Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop and Others (2000)Director:Ryu Kaneda |
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Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop and Others (2000)Director:Ryu Kaneda |
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Sayaka Yoshino | ... |
Tôka Miyashita /
Boogiepop
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Maya Kurosu | ... |
Nagi Kirima
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Daijiro Kawaoka | ... |
Keiji Takeda
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Ayana Sakai | ... |
Minako Yurihara /
Manticore
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Asumi Miwa | ... |
Naoko Kamikishiro
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Mami Shimizu | ... |
Kazuko Suema
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Kai Hirohashi | ... |
Kei Shinkoku
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Tetsu Sawaki | ... |
Akio Kimura
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Hassei Takano | ... |
Saotome Masami
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Hideyuki Kasahara | ... |
Shirô Tanaka
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Takako Baba | ... |
Kyôko Kinoshita
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Yukijirô Hotaru | ... |
Gorô Tadokoro
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Erika Kuroishi | ... |
Akiko Kusatsu
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Kasumi Minagawa | ... |
Rie Saitô
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Kaori Sakagami | ... |
Karaoke staff
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I'll admit my biases up front: I loved the animated series "Boogiepop Phantom." It's mix of time shifted story telling, characters over action, and weirdness won me over. When I saw the Live-Action Boogiepop movie on Ebay (with English subtitles!) I jumped at the chance.
For the most part, "Boogiepop and Others" takes place before the anime series. If you left BPP confused, there are a few more things we learn here: Boogiepop's origins (and her relationship with Toka), more about Saotome and the Manticore, Suema and Nagi's relationship, Echos' quest...and possibly the most intriguing questions: How Nagi knows what is going on, and what happened on the night the column of light appeared. A few more characters appear this time, including Takeda (Toka's boyfriend who is given a one line reference in the animated series), Kei, Naoko, and we learn more about Yurihara.
As the story goes, it is much like Boogiepop Phantom, but a little more easy to figure out. It is still told from the viewpoints of minor characters' interactions with the major characters, so we see some scenes a few times. Things slowly start to make sense and by the end, we have a good idea of what all is going on. The production values aren't Summer-Hollywood by any means, but for the most part they make due - although there is a scene of Boogiepop in the air that is a little laughable. The acting is a bit varies, with Echos, Toka and Nagi probably being the strongest and Saotome probably the weakest.
So, if you're a fan of BPP and want to learn more about the backstory, seek this out. Or, if you want a little Sci-Fi/horror film high on plot and story (if a little weak on production), go for it. I'd rate it a PG-13 leaning R...little language, no nudity and almost zero "mature themes," and a fair amount of blood, killing, and violence.