Boogiepop

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Boogiepop
Kana	ブギーポップ
Rōmaji	Bugīpoppu
General Information
Epithet	Eerie Bubble Shinigami
Species	Automatic Existence
Gender	Unknown
Birth Date	July 26
Status	Alive
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Brown
Personal and Professional Status
Relatives	Touka Miyashita (Alter Ego)
Media
Novel Debut	Boogiepop and Others
Anime Debut	Boogiepop and Others, Episode 1: Boogiepop and Others 1 Boogiepop Phantom, Episode 1: Portraits from Memory
Japanese Voice	Aoi Yūki (Anime) Sayaka Yoshino (Film) Kaori Shimizu (Phantom)
English Voice	Michelle Rojas (Anime) Debora Rabbai (Phantom)

“	When I detect adversity approaching, I float to the surface. That's why I am Boogiepop – phantasmal, like bubbles.	”
–Boogiepop

Boogiepop (ブギーポップ, Bugīpoppu), also called the Eerie Bubble (不気味な泡, Bukimi na Awa), is the titular protagonist of the Boogiepop Series. He is the alter ego of Touka Miyashita. He is famous around the girls as the rumored Shinigami (死神, Shinigami), a creature who kills people when they are at their most beautiful point, before they can grow ugly and old. In reality, he is an Automatic Existence that awakens in order to eliminate Enemies of the World, individuals or being that threaten to destroy humanity.

Personality

Unlike his alter ego, Boogiepop most often wears a serious expression, the closest thing to a smile he shows being his trademark "asymmetrical expression". He is relatively quiet and soft-spoken, talking in an archaic manner that appears both feminine and masculine. Boogiepop automatically "floats to the surface" when he detects enemies of the world, and he considers his natural duty to defeat these malicious entities. As such, he doesn't have any dreams or hopes, instead encouraging the ones he meets to do so for him.

Boogiepop's only friend is Keiji Takeda, Touka's boyfriend, who he met during his fight with the Manticore, and spent his days chatting about random things with, before eventually disappearing after his job was done. The fact that he made sure to say goodbye to Keiji, even after his job was over, showed that he really enjoyed the boy's company.

In spite of his cold-looking exterior and the nature of the rumors about him, Boogiepop is a very compassionate individual, helping the distraught Echoes when he was about to give up on his search of the Manticore, and admonishing the people who ignored him when he was clearly injured. Boogiepop is quite fond of whistling the tune of Wilhelm Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Appearance

Despite being an alternate personality of Touka, and therefore having the same appearance as the girl, Boogiepop is described by others as looking oddly masculine. Therefore, most people who see Boogiepop are able to tell them apart, even if they don't know anything about him.

Boogiepop has shoulder-length dark brown hair and brown eyes. Over Touka's school uniform, Boogiepop wears his signature purple pipe hat, decorated with metalic ornaments and a chain, and a long purple mantle, yet again decorated with many circular metalic ornaments. Touka unconsciously carries around the outfit in a bag when Boogiepop is about to resurface.

In the anime, Boogiepop has short, reddish brown hair styled in a bob haircut.

Background

Boogiepop first surfaced during the serial killer incident that happened years ago. Boogiepop tried his best to eliminate the threat of the killer without being noticed, but unfortunately was eventually spotted by Touka's mother when trying to escape from a window. This caused some friction in Touka's family, as her mother was considered insane after no traces of Boogiepop's existence were discovered. During this time, Boogiepop also first interacted with Nagi Kirima, who he would later collaborate with again in defeating other malicious entities. After defeating the serial killer and inadvertently saving Kazuko Suema, Boogiepop again disappeared inside of Touka Miyashita.

Abilities

Microfilament Wire (鋼鉄製のワイヤー, Kōtetsusei no Waiyā)
Debut:	Boogiepop and Others
Type:	Weapon
Effect:	Extreme sharpness and durability

Boogiepop's signature weapon is his microfilament wire, an extremely thin yet durable metallic string which he uses to bind, injure or kill his opponents, as well as for mobility, either by using it to swing around buildings or other tall places, or fixing it between two points and walking across it. The wire is described as being almost transparent, with multiple instances of people failing to notice it.

Superhuman Dexterity: Although Boogiepop does not seem to possess any supernatural abilities, he is able to operate Touka's body at a near superhuman level, being capable of moving with extreme agility, having rapid reflexes and, coupled with his strategic abilities, being capable of besting almost every enemy he encounters, however powerful they may be. His senses also seem to be highly advanced compared to a normal human's, being able to detect the frequency of The Embryo's biowaves and mechanically transferring its consciousness from one object to another, a feat which would ordinarily be impossible outside a laboratory environment staffed by specialists.

Subconscious Manipulation: As an Automatic Existence, Boogiepop seems to be capable of influencing Touka's actions subconsciously, using her to gather information and move according to his will even while not directly possessing her body. This also manifests in Touka always carrying Boogiepop's clothes inside her Spalding Bag whenever his appearance will be necessary. Additionally, Boogiepop seems capable of appearing at will for brief moments before switching back.

Story

See: Boogiepop/Story

Trivia

• As mentioned in chapter 2 of Boogiepop and Others, Boogiepop's design may be, in part, inspired by the character Maetel from the 1977 manga series Galaxy Express 999..
• Boogiepop's name is explained in the series: "When I detect adversity approaching, I float to the surface. That's why I am Boogiepop – phantasmal, like bubbles." The "boogie" part of his name is derived from the Japanese word 不気味 (bukimi) which means weird, ominous or eerie.
  • An additional explanation of the name comes from a conversation between Boogiepop and Shinpei Kuroda, which makes the connection to the term "creepy" more clear:
    "What in the world are you?"
    "You called me a reaper, didn’t you?"
    "Sure, but you’re probably just a delusion. You’re like a bubble that will pop and disappear at any moment. A fragile hope that shows it self as you die, a pretty creepy one at that."
    "So you see me as some kind of creepy bubble?".
  • An alternative, more meta, explanation for his name is given by Kadono in the afterward of one of the VS Imaginator novels. In it, he describes wanting to make a story that appeals to "pop" media while also integrating it into his more "boogie" sensibilities (it's unclear as to whether or not this is till in relation to being "creepy"). Hence the name, Boogiepop.
• Boogiepop appears as a supporting character in the video game Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.
• Boogiepop also makes an appearance in the video game Dengeki Gakuen RPG: Cross of Venus.
• Boogiepop has no listed gender and uses ambiguous pronouns

Gallery

See: Boogiepop/Gallery