The Boogiepop franchise can be a bit of a confusing watch. Unlike most stories, Boogiepop is not told chronologically as one big story. Rather, it is told in various vignettes, jumping around to many different characters–some only incidentally related to the overall story. It’s only when you’ve seen all of these stories that the greater narrative of any given arc becomes clear.
What this means on a structural level is that the story jumps back and forth through time constantly, showing what is needed to tell the story of the character we are following at any given moment. Without cutting up each individual episode into countless smaller parts, a true chronology is impossible. However, if you’re looking for a more basic timeline showing the chronological order for when each arc mainly takes place, then that’s quite doable.
Thus, the following timeline shows when the various story arcs of the Boogiepop franchise are set in relation to one another in the fictional universe they share.
Image Source: TVアニメ『ブギーポップは笑わない』公式 on Twitter
Boogiepop at Dawn
Boogiepop and Others
Episodes 10-13
This prequel arc details the first meeting of the mysterious Boogiepop and aspiring superhero Nagi back when they were middle schoolers as they become involved in a series of murders centered around a local hospital. But little to either know that these killings are also connected to Nagi’s already tragic past.
Image Source: TVアニメ『ブギーポップは笑わない』公式 on Twitter
Boogiepop and Others
Boogiepop and Others
Episodes 1-3
Manticore, a man-eating creature with the face of a young girl, stalks the halls of Shinyo Academy, feeding on the flesh of female students. At the same time, a homeless man wanders the streets discovering both the best and worst humanity has to offer. When these two meet, the world as we know it could end–and not even Nagi and Boogiepop may be enough to stop it.
Boogiepop Phantom
Boogiepop Phantom
Episodes 1-11
A month after the battle with Manticore, people who witnessed the battle begin exhibiting strange powers. At the same time, Manticore’s human accomplice has returned from the dead and is continuing her murderous work. But strangest of all, a second Boogiepop has appeared–one that wears the face of Manticore herself.
Image Source: TVアニメ『ブギーポップは笑わない』公式 on Twitter
VS Imaginator
Boogiepop and Others
Episodes 4-9
A counselor at a prep school with the power to reshape people’s souls begins his plan to evolve humanity to the next level. Meanwhile, a man with the ability to reprogram the human brain sets a trap to destroy the greatest threat to his power: Boogiepop.
Image Source: TVアニメ『ブギーポップは笑わない』公式 on Twitter
Overdrive: The King of Distortion
Boogiepop and Others
Episodes 14-18
When hundreds of people are trapped inside a newly opened building, they all mysteriously fall unconscious. In their dreams, they meet a being called “The King of Distortion” and are confronted by their greatest regrets. Can Boogiepop save these people when the battlefield is not the real world but the mind itself?
© The Right Stuf, Inc.
A Requiem
Boogiepop Phantom
Episode 12
As Boogiepop’s alter ego, Touka, nears her graduation date, she heads to Tokyo for college entrance exams. However, Boogiepop has a different reason for wanting to head into the big city: unfinished business having to do with the Boogiepop Phantom incident a year before.
Boogiepop Phantom can be seen on Hulu.
Boogiepop and Others can be seen with English Subtitles on Crunchyroll and dubbed on Funimation.
Top image source: TVアニメ『ブギーポップは笑わない』公式 on Twitter
One question. The ep 14 is from any arc?
Hey, thank you so much for pointing out my typo. Episode 14 of Boogiepop and Others is the first part of King of Distortion. I have updated the article. Thanks again!