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Boggiepop Phantom is a dark spooky anime about the paranormal. At only 12 episodes it packs in quite a dose of dizzying plot connections and things that not only make you scratch your head they'll have you freaking out. Generally each episode focuses on a certain character and goes through their story. Each episode is not the next part of the time line. Things are mixed up and thrown around. Scenes introduced many times from many views. This is great as it keeps the mystery going but also gives the answers, that is if you're able to follow along.

Good story aside, let me talk about ... the art, sound, and the dub. Boogiepop is as I said, an older anime from 2000. So the art is good, but it's not CG perfect or sharp. It doesn't need to be, infact I feel that would be bad. First time I saw Boggiepop I thought my TV was broken. See they've played with the colors. Putting everything in a dark world full of shadows. All the better to hide what's going on. Colors are dull not bright or cheerful. There is usually a haze or blurring effect going on. It creates an excellent atmosphere.

The sound is good also. It's got everything you'd expect. However what I really liked was the sound effects. A ringing sound (i'll try to record it) helps enhance the erieness of the anime. That and it distorts the sound and people's voices at time. It keeps it creepy and makes you question if what you're watching is the reality. Thank god for a good pair of headphones or a nice audio setup. It's used to the full extent here really creating the erie feeling that is this anime excellently. Surround sound surrounds you with the clinks and other odd sounds that fill this anime, without it you don't really get the full Boogiepop experience.

The music also keeps the creepy side of boogiepop alive. The music keeps the mood very well. It stays pretty low key and ambient, serving as background. But then it'll let out that damn eriee ring, get distorted or something else unexpected that makes your hair stand on end. When things get serious and some action is going down it switches from it's ambient background music to a more driving industrial-ish techno. The ending song is awesome: period. Just had to get that out :D

As far as the dub, I really like this one. I first saw this anime dubbed and there is nothing to complain of here. I insist you watch it dubbed, as this is one of those complex animes that is not sub friendly. The voice actors convey emotion well, and each character has a unique voice.

Bottom line, i insist you watch this anime b/c: it's a very good mind-trip. Dark and scary it's not an easy one to follow and I know you'll enjoy the exercise of trying to piece together this story.