2019 dawned with me being the proud subscriber to more streaming services than I could imagine. Or need. Or want, really. As media goes, visual media is my least favorite, as it takes more time and concentration than I care to give to staring at a screen. Which is why I end up watching movies on airplanes, where I’m a captive audience. ^_^

Because I’m paying these services for access to anime, among other things, I thought I’d better, y’know, use them to watch stuff I didn’t want to buy. I’m all for buying the 20th anniversary Blu-Ray box set of Revolutionary Girl Utena – and watching it again. ^_^ Crunchyroll has been a staple for me for years, Hidive has been pretty good in providing access to Sentai Filmworks‘ titles, which I tend to enjoy watching once, but don’t really want to own (although there have been exceptions,) with Netflix coming in a distant third in anime for me, but it turns out to have Master of the 36th Chamber of Shaolin, so I forgive it all its failings.  Amazon Prime has been sort of interesting too, although I keep it around more for the free shipping than the anime. Nonetheless there are titles I’ve watched on that service. And of course, I’m trying to stay current on Yuri and Yuri-friendly series like Bloom Into You– but sometimes you gotta watch something new!

In an attempt to watch something out of the usual for me and something new, I turned to Boogiepop and Others, streaming on Crunchyroll.  This series looks at the light novels that precede the Boogiepop Phantom (this link goes to the Nozomi Entertainment Official Youtube channel dub) light novel.

Boogiepop and Others is not a Yuri series. Just to be very clear. There are, however, elements that may appeal to Okazu readers.

The opening credits include a same-sex kiss between the main character and herself, but I am not convinced that that has relevance to the story. The fact that it exists at all is merely indicative of the kind of Yuri one gets in this series.

The story centers on a supernatural being, a Shinagami known as Boogiepop who appears periodically to combat evil. Boogiepop, who refers to itself as “he/him,” manifests in the body of a high school girl, Miyashita Touka, who has no idea that she even becomes Boogiepop, although in a later arc, her mother does recognize that Touka is being possessed by a “strange man.”

In the first arc, there have been disappearances and murders, someone is killing high school girls (a repeated theme within the story.) Again there is some same-sex kissing. These kisses lack affection and are more a means of transmission of a compulsion than anything else.

Most interesting to me is the character of Kirima Nagi, whose backstory takes up the the bulk of the “Boogiepop at Dawn” anime arc (and, presumably, the light novel it is based upon.) When we first encounter her in the “Boogiepop and Others” arc, she has exceptional skills and fights Manticore, just as Boogiepop does…but they are not on the same side. They will encounter each other over and over throughout the series.

Miyashita, Kirima, and a third girl, Suema Kazuko, who has a strong interest in criminal psychology, form a triumvirate of main characters, around which the plots swirl. With the addition of a criminal organization, supernatural and alien influence, there’s always a lot going on in any given arc.

The animation is both good and not moe, with a number of adult characters. It’s been, frankly, a pleasure to watch, even with all the deaths.

I quite like that the series is always low-key horror even when what’s going on is actual horror. ^_^ Gruesome murders are presented with layers of narrative and artistic rendering to give us the thrill without too much of the grotesque. There’s a lot of pretension to psychological horror, but just as the tension rises, the arc comes to an end. This makes most of the arcs seem rushed, but if we spent any more time in the arc, the endings  – which mostly consist of Boogiepop talking the bad guy to death, then killing them – would be even less impressive than they are.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 8
Story – 8 Every arc is a lot of story crammed into a little space
Service – Yeah, there is some egregious undressing and the Yuri is clearly meant as service
Yuri – 2? It’s nothing more than window dressing and not why you should watch this series
Overall- 8

As I said, this is not a Yuri series, Yuri is merely a feature of some of the story arcs and is presented as a throwaway fetish. If you’re looking for well-developed Yuri relationships, this is not a place to look. However, if you are interested in a horror series with intriguing characters, decent people and terrible people, both male and female, adult and teens, strong female leads and a teeny dash of gender switching, this might appeal to you.