Boogiepop and Others, like most movies, is divided into chapters on the DVD, but unlike most DVDs, these chapters have significance. Each chapter focuses on one character’s point of view to the story. As the story goes on, you’ll learn more and more about how all of these people and their side of the story fits together. Believe me, it is very confusing at first. I’d almost say that if you’re like me and know nothing about the series, you might want to watch just a couple of chapters and then take a break to think about them, then continue watching. It helps in digesting all the information. Before all the chapters, you’ll get a brief introduction to each of the characters, just so you’ll know who they are when you meet them.
We might as well start with Keiji Takeda (Daijiro Kawaoka) and his girlfriend Toka Miyashita (Sayaka Yoshino) since that’s where the actual movie starts. Keiji is walking down the street when he sees Toka dressed like a superhero talking to a homeless bum on the street. He follows her and when they’re alone, he asks her what is going on. She says that she is not Toka, but she is now Boogiepop. Boogiepop is a Shinigami, a sort of Grim Reaper. Boogiepop immerges from Toka when she senses danger near. However, Toka doesn’t know Boogiepop exists, at least according to Boogiepop. Keiji thinks that she has multiple personality disorder brought on by stress and a "Messiah Complex." Boogiepop said she originally immerged when Toka’s parents were going to get a divorce, but due to her strange behavior then, they decided not to. She actually immerged to take care of a serial killer then and says she’ll disappear again when the danger is gone.
Up next is Akio Kimura’s (Tetsu Sawaki) story. Akio runs into Toka sometime later. He’s still hung up on Naoko Kamikishiro (Asumi Miwa), who was hung up on another younger guy, which forms an odd love triangle as she says she loves them both so she’s going to date them both. She’s also hidden a man named Echoes at the school, who says that he is from space and he is there pursuing a monster in the city. He doesn’t speak though; she can simply hear him in her mind and Naoko wants to help him.
Nagi Kirima (Maya Kurosu) throws a chair through a window for the school which causes Kazuko Suema (Mami Shimizu) to become infatuated with her. Nagi’s mom is a bit overprotective as the serial killer from 5 years ago was stalking her. Other girls in the class think Nagi could be Boogiepop because of the way she acts, but she isn’t. Nagi is looking for the monster that is getting Saotome Masami (Hassei Takano) to sell drugs to the girls in the school. Once upon a time, Saotome was in love with Nagi, but she rejected him. Anyway, the drugs cause the girls to become slaves. Nagi is working with Naoko and knows about Echoes. Kazuko sees Nagi beating up Saotome and the girls to interrogate them about the drugs, but does nothing about it. Nagi has the "Messiah Complex" like Toka and Naoko.
While I know this all is a bit confusing, as you watch the rest of the stories, you’ll slowly understand how they all work together. Personally, I think they did an amazing job weaving all of these tales into one coherent concept. Of course, if you want to know even more about the stories or how they filmed them, then check out the special features. The "History of Boogiepop" is almost 40 minutes long and is hosted by one of the actresses, Kai Hirohashi. It really helps with a bit of additional information that you might have missed as you were watching. There is another "Making of Boogiepop" that shows the stuff behind the scenes, plus there are a few more features to see. If you’re looking for a strange movie that I promise will make sense in the end, check out Boogiepop and Others as it is definitely worth the time.
