Pandora Hearts

Pandora Hearts, is one of those gripping, manga full with twists at every turn, and makes you feel strong emotions towards the characters. It is brilliantly written.

Story - great plot, at times it was a bit confusing and I had to reread to understand, but the plot... holy shit is so good!

Art - love it, all the covers are beautiful and detailed (omg the colour scheme though! ♥)

Character - really interesting to see the character development, e.g. learning more about Echo, and seeing her changing was cute. I especially liked Gilbert and Alice. Gilbert's loyalty was so touching, Alice was cute and passionate.

Overall I found Pandora Hearts really intriguing. The story was fantastic, the art was beautiful, the character development was interesting. This story really has it all. I found myself attaching to Gilbert and Alice (you gotta love them..)

I don't know why this manga is so underrated! Maybe because its anime hasn't got same story as manga has. For those who has doubt about reading this i suggest check it out, the real story will begin after 25 chapters. No spoiler at all, feel free to read this post.

Story 10/10:

Pandora heart is a rather complicated yet easy to understand story which has one of the most shining ending ever. Story begin with "Your sin is... your very existence." which somehow at the first doesn't make any sense but it will be more clear as story progress. A tragic event was happened long ago, and its detail is being revealed by every flash back, however it doesn't mean that all of story is about past. To put it in the simple way, PH is like a puzzle that its pieces place in the right position with every chapter. I felt sadness, happiness and so on with plot. Don't let that first light chapters deceive you. It will be changed to something very dark soon.

Character 9/10:

Well at the first glance characters are strange. Some character like break or will of abyss seems exotic. But when their past is manifested, their behavior will make more sense. I don't want to compare PH to Mirai Nikki, though Mirai Nikki has got many strange character, aside from main characters their behavior don't have any good explanation. For example Reisuke Houjou or Akise, Aru and so on. PH doesn't fail to make sense from none sense!
More importantly, characters are gray. there is no absolute good or evil in PH.

Vessalius, Oz: Main character. His behavior changes as he understands himself more. At the first sight he seems a typical duplicated protagonist. He is not! If you don't believe me, just read story to the end.

Nightray, Gilbert: A loyal servant or friend? He is an usual character. Nothing strange about him! He has got a well written past with Nightray, Vincent.

Alice: The master. She is a weird character with a lot of odd behavior. She makes Gilbert angry by disturbing OZ. Her past is a key to the story.

Break, Xerxes: Clown. He is one of the most astounding character in PH story. I bet he likes sugar more than his life. He assists OZ to comes to term with himself.

Vessalius, Jack: Multiple personality. An other unique character in PH (well i don't understand him, even by knowing his past.)

Overall and Enjoyment 10/10:
After this manga i read black butler and d.gray man in this genre. In my opinion they are all good, but PH is something else.

First of all you have to know that I read this manga expecting nothing, at that time I was fairly bored after my exams and decided to give this a go, which of course I did not regret. Writing this review really made me think about why this manga is the only 10(and favourited) I have in my list.

Story:10
By far one of the best stories in all of the mangas I've read.
Pros:
-Superb story telling by Jun Mochizuki which kept you intrigued because of the unknowns the manga contains. In addition, the manga gave information to the readers at a comfortable pace, but not too fast. This I find is hard to do because if it was any slower I would be pretty annoyed, and if it were faster then the story would have definitely progressed too quickly. Furthermore, even during the last few chapters where things could get very confusing, the good story telling was able to bring across the complex point with minimal confusion.

-The plot twist. While many mangas have attempted at plot twists in order to stir things up, most were predictable. The plot twist in Pandora Hearts is without a doubt one of the best I have ever read(not just among mangas but across all forms of story entertainment). I'm going to try and be as vague as possible about why it's good because it would definitely spoil the story if I do not. Simply put, the manga leads you on through their adventure, giving info here and there. Suddenly *WHAM* you are left there confused about what was just revealed. At that point, you WILL be very confused, I can assure you.

Cons:
-While the story telling and plot twist are excellent, I'd say that the plot itself is a typical shounen plot(at surface value). Boy with super power meets a girl and goes on an adventure. Also, at times, the settings can be rather cliche(at the start at least, before they explained stuff)

Art:9
I have to be honest with you, I am bad at art, so please do bear with my amateurish explanations and opinions.
Pros:
-Art is extremely detailed. While this may not hold through for characters(will be further explained later), the Chains(monsters) in the manga are always very well drawn. The designs of the Chains themselves are pretty well thought out as well, they were able to give off an eerie feeling.

-Character designs are simple and distinct. While it being simple may not be to the liking of others, I personally enjoyed the simple character designs because it helps me to read it better and enjoy the story, rather than focusing too much on the art. At the same time, the characters all have very different looks, making it easier for us to distinguish between characters before we really get into the story.

-Background was okay I guess, so this doesn't exactly qualify as a pro, but not as a con either. Even though I say that, I do feel that the background was accurate about the Victorian Era.

Character:8
Pros:
-The characters had a lot of substance in them, almost all of them had a past that was show, making the feelings for the characters much clearer. Much like their designs, their characteristics were also distinguishable(mainly from speech style). Well considering the small amount of characters in the manga, it would be weird if time was not put into each character.

Cons:
-I feel that there was little character development. Maybe it's because they all started off with a strong personality.

Enjoyment:10
I'll be very truthful, this 10 came entirely from the plot twist and the plot twist alone. It was probably the best thing about the manga for me.

Overall: 10

I highly recommend this manga!

This is my first review and I chose Pandora Hearts because this manga is simply a masterpiece!!! why? you'll see in the next few words;

Firstly, when you start reading the manga the story may seem mysterious but it reveals itself bit by bit, what I like about this manga is that every little detail is important and it will make much more sense as the story goes on, it's like putting pieces of puzzle all together to get a bigger picture! I like how the mangaka combined history, dark humor, mystery, detective and fantasy all in one without looking absurd. The plot twists are like a punch in the guts, you will never be able to predict anything which is a huge plus for me, I hate to predict something in a book/movie and it happens. You'll always be excited to read the next chapter ♥

Secondly the Art and Characters, I really don't have to mention how amazing Jun Mochizuki draws, all those small details and beautiful designs can be noticed from the first page and it even gets better on the next pages, you'll feel like you've traveled back in time to the Victorian age. I like to pay attention to every detail, the buildings, the ceilings, the clothes and the streets... it's just so detailed and I've never read a manga yet with so much details in drawing and yet so beautiful. sometimes you'll have just to pause to admire the artwork.

For the characters you'll get mixed feelings between love and hatred, there aren't certain characters that you MUST hate, it's just a matter of different perspectives and how you view that character, the mangaka didn't force an "evil" or "good" character in this story, they are all kinda complicated and many of them hide secrets. the character development is just amazing, it has a huge impact on the reader.

Lastly, I want to say that I enjoyed reading this manga so much, time went fast while reading it! it will make you cry, laugh, furious, shocked and confused sometimes. the characters will leave a deep mark in your heart after finishing it. ♥

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
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Get a feeling this is one of the reviews that I'll be quite likely re-writing in future.
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✦Story
I'm not sure to what comment about story, so I'll keep it simple. It has this empty/depressive presentation which I'm really fond of, lot of things there contained aspects of which I can relate to. Story is vast and rich, but as an Anime viewer and as a person who isn't fond of reading nor used to it, I found story became really hard to keep track on. Eventually I forgot lot of things about story which made it harder to connect dots later on. Story era/creatures, ideas and so one were superb. The whole topic of abyss/void and main characters venture through that all pain is superb. But yeah, story gets quite a fair amount of confusion which is the cause to lower my enjoyment for the story. I really hope it will get fully adapted as an Anime. That way information would come in more ways. I also weren't that fond of such massive amount of betrayal and tragedy... was painful in various ways.

✦Art
Beautiful. A lot of was shown, whole architecture & era, character designs were superb, emotional presentation was superb, action was cool and the creatures were fantastic.

✦Character
There a lot of characters so I'm gonna sum it up in the following way. Lot of unexpected twists and things I were not fond of at all. But I grew onto most characters, even the ones I hated(still hate) and disliked. Very depressive, empty, desolate characters with an need/search/urge for hope and their adventure throughout all of it.

✦Enjoyment&Overall
I did love Anime, seen multiple times, so finally picked the Manga, lowed it the like'wise but of course I enjoy Anime more for it's colors, music, animations and emotional presence. The whole topic of Abyss/void and all sorts of strong negative feelings were my jam. I also loved the main character himself being sort of in the midst feeling desolate. Which made that even stronger was that even leaked outside so some other characters could recognize that emptiness. But as always with any sort of work eventually there comes the "good" .. where main character meets people who care, who save him, encourage, help to move and so on. Lot of strong good emotional impact from outside which also leads him towards better from the inside, which also helps him grow stronger. When starts my life "good" development, where are those fateful encounters, the motivational saviors.

Anyhow, I loved almost everything about this manga/anime. Only issue I had with this Manga was that it was eventually very difficult to understand what was going on as I forgot lot of things I had read previously. As well a bit too much tragedy. And I'm not sure how to feel about the ending.

The start of this manga was a little bit puzzling, throwing us immediately in a dark, mysterious world, and then it got better and better with time. The plot, the characters' development, the twists (oh, how I love those mesmerizing plot twists) and the art are extremely well-made and perfectly thought out.

And then there's the end.
It's unfitting for such a great story in my opinion. It looks extremely rushed to me and ... "narrow". I expected either a more open end or a much more developed one. It leaves me with an unfinished taste.
Too bad, it could have been an amazing 10/10 if not the disappointing end.

LISTEN UP ERRBODY

This is literally the best manga I have ever read, hands down.
I'll admit... the reason why I started reading it originally was because I saw a picture of Gilbert somewhere and fell in love with him, making me want to read the series...
When I first started I found it pretty dull and normal, which is a sentiment most of the fandom would agree with. But since I had watched the anime first and read some spoilers online, I just had to keep going... and boy did I not regret that.

The characters have an undeniable depth to their personalities, the concept is pretty damn ingenious (the whole Alice in Wonderland-like theme was incredible), the storyline is complex, well thought out and uses perfect plot devices to carry the story along smoothly, they make ample and appropriate use of plot twists, and they somehow manage to hit you harder and in ways you've never thought you could be hit before at the sad/impactful parts.

I loved this series more than words can describe.
I loved it so much I spent $500 buying every volume of the manga.

I highly recommend everyone give it a shot. I have never recommended a series to so many people before in my life until I read this.

No doubt one of the best investments of time and money I have made.

Might pick this one up again if I can find the next volume secondhand at Book Off, but I'm not 100% sure considering the beginning of the story was really bizarre/confusing for me. I had a hard time following it, though it did start to make a little more sense after a few chapters. It just didn't grab my interest enough.

Again, I'll probably pick it up another time because it comes highly recommended to me from SO many people and I have a friend that absolutely loved it so I feel a little bad marking it as 'dropped' but... I'm just not motivated right now to finish the series.

I have to confess, going into this series I was a bit slow on the uptake. I couldn't really follow everything at first, but that certainly was not enough to make me stop reading it!

Pandora Hearts is truly a wonderful manga with so much to offer! As I continued to read it, I was able to pick up on things that I was confused about initially. Everything fell in to place especially when I went back and re-read it. The second time around everything made totally sense and I caught both crucial and funny details I hadn't noticed before. It just made me love it all the more!

Pandora Hearts has exquisite art, story and characters! I really love how in-depth the characters are. To follow them on their journey from beginning to end, seeing how each event affected them and made them grow or stumble, and especially their interaction with one another was really enjoyable and heartfelt.

A great and very fun perk to this series is that Mochizuki provides her readers with a lot of super awesome bonus content at the end of each volume and in between chapters. Such as skits, fun facts about the series and its characters, and other helpful or just plan hilarious features!

There was clearly a lot of love and care that went into this series! Jun Mochizuki is an incredibly gifted Mangaka! I love her work and am greatly looking forward to her new series, Vanitas no Carte!

I would definitely recommend Pandora Hearts! And while this is my favorite manga of all time (and I could go on and on about how awesome I think it is), I know and respect that everyone has their own unique tastes. For those who are a fan of Gaslamp fantasy, Mystery, Psychological thrillers, Alice in Wonderland themes, Beautiful art, Fantastic characters, and/or a truly Gripping story, I would highly recommend Pandora Hearts as a must read!

p.s.
I apologize if my review is too long-winded! ^-^;

Pandora Hearts is one of the very first manga I'd ever read at the time. Immediately upon reading around 70 chapters, it was uncontestedly my absolute favorite. I thought at first that it was caused by the small number of manga I'd read, however, throughout the years, and having read many more manga, novels, and watched many more anime, it still reigns supreme.

Story: 10/10
The story in itself, one of retrieving lost memories, isn't necessarily a unique premise in an of itself. However, Jun Mochizuki did an IMPECCABLE job weaving the plot in such a way that I doubt it could leave anyone indifferent towards it. The story starts fairly slowly, with a jolly 15 year old noble getting ready for his coming of age ceremony. However, the status quo of his life is soon shaken when he is punished for the sin of merely existing. We follow his quest in search of the truth. How is his existance a sin? How is it related to the characters he meets throughout the series?
Chapter in & chapter out, we learn more and more disturbing truths about the story through the different memory fragments the cast stumbles upon and through the different antagonists that they meet. The reader can clearly tell that they're all related, however, they're left puzzled because it's unclear how they could possibly be. Each little character, whether from the side or main cast, plays an important role in the overall development of the story. As one reads, they discover the bonds that tie everything together, the characters, the memory fragments that we stumble into, the main character's sin... The story evolves faster and faster without ever getting too fast, but while getting us excited and worried about what the events will turn into. Soon, we reach the climax that has left truly left its mark on me and everyone who I've spoken to that has read it. Each little piece of the puzzle that we had learn serves for the greater purpose of the story. So many lines that we don't pay much attention to by the characters were foreshadowing it, yet it came as such a shock that I literally had to stop reading for a while to catch my breath and process what I'd just read. The show is full of amazingly written plot twists that never fail to amaze me.
The manga explores so many philosophical ideas throughout its run time and manages to make the reader actually ponder about so many things about real life. It makes you think about so many things all the whilst getting you hooked. I truly think Pandora Hearts is the best story that I've ever read.

Art: 9/10
The story starts off with okay art. It does convey the dark vibe of the series correctly but it fails to be outstanding. However, throughout the chapters, it improves so much while still giving off the same feel. By the end of the manga, the art is top tier.

Characters: 10/10
Many artists fail to make their characters human. They can't make the reader attached to their cast so they opt for some less than ideal strategies in my opinion. Many anime & manga that I've seen with a similar theme to Pandora Heart's employs strategies like showing graphic abuse towards the cast as a means of making us care for them through basic human empathy without the scene adding anything to the plot itself. Pandora Hearts, though, makes you care about the characters because the writer was so adept at making them human. You understand why Alice feels so lonely when you've been told that she'd survived many years without any memories in a world where she alone was human. You understand how deep its impact on her was when (mini spoiler:) you see how insecure she gets and how bad she feels whenever she is left behind, alone and watches as a third party whenever Oz moves ahead of her & interacts to someone else. We understand why Break is so cynical when we learn about his loss from his backstory. Why understand why Oz remains unphased about so many things that would have ruined anyone else's mood because of what we're told about his childhood. Mochizuki Jun doesn't have to hammer their traumatic past over our heads over and over. We just see its impact and understand it ourselves. You can tell that she knows her characters perfectly and you can understand every one of their actions and why they would choose it after having gone through whatever they've been through. Truly one of the manga with the best, most human cast I've ever seen

Enjoyment: 10/10
To me, a piece of art (be it music, litterature, painting, movies, ...) is only a masterpiece so long as it makes you feel something. If it touches the audience in any way after experiencing it. Pandora Hearts excelled at that. The story left me on the edge of my seat, always thirsty for more and more of the manga every month that I had to wait for a new chapter (once I caught up). I cared for the characters and was attached to them. They felt so human an organic that I couldn't help but empathize with them. Their philosophies did change my point of view about many real life topics. I really enjoyed the series.


Overall: 10/10
Truly my favorite manga of all time. The story is amazing, the cast gets you so attached. No scene is unnecessary, everything is linked. Each time I re-read it I'm amazed by the intricacy of every event that occurs in the manga and the crazy amout of foreshadowing throughout the chapters. I also enjoy the Alice in Wonderland references. Highly recommended