Boogiepop Phantom Evolution 4 (2000)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Anime	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Gallery-Original Art Work Notes-Producer & Character Notes Featurette-Evolution 1-6 Promotion Trailer-Cowboy Bebop; Gundam Wing; Rurouni Kenshin; Vampire Princess Audio Commentary DVD Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	71:29 (Case: 85)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Takashi Watanabe
Studio Distributor	The Right Stuf Int. Madman Entertainment	Starring	Kaori Shimizu Yu Asakawa Mayumi Asano Jun Fukuyama Kazuo Konta
Case	Click
RPI	$34.95	Music	Yota Tsuruoka

    Boogiepop Phantom is a Japanese animated series that features a number of supernatural elements and an unusual story structure.

    The series opens with a strange column of light appearing in the city and causing a widespread blackout. Five years ago a serial killer was terrorizing the community, but then suddenly stopped for no apparent reason. Unhappy students from the city's high schools are disappearing without a trace, and objects are rusting quickly. All these events are somehow connected, and a few people believe that Boogiepop, the angel of death, who is commonly regarded as an urban legend, may be involved.

    This twelve part series uses an unusual story structure that may initially confuse some viewers. The story is based around a series of related events that take place over approximately five years. In each episode these events are examined from a different person's perspective, often using a very non-linear time line with numerous flashbacks and an occasional flash forward. To help the viewer keep track of the jumps in the timeline, each scene change is clearly marked, but the actual dates of the events are not provided. Luckily, providing the viewer is aware of the jumps in the timeline, keeping track of these events does not pose any significant problem.

    This disc contains the final three episodes for the series and brings together each of the different character storylines that have been developed so far. I have included a very short description for each but as these may contain some minor spoilers you may wish to skip directly to the Transfer Quality section.

poom poom
    Poom Poom appears as a young boy. He is travelling throughout the city looking for friends. He targets special children and preys upon their memories and lost dreams. His collection of friends quickly grows and he is eventually confronted by Nagi. This episode includes a small number of scenes with heavily processed live action footage.

under the gravity's rainbow
    This is the story of Manaka and how she came to posses her unique abilities. She was raised by her grandmother and had almost no interaction with the outside world. When the light appears in the evening sky her life is changed forever and she begins a new series of experiences.

a requiem
    One year after the rainbow has disappeared from the city sky people's lives continue to change. Toka and Kazuko travel to Tokyo to sit their University entrance exams, and they are understandably nervous. While in Tokyo, Toka completes some unfinished business and the Manticore is finally revealed. This episode displays a completely different visual style from the other episodes in the series. The reason for this change is clearly explained during the episode's commentary.

Video

    The transfer is presented at its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

    The first two episodes on this disc display a very unusual image that has a vignette filter applied to it at nearly all times. This results in the outer edges and corners of the image appearing slightly darker and softer than the centre of the frame. During the final episode the vignette filter is not applied. During all episodes the image appears quite soft and for the first two episodes obvious intentional low level noise is present during many scenes. During the numerous dark scenes varying levels of shadow detail may be seen. During some scenes significant information may be seen in the dark portions of the image but in other scenes the dark areas reveal almost no information. The transfer for these episodes are slightly lighter than seen on previous discs with the image displaying dark greys instead of solid blacks. Due to the visual style of the animation these variations in image quality are never distracting.

    The transfer displays the significantly reduced muted colour palette featuring a heavy reliance upon greys, browns and yellows that has been employed throughout the series. During the final episode this palette is replaced with a bright and vibrant design that uses a wide range of colours. These colour choices are an intentional part of the original animation design and consequently are not disturbing.

    Two very minor posterization artefacts may be seen at 6:04 and 7:23, but as these only occur during a single shot they are not annoying.

    Three minor aliasing artefacts may be seen at 4:45, 7:53 and 54:56. Each of these artefacts are very minor and are never irritating.

    A small number of minor film artefacts may be seen during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 4:33, 6:12, 9:02 and 29:01. All of these artefacts are very small and not distracting.

    During the eye catchers, originally found leading into and out of advertisement breaks on television, a NTSC to PAL conversion artefact may be seen around the Boogiepop logo in the bottom right section of the frame. These artefacts only last for a short period of time and are only minimally disturbing.

    A single set of English subtitles is included on this disc. These subtitles are primarily yellow but, during a number of scenes when multiple characters are speaking concurrently, a white set of subtitles is used to differentiate the speakers. The subtitles are clear and easy to understand at all times. At a number of points non-removable white or black English subtitles are used to translate Japanese text on signs and books, and to provide location names. A set of yellow English and white Romaji subtitles are provided for both opening and closing music sequences for each episode. No subtitles are provided for the short episode previews that appear at the end of the first two episodes on this disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The dialogue on both tracks is always clear and easy to understand. Pleasantly there are only very minimal differences between the dialogue in the English and Japanese tracks.

    As this is an animated feature there are the expected obvious problems with audio sync for each soundtrack. No dropouts were detected at any time during the transfer.

    The effective original score by Yota Tsuruoka varies considerably, ranging from instrumental segments to experimental electronica. Surprisingly, these sound choices work extremely well and always seem to suit the on-screen action.

    On the English soundtrack the surround and subwoofer channels are used extensively. These channels are used aggressively to provide an extremely enveloping soundstage.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The minimally animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Original Artwork

    This is a collection of approximately fifty different designs for almost all characters seen in the series.

Producer Notes

    This is a collection of notes from English producer Jeff Thompson from The Right Stuf International discussing what drew him to the show, and his experiences working with the series.

Character Notes

    This is a collection of thirty single page profiles for different characters from the series.

Evolution 1-6 Promotion (0:33)

    This is a television advertisement for the Japanese VHS, DVD and laserdisc release of the series. It is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and non-removable yellow Japanese subtitles.

Audio Commentary

    This scene-specific feature-length commentary is presented by Jeff Thompson, from The Right Stuf International, and Angora Deb, the English voice actor for Toka and Sayoko. During this commentary they discuss voice acting, casting for the English track, and provide some description of the series plot. This track is presented as a Dolby Digital 192 kbps 1.0 track and includes the original audio mix in the background.

Trailer: Cowboy Bebop (1:29)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Gundam Wing (2:00)

    This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Trailer: Rurouni Kenshin (1:30)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Vampire Princess Miyu (0:30)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with an English based Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Japanese credits translation
  

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Nothing

    As the R1 version of this disc also includes a translated set of Japanese credits, listing the Japanese voice actors, my slight preference would be for that version, but as this information may be found easily online I would not consider this to be a major omission.

    Boogiepop Phantom is an intriguing series that should appeal to any fans of supernatural anime and has a storyline that will reveal more through repeated viewings.

    The video transfer accurately reproduces the unusual original animation design.

    The audio transfer helps to capture the stunning original sound design that is displayed during both the Japanese and English soundtracks.

    The extras included provide some interesting insights and highlight the extensive number of characters that are encountered during the series.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall