super-Strength: She can send bigger people flying with a single kick.
Unholy Matrimony: One of sorts with Saotome.
Villainous Breakdown: Saotome's death completely breaks her.
Wolverine Claws: Can extend her nails into claws in the novel. She presumably can in the anime too, but doesn't.

Manticore Phantom

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (JP), Crispin Freeman (EN)

The apparently returning Masami Saotome, who harbors a dark secret.

Body Horror: His hand turns into a mass of tentacles when Nagi hits it with a stun gun in Episode 8.
Canon Foreigner: Is original to and only appears in the Boogiepop Phantom anime.
Composite Character: In-universe. He's a memory of Manticore taking the shape of Masami Saotome.
Nested Mouths: Has them, just like the original Manticore (or at least its Boogiepop Phantom version).
Voice of the Legion: His voice sounds like many.

Dr. Makiko Kisugi / Fear Ghoul

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/makikokisugi.jpg

Voiced by: Miki Itō (JP, Phantom), Sayaka Kinoshita (JP, 2019), Carol Jacobanis (EN, Phantom), Lydia Mackay (EN, 2019)

A psychiatrist that, after finding a dose of an evolution drug accidentally left by Scarecrow, became the serial killer known as Fear Ghoul.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Both Boogiepop Phantom and the 2019 anime give her black hair, while her novel version had it reddish brown.
Combo Platter Powers: Her actual MPLS is her ability to find weaknesses in peoples and things. For some reason, however, the evolutive drug also gave her the physical abilities of a synthetic human (if imperfect ones, as they come ironically with a weakness of all things that none of them has).
Healing Factor: Which she demonstrates, almost cartoonishly so, by plucking out an eye and putting it back again.
Professor Guinea Pig: She injects herself with the serum that Kuroda left behind from the Towa facility, and actually lampshaded as a stupid idea, but still does it anyway.
Psycho Psychologist: A psychiatrist who is nonetheless very Ax-Crazy. Ironically, she discovers her patients respond better from the point she ceases being impeccably kind and starts treating them in a colder way.
Starter Villain: Is the first villain that Nagi and Boogiepop ever face.
Super-Speed: She can keep up with a bike solely running.
The Vamp: Using her ability, she seduces the hospital's director and takes over.
Villainous Legacy: Her experiments with the evolution drug on her own patients in Phantom is quite the origin maker for a number of characters in that series, including one of the characters who turns out to present enough of a threat to the world for Boogiepop to have to deal with them personally. Of course, this occurs five years after she's already been slain.
Weaksauce Weakness: Hers is electricity. A stun gun doesn't only stun her, it causes a reaction in her body that makes it start falling apart.

Suiko Minahoshi / Imaginator

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/suikominahoshi.jpg

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (JP), Bryn Apprill (EN)

Suiko was a sinister student with the ability to foresee and control death. She committed suicide after being confronted by Boogiepop and returned as a spectral entity.

Adaptation Dye-Job: In the novel, she had brown hair and blue eyes, which after her return from death change to silver hair and yellow eyes. The 2019 anime ditches this and portrays her as having black hair and eyes in both states.
Catchphrase: "Sometimes it snows in April".

Jin Asukai

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (JP), Mike McFarland (EN)

A college student and part time teacher in a cram school who develops the ability to see and manipulate people's souls. He's convinced by Imaginator to pursue the goal of re-shaping society.

Adaptational Badass: Slightly. In the novel's rendition of his duel with Spooky E, Asukai is forced to let him land the first hit in order to grab his soul, and the resultante attack actually downs Jin, who only survives unscathed to the lightning because he was wearing a special anti-magnetic wig. In the 2019 anime, Jin needs nothing of this and is able to just paralyze Spooky before the latter can strike. In this continuity, he also uses more liberally his paralyzing power.
Adaptational Nice Guy: Possibly. In the novels, when he rescues Masaki and Aya, he manipulates the thugs' souls and forces them to massacre themselves with their own knives. In the 2019, he only paralyzes them, and what he does to them later is not shown.
Adaptational Wimp: He seems to have Super-Speed in the novel, which he doesn't demonstrate in the anime (although it is rather because he doesn't need it in this version, it being enough with his flower manipulation).
Brainwashing for the Greater Good: From his point of view, this is what he is doing.
Dramatically Missing the Point: His attempted usage of Aya reveals that Asukai's plan to remake humanity would have never worked, by the very simple reason that human hearts are in constant change and no "fix" of his will stick on them. Effectively, his victims start returning to normal shortly after.
Despair Event Horizon: The reason of his villainy is his ultimate lost of hope that people could ever be happy as imperfect as they are.
Fallen Hero: He starts using his powers for good, acting as a supernaturally perceptive and very effective school counselor, but he eventually realizes this will never be enough.
Heel–Face Turn: In later novels, he returns as an associate to Nagi and the leads.
Knight Templar: He is desperately working towards what he believes to be a better world.
Remote Body: He can control people's bodies through his soul manipulation, making them become paralyzed or even throw themselves around at will.
Straw Nihilist: Due to his lifelong experience with the ability to see the imperfections in people's hearts, he has convinced himself that nothing can be done about it and humanity is condemned to suffer unless their feelings are flattened.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Truly believes that in enforcing his plan he will make the world as a whole much better.

Other characters

Echoes

Voiced by: Taiki Matsuno (JP, Phantom), Kōki Miyata (JP, 2019), William Hirsh (EN, Phantom), David Matranga (EN, 2019)

A mysterious alien entity sent to the Earth to test mankind. He was captured by the Towa Organization.

Abled in the Adaptation: His trait of repeating only what is said to him, while stated to be an imposition of his alien creators in the novel so he could not intervene excessively in the human world, is instead claimed to be a debilitating limitation imposed by the Towa Organization in the episode 11 of Boogiepop Phantom.
Adaptational Attractiveness: The 2019 anime goes for a Troubled, but Cute appearance for Echoes, giving him pop idol-esque long hair, a relatively decent if trashed attire, and Manly Tears. In the original novel, he looked much more pathetic and junkie-like, being barefoot and half-barechested, and sobbing all over the place in an undignified way.
Adaptational Badass: In the novel, the whole extent of his fight with Manticore is not shown on page, but the available scenes have him being bisected open in the first attack, failing to heal it, and then running away constantly until being caught and torn to pieces. In the 2019 anime, he does manage to heal the damage (a broken arm this time, as Manticore doesn't use clawed attacks in this continuity) and then gives Manticore a pretty good hand-to-hand fight before being ultimately knocked down by a kick to the face.
Adaptation Dye-Job: The novel describes him with brown hair and black eyes, just like Phantom portrays him. In contrast, the 2019 anime gives him silver hair and golden eyes, an appearance that seems to evoke Ameya, a fellow alien from Kouhei Kadono's sister series Soul Drop.
Ambiguous Situation: Kamikishiro states he was basically sent to test if humans were nice people, but she also believes he had some other, more complicated mission, something about maintaining the balance of the planet. This is never detailed.
Angel Unaware: Echoes practically plays this role in the story. He is an alien being, sent by entities beyond human's understanding and implied to possess godlike power, under the disguise of a normal human, in order to make a judgement on the human race.
Artificial Human: Artificial alien in this case, as the novel reveals he was created specifically for his mission.
Barefoot Poverty: Lacks footwear in his first appearancs in the novel.
Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: In the novel, it's stated he looks like Christopher Lambert's lead role in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, only with shorter hair.
Human Aliens: He's one, although it's stated that only because he can shapeshift and elected this form to blend in.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Phantom, though not in any other medium or adaption, Echoes' departure acts as a catalyst point for a number of people to meet horrible ends as his light awakens or amplifies certain individuals' MPLS abilities as well as allows for the Manticore to re-emerge to a certain degree.
Power Incontinence: Apparently, this was how Towa found him. Echoes' alien creators miscalculated Earth's time, so his true nature "came out ahead of time", whatever that means exactly.
Starfish Aliens: Not himself, but rather his origin. According to Naoko, he doesn't come from another planet per se, but from something like an alien conscience in the universe.
Taking You with Me: Of a sort. To take out Manticore he converts himself into data that's transmitted back to his source, resulting in a beam of light that doesn't actually kill but does remove himself and anything it hits from Earth. Unfortunately, Masami takes the hit for Manticore instead.
The Stoic: He doesn't emote very much, although ironically his very first scene shows he is Not So Stoic after all.
Super-Speed: He is inhumanly fast and agile, better demonstrated in his fight with Manticore.
Super-Strength: Lifts Nagi with a lot of ease, even leaping around with her.

Seiichi Kirima

"Normal means you leave everything as it is and nothing ever changes. If you don’t like that, you’ve got to do things that aren’t normal."

Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (JP), John Burgmeier (EN)

Nagi's late father, a successful author of criminology books. Also wrote some novels, which no one reads.

The Anti-Nihilist: Summed up by one of his quotes, which encourages to reject the concept of meaning of life imposed by society.
"There certainly is something out there. Something that makes people believe that they have to know their place in life. This knowledge gets in between people, and rocks the very foundations of this world. If there is anything that gives value to human life, it is the struggle with that something."
Bumbling Dad: He saw himself this way, considering Nagi more mature than him.
Encyclopedia Exposita: His books are the bountiful source of these throughout the series. The quotes tend to land in the Mind Screw territory.
"If you wish to be good, then do not have dealings with the future. In most cases, that tends to lead to distortion."
Face Death with Dignity: In order to protect his daughter, so much that his murderer is impressed and grows a bit of a fondness for her.
Magnum Opus Dissonance: In-Universe. Seiichi puts the most energy into his novels, but even the most ardent fans only read his non-fiction writings.
Thanatos Gambit: Once Seiichi figured out that his days are numbered, he did all his best to create a situation where leaving his daughter alive would be the best course of action for his killers. It worked.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- His books accidentally encouraged a lot of people with MPLS abilities to use them for good, which only got them killed when Towa noticed them (and ultimately got him killed).
- He also unknowingly gave Suiko the mindset that turned her into Imaginator and the idea to use other people like Asukai.

Gen Sakakibara

Voiced by: Ryota Takeuchi (JP), Seth Magill (EN)

A friend of Seiichi, who trained his children in martial arts and was Nagi's guardian for a time.

The Cameo: After being talked about so much, he has a short physical appearance in the Boogiepop at Dawn arc.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: He had to leave Japan for getting in trouble due to this, a trait he warned his apprentices about yet which Masaki knowingly also demonstrates. His old apartment is now used by Nagi.
Genius Bruiser: A martial arts genius who is also a great scholar himself, having co-authored several of Seiichi's books without him ever wanting to take credit.

Boogiepop Phantom

Voiced by: Mayumi Asano (JP), Simone Grant (EN)

A mysterious supernatural character resembling Minako Yurihara that dresses like Boogiepop.

Canon Foreigner: Is original to and only appears in the Boogiepop Phantom anime.
Composite Character: In-universe. Boogiepop Phantom has the shape of Manticore (that is, Minako Yurihara's) wearing Boogiepop's costume.
Identity Impersonator: Claims to impersonate the original Boogiepop out of respect, only sporting Yurihara's face because Boogiepop's face couldn't be clearly seen by Manticore, its creator.
Identical Stranger: Downplayed, as although she looks like Boogiepop in terms of clothing and ability and is mistaken as such by people that haven't seen the real Boogiepop, she doesn't fool Nagi for long because the latter has seen both Boogiepop and Manticore up close.
Voice of the Legion: Her voice sounds like many at once.

Poom Poom

Poom Poom is a creepy child that lures unsuspecting humans away. He is one of the characters associated with the events of the series.

Characters / Boogiepop Series
aka: Boogiepop Phantom

Main characters

Recurring characters

Other students

Towa Organization

Independent villains

Other characters

Alternative Title(s): Boogiepop Phantom

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Characters / Boogiepop Series aka: Boogiepop Phantom

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Alternative Title(s): Boogiepop Phantom

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Characters / Boogiepop Series
aka: Boogiepop Phantom