Boogiepop and Others Episode 5 Review: VS The Imaginator 2

The plot thickens even more in this episode of Boogiepop wa Warawanai. This week we get to see everything from Masaki’s perspective, which adds a lot of more mystery and new antagonists to the story.

Japanese Original Episode Title: VSイマジネーター 2

Plot

Taniguchi Masaki, the brother of Kirima Nagi, moved in Japan a while ago and tried to not stand out a lot in his new school. Despite his efforts, some of the guys in his class envy his talents and popularity and start bullying him. One day as he is being beaten up by some of them in an alley, a young girl by the name of Orihata Aya intervened and tried to save him. After Asukai comes to the rescue, they manage to flee and eventually start dating. Meanwhile, Shinjirou Anou, a classmate of Masaki, seems to be in love with him and starts stalking him and Aya around, wondering what he sees in her. One night, a Synthetic Human appears to him and wipes out his memories while making him a ‘terminal’, a servant of the Towa Organization; he is instructed to enroll in the Shinyou Academy. While there, Shinjirou meets Asukai that makes him break out of the Towa control. After finding a love letter in his bag, Shinjirou goes to the appointed location and finds the same Synthetic Human that tries to ‘reset’ him. Boogiepop appears looking for the Imaginator and saves Shinjirou. Later, Aya agrees to meet Masaki, but the Synthetic Human appears first, calling her Camille.

Episode Highlights

Aya Orihata is weird: So my guess would be that she is another Synthetic Human not following the Towa Organization’s orders properly. Other than that, she is just a deadpan girl that drops the ‘Do you want to do it?’ and other sex lines in the first few seconds of the episode as well as ripping her own clothes to show off her boobs and save Masaki with no emotion whatsoever (I had a flashback of Touka and Kaneki’s scene from Tokyo Ghoul:re, when she asked him that question and I was like ‘Oh God, here we go again’). She also has interestingly mature and straightforward reactions to some things that are happening around her. For example, she owned the bullies so hard when she said: ‘So the reason behind your rage is your own pent-up sexual frustration.’ Damn girl, you killed it.

Anou’s feelings towards Masaki: I like how they added this guy in the love story of Aya and Masaki, but we all know that nothing good comes out of stalking people, so he definitely had that coming. I don’t know what a ‘terminal’ is and how Synthetic Humans do what they do, but I kind of felt bad for that guy. He was forced to live like a robot and was even made to forget his own sexuality.

Synthetic Human: That guy (I am not sure but I think his name might be Spooky E?) is absolutely horrible to look at. What the hell is wrong with his eyes and why are his legs so skinny if he is so fat? I hope Boogiepop will kill him soon because he isn’t very pleasant to the eyes.

Asukai Jin, a hottie and a savior: He is probably the ‘villain with good intentions’ type of character and I am starting to like him a lot. I mentioned this before but his resemblance with Light Yagami is so on the point that I cannot help it but fall for him. He also says beautiful things like: ‘Your pain will be buried when snow falls in April, when whiteness falls on all of mankind’. Oh Jin, you handsome devil!

Themes & Trivia

Phnom Penh: So Masaki was considered exotic just because he lived in Phnom Penh for a while? Hmm maybe he got a good tan, that’s why. In case you don’t know, Phnom Penh, formerly known as Krong Chaktomuk or Krong Chaktomuk Serimongkul, is the capital and most populous city in Cambodia. Phnom Penh has been the national capital since French colonization of Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation’s economic, industrial, and cultural center. Once known as the ‘Pearl of Asia’, it was considered one of the loveliest French-built cities in Indochina in the 1920s.

Comments

I was not very impressed with the episode. It felt a bit rushed and badly directed and it kind of put me off a little bit. It was great to see Masaki’s backstory and the introduction to all these new characters (that will probably die very soon), but again it felt a bit awkward, especially the first part with Aya and the whole overview of Anou’s feelings.

I have no right to fall in love with him.

So is Aya aka Camille another Synthetic Human? That’s why she cannot develop any feelings towards Masaki? Or is it something much more complicated? Let’s see what the next episode has to offer.

NEXT TIME: VS The Imaginator 3

Boogiepop is also part of our weekly previews. Check our preview for Episode 5 here.