Boogiepop and Others Episode 14 Review: Overdrive: The King of Distortion 1

The King of Distortion made his appearance and it looks like he is the most powerful entity that Boogiepop has faced so far. Being able to influence so many people at the same time is definitely no good news for anyone.

Japanese Original Episode Title: オーバードライブ歪曲王 1

Plot

Teratsuki Kyouichirou built an architectural wonder before he passed away. ‘The Moon Temple’ was built with no specific reason, only by his idea of bringing networks together. On the first day of its opening, people are lining up to get inside. Shirou, Naoko’s boyfriend, and Habare Kentarou are waiting to get inside the building. Meanwhile, Takeda and Touka meet up for a date but as Takeda is waiting for Touka at a café, he sees Boogiepop once more but realizes that she is a fake who calls herself the King of Distortion. Niitoki Kei is caught up in the rain and after seeing Boogiepop running in the crowd, she follows her and is led inside of the Moon Temple where the King of Distortion appears to her in the form of Saotome, who claims that there is something still lingering in her heart from that night, but Boogiepop shows up and helps her snap out of it although she claims that it won’t be easy to get out of this situation. As people are allowed inside the building, a malfunction in the security system causes the shutters to come down and trap everyone inside. Shinozaki, a security guard that works in the Moon Temple, sees strange moments of his past caused by the King of Distortion, who wants to experiment and turn the world into ‘gold’.

Episode Highlights

The King of Distortion will be tough: I don’t know about that little kid in the beginning of the episode, but if someone came to me even now and told me ‘I am actually not that old, I was just born’ I would have shit myself. Teratsuki (who, in case you don’t remember is the guy whom Scarecrow was investigating), seems to be the guy behind the creation of the King of Distortion and that’s probably the reason why Towa Organization got rid of him in the first place. He seems to be giving people a chance to face situations and events from the past that are still lingering in their hearts. But what does he mean by saying that he wants to turn the world to gold? Do we have another one with the Light-Kira syndrome? Who knows what kind of horrors we will get to witness this time.

Poor Takeda: That guy will never get a normal date with Touka, that’s for sure. I mean the moment she said: ‘Let’s meet in the place we first met’, he should have realized that it wouldn’t go that well… Nevertheless, the fact that he is asking for Boogiepop to appear will definitely be a problem for his future relationship with Touka. Also, I thought the fact that he realizes that she is a fake because she smiles to be a very nice reference to the Japanese title of the anime (Boogiepop doesn’t Laugh).

Niitoko Kei: The President is back and that means that she will probably get to witness some horrific stuff just because she got involved with Boogiepop. I wonder why she is the only one that managed to get in that mannequin room and I am very intrigued to know why she sees Saotome and not Takeda from the King of Distortion. Does she feel remorse about that night? Was she envious of the Manticore and Saotome’s relationship? What is she hiding in her subconscious?

Themes & Trivia

Tower of Babel: The Tower of Babel as told in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world’s peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united humanity in the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating eastward, comes to the land of Shinar. There they agree to build a city and a tower tall enough to reach heaven. God, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world.

Comments

Habare Kentarou looks like a cool dude, but honestly I was so lost in the scene where Sakiko sees Boogiepop and fights with her boyfriend. Who is she and why is she so fascinated by Boogiepop’s existence? Why Habare did even talk to her when she was in the middle of the fight? I honestly have no clue about what happened there. And on top of that, we had that loud music playing out of nowhere giving me instant migraines. Thanks Boogiepop Wa Warawanai.

This probably won’t be simple.

Oh Boogiepop… this series has never been simple, so don’t worry about it. But seeing her doubting herself even for a moment, makes me think that this will be the most confusing yet epic arc that we have seen so far. The fact that new characters are relapsing with the old ones is very intriguing!

NEXT TIME: Overdrive: The King of Distortion 2