Is it poor self-esteem or something more driving a young woman to sleepwalk through life?
What They Say:
Episode #5: “VS Imaginator 2”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Perspectives shift once again in this episode, introducing us to Nagi’s step-brother, Masaki. There was a blink and you’ll miss it appearance of him in the first story arc, so the audience can be forgiven for not recognizing him as the young man in the alley in the last episode. We are also introduced to his unusual girlfriend Aya.
We’re given the lead up to the confrontation in the alley in the previous episode. It turns out that Masaki didn’t even know Aya at the time, and what at first looked like a simple case of a boy protecting a girl ends up being more complicated. Masaki, being a transfer student who had been overseas, is a target for bullying even as he tries to lay low. His nonconfrontational manner gains him the attention of the girls in class and the class assholes take offense. He was the one getting a beat down in the alley when Aya showed up.
That’s when we learn that this girl has real issues. She rips her shirt and flashes the bullies, offering herself to appease them. She appears to not care about herself at all. Her strange behavior seems to point to someone with extremely, impossibly low self-esteem. Makaki is smitten with her though, and soon he ends up in an odd relationship with her.
The perspective shifts to Masaki’s classmate, Anou, who is one of the boys in the group of bullies. He has an instant crush on Masaki, one he doesn’t know how to deal with. He ends up basically stalking Masaki and then stalking Aya when he learns a rumor that the girl will sleep with anyone. That’s when this episode takes its supernatural twist.
This is also the first mention we get in this adaptation of the Towa Organization, and their terrifying operative Spooky E. The corpulent man electrocutes Anou with his bare hands and seems to brainwash him into being a spy. Strangely, this actually improves his social life and grades, turning him into a perfect little cog in the machine. A cog which does not go unnoticed by Boogiepop. (I love the brief inconspicuous cameo of Touka foreshadowing her future involvement as Boogiepop.)
We get to see Boogiepop in action in this episode. Yes, Boogiepop can actually fight and cut people with that wire they fling around. Unfortunately, despite the talent working on this adaptation, the animation in this episode is only so-so. It’s not splashy or visually interesting, even though what’s happening in the action is. In fact, most of the actual direction outside of sound in this series hasn’t been anything special.
In Summary:
This episode begins to weave yet another tale into the already complex web of relationships in the Boogiepop universe. We come face to face with the first named member of the Towa Organization, but who and what they are remains the largest mystery in a show about mysteries. The case is still expanding, but the new characters relate to the existing ones in ways that really do make it seem like the world is a small place. It’s doing a better job at pacing the story and action than the first arc did while maintaining the feeling that all is not right in the world these characters live in. The animation in this series remains perhaps the largest let-down, and the direction is nothing special. At this point you’re either here for the strangeness and mystery or have bounced off it hard.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll & Funimation
