Boogiepop and Others Episode 18 (Final) Review: Overdrive: The King of Distortion 5

I expected nothing less from Boogiepop wa Warawanai. The last episode left us with a rather confusing and ambiguous ending. If Shirou (aka The King of Distortion) was just created, how did he help Teratsuki do the experiment in the Moon Temple? Did he disappear or did he linger in Shirou’s character? What did Sakiko mean by asking if she meets Boogiepop again as its enemy? Is the threat to humanity really gone and if so, does that mean that Boogiepop is gone as well?

Japanese Original Episode Title: オーバードライブ歪曲王 5

Plot

Shirou reveals to Habara that he is the King of Distortion. Nitoki confronts Saotome for the last time and meets up with Boogiepop. Shirou makes his way to Boogiepop as well and traps them into his ‘fantasy realm’ as they start discussing his newly founded power: seeing peoples’ distortions in their hearts and drawing them out in order to deal with them. A series of questions Boogiepop asks makes Shirou realize that it is not his enemy and that his King of Distortion powers are actually his own distortion that was created in his heart after being confused with his feelings towards Naoko, which makes him come back to reality. He wakes up next to Nitoki, gives her the password for the console that will release the emergency doors, and everyone wakes up and escapes the Moon Temple. On their way out, Takeda meets up with Nitoki who guides him to Miyoshita’s location. The two manage to meet up, and while on the train, as Miyashita sleeps on his shoulder, he takes his chance to say goodbye to his dear friend Boogiepop, since the threat is gone for now.

Episode Highlights

The King of Distortion: Shirou is the actual King of Distortion, which is not a surprise since it was heavily hinted to us in the previous episode, but I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by the way things escalated, because I was expecting everything to get really dark and creepy. But instead, it seems that his powers were just created because of his suppressed feelings and lack of self-worth, which is rather worrying if you ask me. If he managed to get so powerful so quickly, I highly believe that Boogiepop was wrong and the threat is not gone. I mean, his eyes at the end didn’t look normal… Even Habara mentions it.

Was Boogiepop allegorical in the end? After the whole ‘My job here is done’ situation, Takeda, who seems to be rather sad, meets up with Boogiepop for one last time and it mentions to him, ‘The threat is gone, Takeda-kun.’ Now, is this supposed to be a reference to their dialogue during the first episode? Does it have to do with the King of Distortion or is it just an allegorical way of saying that Boogiepop (the thread) is gone from Miyashita and they can have a normal relationship?

Themes & Trivia

If you want to see and read more about Boogiepop, vote for it: According to the reddit thread of the last episode, Seven Seas has surveys every month in order to measure the interest for their next licenses. So far, they have only published the first six novels in the west, five of them which the anime covered and novel #4 that was not included in it. They mentioned that if there is enough interest shown in those surveys, they might consider bringing over more of the Boogiepop novels. So, if you show more support, then we might see an adaptation of the rest of the novels in the future. You can vote here.

Comments

It feels incomplete, because it is. I have so many questions regarding Boogiepop and other characters such as Takeda and Nagi but this is quite normal since we just witnessed an adaptation not based on the complete story. From my little experience with the novels, I know that they like to be a bit more profound and nonlinear but honestly, if you enjoyed this anime and want to know more you should definitely check them out, at least the ones that have been translated so far.

The directing and animation in Boogiepop wa Warawanai have been very interesting and even though they might not have been polished in every scene of every episode, there are some moments that truly take your breath away. When Shirou was falling down from the sky, the air animation, movements, and angles were absolutely flawless. Well done to everyone who made it happen.

What makes you think that you are evil?

Boogiepop is such an amazing character and has a very fascinating way of dealing and confronting its enemies. There are surely more adventures and more ‘threats’ out there that are waiting to be explored, so if you want to see a second season happening, try to support the series in any way possible.