A teenage girl is approached by a cute talking animal, told she is special and given magical powers. How many anime fitting this bill have I watched while growing up? Tons. And I gobbled them up. I loved them. ey were sweet, cute, easy going fantasy which was very reassuring and joyous. We all know the drill.

Then came Puella Madoka Magica. As usual, we had a pink haired, or pink dressed cute girl. As usual she meets a lovely magical animal/plushie/creature. And as usual, it offers her fantastic magic powers.

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But, there's a catch. More than one actually. And, as we watch more and more episodes, we realize that it was not accidental that the cute creature 'forgot' to tell the girl about them. In fact, there's actually nothing worthwhile in doing a contract with the plushie-looking mysterious being. Throughout the years, so many girls did such 'contracts', becoming 'Magical Girls' and battling 'Witches'. And so many of them disappeared into nothingness. There are only two endings for 'Magical Girls'. You are killed, or you become something far far worse than death.

Before one signs a contract, one usually knows what they are actually signing for. Not in this case. Kyubey, the magical 'whatsit', that cute sweet pink-eyed 'friend', never really explains what 'Magical girls' actually are. What the 'soul seed' is. What 'witches' are. Nothing. And it is only later, that Madika's friends, the ones who already did the contract, start realizing what this means. But once the contract is signed, there's no going back. It is too late. And this is why Madoka is cautioned again and again by Homura, the 'new girl', to think well and hard about it. What wish is worth loosing your very self for?

This anime totally turns our usual pre-conceived notions of magical powers given to 'special' people, on their heads. It takes a very well-used trope and twists it into something incredibly new, to send us a message. Beware - not all is as it seems - think well before deciding something important, and of course, NEVER TRUST EASILY, no matter how cute someone looks.

Of course, friendship is another major issue. Those we think are our friends, may be enemies in disguise wanting to use and manipulate us, like Kyubey, who is a sinister alien being with hidden intent manipulating others. On the other hand, those we thought were enemies may in reality be friends we didnt know we had, such as Homura and Kyouko, who seem cold and wild when Madoka meets them for the first few times, but whose perspective we finally start to understand, and agree with, later on.

This is, in my opinion, a really ground-breaking anime and one very well thought out. The art itself is a mixture of the 'usual' girl anime but also Picasso-like impressions. Like the story itself, it reveals hidden depths and is nightmare-like in its familiar otherness.

What I liked the least, strangely enough, was the ending. Madoka makes her wish, which, instead of solving everything, leads to even more complications (these are even more apparent when one watches the movie 'Puella Maadoka Magia: Rebellion). And this is why I did not award the anime full marks. In other words, the journey (the main narrative from beginning to the penultimate episode) was better than the destination (the ending).

The anime is actually followed by three movies, the first two are like a summary of the main series, while the third movie (the one I mentioned above) is a continuation of the anime. There's also a 'side story' with two seasons which I haven't watched yet, but will soon.

This anime is as intricately layered as an onion. There are so many metaphors, hidden meanings and factual truths hidden behind the light-weight veneer first presented, that unless the viewer watches it all from beginning to end, they will be missing out on the core real meaning behind it.

First things first, when I started watching this anime it's style and art felt really familiar. I'm a huge Sailor Moon fan and many things, such as the way the corridors and architecture at the academy and in the city were portrayed, kept reminding me of certain visuals for the Moon Kingdom. Then I did some research and realized I had been right! Quoting Wikipedia - 'Revolutionary Girl Utena was a series co-created by Kunihiko Ikuhara after he finished working on Sailor Moon SuperS. Some of the team that worked on Sailor Moon worked on Utena.'

At face value, the plot is about a girl with a sad past who's attending high school and who defies convention, but in reality, that's not it at all.

HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD

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The underlying message given by the story itself is the real genius behind this seemingly at times silly anime (there are whole episodes which deviate from the main plot and regale us with incredible happenings such as boxing kangaroos, necklaces which turn people into cows, flying elephants, etc, and by the way yes they are really funny episodes). As we go along and arrive towards the end of the anime, we realize that the 'Prince' Utena had been dreaming about, that magnificent person who had saved her life and inspired her to be noble, honest and brave like him, did not really exist. Yes, it had been a real person who helped her when she was a child, BUT like any other, that person had changed, he lost what made him a 'Prince', lost his noble soul and pure intent, and became a hedonistic manipulator who used others and played with them at his whim. His lust for power and callousness belied his beautiful exterior making him fake. However, the IDEAL o f the 'Prince' itself was never destroyed. And that was what Utena most desired, and what she pesonified.

In the last two episodes of the anime, the Chairman is revealed to be the 'End of the World' and also the person who had saved Utena, however he is not a 'Prince' but a villain. Again and again (three times in under 5 minutes actually), he tells Utena that she is a Princess and a girl, not a Prince, and that girls should not use swords or try to save people with them. A girl's role is to be pretty, fragile, sweet and defenceless - all traits associated with a Princess. But Utena is fierce, honest, noble and wants to help others - traits one usually associates with a Prince. In the end, the viewer realizes that gender has nothing to do with one's personal traits. A person CHOOSES who to be regardless of their gender. Utena, in becoming a 'Prince' also realizes that waiting passively for someone to come and save her is not the answer. We must be strong enough, brave enough, noble enough, to save ourselves. Unlike the Chairman, whose Princely nobility and honour disappeared in his lust for power, Utena holds on to her real self. And in so doing breaks out of the mold society imposed on her. In the last few shots of the last episode, she saves Himemiya, the Rose Bride, from a coffin, and when they are back to school, Himemiya tells the Chairman that she's leaving. She's not a passive 'Princess/Rose Bride' anymore. She's breaking out of her coffin and is off to discover who she really is. 'You' she says 'can remain here in your coffin' - in that deadweight, dull, prescribed role society has foisted on him and which he has accepted, instead of finding his true self.

I've written so much and barely scratched the surface of all the metaphors in this anime. It really surprised me with its depth, which starts to surface in the last half or even the last 10 episodes.

Of course there are a lot of problematic issues tackled in there too. Incest. Rape. Suicide. Betrayal. Not to mention that there are a number of plot holes and questions which were never answered (What is the 'Revolution'? Are Himemiya and the Chairman human beings or something else?, etc), which is why I gave it 9/10 instead of outright full marks. But honestly, I've already written a lot and given huge spoilers, so I will leave those issues unwrapped for now.

First of all let me say that I started watching Boogiepop Phantom totally blind - meaning that I knew nothing about this anime other than it was a dark psychological thriller. I had not read or watched the prequel 'Boogiepop and Others' and so I did not have any background to it or know what to expect.

That being said, let me ask one question - if an anime, or a movie, does not stand up by itself, meaning that it is easily misunderstood and purposefully leads the viewer astray, so much so that the viewer ends up so confused that they cannot actually enjoy said anime properly - does that mean that the anime or movie is not well executed? Does that mean that it is not actually a 'good' anime because its makers tried so hard to be obtuse and mysterious ON PURPOSE, that they actually failed to reach their audience and failed to pass on the original message they wanted to give? If your answer is 'yes', then I think Boogiepop Phantom will disappoint you, since this is exactly what it does.

This anime portrays an episodic disjointed series of events which take place in different timelines, to different characters. What makes it more convoluted is that, unfortunately, the art is not the best, resembling early 90s anime, which means that most of the characters are pretty bland, and resemble one another so much that you actually end up asking yourself whether you already saw that person in a previous episode, or not. All the characters and episodes are tied together by a thin thread. An invisible thread which is, partly, exposed during the last two episodes.

But it is not enough. Many of the plotlines and mysteries remain unresolved and many questions remain unanswered. Although each episode tries to focus on very mature concepts and themes (such as the relationship between parent and child, people's expectations, depression, etc), the plot lacks focus. We do not have the time to follow each character for more than one episode, and so, we do not really get to empathise with or care for any of them, which is why perhaps, most of these themes end up short when it comes to actually touching the viewer in any meaningful way.

Although I was not impressed by the art, I did like the dark muted atmosphere. The oppressive and almost stifling tones used to present the city were a perfect foil for the ennui and sad incompleteness felt by most characters. I also loved how bit by bit, we realize that each one of the stories is a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, and that the actions of one character impacts the lives of others, albeit indirectly.

However, as I said, the biggest downside for me was that not everything gets explained or resolved by the end. And not everything is clear to begin with. If you have to go look up an explanation on the internet to understand an anime, it's like the anime itself is lacking from reaching out to the viewer as it should. Another minus was that the 'main' characters were hardly explored at all. Boogipop Phantom, Manticore, Touka Miyashita, Nagi Kirima - in fact one hardly realizes there are any main characters at all, until the last two episodes.

To conclude - as an atmospheric psychological drama portraying slices of life within the city, Boogiepop Phantom is a good mirror of what is hidden all around us. However as a mystery thriller, it certainly falls short, not only because nothing is clearly explained or actually resolved, but because we are never given the time to invest in any of the characters or situations.

This anime is classified in the 'horror', 'mystery', 'supernatural', and 'romance' genre, but it is disappointingly lacking in the first three. This is because the main story is pushed aside and hardly mentioned in the first three-quarters of the anime, and instead we are regaled with boobs, upskirts, boobs, sexual innuendos, boobs, pointless flirtations, boobs, jealousy... oh and did I mention the boobs? I mean like, seriously?! Ok, at this point I do expect to see some fan service in any anime, BUT I did not expect a show touted as dark horror to waste so much time on all this harem crap.

That being said, and keeping in mind that I have not read the manga, there are many things which are unclear since the anime seems to be disjointed and apparently leaves out a lot of important things which were present in the source material. For example, the first episode starts when a new member of the Paranormal Investigation Club is looking at her notebook in which she has noted down 7 different 'secrets' related to paranormal issues, which are plaguing the school. In the manga apparently, these 'secrets' or 'cases' are all tackled and solved throughout the story, leading us to the realization that they all, in some way or other, have to do with Yuuko - the Dusk Maiden - the ghost with Amnesia who is the main and title character of the story. In the anime however, these 7 'secrets' are only mentioned once or twice and although we start by tackling the first two, they are never explained or mentioned in any structured way, and are later forgotten amidst... you guessed it... the fan service. (BOOBS)

Another point which rankled is that during most of the episodes, the school is totally deserted. Apart from our 3 main characters (and the ghost of course). I mean, ok sometimes it is mentioned that they are there during the holidays or the weekend, and we do see them play basketball a couple of times - but what about the other students? Are they never around? What about attending classes? The students in the classrooms? What about teachers? Don't the three 'club members' have any interactions with anyone apart from amongst themselves (and the ghost)?? Even during lunch break, we never see them talk with anyone else, and the few times other students finally appear, they are literally faceless.

Also what about Teiichi's life outside of school? He's the main (living) character and yet we know nothing about him, and nor do his two living friends and one dead one. All three girls say they are in love with him, but we are never shown any interaction outside of school, or whether they actually know anything about his family, his hobbies, etc. Outside the Paranormal Investigations Club, apparently, nothing exists. We know nothing about the characters themselves or their private lives - which is one of the main reasons why they are so wooden and two-dimensional. I get that the focus is on Yuuko, but seriously, if this is a 'romance' how can the relationship between the characters be anything other than shallow, if the characters themselves lack any kind of actual personality or individuality?

In a nutshell - this anime could have been awesome. It had real potential and I loved the way Yuuko was portrayed and her psychological turmoil HOWEVER all of this was lost, and all we are given are shallow characters and a meandering pointless story punctuated, SOMETIMES, with some tantalizing dark content, which, however, is never fully realized.