Boogiepop and Others Episode 15 Review: Overdrive: The King of Distortion 2

From all the things we have seen in Boogiepop wa Warawanai so far, I never expected to see an actual kaiju hunting down the characters. This anime will never stop surprising me.

Japanese Original Episode Title: オーバードライブ歪曲王 2

Plot

Teratsuki Kyouichirou and a pregnant woman are drinking in a bar and discussing about her pregnancy and whether she should take the money that he offers her and if she intends to keep the child, even though she doesn’t know who the real father is. She ends up taking the money and giving birth to Makoto, and it is made clear to us that she is the same woman that was shown waiting in the queue to get into the Moon Temple with her son. Sakiko, another girl that is trapped in the Moon Temple, meets her friend Hina who has passed away when they were children and apologizes for being jealous of her and saying mean things about her. Meanwhile, Habara Kentarou relives a part of him memories where he first met Kirima Nagi. He instantly fell for her, but she was just helping him out and warned him about his hacking activities. He then realizes that he is inside a dream and after meeting up with Makoto and being hunted down by a monster, he finds himself inside the Moon Temple and manages to wake up. He then wakes up Shirou and finds out that everyone in the temple is unconscious, all having their own dreams influenced by the King of Distortion whom he suspects to be a part of Teratsuki’s plan.

Episode Highlights

Habara Kentarou: Okay first of all, that guy does NOT look like he is still in high school, and second, he would never be able to attend a prestigious high school in Japan with that kind of hair. Other than that I feel like if he were to work together with Kirima Nagi, they would have a great dynamic going on, since he looks very smart as well. Can I also add that I would love to see them as a couple? He is also the only character that was shown in this episode that might have given us some hints as to what the King of Distortion actually did or is doing at the moment, but still it’s very unclear if they are all seeing the same dream or experience it differently. He remembers meeting Makoto before but why did he see Saotome? This is getting so intriguing… Can it be that the Manticore is still alive after all? In any case, the Kind of Distortion has to do about people’s fears and regrets and I am smelling another crazy one with God complexes, so brace yourselves.

Sakiko and Hina: I don’t know if there was a hidden meaning in this story or hints about the King of Distortion’s intentions, but I think that it was the only story that was presented to us and the person that was experiencing it managed to get over their fears and regrets, which ended up making them hear that loud music once more. Was that the actual cause for the music or was it because she mentioned Boogiepop? I have so many speculations in my head at the moment but I will choose to stay quiet and wait for the next week’s episode to get to the bottom of this.

Themes & Trivia

Be careful what you wish for: If you remember the previous episode, we actually saw who Makoto is and he even interacted with Teratsuki (or King of Distortion). He specifically says that, ‘Some monster should just show up and destroy that thing’, referring to the Moon Temple. Does that mean that Makoto is associated with Zooragi or is it just the King of Distortion that is messing up with peoples’ heads?

Comments

This episode went by so fast! It seems to me that every villain or antagonist in this show must have a catch phrase or a quote or an element that is associated with them. The Imaginator had the ‘Sometimes it snows in April’, the Fear Ghoul had a thing about horror and distress, and the King of Distortion seems to like saying or mentioning things about gold and making people feeling trapped like they are being manipulated in the palm of his hands. Interesting.

Dancing in the palm of his hands.

I don’t even want to consider that this will be the last story arc of Boogiepop wa Warawanai because, honestly, there are still so many things that we have to learn more about and I won’t accept leaving them vague or unaddressed.

NEXT TIME: Overdrive: The King of Distortion 3