Surreal, Yet Real

Read a fascinating book lately: Boogiepop and Others.

It’s the first novel in a whole franchise, which itself takes some explaining. The franchise focuses on an entity called Boogiepop, which exists in the collective unconscious, and surfaces in certain people whenever a paranormal danger to humanity manifests. So, yes, it’s something of an urban fantasy.

This first book describes the initial conflict that brings Boogiepop to the surface today: a creature called the Manticore who feeds on human souls. The franchise went on to spawn numerous novels, a live-action movie, an anime TV series, and a manga. This is where it all started, as a single (award-winning) young adult novel.

The book’s split into several parts, each one told from a different character’s perspective. Because of this, you often get to see the same scene from different characters’ eyes, which changes your interpretation of that scene, and what was actually going on. A great hook

The whole story takes place in a high school, which is key to the franchise. Boogiepop is really about the high school years, when young people begin to solidify their philosophies on life. Each character in the novel sees life very differently, but I can sympathize with all of them to varying degrees.

As a whole, I really enjoyed it.