The story takes place in an unnamed Japanese city, a month after a pillar of light appeared in the night sky and five years after a string of serial killings.

At the time of the series, high school students have started to disappear again and the blame is placed on Boogiepop, an urban legend who is said to be the personification of Death.

Five years before the events of Boogiepop Phantom, Nagi Kirima met and befriended Shinpei Kuroda, an undercover agent of the Towa organization, at the local prefecture's hospital.

Touka Miyashita came across Shinpei (as the Towa Agent Scarecrow) and the psychological trauma from seeing the dying man (after being hit by More Murder) created her Boogiepop persona.

The Boogiepop at Dawn light novel describes how Dr Kisugi witnessed Nagi's remarkable recovery and, through experimentation on rats, learned of the drug's powers to grant superhuman abilities, before administering it to herself.

[4] Boogiepop Phantom shows how Dr Kisugi gave the drug to her patients, claiming it could heal them, and how it worsened their problems and resulted in their evolution.

Nagi and Dr Kisugi confronted each other at the hospital, where The Fire Witch was initially overwhelmed by the doctor’s power, but managed to kill her with Boogiepop's help.

The Boogiepop and Others novel tells of Manticore, an imperfect clone of the alien entity Echoes, created by the Towa Organization five years later.

Events culminated one evening at Shinyo Academy, when Masami crippled Echoes with poison and killed Nagi, who did not expect Manticore to have a human ally.

Echoes' light inadvertently allowed the memories of that night to continue as holograms, giving rise to a mixed reality where past and present co-exist,[6] and forced the evolution of the citizens, including those who were administered the Towa drug by Dr Kisugi.

Reputed to be an "Angel of Death" with the appearance of a beautiful boy dressed all in black, who comes with a whistle to take girls away before they turn ugly.

Few people know that Boogiepop actually exists, and is the dormant alter ego of Touka Miyashita who rises to the surface when enemies of the world appear.

Straight-faced and to the point, it speaks in an archaic manner, and seems fond of whistling the overture to Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (Japanese); Debora Rabbai (English) Boogiepop Phantom (ブギーポップ・ファントム, Bugīpoppu Fantomu) is an entity born in the electromagnetic field the moment Echoes' light appeared in the sky.

By handing out red balloons to people who regret the direction their lives have taken, he takes a manifestation of their childhood hopes and dreams with him to Paisley Park, leaving only an empty shell behind.

At the age of twelve, she witnessed the death of Shinpei Kuroda, and the resulting mental trauma gave birth to the alternate personality of Boogiepop.

[13] Boogiepop parallels this dualism as he encourages people to move forward with their lives[14] while hunting down evolved humans thus preventing the possible transformation of society.

[20] The message the show leaves the viewer however is positive, as both Manaka and Shizue reconcile with their mothers, and so the parent-child relationship can be saved by open communication and understanding.

Sadayuki Murai developed the series concept and wrote the screenplay for both the anime and the live-action prequel Boogiepop and Others, having previously worked on the script for Perfect Blue, a feature film that explored many similar themes.

[3] The reduced brightness and sepia color palette for most of the episodes, added to the anxieties and depressions of the characters, were designed to make the series play like a psychological horror.

[28] The songs "Evening Shower" and "Future Century Secret Club" were not included on the OST with the rest of the soundtrack, but were instead released separately by the artists.

[30] Originally broadcast on TV Tokyo from 5 January to 22 March 2000,[3] Boogiepop Phantom was released in Japan on six DVDs subtitled "Evolution" 1-6 with two episodes per disc.

[31] The Right Stuf International confirmed on 6 January 2001 that they had licensed the property for release in North America and Europe[32] while ADV Films would handle distribution.

[42] The "spooky sepia puzzle"[43] juggles an ensemble cast of characters, each with unique point of view, while revealing tidbits about the larger plot in a nonlinear fashion.

[44] Christopher Macdonald of Anime News Network gives special mention to Sadayuki Murai's skill as a screenwriter,[45] for being able to keep the viewer engrossed as well as tying all elements and plot threads by the final episode.

[44] Its increasingly convoluted plot can discourage people from watching,[45] and viewers not familiar with the Boogiepop universe will leave with "more questions than answers".

[47][48] The reduced color palette was applauded for highlighting the sense of "mental disease" and "emotional malaise" that affected most of the characters,[43] while the vignette effect allowed the viewer to observe inside the series rather than just watch it.