Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop and Others (2000)

Director:

Ryu Kaneda

Writers:

Sadayuki Murai (screenplay) and
Kouhei Kadono (novel)

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Sayaka Yoshino	...	Tôka Miyashita / Boogiepop
Maya Kurosu	...	Nagi Kirima
Daijiro Kawaoka	...	Keiji Takeda
Ayana Sakai	...	Minako Yurihara / Manticore
Asumi Miwa	...	Naoko Kamikishiro
Mami Shimizu	...	Kazuko Suema
Kai Hirohashi	...	Kei Shinkoku
Tetsu Sawaki	...	Akio Kimura
Hassei Takano	...	Saotome Masami
Hideyuki Kasahara	...	Shirô Tanaka
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takako Baba	...	Kyôko Kinoshita
Yukijirô Hotaru	...	Gorô Tadokoro
Erika Kuroishi	...	Akiko Kusatsu
Kasumi Minagawa	...	Rie Saitô
Kaori Sakagami	...	Karaoke staff
Takeru Shibaki	...	Kiyoshi Sakamoto
Yasufumi Terawaki	...	Echoes
Keiko Unno	...	Keiko Asami
Osamu Yagibashi	...	Nakayama Haruo
Ryôko Yasuda	...	Misaki Watanabe

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Certification:

UK:15

Company:

Hakuhodo

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Bûgîpoppu fantomu: Bûgîpoppu wa warawanai" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Yuudachi

Background for Boogiepop Phantom fans

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.