Boogiepop Dual Volume One: Losers' Circus

By Janet Houck     October 16, 2006

I'll admit to bias right now; I have yet to meet a Seven Seas book that I didn't like. I like their philosophy of authentic, yet accessible manga, with extras in the back, and colored pages in the front. Although their books run slightly higher than most of their competitors, I'm more than willing to pay for quality, and I think there are a lot of people who share my ideals out there as well.

BOOGIEPOP DUAL is an excellent entry point for giving Seven Seas and the BOOGIEPOP franchise a try. The first manga series, BOOGIEPOP DOESN'T LAUGH retells much of the same story as the first novel, BOOGIEPOP AND OTHERS, while The Right Stuf anime, BOOGIEPOP PHANTOM uses characters and stories spread thorough the fourteen-volume novel series, creating a convoluted plot that viewers will either love or see as a complete waste of time.

However, BOOGIEPOP DUAL isn't like that at all.

It's set in an alternative timeline, where the shinigami/protector spirit Boogiepop manifests in Takaya Akizuki, a male high school student. Only the school nurse/teacher, Motoka Igarashi knows about Takaya's connection to Boogiepop, as she was the previous host. This version of Boogiepop looks quite different from the version in the main continuity. Along with the usual top hat and cape, he wears black lipstick and tall high-heel boots, giving the asexual character a feminine slant. This Boogiepop is also more humane and easier to understand than the main series' emotionally-detached agent of correction, dealing death to the enemies of the world. BOOGIEPOP DUAL gives us a supernatural lead that we can feel with and for. This first volume has a lot of action and visual violence, along with sexual imagery and mature themes (attempted gang rape and rape-rape, attempted suicide, attempted murder, and an intimate teacher-student relationship), so the rating advisory is not to be taken lightly. Then again, the first manga series features necro-cannibalism...

The first four pages are printed in full color, a detail that I definitely enjoy. Included in the back of the volume is a preview of volume two, the third part of Seven Seas' ongoing "Boogiepop: The Ultimate Guide" series in their BOOGIEPOP volumes, a franchise timeline, and a guide to Japanese honorifics (not really useful for someone like myself, but good for people new to all these suffixes). Extras like these are what I've come to expect from manga retailing above the 9.99 mark, and happily, these seem to be the standard from Seven Seas.

Takano's artwork has a sketchy look to it, but it fits Kadono's story perfectly. Fans of the BOOGIEPOP franchise will enjoy this volume, and if the second concluding volume is as good, this entire series. Fans of supernatural horror will also enjoy this volume, as it's a great story for older readers. Definitely a series to pick up and read.