Review: Boogiepop doesn’t laugh, volume 2

Boogipop doesn’t laugh, vol. 2
Art by Kouji Ogata
Story by Kouhei Kadono
Rated Older Teen (16+)
Seven Seas, $10.99
Preview

Warning: mild spoilers

Reading Boogiepop doesn’t laugh is like trying to solve a puzzle with some of the pieces missing. The first volume is particularly disorienting, because the story shifts back and forth in time and it’s not really clear what it’s even supposed to be about. There are all these kids at a bleak urban school, and some are disappearing, and there’s something about a mass murder in the past, and a clown appears on the roof of the school. It’s sort of hard to see where it’s all going.

Volume 2 brings clarity, because it focuses on the characters that are driving the story. We see the manticore, a monster in a borrowed body, re-engineering the students at the school into food. We see the accomplice, who takes the manticore’s dilemma and tries to turn it into an opportunity for himself. Characters from the first volume return, and at last we find out who they are. While the story is more linear and does come to a conclusion, several characters seem to appear for no reason at all, and the denouement leaves a few loose ends.

Beyond the story it tells, Boogiepop invites questions about Japanese society. The apathy of the elders is a theme that runs through the two volumes: Parents and teachers aren’t paying attention, and the kids know it. The disappearance of several classmates barely merits a comment. In this bleak landscape, several characters, including Boogiepop, emerge as protectors, bringing not only salvation but a sense of relief. “It’s funny,” says a girl who was targeted by a serial killer but was saved only by his sudden death (which turns out to be the work of a schoolmate), “Justice might well prevail in the end, but it’s the ordinary people like me who have no guarantee of surviving that long. But if we knew there was someone fighting for us… it’d sure make things easier. You’d at least be alive then. It’s a lot better than knowing you only narrowly missed the chopping block.” The extraordinary popularity of the Boogiepop franchise makes me wonder whether this message resonates with Japanese kids. Then again, maybe it’s just a good story.

The biggest problem with this book is that too many of the characters look alike. Everyone has the same face, so the students in uniform are distinguished only by small details of hair or clothing. In another book this would be merely annoying, but because of Boogiepop’s deliberately fragmented storytelling style, it really gets in the way.

As with the first volume, Seven Seas has done a nice job of production. We have the unusual square shape, color pages in the beginning, and extras in the back. At 232 pages, volume 2 is considerably thicker than volume 1, and there’s that much more story to it.

All in all, this two-volume series is a nice package offering suspense, a touch of horror, and psychological drama. It’s a good manga; with better art, it could have been a great one.