Boogiepop Phantom, initially it was a rather dull story, physically very dark, it’s difficult to see much.
Watching through the first few episodes, none of it makes any sense. The supposed main characters literally only appear for a flash of a few seconds and don’t seem to be very significant. Each episode focuses on a different person facing troubles and how it leads to their end. While watching I was star-gazed on how a boring and dull show managed to receive such praise, that was about until the half-way point.
Then begins the realization of something incredible, something magnificent had just unfolded before my eyes and I had not comprehended until then. The story was told in a very unorthodox manner somewhat similar to Kara no Kyoukai, the events aren’t told in chronological order, nor as a flashback, or other literary device. Rather all the details, the how-to’s, what’s what, is paved before hand at the beginning of the series and after that, all the key players who were previously only appearing for half a second instantly rise to the top of my cool list. You begin to understand what things they were fighting with from the shadows and how incredible, complex, and well thought out Boogiepop Phantom truly is.
The music is perfect, and meets or possibly even exceeds Silent Hill caliber dark themed ambiance. The Jazz intro is exquisite and perfectly sets the stage for what you are about to witness.
Many of the visuals are very, very impressive considering the age of the anime as well as the tiny resolution of the video (around 500 x 300).
Themes and thoughts many are either too afraid or uncertain to envision are perfectly played out in Boogiepop Phantom, thus as the show created a near perfect atmosphere, story, and all, I rate it overall 9/10.
