Boogiepop & Others
Apr. 20th, 2006 01:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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darkling_talesLJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY justin_hamilton)
Being a big fan of the anime "Boogiepop Phantom" and the live-action film, I was very pleased to get my hands on a recently translated copy of Kouhei Kadono's Boogiepop and Others, the inspiration for both the film and the cartoon series, as well as a number of comics.
The first thing that I notice about this book is that while it does seem to be translated/interpreted quite well - as there are very few lines that seem akin to Zero Wing's "All your base" - but the form of writing seems a little juvenile. I am not positive if this book was intended for a slightly younger audience, although it certainly seems like it would not be out of the question for someone much younger than I to read through it and understand it.
The story of Boogiepop is a difficult one to generalize - it is sort of a modern horror mixed with your traditional Japanese "terrible conspiracy-prone organization in the background" back-drop with a little sci-fi, as well as a peppering of romance and superhero stylings. The general outline of the plot is that many girls began disappearing at the local high school, and recently all of the children have been clinging to the rumors that a shinigami (a spirit of death, relatively) named Boogiepop has came to take all of them away. It is hard to get further into the series without expounding on spoilers, so I will not describe much further, but while not overly horrific in any sort of a gothic or classical sense, it definetely is dark, and does have its creepy moments.
If you are familiar with the anime Boogiepop Phantom or Boogiepop Never Smiles film you would be at home with how the book is put together. For those of you that are not - the Boogiepop series jumps around from character to character, from time to time. The anime tends to jump all over the place, switching into the past and future without much notice, but this book remains somewhat linear, usually progressing with one character from the beginning of the story to the end of it before switching to another (granted, there is at least one exception to this).
I was somewhat displeased with Boogiepop's dialog in this book. It seemed a little brash and simple compared to the cryptic and mysterious character shown in the anime. The ever-popular character of Nagi Kirima, however, seemed spot on.
Overall I am very glad that I read this, and that further books and manga in the Boogiepop series is being translated into English, but it did fall slightly short of expectations that the anime series gave me.
justin_hamilton)Being a big fan of the anime "Boogiepop Phantom" and the live-action film, I was very pleased to get my hands on a recently translated copy of Kouhei Kadono's Boogiepop and Others, the inspiration for both the film and the cartoon series, as well as a number of comics.
The first thing that I notice about this book is that while it does seem to be translated/interpreted quite well - as there are very few lines that seem akin to Zero Wing's "All your base" - but the form of writing seems a little juvenile. I am not positive if this book was intended for a slightly younger audience, although it certainly seems like it would not be out of the question for someone much younger than I to read through it and understand it.
The story of Boogiepop is a difficult one to generalize - it is sort of a modern horror mixed with your traditional Japanese "terrible conspiracy-prone organization in the background" back-drop with a little sci-fi, as well as a peppering of romance and superhero stylings. The general outline of the plot is that many girls began disappearing at the local high school, and recently all of the children have been clinging to the rumors that a shinigami (a spirit of death, relatively) named Boogiepop has came to take all of them away. It is hard to get further into the series without expounding on spoilers, so I will not describe much further, but while not overly horrific in any sort of a gothic or classical sense, it definetely is dark, and does have its creepy moments.
If you are familiar with the anime Boogiepop Phantom or Boogiepop Never Smiles film you would be at home with how the book is put together. For those of you that are not - the Boogiepop series jumps around from character to character, from time to time. The anime tends to jump all over the place, switching into the past and future without much notice, but this book remains somewhat linear, usually progressing with one character from the beginning of the story to the end of it before switching to another (granted, there is at least one exception to this).
I was somewhat displeased with Boogiepop's dialog in this book. It seemed a little brash and simple compared to the cryptic and mysterious character shown in the anime. The ever-popular character of Nagi Kirima, however, seemed spot on.
Overall I am very glad that I read this, and that further books and manga in the Boogiepop series is being translated into English, but it did fall slightly short of expectations that the anime series gave me.
