What’s the show? Boogiepop and Others, Episode 3.
So how’s this episode? So, uh… this show huh… uh-huh *wipes sweat off brow* umm… does anyone have a clue what’s going on here because I could use a cheat sheet or something… no? Err, well okay then, I’ll try my best with what I know then!
What happens in this episode? This series is absolutely committed to making the least amount of sense of ~any~ anime this season… and yet… and yet I can’t resist its inexorable allure. I think that says more about me as a viewer than it does about the show itself.
Okay then, tell me what it says about yourself then, since that’s something you can talk about in length and detail! Right, so first of all I love the films of David Lynch, the only (media related) thing I love more is anime so imagine my burgeoning increased affection for something that at least has a passing resemblance to one. Fractured narratives, cryptic observations, repeated conversations, characters appearing and disappearing, characters being different people entirely. a mystical entity that talks deliberately and only intervenes when absolutely necessary, bursts of graphic violence in mundane situations. I just described both this episode of Boogiepop and ~many~ things (namely the US TV series ‘Twin Peaks’ but also ‘Lost Highway’ and ‘Mulholland Dr.’) written and directed by David Lynch. That’s not to say ‘Boogiepop’ is derivative, certainly it’s appropriating an ~atmosphere~ less than copying the blatant “weirdness” that Lynch’s works is often described as.
Well that was very int— Another way I could describe this series that’s in line with David Lynch’s cinematic sensibilities is ~dreamlike~ things kind of float together, scenes and characters passing by one another then occasionally colliding in a frenzy before settling down again.
That’s enough! Geez, I wouldn’t have figured you’d have so much to talk about and say so little. Ouch. Mean much?
Sorry I just mean I don’t see how this helps in a review of Episode 3 of a TV show you’re not imparting a lot of useful information you know. I know and neither does the show—or rather it’s hard to know what’s useful information and what’s just ~things happening~. Put simply unless I’m theorizing or speculating there’s not a lot to talk about. I know that might make me reviewing this week to week seem kind of pointless but I’m enjoying being able to talk about it at all.
Right so overall th— I’m also reminded of Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 ~magnum opus~ ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’, starring David Bowie as the titular character. In Boogiepop we have a sort of similar character with Echoes literally being a man who fell to earth from space and who in this episode seemingly returns to space too. Even their initial mannerisms draw compa—
—Guys I don’t think he’s going to stop, so I’m going to cut this review off now. Thank you for reading and I promise to never mention ‘David Lynch’ or anything vaguely arthouse cinema again…
Previous ‘Boogiepop and Others’ Reviews:
The Evil In Plain Sight – Episode 1 & 2 Review
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Anime QandA 
I thought I understood what was going on in BP. I must have become completely demented.
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No it’s probably just me looking for things that weren’t there and thus missing the obvious.
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So far there is no plot. It is slice of life. A plot may develop after enough characters are introduced
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By episode 2.7, a plot emerges!
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It didn’t seem that hard to follow to me. This one was actually in order with the last one, rather than jumping around. It kinda sucked that Echoes died, but maybe they were going for a Jesus narrative.
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I don’t know maybe I’m overthinking things too much. I tend to do that sometimes…
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