I never expected an entire arc to drop at once. Did something happen? Introductions aside, this story is the prequel to the first two. A lot of nods are seen, more information given, and most importantly, backstory. This is actually a good move for an anime like Boogiepop.
It starts off and ends with a conversation between Echoes and Boogiepop in outer space. The overall arc is a flashback yet it didn’t felt inconsistent as a whole. Detective Kuroda, also known as Scarecrow from the Towa organization, is the one who started the series of events. He’s actually a good guy despite him being a synthetic human.
As per Boogiepop’s statement, if he didn’t met with Nagi, the series wouldn’t exist. Nagi also plays a major role here, her father is a famous author whose books are seen in the first arc. I’ll get to that later.
In past episodes her nickname is known as the Fire Witch. Nagi was suffering an unknown illness which affected her entire body. Kuroda tried to help but his hand was burned after touching her. In other words, she’s a (former) synthetic human. The detective then found the drug and reverted her body back to a normal human. But things got a bit complicated.
Kuroda was tracked down by the organization through Sasaki. In his final moments he met a young Miyashita where Boogiepop was about to manifest. You get to see how that name was made in his last words. His personality is simple: if he didn’t become a detective, he would rather become a superhero because of the fact of how crimes are dealt with. I am surprised at how his contributions to the show were still referenced to the end of the arc.
There’s still some more to digest. Dr. Kisugi, the lady looking out to Nagi, had some things to research. She found the remnants of the drug and used it for her personal gain. She wanted to know if fear can be erased in the world, so she injected it herself and became a synthetic human. The drug is a double-edged sword. It both works as a cure and a poison.
Seiichi, the father of Nagi, had a premotion of him dying. And guess who gave him that info. Don’t know? It’s Imaginator! The quote “sometimes it snows in April” is taken from his works. The Kirima family had gone through a divorce with his ex-wife being remarried to another man, leading up to Masaki’s existence. Even if with all that, Nagi handled it like it was nothing. I do want to explain more what happened but I’ll spoil the entire thing.
As the arc goes on, this anime is quite an oddball. Each arc has its own pacing that you don’t know when it’s going to end. The prequel arc shows the best direction so far, you even get to have a better connection to the characters. I’m glad I didn’t drop this. But it is unfortunate not everyone is willing to give this one a chance. Knowing the nature of this I could see why. Some other people would watch something easier to understand.
Since this anime is 18 episodes, I’m looking forward to the end. I have faith in the studio that they will deliver. Whether it would be another round of puzzle solving or a character-driven one, Boogiepop stays in my list.
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ThatRandomEditor's Anime Blog 
[…] Anyway, it then shifts to Scarecrow and his work with the Towa Organization and, apparently, their research into […]
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