Pandora Hearts

Pandora Hearts is a manga with a really interesting plot. The world is interesting and well developed with various factions, mechanics, etc. The story itself is interesting, with lots of twists, intrigue, and escalation. There are points where the story seems to be dragging on without really moving forward, and there are moments where the twists are obvious and make you annoyed with how long a façade will continue, but all in all despite it being pretty long, it’s a ride that is well paced and will keep you engrossed in both what is happening and finding out what truly happened. It also feels like it went to painstaking depths in order to try to be consistent, though to be completely honest I don't feel that that was completely necessary. At points, it seemed to try too hard in explaining how something behind a plot device works, coming up with random mechanics that never appear again. It also tries to make its twists consistent by showing the scenes related to the twist again from a new perspective where what was previously there is there again, but framed in a different way. I like the concept of doing this in general, but only when its pre-planned and works really well, as when it isn't, doing so just feels forced and convoluted, bringing more attention to the discrepancies than just ignoring it. I suppose that technically it may be a more solid way of dealing with things and I appreciate the attention to detail, but maybe because I'm that much of a stickler for details but I found it unnecessary.

Character wise, I felt it started off interesting but I feel most of the main characters got less interesting as it went on. Oz grows through major growth over the course of the manga, but ultimately that just pushes him from being a pretty unique character into something that fills into the standard Shounen hero mold. Alice starts off seeming like a character with a lot of potential, but she quickly loses importance in the plot, still being very much present, but not really having much development, agency, or impact. Gilbert starts off being mysterious and someone dealing with the burden of a lot of different weights, and while that is an undercurrent throughout, he becomes increasingly clingy and not as complex as he first seemed.  In regards to the side characters, there were a lot, they were the more interesting of the bunch, and I did end up liking a few of them, such as Lacie, Jack, Break, and Echo. Though there seemed to be a very strong reluctance to make any character one that the reader was supposed to hate, wherein every character was meant to be sympathetic to a degree eventually, which I felt may have made it harder to like any of them especially either. I will also say that the twist of a character not really being who they seem to be really begins to lose its value when it is used for pretty much every single character in the manga.  

The manga resolved itself well enough I suppose in terms of plot at the end, though regarding where the various characters end up and their various relationships, it felt incredibly underwhelming as in the end, they largely went nowhere. The action overall felt pretty weak, in that it never really had much depth to it, being a random medley of sword and avatar fighting, and wasn't drawn especially flashy either. The comedy was interesting, as it felt like it was made to intentionally contrast with the somewhat dreary mood the manga usually had. The art overall was drawn pretty well, though the designs were only okay, as most of them felt very similar and there weren't really that especially stood out. 

tl;dr: A story with a complex plot with so many twists and turns that they begin to lose impact, and characters that start out interesting but become less so.

- Spoiler-free Review -

First off, I finished this Pandora Hearts quite a while ago and I decided to write a review just to express my emotions about this particular work. It's one of the few manga that I really enjoyed reading despite its length.

Story - 9/10
For the story, I didn't really find anything that inconvenienced me in any way. Sometimes the pacing goes slow to make room for building relationships between various characters. The action in this manga is pretty great and I'm positive you'll find it great as well. And the characters in this manga, at least a number of them, are named after characters of Alice in Wonderland.

Art - 10/10
Character design is great! All of them look gorgeous and I guarantee that you'll be fangirling for at least one character in the manga. The action scenes are also great and the atmosphere is really impactful.

Character - 10/10
All of them are really fleshed out compared to its anime adaptation, which I did not watch since I was told it focused too much on its shounen aspect. The connections between this manga's characters are really well-built and I'm grateful the manga didn't just focus on the shounen aspect because it would've ended up like the generic shounen we all know.

Enjoyment - 10/10
All the banter in this manga are really enjoyable and I encourage y'all to also read the omake (bonus chapters) because they're so goofy and makes you all warm inside. It's serious in all its appropriate moments and the comedy doesn't get in the way of the story.

TL;DR: Overall - 10/10
Overall, I highly recommend this manga to anyone out there who likes shounen, likes seeing characters interact and develop thoroughly, and likes a well-illustrated work. Good luck out there!

At first i didn't expect Pandora to be dark or full into story, but a light hearten manga/anime but then it gets really good the manga goes into deep story telling and more plots start to connect and twist. Plus the characters interactions with each other is very fluid and fun to watch even when they are mean to each other.

If you can get past the first 1-4 volumes you will deeply enjoy this anime with cute character designs in their pasts(when they were children I love those scenes) They look really cute and chubby but its so story involved, there's quite a bit of gore if you can get over the amount of gore its really good the plot twists were very enjoyable and i rate this manga a 7. The anime is a different story the totally ruined it by not continuing it but its alright there are 2 volumes left in the series to come out and i'm pretty sure they aren't going to ruin it with the last two, but probably make it even better.

Sorry for my bad grammar I've never been on the side of spelling or grammar but thanks for reading :D

It's a fantastic manga, simple as that !

Solid characters, offers great humour, with deep and complex enough plot. When the twists happen, they don't seem repetitive, or forced, or stretched out. Just enough of linger, clues, curiousity, and growing revelation. If you like talking about theories or predictions, or overall a manga that makes you think, this is the one for you.

And of course, the art is quite lovely - well paced and well drawn.

Before to read the manga, I was suspicious about to read again the theme of Alice in Wonderland. So it goes to show how intriguing it was, and I made the right choice.

Fair warning though, read carefully or it can get confusing. No lazy reading, glazing or skipping chapters. It looks like a pretty manga, but it isn't a fluffy or typical one. You might have to get used to some aspects of the storyline overall. Once you do though, it will feel more smooth.

Some of the characters *can* be a tad cliched (Or can do the odd cliched thing) but the majority are intriguing, unique and likable, with plenty of growth surrounding them.

It isn't t my favorite manga of all time, but it it's a top contender. It keeps me going at least. Highly recommended !

This review may contains spoilers, read if you'd like.

This is my first manga review but don't disregard it because it's my first time publicly writing one. As of now I've completed 365 entries of anime and completed 16 entries of manga. Of all the anime and manga I've read up to now, Pandora Hearts was definitely fun to watch and read. To me, the art direction in the animation and manga were fantastic! Especially in the manga, I enjoyed how sharp characters looked. Another thing I enjoyed about this manga was the story/plot and how Oz tries to reach his goal. If you're interested in a character developing himself and like action with fight scenes, then I'd recommending giving this a try.

Story: I'd give it a 9/10, very close to a 10 but there are some plot points I dislike. Regarding what I like, I really liked how the story was very concise when describing flashbacks, and how the author incorporated their own theme of friendship.

Art: I really enjoyed the art direction in the anime and manga so it definitely deserves a 10/10 in my eyes.

Characters: I'd say 10/10, characters were well developed and almost all had some goal they wanted to accomplish. I enjoyed how some characters interacted with each other (ex. Oz and Elliot), has many dynamic characters.

Enjoyment: A 9/10, there are just some arcs that I enjoyed more than others. As for what I enjoyed, I liked the overall art, themes of friendship and identity, expressed by the author, and how attached I felt to characters like Break, Vincent, and Gilbert.

Overall: I believe this deserves a 10/10. Overall the story is pretty solid, has more than decent art, character interactions are unique, and the story leaves you in suspense most of the time.

For new readers, you'll like Pandora Hearts if you like: Fullmetal Alchemist, Yumekui Merry, D. Gray Man.

Recommendation:
For new readers, this manga is a beautiful blend of complex story, detailed characters, and a captivating universe. Starting with seemingly a simple cliche introduction of a young hero falling into the abyss, the story escalates in leaps and bounds, creating a universe with a dark realm known as the Abyss and powerful entities known as chains exist. The manga quickly creates detailed and understandable characters, an enigmatic and progressive story, and an intriguing universe with its own rules and laws. The art style may be hard for some new readers but it quickly improves and the manga is overall, a fairly short read of 107 chapters. If you love manga for their mysterious stories and in-depth characters, this is a must-read.

Story: Fantasy/fiction with a combined arc story; what I mean by this is that the story flows without stopping from arc to arc very similar to the arcs of Fullmetal and D. Gray. The story never seems to slow or delay in anticipation for the next villain or plot-line to arrive. More importantly, the story is vividly complex, with details being present well in advance of a major plot revelation, allowing you to piece together, or be pleasantly surprised, by the story's direction.

Art: Tremendous improvement was seen with art and art style. You can physically see this change and improvement of expressions, settings, and characters.

Action: YES. A lot.
Romance: Not particularly.
Fantasy: YES. A lot.
Comedy: Fair amount. Enjoyable.
Abilities/Powers: Yes.

In Depth:
This is my first review and so I thought it should be one of my top manga. Please bear with me if I rant.

I never thought Pandora Hearts would be as good as it was. When I started to read, I didn't expect much at all from the manga with the art style being fairly dated, a somewhat confusing start, and an introduction that gave me vertigo. Little did I know it would be the read of a lifetime. Pandora Hearts, as a work, made me reevaluate stories as a whole, to always question motivations, perspective, and narrative. It made me focus on characters as organic, thinking, changing, and each with their own viewpoint, understanding, and intentions. There are few others I've found to be similar to Pandora Hearts and I don't believe it received a faithful adaptation on television. This is one of those manga I'd like to forget, just so I could have the experience of reading it for the first time again.

At the beginning I loved Jack - as you do not like this character? Later he began to irritate me hurting Oz, but I still loved him. I'm not able to sudden changes of mind on the form ... but Glen-Levi, Glen-Oswald, Glen-Elliot, Glen-Gilbert ... how could I not fall in love despite their earlier reluctance to Baskerville.The story, in spite of colorful characters, seemed a new Alice in Wonderland. But no. Volume after volume trying to convince more and more that Pandora Hearts is not Alice in Wonderland - it's something completely different and new. Xerxes Break - Hatter, Vincent and Gopher Glen and chains with black wings, Oz - B-Rabbit ... people and chains fit together perfectly, and the structure of the world, where it all happens deftly holds a whole, which can not It has the impression of complete abstraction and meaninglessness. I'm not cloying, but I was not ashamed to cry at the end. It's one of the greatest series I have ever read.

As you can see from my score, the series deserve a 10. For the past few day, I been reading the manga that my sister recommended.

This series started out very basic, particularly due to setting up the mechanic and the cast. the first volume did a great job on hooking the reader off the bat. Later on, the story become more complex due to the circumstance. I don't want to go in detail because it require the audience to pay attention to the dialogue. Also, don't expect alot of action in it.

Future arc lead to a rabbit hole(*in a good way*).

My favorite character in this series was Oz and Alice. Both of these character are connected in some way. All the supporting cast character are well-written.

Character: 10/10
Setting: can be better. Pretty much basic
Concept: easy 10/10

I've never written a review before, but I just couldn't help myself after reading this. I just absolutely loved the plot, the artwork, the characters, literally ALL of it!

I honestly think that the plot is absolutely amazing with multiple unexpected twists that has caused my heart to skip countless beats. The story may seem a little confusing at first but as you start to get deeper into the story, you won't be able to stop! I don't know how many times I've told myself "one last chapter!" and ended up reading another five or ten! xD The plot twists will just blow your mind and keep you hooked all the way to the end.

The characters are ALL (or almost all) so lovable!!♥ I really enjoyed seeing the cute side of the characters and the occasional laughs this manga brought me. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the characters' different personalities, ranging from the bright cheerful ones to the tsunderes. Although I have to say that the one thing that bothers me most in mangas/animes is the pace of the characters' development, I felt that in this manga, the characters developed at the perfect pace, not too slow and not too fast, but just the right speed to keep you attached.

I'm not sure how many tears I've shed throughout this manga, but it has definitely been too many too count. The action will have you clinging to the edge of your seat and praying that your favourite character(s) DO NOT die (which I discovered doesn't always work QwQ). WARNING!! ->You WILL cry over the loss of various beloved characters, but every good story needs sacrifices to keep the story and the characters going right? :')

With all the perfect components of a good story, this manga is an absolute must read and the artwork is just the perfect cherry-on-top. I'm sure you definitely will not regret reading it, so just give it a try? ^-^

Overall Rating: 10
Story: 9
Characters: 9
Development: 10
Pacing: 10

WARNING: DO NOT WATCH THE ANIME, THE ANIME ENDS PREMATURELY AND YOU WON'T GET THE SAME EXPERIENCE.

Genres: Psychological Thriller (differs among sites), Gaslamp Fantasy, Mystery, Adventure, Shounen

Synopsis:

As the story starts off seeming somewhat typically, we are thrown into the light-hearted introduction of Pandora Hearts which takes place in a setting somewhat reminiscent to the Victorian-Era. Oz Vessalius, the next-of-kin as heir to the Vessalius house, one of the 4 Great Dukedoms alongside the Nightrays, Rainsworths and Barmas, is seen picking on his timid servant, Gilbert, not long before his rite of passage in which he will be introduced into society.

However, this calm before the storm is quickly blown away as during the Rite of Passage, Gilbert suddenly attacked Oz with a sword, and cloaked figures appear and banish Oz into the Abyss, the setting of a fairy tale that was supposedly told to keep kids from misbehaving. They declared that the sin Oz was committing was his very existence.

As we are thrown into the story we learn that the Abyss is home to denizens called Chains, and one such chain is the B-Rabbit, Blood Stained Black Rabbit, Alice, with whom he must make a contract in order for them both to escape the Abyss. It isn't long until the two are backed into the corner by the eccentric Xerxes Break into assisting the organization known as Pandora in obtaining the Core of the Abyss. Oz and Alice agree, so that Alice can recover her fragmented memories in the process.

Review:

Do not let the Shounen genre and some somewhat familiar themes such as Alice's amnesia deter you from reading this manga, for, as the plot develops over time at an amazing pace you'll come to find why I gave the manga such high marks. In fact, the iffy introduction and the somewhat familiar themes are the only reasons I gave this manga's story and characters 1 point short of perfection. However, over time these familiar themes are shown to be handled with such care and are presented so interestingly and amazingly, which is why it was ONLY 1 point short of perfection.

I, at first, was planning on dropping this manga, though the setting itself made me feel somewhat hopeful that this series would evolve into something more. We see so commonly modern, medieval or futuristic settings, or some odd hybrid of any or all of the three -- and in all 3, it is so tiring for every series to take place in a high school setting. The fact that Jun Mochizuki, the author of Pandora Hearts, thought to put the series in a less common setting interested me greatly.

And right I was. You may find yourself hooked about 6-10 chapters in when the psychological themes of this manga begins to become more prominent when its finally shown that his series shies away from letting anything be irrelevant, and it makes everything relevant in such a great way. And its at this moment that the manga will start doing what it does best: Making you feel like it, like many shounen, has already presented all necessary world building information, and that the plot will revolve around that, while its mystery themes leave you with questions that also make you doubt the former feeling, interesting you to find out what more developments will take place, and though I don't wish to ruin the surprise, it is better to tell you that its definitely the former. You must never underestimate the world or the plot, as you can be sure there will always be more information that'll be incredibly relevant that only makes the plot all the richer.

This series will gradually develop into a more complex, beautifully tragic story with an immersive world and amazing characters. Another one of this series' strong points is its pacing and development speed, and the characters, some of which may start off seeming typical, will develop into characters who'll make you feel sorrow for some of them, and how each of their personality traits and actions taken by those personalities have story-relevant reasons behind them and the interesting motives behind each character's motives.

This series is greatly recommended to any fan of manga, especially mystery and fantasy manga. Despite the scarce fight scenes, the series presents an amazing story with great pacing, great development and is beautifully tragic. The series melds together its somewhat odd mix of genres in an interesting, incredibly way and puts them in a setting within an incredibly immersive world. Do not drop this manga early on, as you will be missing out. I recommend reading 10-25 chapters, as its introduction is somewhat iffy, but later develops into something greater, though it'd be better for everyone to just read it through to the end.

WARNING: DO NOT WATCH THE ANIME, THE ANIME ENDS PREMATURELY AND YOU WON'T GET THE SAME EXPERIENCE.

Pandora Hearts is one spectacular work. Honestly, just from watching the anime a few years back, I really didn't appreciate it that much, except for the songs, probably.
Searching one of their osts in youtube (Everytime You Kissed Me) made me recall the anime, and it urged me to read the manga as I've read other people's comments that truly intrigued me. Watching the anime wasn't really enough. Reading the manga was a whole different thing. It felt more real, more complicated, but overall satisfying.
As the anime pointed out, it centered on a tragedy that happened 100 years ago. In the manga, it really swept things to various depths, many twists that truly have twisted the minds of the readers. The characters took their time and grew one by one, trying to earn their place in the story, trying to find out who they really were. It truly was a magical ride, full of ironies and complicated things that almost drove me insane, myself. But nonetheless, it was a meaningful ride. Characters would deceive you, the plot gets wicked as you move from one chapter to another, a handful of "loyalty" to one's master could get anywhere, circumstances wherein you set aside your principles and consider your surroundings, simple things like that made the story worth reading.
Overall, the plot and the characters were really amazing, making the story worth recalling and re-reading just for the simpl3 flush of emotions you get with every chapter. Totally one of the best mangas ever. The author really did a splendid job with this!

This will be a semi-review and I will try to be as general and spoiler free as possible. If there are spoilers I will mark them inside [ ]

Pandora Hearts has earned it's rep of being a beautiful and complex story that earned most of its praise through the plotting and recontextualization.
To give some backstory, I own 15 volumes of PH in german of which I read 8 of 10 years ago. I also watched the anime even earlier than that. I never finished the story because it was still publishing at that point and I didn't complete manga that went over 13 volumes in general (Black Butler suffered the same fate).

So I am not completely new to this series or utterly ignorant to some of it's story. Therefore the rumored confusing start wasn't much bother to me. I went into this story completely unspoiled of it's entire second half, however. This will be kinda semi-relevant for a point I will make later down this text.


Plotting & "Recontextualization"

I have a plucking feathers to do on this one. Pandora Hearts is a throughout erratic story, focused on one central event that defines the entire plot line and several characters existence in result, and all information regarding this event is cluttered and strayly presented in the narrative. Most information is told through expositions by recently or completely fresh and new characters. The series relies on relentless info dumping. It gives you zero hints, you just have to sit back there and watch it unfold. Other mysteries start with a 0 point, an objective and then an investigation to find out the "whodunnit". PH is one of these narratives that start out with minus information and you get very little bread crumbs as you move forward into the story. There are several aspects of the worldbuilding that are simply never explored or fleshed out in any way, and suffice as mere plot devices. (This will be adressed again under "Worldbuilding")
Reading PH was to sit through a wave of characters being introduced every other chapter, them info dumping the main cast or directly to the viewer (extremely minor spoiler in this bracket: [there is a segment in the ch 40s~ where Duke Barma basically expositions something to the duchess at length, and it was definitely a direct exposition to the viewer rather than to this character, who acted as a gateway]). The mystery is characters hiding information, revealing only concepts (minor spoiler for the last arc: [Echo's chain as example only got really relevant in the last arc, and was done over with in the same time span.]) or information the moment they have to be relevant for the current arc. Extreme lack of foreshadowing and the foreshadowing that exists is very low dosed.

Throughout the narrative directly lies to the viewer by marking red harrings, making it seem like a character is narrating themselves meanwhile it's the thoughts of someone completely else, or making it look like characters are connected through the panelling. All false narratives. A recontext is hardly possible if the context was a false truth to begin with. A context that was never established cannot be recontextualized. Information is dumped on your head when it is relevant, not long before introduced and to matter long later. All meanings are pretty direct unless it was a "well actually".

I at least give PH some compliment on showing past panels when they call back to some events from long way back, since the story is so dense with information it helps keeping track of some of it.


Plot Twists [Major Spoilers so skip the section unless you've completed the story]

Here is where my "I went in blind" paragraph is relevant.

The twist that Jack is actually the baddie was rather predictable. He was too angelicy framed from the start and I am not a beginner to story telling. The narrative did not a very good job at hiding it's intentions because of mentioned issues in the story telling above.

The plot twist with Oz however, I actually really liked. I also liked the reveal that Vincent opened the gates to the abyss. How these twists influence the story? Eh, it makes Oz a rather unique concept for a main character but Jack's entire character motivation doesn't really develop beyond what he narrates over and over. Man was obsessed with Lacie, which in return acted rather abusingly towards him. This is not really ever adressed much I had to notice.
I also have to say that I didn't enjoy the arc from ch 40-70 at all. It has tonal whiplashes and the plot twist with [name spoiler: Elliot] was not executed well in my opinion. I liked his character too, it is a shame. It fails because of the flaws in the plotting as mentioned in the section above.

Character motivations

In the middle of the story it seems like major characters like Gilbert take a huge step back to then come back in the climax to really "do something". Oz is about to go mayham but gets hold back by Alice, several times. Will mention this later down. Vincent also was framed more cunning and dangerous than he ended up being in the climax. He was actually seriously pathethic. I understand it makes sense in relation to this character motivation but seriously, this whole baddie personality just feels like another red herring.

[Post-plot twist spoilers: The Lacie, Glen and Jack triangle works for the most part, but overall I find the execution clumsy and the narrative text mediocre. Also prior mentioned Lacie acted a little abusive which was never really adressed imo]


Characters [I mention character names]

This manga has outright character stereotypes I dislike. There is this weirdo Jack obsessor around the 50~ chapters who just felt tonally inconsistent with anything else going on, and was just a pain to watch for me. I also dislike the edgy loli that Lilly is, she isn't good and I consider her completely unnecessary. I enjoyed Oz, Vinc and Gil but all of them kinda get shafted at points and mishandled because of the erratic story telling. I think Oz's first arc's existentialism gets forgotten and overshadowed with the last two arcs reveals. Jack is okay. I understand the motivation but I don't value it that highly in the grand scheme of stories I have already consumed. I tried to enjoy Echo and her arc but I honestly have to say it felt like another Rei Ayanmi rip-off, and also suffers under the plotting issues. By the end, I ended up being disappointed in all of these characters journeys, that I cannot say I really have a favorite. And I consider Elliots arc mishandled as well, he was top 3 for me until that point. [Major Spoiler: I especially didn't like that Leo became a Glen vessel and less of his own character, until the climax when he tells Glen to fuck off...]

Alice I didn't like much. She is kind of a punk. I am neutral mostly.

[ Major Spoiler for Oscar: Towards the very end of the story Oscar, Oz's uncle, gets some of the limelight and I thought his chapter was outright corny and misplaced. Way too late into the story for a character that barely set foot into it. He is not much of a relevant character. I understand the emotional implications, but he hardly a rounded character for him to come this late into the story and pull up a heartfelt family moment. All the dialogue in that chapter was cliche and I didn't enjoy it. ]


On a more positive note, I think the character with the best arc was Break. Easily the most consistent and satisfying one for me.

Worldbuilding

[Spoilers]

At first I thought the children of ill-omen that have red eyes get mistreated because of some prejudice, but apparently they are related to the abyss and that's why they get shit on. This is never really explained further than how it relates to the abyss. Why do some kids just get born with red eyes? Who determines this? Something with Baskervilles. Please explain.
There is also the abyss and how it works from a political standpoint in relation to other states ... though the abyss is an only-this-country thing, there is no mention of the outside world and what they think of it. I don't expect a "where did the abyss come from", but the world seems so tiny because of this, which bothers me a lot. Think of FMA, that seems like a properly large and fleshed out world breathing life from all corners.

[/]

Comedy

Fans will probably hate this topic but sorry it has to be done. [Very minor spoilers I guess]
I wouldn't say the comedy is outright awful, but I think it gets worse over time as the story becomes more serious. In the middle Oz is about to go berserk like 3 times and Alice interrupts him each time with a comedy routine. I understand it makes sense for her character and there are reasons to not go berserk, but it really took out the air of the tension and made me facepalm. It is an anime cliche to do this and I fairly dislike it.
Imagine in Houseki if Bort comes in to save Phos, but they do it in a comedic way. It takes you out fo the tone and therefore the tension. Of course that makes no sense for Bort's character to do so, but this example is to show how whiplashy that feels.

Especially in the climax these comedic interruptions were bothersome. Please just take yourself seriously to the end, you can do it!

Panelling & Space

People seem to have complaints about this. I pesonally, don't see an issue with the panelling itself, except when it is used to confuse the reader into another lie of its narrative, but I have my issues with the lack of establishing of space. PH has very little backgrounds and it's kinda its detriment. In the middle Oz and gang enter a room and apparently it's a trick with mirrors, but you don't actually see the mirror until the second Oz points at it. What's the point? The entire space in the moment was unreadable or ununderstandable for me as a reader. Action is outright bad. Who aims where, where did they come from, how big is anything right now; it is not good at determining space and it makes it a rough read.

Art

The art is really good. Except the lack of backgrounds, I really like the clothing, the hair, and the character designs. I think the manga looks good. Color pages are flat out gorgeous. The story has several moments of tonal whiplashes and the art doesn't reflect the tone it's going for. You can see the pattern.

Climax

I think the last set of chapters are a proper climax and put a good lid on the pod. It was a proper ending and if you were really invested in the story up until that point you will not be let down. Though I have my reservations with the buildup up to the very last moment of the last chapter.


Conclusion

Pandora Hearts at it's heart (haha) is a story about not being able to let go of the past, grief and people seeking love. It doesn't achieve its themes to the best of its abilities and makes things purposefully perplexing and disorderly to look more complex, and I think it has too many flaws for me to give it the benefit of the doubt. In my very honest opinion, there are better stories out there with better plotting in a long shot that don't exhaust me as much as this one has.

My overall score is a 6.5/10

I'm gonna start this review by saying that Pandora Hearts is my absolute favorite manga series and one of my top favorite series of any kind (tv, manga, novel, everything). I love it so much its not even funny. So here is my attempt at explaining why in a coherent format (if you asked in person you'd just get a bunch of emphatic yet a bit incoherent ranting about how much I love it mixed with some screaming and a lot of hand gesturing).

I'm gonna start by saying that when hearing about it the first time, it wasn't something I was super interested in picking up. It seemed a bit like a generic Alice in Wonderland retelling and didn't really catch my eye. However, my cousin recommended it so I was basically obligated to at least try it and hoooly frig I'm so glad I did. Although it does borrow a bunch of names and some symbolism from Alice in Wonderland, Pandora Hearts is an entirely unique entity in terms of characters and storytelling and surpassed by expectations in every way imaginable.

To start off with, the art style is amazing and only improves as the series goes on. I'm a huge sucker for the Victorian Era/1800s aesthetic and this series really delivers on that in the settings and outfits. The character designs are beautiful and unique (it would be very hard to confuse one character for another) without being exaggerated or unrealistic (as in no one has impossible hair physics or a weirdly stylized body shape). The series is so detailed, the art is consistent, and kinda gives of an almost otherworldly vibe, courtesy of the Alice-in-Wonderland-inspired atmosphere. Its actually my favorite manga art style so far. Now that that's said, onto the more important stuff.

First off, I should say that characterization is the biggest deciding factor on whether I like a series or not. If I cant get into the characters and their relationships and development, I wont be able to get into the series no matter how epic the plot is or how hyped the series is (hence I'm not a huge fan of DeathNote or DanganRonpa but those are different reviews). Pandora Hearts has some of the best characterization Ive read. The main trio of Oz, Alice, and Gilbert are all incredibly vivid and I love their character development. Actually, the same can be said for everyone in the large cast of characters. All are unique and multifaceted (even the background characters) and their plotlines and relationships weave together and play off each other in beautifully dynamic ways.

The plot and story progression is equally as amazing as the characters that drive it. What starts out as a seemingly straightforward "recover lost memories" plot line quickly grows in complexity, involving family rivalries, "contracts" with spiritual entities and their dimension, mysterious events and figures from 100 years ago, and the collapse of reality itself. Its pretty expansive and super complex and has some of the biggest plot twists ever (like theyre so amazing and unexpected but then you go back and they were foreshadowed the whole dang time). What's most amazing however, is that Mochizuki Jun manages to intertwine everything and resolve everything down to the smallest plotline. I actually can not think of a single thing that was left hanging at the end.

The characterization and plot development combine to make a huge emotional impact, one of the most emotional series Ive ever experienced. This series ruined me in the best possible way. There are so many beautiful moments, both happy and tragic (a lot of tragic actually-Pandora Hearts is not light on the permanent character death), and the ending is one of the 2 most powerful and satisfying bittersweet endings ive ever seen (the other is Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series in case you were wondering), like I cried so much and loved every second of it.

TLDR: Pandora Hearts is an amazing series that combines stellar characterization, a complex plotline with twists for days and a satisfying conclusion that fits all the puzzle pieces together, and has a huge emotional impact all throughout and its just so beautiful and I cant recommend it enough.

This is my first time ever typing up a review, I'm sorry if it's bad!

I've read and reread this manga so many times over the years and it almost never gets old for me. Words can honestly not express how many emotions I felt while reading this, everything about it is so great! Favorite manga by far, the plot is so in depth, each time I read it I found something I've never noticed before. The characters are so lovable and have their own realistic personalities which is very endearing.

You most likely won't regret reading this amazing manga! <3

Because I found the story had a somewhat slow beginning, in spite of everything that happens in the first volume, I never imagined I would end up adoring Pandora Hearts as much as I do at this point.

I'll start with the characters, since they really pull this entire manga together for me.

I have never ever came across such unique, distinguished, characters before in a manga. There is a large cast, and every single character - even the minor characters - have depth. They have personality and secrets and make mistakes and they all feel very real. What I especially like about the characters is that they are easily recognized. They all have their own specific characteristics, even between Jack and Oz.

The story. THE STORY.
There are no words to describe how the plot of Pandora Hearts blows me away. If you're going to read this, which I really hope you do, because you will not be disappointed, then the story is something you have to experience for yourself. So I'll leave it at that. What I really like though, is being able to go back and reread certain volumes and discover a new secret, or a reason for something that confused me previously. There's never a dull moment when Pandora Heart's really gets going.

The humour is also an extremely welcome bonus. The funny parts are hilarious, the serious parts are intense, the conclusions are mind blowing, and the full-page art panels (I'm not sure what to call them) are breathtaking.

what is happening? it's getting confussing

who is the real master of gilbert?
who is lacie to both jack and glen?
who is the real HERO and the real CAUSE of the tragedy?
the chapter 66 will reveal everything but it makes my head hurts because of what is happening

I started to read this because a friend recomended me this Manga, and Wow... Is really cool and very entertaining. Oz and the others are very enjoyable and charismatic.
My favorites are Oz and Gilbert (Alice too). About the art, are very good and clearing, Jun-Sensei draw really nice. But in some pages just there white backgrounds.

This Manga has a power very interesting called "Chains" personally I like "Mad Hatter" Is the most powerful and dangerous Chain for his user (in my opinion) But Mad Hatter and maybe "Raven" are my favorites Chains.

This Manga play very nice with emotions (especially in deaths)
I love this Manga too much, I really enjoyed read every chapter and the end is satisfactory. (The last 4 Pages are beautiful) 10/10 recommended.

Jack did nothing wrong.

Pandora hearts is really something special for me. It's plot and storytelling is outstanding. When I came across this manga I didn't have much expectation. I thought it was just an ordinary fantasy-shounen manga. So, I started reading it to pass my free time but then I realized I've underestimated it. Starting from story, art, characters, enjoyment overall everything is perfect. It is one of the most well developed manga I have ever read.

Story: 10
I'm not going to describe the summary since it's already written in MAL. Now at first, Pandora hearts's story is very mysterious. It's more like a puzzle. When I started reading it, I got really confused & couldn't grasp the story. I thought the author is just tossing us some unnecessary mysteries. But all the mysteries got clear after reading it fully.

The author, Jun Mochizuki played her trick very well. She covered the whole story under a coat of mysteries. So, it's really hard to predict the story's movement. When a mystery got revealed, it raised more questions in my mind. But whenever I thought about the story's movement or predict something, I got always fooled by it's plot twists. And "Plot twists" are the best thing of Pandora Hearts. I've never seen amazing plot twists like it in any other mangas I've read so far. So, I can assure that, you'll be at least surprised by it's amazing plot twists. Another amazing fact about Pandora Hearts is, it doesn't have that much filler like chapters or plot holes.

So, overall Pandora Heart's story might look uninteresting at first but if you read it further ahead you'll able to understand what Pandora Hearts really is.

Art: 10
I really liked the art-style of Pandora Hearts. It suited with "Victorian era" like environment pretty well. Though first few chapters might look pretty much decent but it'll get much better and better, when you'll read further more chapters. Jun Mochizuk's art has another specialty. It can bring our inner emotions while reading emotional panels. And character-art is also amazing. Almost every character looks beautiful. Background arts like feathers, flowers, chains, ribbons, dark shades etc symbolic things looks very amazing and also gives Pandora Hearts some uniqueness.

Character: 10
It is indeed one of the best thing of Pandora Hearts. It has a large cast of characters. Every character has his/her own unique personality. After reading some chapters you'll start to love the characters eventually.

Starting from main character Oz, Gilbert & Alice, almost all the characters have their own important role in this manga. The background story of all the characters are very well made. I couldn't predict who is the good or who is the bad guy here. It's like all the characters are tied up together from the very beginning of the manga. Their acts are also mysterious. It's hard to predict what are they thinking or what they are going to do. And this fact interested me form the very start. I knew that the characters were just fictional, nothing else. Still, when I was reading it, I also got quite attached with the characters.

Enjoyment: 10
As for enjoyment, it's not like other shounen mangas, where it has a lots of fighting sequences or something like "nakama power" etc. But it is still enjoyable for it's awesome storytelling and characters. Since, I prefer psychological & mystery over other titles I enjoyed Pandora Hearts a lot. The most enjoyable part of it is, how it explains or reveals mysteries.

First of all Pandora Hearts might look like ordinary and full of cliché moments at first. But if you read further you will understand how much dark it really is. Sudden turn of events are another enjoyable fact of Pandora Hearts.

Overall: 10
So, overall I think even Pandora Hearts has some odds, it still deserves 10/10 rating. It is a "Masterpiece" in my opinion. It's really hard to find mangas like it. It took 22 chapters for me to get hooked up into it. So, if you find it boring at first don't drop it. Otherwise, you will miss something great.

Anyway, Pandora Hearts is my most favorite manga. It might sound like I'm just glorifying it because I'm a fanboy of it. But, it's actually not true. Read it yourself to judge it. At least, I'm sure if you read it completely, it will also become one of your favorite manga (If you don't like mystery then that's another case :| ).

well i thought i give my thoughts on Pandora Hearts (i'll try not to be one-sided with this :'D im kinda in Love Pandora Hearts)

Story: I'll admit the story is a bit confusing, its one of those series that can't be explained in one sentence (believe me I've tried :'D) It starts out 'looking for Alice's memories' but slowly Jun got away from that and it's focused on the Head-Hunter in recent chapters. But i think Jun is going to tie all those 'unsolved mysterious', loses ends whatever you want to call it, into the ending.

I can also see how Jun jumps around in PH too, which adds into the confusion. But it's a story based off "Alice in Wonderland' It's supposed to be confusing, right? I think it's not knowing whats coming next is what draws me in every month waiting for what Jun has up her sleeve. and hey it's getting even bloodier right now with the head-hunter and soooo many plot twists too.

Art: if your looking at like Chapter 1 you can tell it isn't the greatest thing you ever scene but the newer chapters like 50 and up are (in my mind) amazing! Jun has improved so much since doing Crimson-Shell and the first chapters of Pandora Hearts.

Characters: I love the character designs so much. and i love the way the characters interact with each other. in more recent chapters Oz has been a lot more gloomy (he has a very good reason might i add) but i think with whats going on right now Oz will become more mature and more development to his character. I think a lot of the cast members (who didn't die at Yura's... i mean what? 8D *shot*) are going to go through more development right now *coughLeocough*

when you compare how the characters were at the beginning to now you can see how much they've change and to me it's quite amazing.

Overall: I love Pandora Hearts. It's a must read for any Gothic-Fantasy fans. and i love the fact if you re-read older chapters you can pick up those hints that Jun left behind

Im sorry if this Review isn't that good o.o; this is my first time doing a review *bows*

I ll just give a short account as to why i like pandora hearts

1) character: the character depths .. their personalities and development is amazing and almost natural.. and PH has a wide range of personalities together in the same plot that makes it fun.. their perspectives clashing etc. this will not make sense to you unless u watch/read it.
2) the plot : you will be shocked at least a million times.. the plot is full of twists.. and it will actually make you think as to which side to take.. it is not a clear-cut yes-this-is-the-group-of-good-people-i-support and these-are-the-bad-guys .. at times you will wonder who is right. of course needless to say.. the protagonists cannot be bad.. but still ..
3) Art: the artwork is pretty good... i have nothing much to comment on that..
4) Enjoyment: it is good.. at the same time dark. so it is not your average happy-happy mangas which drag on for real long and does not make you feel the negative emotions ( regret and all.. like i-wish-this-did-not-happen in the real sense) this manga is not exactly a light manga (that is what i feel) but this makes it more exciting.. kind off.. the happy moments after the darker ones make you smile and feel at greater ease.. :P

overall.. PH is a really great manga.. more than the anime.. i would recommend you to jump right into the manga.. because the anime ends even before the story starts.. :( and i feel really bad once i have to shift from motion to still picture.. i bet most of you do too .. right? :P so try PH.. and I