To young Oz Vessalius, heir to the Vessalius Duke House, the perilous world called the Abyss is nothing more than a folktale used to scare misbehaving children. However, when Oz's coming-of-age ceremony is interrupted by the malicious Baskerville Clan intent on banishing him into the depths of the Abyss, the Vessalius heir realizes that his peaceful life of luxury is at its end. Now, he must confront the world of the Abyss and its dwellers, the monstrous "Chains," which are both not quite as fake as he once believed.
Based on the supernatural fantasy manga of the same name, Pandora Hearts tells the story of fifteen-year-old Oz's journey to discover the meaning behind the strange events that have overtaken his life. Assisted by a mysterious Chain named Alice, whose nickname is "Bloodstained Black Rabbit," and members of a clandestine organization known as "Pandora," Oz begins to realize his existence may have more meaning than he could have ever imagined.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Charry
When you lose everything and end up with nothing, how do you pick yourself up and move on? Do you lash out in anger and bitterness, hiding your wounds? Do you allow the emptiness inside you to shut out any emotional reaction, numbly accepting your fate? Do you desperately search everywhere for what remains of you, hoping to piece yourself back together? Or do you fear losing again so much that you spend all your time protecting what you already have, nearly crushing it in your tight grasp? With each of these suggestions, I refer to a particular character in the story whose struggle with lossreflects one of these patterns. This theme of loss and the struggle to regain or find acceptance is by no means a new one to either drama or anime/manga, but in Pandora Hearts it is approached in a sensitive, original, and surprisingly light-hearted, pleasing manner. Though emotionally gripping, Pandora Hearts is rarely dark and angsty, favouring quirky, likeable characters and a humourous, tongue-in-cheek storytelling style.
Overview
The XEBEC-produced art/animation quality may be somewhat lacking, but the irresistibly charming Pandora Hearts is sure to make you fall in love with its beautifully crafted story, characters, fantasy world, and music.
Pros:
-most loveable, original and well-developed cast I’ve seen in a long time
-detailed, interesting “Alice in Wonderland”-themed world
-story contains few “filler” episodes and is perfectly paced, sure to leave you gasping for more
-emotional, memorable OST by .hack//SIGN & Noir (and many more) composer Yuki Kajiura
-one of those anime that has a bit of everything: drama, action, humour, even hints of romance
Cons:
-sub-par art quality, rather unacceptable by today’s standards
-weak, disappointing ending; many story threads left hanging without resolution
-some unavoidably cliché moments and a protagonist who is often ineffectual and, worse, annoying in his willingness to lay down his life
-no clear antagonist in the story, though this isn’t really a problem until the very last episodes
Story (8/10)
15-year old Oz Vessalius is the typical spoiled selfish noble kid, playing pranks all day, teasing his servant and best friend Gilbert, gaining favours from his indulgent uncle Oscar. Then, on the night of his coming-of-age-ceremony, time freezes and Oz is forced into the Abyss by mysterious strangers. Trapped in this nightmarish alternate dimension, he meets a strange, devilish young girl named Alice, who is really a Chain (a sort of “monster” of the Abyss). They form a Contract: Alice decides to help Oz return to his world, while he promises to search for her missing memories. As they find out more about her, it turns out there’s a lot he doesn’t know about the past either….
The story follows a somewhat well-worn path – disaster befalls naïve youngster, he meets mysterious girl, they discover new things, make friends and beat bad guys – but the difference is that the characters who fill all the traditional roles are so original and interesting. Alice, as the heroine of the story, is refreshingly powerful and strong-willed, with a bad mouth, a meat fetish, and a wicked laugh – and a surprising sensitivity. Oz, on the other hand, is earnest and soft-hearted, though he oddly doesn’t seem to care too strongly about anything.
There are also plenty of mysteries to be solved and plot twists to be revealed. However, I wouldn’t say that the plot is the anime’s strongest point. Not quite. Most of the “plot” really has little to do with the present situation at hand and is more about exploring the characters’ pasts. In fact, almost all of the really interesting moments in the anime are actually revelations about the past. As you might expect, all this jumping back and forth between past and present, real and alternate dimensions, while fascinating, can leave one confused and overwhelmed. Lastly, I can’t neglect the fact that the ending is truly dismal. Like many anime (it seems), a promising beginning, middle and even climax is no guarantee of a satisfying ending. When you reach the final episode I’m sure you, too, will be thinking, “What? They can't leave it at that - there must be some mistake!!"
Characters (10/10)
There’s no way Pandora Hearts gets anything less than full score on this one. The characters are simply enrapturing. It’s hard to pick a favourite because there are so many good choices! For starters, the designs are original, enticing, and complement the characters’ personalities well. Oz, despite being 15, has the vacant, vulnerable look of a younger boy, suggesting his innocence and fragility. Alice looks fiery and ferocious with her red jacket, demonically pointy hair, and long high-heeled boots; but her short stature and smooth, childlike features render her cute and approachable. Gilbert is astonishingly handsome, dark, and mysterious when he first appears as Raven in full black attire; as soon as his hat comes off, however, (so to speak) he becomes comical with his messy “seaweed” hair, his emotional tantrums, and his self-conscious cigarettes. Two other characters I feel deserve special mention: Xerxes Break, a silly yet understatedly dangerous character whose loose sleeves flop over his hands, whose smile is always shaped unnervingly into a V, and who wears a freaky rattling puppet-doll on his shoulder called Emily; and Vincent Nightray, who has two different-colored eyes, one yellow and one red, as if to represent his unpredictable, split personality (at times saccharinely sweet; at others cold-bloodedly cruel and deceptive).
Each character is quirky, with multiple sides to their personality. Oz occasionally shows a hyper-romantic, flirtatious side. Alice, as mentioned earlier, will do anything for meat. Gilbert has an incurable phobia of cats. Sharon, a girl who is older than she looks, likes young boys and seems to have a thing for Alice. Break is addicted to candy and other sweet things. Vincent is disturbingly obsessed with his brother. And so on.
The characters also have incredible chemistry together. Oz and Alice have this cute little "You're my man-servant, do what I say!" "Hahaha, of course Alice! (but not really!)" thing going on, with semi-romantic undertones. Oz and Gilbert, meanwhile, have an endearing "master and servant" relationship that's complicated by the fact that Gilbert looks (and is) much older than his "master" (and made hilarious by the fact that Oz can still get away with teasing him.) Naturally, Gil and Alice find themselves caught in a struggle for the affections of their master/man-servant Oz, hurling funny names at each other that soon become familiar ("Stupid rabbit!" "Seaweed hair!") - though when it comes to Break, they are united in their icy distrust of the slippery, duplicitous character.
The true strength of the characters lies in their multi-facetedness. No character in the main cast feels “all good” or “all bad.” For much of the story, there is even no clear antagonist, as each suspicious individual is shown one by one to be pure-hearted in some way. Somehow, the anime hardly suffers for this lack of “true evil,” which I view as a testament to the strength of the characters.
As for character development, the entire anime basically revolves around the characters’ individual backstories. There is nary a character in the main cast who we do not see some kind of flashback of. In a way, the characters’ pasts define who they are even more distinctly than the present action. Strangely, I found this worked very well, leading one to speculate fascinatingly about what must have happened before the main story.
Art & Animation (6/10)
By today’s standards, as well as the standards set by the rest of the anime, the art really sticks out like a sore thumb. And let me get this clear that I don’t in any way mean Jun Mochizuki’s original designs; I’m talking about the frame-by-frame art quality of the anime, which was produced by studio XEBEC. Compared to contemporaries in the same genre that I’ve been watching such as Kuroshitsuji and Nabari no Ou, the art and animation really has a lot of catching up to do. Unpolished, often with very unappealing colour palettes, and few extremely eye-catching or original backdrops, I wondered frequently why they could not have done this beautiful story justice with a higher budget. Without the charms of Mochizuki’s character designs, the art would nearly render this anime unwatchable. The opening of an anime should be its one greatest chance to dazzle and woo the audience with flashy, high-budget sequences; yet Pandora Hearts is one of the only good anime I’ve watched where the quality of the opening animation failed to impress me at all. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautifully conceived opening with wonderful music and fascinating visuals, but the animation itself is little beyond lacklustre.
Music & Voice Acting (9/10)
Yuki Kajiura’s work truly is beautiful. It’s hard to say anything bad about it. When it comes to emotional drama, suspenseful themes, heart-wrenching themes, and tragic themes, she is the master. Her English-language insert piece, "Everytime you kissed me," is a thorough success, and the ubiquitous "music box" theme she created for Pandora Hearts, "Lacie," is hauntingly memorable. But I can be nit-picky. The themes can get slightly repetitive and, if you’ve heard her previous work, it'll probably feel a little deja vu. The endings and opening, while excellent, are not extraordinarily exceptional. In the end, the one point I knocked off comes down to the music not being extremely original, just very good.
There is nothing really left to be desired from the Japanese voice acting. Everything is just as it should be. The boyish, suave Junko Minagawa (Ryoma Echizen , Ritsuka Aoyagi) is the perfect choice as Oz, while listening to Kosuke Toriumi (Yuri Lowell, Kiba Inuzuka)’s sexy voice as Gilbert is like eating chocolate ice cream, and Akira Ishida (Gaara, Kaworu Nagisa, Athrun Zala, many others) does a spectacular job as the eccentric, foppish Break (and Emily!), as usual. In all respects, a very strong cast.
Bottom line: Pandora Hearts has its share of flaws, and probably won't please absolutely everyone (action fans, why are you still here?!), but once immersed in its lovely, charming little world, its intoxication is a very, very pleasant experience. (9/10)
Aeterna
Pandora Hearts is a prime example of wasted potential. It starts out with an interesting premise that grabs you at the start, but after a few episodes, it’s nothing but downhill from there until it finally crashes and burns at the end of its 25-episode run. Why do I say this? There are many interesting plot threads and ideas that are introduced at various points in the story, but they are almost never followed through with or they’re executed in a way that, frankly, makes them boring. For example, when we learn about the four dukedoms of Pandora, I get the sense that there’s a lot ofhistory and political machinations going on in the background but it hardly ever gets explored, instead focusing on the development of our main heroes, Oz and Alice (which doesn’t sound that bad, but more on that later). Then, we are introduced to the main antagonists, the Baskervilles, who seem really cool and threatening at first, but when we meet them, are like Team Rocket without the silly speeches. In other words, they’re there just to have antagonists in the show and don't do a whole lot to further the story.
The cherry on top was the notably craptastic anime-only ending. I have never even read the manga and I could tell the ending was shoddily put together at the last minute, just to have some sort of conclusion, but honestly, I’d rather have an open ending over what they did here. For fear of being too spoilery, I will just say that the writers thought to throw in a bunch of generic Chains to provide some sort of “ultimate challenge” for the protagonists, but as a result, it comes off as completely random and badly-written.
So let’s move on to the protagonists beginning with Oz. Oz is a lovely young fellow – cheerful, caring, loyal, and brave. However, he’s apathetic, taking everything in stride even when he’s faced with some terrible Chains in the Abyss. It’s completely unrealistic and makes it hard for anyone to connect with him. How can you care about a character who, well, doesn’t care? To his credit, he does get some character development but it either never follows through (e.g. his father issues) or it takes the form of someone lecturing him (this is probably more the fault of the writers than an actual character flaw, though).
Then, there’s Alice, Pandora Heart’s main tsundere. She doesn’t end up being nearly as interesting as she first presents herself to be, although her little quirks make her more endearing than Oz, such as her insistence that Oz is her manservant and her fondness for meat (LOL since when does a rabbit like meat so much?). Still, I’m afraid to say she doesn’t have much depth to her, the most being her desire to regain all the fragments of her memory. The rest of the time, she’s relegated to being a source of humour and/or romantic tension with Oz or, in her B-Rabbit form, being the series own deus ex machina.
There are some notable characters – namely Gil, Break, and Vincent – who receive some notable time and developing on top of interesting histories and colourful personalities, but they’re supporting characters who must eventually step back to let the main plot take center stage.
As for the animation, overall, it’s poor. There are some nice designs floating around, but when it comes down to making everything move, it’s lacking, especially for such a recent and (relatively) short series. I’ve seen longer and older series with equal or better animation, to be honest. I swear, I have never seen so much floating hair and clothes in anime in my life – it was like a gust of wind went by and the animators simply took a single frame from that and kept it for the entire sequence while keeping the mouths moving. Even in the opening sequence (which are nearly always of high quality), there’s a shot of Oz running that looks odd and clunky.
Most reviews will also point out the lovely music, but then it’s by Kajiura Yuki, so that’s a given. If you’ve heard Kajiura’s music before, you’ll recognize her style almost immediately, so whether that’s a positive or a negative is up to you. For me, it’s generally a positive since she pulls through with another solid soundtrack, but personally, I’d like to see her try something different from what she usually composes. For Pandora Heart’s purposes, though, it’s good listening material here, although certain tracks tend to get overplayed. Voice acting was pretty solid, so no complaints here.
So overall, Pandora Hearts began as a very promising series with a lot of great ideas that could have continued being great until the end if executed properly. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen and the series falls flat on its face by the halfway point. I would say either read the manga (which I’m told is better?) or find another fantasy series.
Hinami
Imagine your reality falling into pieces on your fifteenth birthday, pushed into a broken toy box and relentlessly pursued by people you barely know. Pushed aside and left broken, do you accept death in the name of saving another's life, desperately looking for pieces of yourself to confirm your existence? Knowing nothing about yourself, wanting to find out, yet scared of finding out, how do you move on? How do you protect something you once lost, in fear of losing it again, suffocating it with your loyalty and inability to let it leave your sight? Pandora Hearts explores the story of Oz Vessalius ( or Bezarius, asI'm used to ), a boy whose life is thrown into chaos on his fifteenth birthday, at his coming-of-ceremony. The anime, I'd say, has an overarching theme of loss and self-discovery.
The Abyss is a deep, dark place where sinners are dragged into-a place that Oz stopped believing in until he was thrown in. With the discovery of a pocket watch that sings a haunting tune, strange things begin happening and Oz meets a young girl called Alice, a Chain from the Abyss with the form of a black rabbit once her suppressed power is unleashed, who is searching for her lost memories.
I won't reveal anymore. The whole charm of the anime is found in the characters and the past shrouded in mystery. Oz, Alice, and his faithful servant, Gilbert, begin their quest to search for pieces of memory that Alice is searching for.
On the surface, it looks like a normal anime. Questing for memories while defeating enemies but that's exactly where we're misled. The pieces of Alice's memory are intertwined with others', and for the most part, the plot involves flashbacks of the characters' pasts. One fragment only leads to more questions. Pandora Hearts' strongest point is its characters. The characters are never one-sided and they are so skilfully woven that we see begin to slowly see the flaws in them. Why does Oz accept everything so light-heartedly? Nothing seems to bother him at all but as we move on, we see a darkness emerge, once layered and locked away.
Despite all that, the anime retains its timely comedy, providing a light-hearted adventure for the person watching. Alice and Gilbert are constantly fighting for Oz's attention, coming up with nicknames like "Seaweed Head" and "Stupid rabbit". Oz leaves them to their own antics, only to be unwillingly dragged in and pulled from both sides. Oz, disturbingly calm about everything, with a policy to accept everything as it is because anything can happen. He has also been shown with a tendency to flirt, much like his uncle.
Alice, while meat-loving, sarcastic, tsundere-like and shows some signs of sadism, has a sweet and vulnerable side. Gilbert, while short-tempered and sensitive, is gentle and hold a fierce loyalty to Oz. The only time Alice and Gilbert cooperate with each other is when yet another interesting character, Xerxes Break slips in ( quite literally ). Break is one of those manipulative characters who believes in using others and being used. He also likes to pop out of the strangest places, but he, too, has a larger part than simply being a "minor" character. His mistress, Sharon, is a deceptively sweet-looking character who, in punishing Break, shows no hesitance.
Vincent Nightray, a man who, at times is, sweet while other times, scarily crazed and shows an alarming obsession for his older brother. Then, although he didn't have much screen time, Eliot Nightray and his attendant, Leo. Eliot was truly a crucial character who played a large part in Oz's development. There also some undertones of hinted romance but that doesn't play a large part.
The episodes passed by too fast for me to realise that I was almost at the end. Oz, as a character, peels away the protective layers he had unconsciously wrapped around himself and slowly starts to face himself. He, Alice and Gilbert have grown undeniably closer and it's time to face past demons. The mystery behind what truly happened in the past is left as a question mark and in that aspect, I believe the anime could have ended off better.
Even then, the plot did a great job. I'd say, honestly, it didn't feel like there was "evil" like in some anime, there's pointedly evil people who do the most horrible things. But in this, you slowly start to realise that things are not as they seem and that's exactly what makes this a classic watch. The plot wasn't perfect, I admit, there were certain clichés but the idea of building something with pieces of memories and at the same time, building the characters' pasts solidly, they did a wonderful job. I did cry once, at that important part of Eliot and Oz's meeting.
Moving on to the OSTs, they were perfect. I love Kajiura Yuki's music and using the English piece "Everytime You Kissed Me" by Emily Bindiger really raised the quality of the anime. The OST is one of the things that gave me goosebumps. One thing I had a problem with, though, is that it tended to become repetitive. At some point, I realised that the same OSTs were repeating and it didn't have as much impact as it should have. Even so, the OST really did help to make this a top-notch and haunting anime. The voice acting was great. There were times when it kind of slipped and you start to wonder if Oz's voice actor is a female but I think she did a really great job of voicing Oz. It was deceiving because I always thought it was a male ( except for those few times she had to scream ). The voice actors manage to bring out the feelings and the characters they are.
The animation appealed to me, but in today's standards, it hardly stands out. The animation, however, holds this certain fluidity and childishness in young characters, showing that, perhaps, the story isn't as deep as it seems and we shouldn't look too much into it. The animation remained smooth throughout so I don't think it was much of a problem.
Pandora Hearts is worth your time and effort. But I wouldn't say that it would appeal to all fans who might be more inclined to other genres. I really enjoyed it, hence the full score. It's still a great watch so give it a try!
jai88
Pandora Hearts is an anime that draws inspiration and many thematic elements from the story Alice in Wonderland. It is about a young aristocrat named Oz Bezarius, the heir of a noble house, who becomes the victim of a dark ceremony in the first episode and is cast down into the "Abyss" - a prison like area inhabited by monsters called Chains. While there, he meets the Chain known as Alice, the Black Rabbit. The show starts out incredibly strong, but its strength doesn't last long at all. The overlying problem with the show is that it doesn't seem to know whatdirection it wants to go in. You are initially presented with a dark and gothic horror that almost immediately makes way for super deformed art and bright, flashing colours. The show remains this way, tying together ridiculous anime tropes and scenes right next to its dark and gritty storyline. Alice quickly moves from a creepy and dangerous entity to a glutton and comic relief character. I think a bit more focus in either area would have been fantastic, but as it is Pandora Hearts can be disorientating and very dissonant.
The characters are great. Oz is a typical shounen lead, complete with a tendency to risk himself for others that borders on suicidal. It's quite stereotypical, but not to the point that I hated whenever he appeared on screen, and he at least presented himself in this honest way for the majority of the show. However the other characters are fantastic. Gilbert is written extremely well and undergoes a lot of development throughout the show, and Xerxes Break eventually ends up as a complete scene stealer as soon as he is given even a hint of his backstory. Alice, however, never quite moves past her brutal introduction and despite being the center of the entire story she quickly fades in and out of obscurity for episodes at a time.
The soundtrack from Yuki Kajiura is extremely strong, and has several pieces that match up to her great scores from Kara no Kyoukai. Some tracks are often described as repetitive, but I had no issue with this myself. I do think that a couple of times a song choice for a scene may have been less then amazing, but the music itself was very good.
This leads me to the ending - there are massive plot points that never get resolved and I wish I had known that going in. For such a great premise and beginning so many things slip away through the story that it is really kind of infuriating. The ending of the series is anime only, and like many other poor anime adaption endings you will be able to pick up the exact moment where the story veers off. Anime only ends can be done right - but this one wasn't. Nothing was answered, and the mysteries that Oz and Alice often mentioned resolving were simply ignored until the end.
What is the biggest shame is how much more could have been fit into 25 episodes, where instead the writers wasted absurd amounts of time with super deformed art and typical anime filler scenarios. There are many plot points that are deemed as important to the main characters that never go anywhere and end up being a complete waste of screen time. The most infuriating part comes towards the end of the show, where you should be spending your time getting your answers to the questions you've built up, an entire episode is instead spent on showing everybody drunk. Put simply I kind of wish the series had cut some of the bullshit, a lot of the comedy moments were poor and completely out of place.
Pandora Hearts is a fun ride and there are some FANTASTIC moments, but ultimately your destination ends up being a hole in the ground that goes straight to the Abyss of Anime-Ending-Only Hell. There are no side trips to Resolution or Answers, you just go straight into the pit. And since I've already visited, I'll try to warn you not to.
Leopah
Oh Pandora Hearts, how you have let me down. I'm kicking off this review by saying that I didn't watch this at anyone's request. A friend of mine mentioned watching it in passing and with nothing else to go on I threw myself headfirst into it. Pandora Hearts had potential which is a downright shame because it wasted it by veering off into "nothing-is-explained land." Story: 5/10 The initial premise was awesome. Dark, horrific, desperate. A lot of the story elements in Pandora Hearts are drawn from Alice in Wonderland and twisted into darker themes. The basic premise is that Oz Vessalius, a spoiled rich kid, is thrown intothe Abyss which is basically hell. Oz is forced to make a contract with a Chain called Alice to escape from the Abyss, and is captured by the mysterious organization Pandora upon his return.
Unfortunately, the serious themes mostly stop there. Much of the plot is wasted on comedy which is unsuccessfully placed next to a story attempting to also be serious, leading to the comedy ruining the mood countless times. I cringed so much, because they'd have a great scene going and then wreck it with jokes that usually weren't funny anyway.
There was also great potential in Oz's contract. He has a brand of a clock on his chest and when the hand makes a full rotation, he will die. But this never comes into effect during the show. Pandora Hearts ends with the hand on Oz's clock only having made two moves during the entire show. Since this anime ended up different from the manga in its final episodes, the writers could easily have made the clock move more and more and end with Oz's death or the hand making its final turn. In the beginning of the show, Oz and Gilbert were obsessed with trying to find a way to negate Oz's contract so that he wouldn't die, but this issue is abandoned soon enough and never comes into play again.
Pandora Hearts also wasted too much time developing its characters. Now, this normally isn't a bad thing, but it's detrimental when you have a 25-episode anime with no chance of a second season and you instead spend all the time on characters' backstories, letting the plot take a backseat; because the result is well-developed characters that get an abrupt end. The show almost seems to me as if the makers were following the manga all the way through, then abruptly realized they were at 24 out of 25 episodes and were like "Oh shit guess we better wrap this up." That's pretty lazy writing, especially considering manga doesn't have a set amount of chapters when it starts being made, while anime is only licensed for a certain amount of episodes at a time. The point I'm trying to make here is that the manga could afford to spend a lot of time developing the characters and bring the story back later, while the anime can't really do that. Even if Pandora Hearts had gotten a second season, I know from experience that not as many people watch the second season of a show. So spending all your time on characters and pretty much abandoning the plot is a poor choice.
Another issue I had with the story is that it's chugging along, and then shortly before the ending (episode 20 to be exact), there is an absolutely pointless filler episode where Alice gets drunk and a lot of "comedic" nonsense takes place. I was watching this and fuming that they wasted a whole episode on essentially nothing happening. Filler episodes are marginally more acceptable in the beginning of the show, but certainly not at the end.
Because of this poor choice of pacing, the last episode is a terrible ending. It doesn't even have a "last episode" feel to it. It starts out like a typical episode and there's even more of that mood-ruining comedy. Then the story reaches its (pretty boring) climax and it's over halfway through the episode. The rest of the episode is just the characters doing stuff. They even played the regular opening and ending themes during the last episode, which I have come to be greatly annoyed by because it makes it seem like any other episode. Using the opening theme in the last episode is generally more acceptable to me than using the ending theme.
So many questions that were built up in the early episodes are completely abandoned. At the very least they could have attempted to answer some of them.
The issues with the story basically all boil down to better planning. The story couldn't figure out which way it wanted to go, leading to multiple confusing moments. The character development could have been placed so as to cause minimal slowdown issues. Questions could have been answered effectively if the writers had looked up and realized a wall was right ahead and they were driving into it.
All in all, Pandora Hearts had great potential for a dark show that was wasted time and time again.
Art: 6/10
Pandora Hearts was made by a fairly new studio, so the art and animation aren't too great, but they're not particularly bad either. They were pretty average.
The only issue I had with it was the use of fanservice which I thought was pretty poorly placed and unnecessary (then again, fanservice is rarely necessary. But in this story it didn't seem appropriate at all).
Sound: 10/10
Hot damn do I love the OST of this show. Yuki Kaijura, who also did the soundtrack for Madoka Magica, does not disappoint. The OST is gorgeous and orchestral and really fits the dark theme they were originally trying for. You might say I'm biased because I'm a sucker for minor-key orchestral songs, but the soundtrack of this show is really very good. I especially love the watch's music box-esque theme and how they would play it at the very end of each episode.
The opening theme, Parallel Hearts, is badass as hell (though I do wish they had changed it when they changed the ending song because using the same opening while not changing the ending gets pretty old), and the first ending song, Catcher in the Maze, is really pretty and awesome and I especially love the full version. I didn't really like the second ending though, and in my opinion they should have switched the two ending songs, or just not changed the ending song at all.
I also really love the insert song, "Every Time You Kissed Me," performed by Emily Bindiger, that was played during the final episode. I think it's a really subtle and nice touch that the key of the song and the music for it is built around the watch's theme. I also like how they got an American singer to perform the song, rather than a Japanese person singing in English (I'm looking at you, second Future Diary OP).
As far as voice acting, long story short this anime will never get a dub (aside from fandubs), so I watched it subbed. Even though I don't consider myself to be a good judge of Japanese voice acting, I thought the voices in this show were amazing. Oz's voice actress in particular blew me away because I couldn't make up my mind whether it was a man or a woman until I looked it up and discovered that a woman was voicing him.
Oz's voice was the particular standout, but I thought all around the voice acting was really good.
Characters: 8/10
As I said before, most of the screentime of this show was given to developing the characters and explaining their backstories. I think Gilbert especially got a lot of really good character development going on for him. In addition, once Xerxes Break's backstory is explained, he goes from being the ambiguous, quirky trickster to a really interesting character.
I thought a lot of characters weren't explained, however. The white-haired version of Alice that keeps popping up throughout the show doesn't really get much of an explanation and while I do remember her purpose in the show, it wasn't fulfilled in my opinion. Also, Oz's sister, the Baskervilles, and the students at the academy (one of whom was playing the watch's song on the piano; names escape me) didn't get appropriate screentime to explain themselves.
Also, even though Alice is my favorite character in Pandora Hearts, I do agree with someone else's review: the show didn't explore the potential Alice had to be a dark and crazy creature of the Abyss. Once she leaves the Abyss, her sly nature goes away and she's pretty much reduced to a gluttonous tsundere. And I think that's a downright shame considering she could have turned on Oz and Gilbert, or left them to pursue her own ambitions (Like getting her memories back. Could we have an explanation for why they weren't recovered by the end rather than just "well we haven't had any luck with that oh well").
I do like the hinted romance between Oz and Alice, and how it was left open for the viewer to decide if they wanted anything to happen or not.
Enjoyment: 7/10
I took a break after watching the first seven or eight episodes, but quickly marathoned the rest of the show after reading an announcement that the site I was watching it on was shutting down. I probably would have taken my time with this show if I hadn't been worried about losing access, so even though I watched it fairly quickly, I was pretty reluctant.
And I've already mentioned my gripes with the mistimed comedy that resulted in glaring tone issues compared to the story attempting to be dark. That factors into the enjoyment score.
I also noticed a lot of parallels between this story and Fullmetal Alchemist (the manga and the 03 anime), which didn't help my enjoyment levels, since I enjoy FMA so much more.
Overall: 5/10
It's kind of unfortunate that at one point in the show I was considering scoring it a 9, then it ended up as a 5 ultimately.
The story is pretty shabby and the show leaves a lot of holes and hanging questions, but the characters were overall pretty solid and the music fantastic. So I'd recommend watching Pandora Hearts if you have spare time on your hands. It's not really a priority.
FredDuck
(This is my first review ever.) Oh, dear. I'm shocked at the overall positive vibe people have for this show. Was I watching something else by mistake? The story itself is serviceable, perhaps even interesting, but it's buried under a glacial pace. They managed to cover about 12 episodes' worth of material in 25 episodes, which seems like the director was suddenly told just before they went on air that he had twice as much time as he thought he did. I just read that the manga is still going while the anime has finished. Oh wait, no. It didn't finish. It ended. Finishing sounds like theygave you some kind of resolution. I challenge you to find someone who can honestly say they liked slapdash episode 25.
There are only 2 characters they try to explore, one of which is Oz, but in Pandora Hearts' 25 episodes you learn far less about him than say, the entire cast of Cowboy Bebop in the same amount of time. Everyone else is generally one-dimensional, though the second explored character turns out to be surprisingly well-rounded.
The good news is that Oz does develop slightly. That's all the good news I have.
For most of the show's 9-hour run, the characters are rather crudely drawn and spend the majority of their time sitting or standing still. It's been a long time since I've seen an animated show with so little animation. Every episode is stuffed with padding...slowly sliding pictures of scenery or whatnot with recaps thrown in to desperately take up screen time.
Not sure what's up with MyAnimeList. When I write the review, it wants me to rate the "Art," but when I submit, it says "Animation." Those are different things, man! Art is 3, Animation is 2.
Episode 8 was a turning point in the series because there was finally decent art, interesting camera angles, and 9 (amazingly enough) has some animation in it...a brief fight scene! On the down side, some of the frequent flashbacks begin to flash back to earlier in the SAME episode! There was even a scene where all the characters are talking while facing away from the camera so they didn't have to animate anything at all! In the entire show, there are only about 3-4 episodes that are really animated.
There were some things I liked about the show. The music box theme is pleasant and sticks in your head, though by the end of the show they're opening the watch just to play the tune. The main theme is reimagined several times in interesting ways. The voice acting is well-done.
Beyond that, the character designs are nice, although everyone's clothes billow out and hover (due to lack of animation). The first plot twist was completely unexpected and handled nicely. I also found one character's bloodthirsty fixation on eating animals charming.
But those are just shiny bits glimmering from a sea of slow and muck.
(4) Bad.
Actually, you know what? I'm going to drop it to (1) Unwatchable. It's cruel to pretend that you're going to go somewhere, then don't.
I kept watching, hoping it would get better. The second half of the show is a decent start to a show, with mysteries and interesting characters introduced, but then poof, the show ends and you're left wondering why they (and you) even bothered.
shine_heaven
What gives people the strength to go on after they have fallen? What makes them strive for the perspective of a bright future? Seeking to answer those questions, “Pandora Hearts” gives the impression of a charming, unique series that differs from its counterparts through adapting a popular scheme, but not entirely living off it. Why, then, is it nothing amazing in particular? STORY (7) Good beginning. This series starts with really nicely developed foundations. It seems very promising; we get to know Oz Vessalius, your typical young hero-wannabe, but as soon as Alice shows up, things start getting interesting. Oz ends up in the twisted realm of“Abyss”, only to be saved by the mad rabbit, however nothing comes free of charge. And nothing is the same when he goes back to his world.
And here I ask: when and why did it go downhill? What happened to the fascinating, dark mood this show kept in the beginning? When did it become a cliché-filled shônen adventure with hardly any development overall? I had high hopes for the series and kept watching, expecting it to, I don’t know, improve? It does, actually, get better right in the middle, where we finally receive some character development, the story progresses and most importantly – some of the most important questions are answered. But then it worsens yet again. The rest feels forced and the series stops at such a moment that it leaves you with huge disappointment. Why is it over so suddenly? It desperately calls for a continuation, it does.
Setting, though, is where the series excels. True, this whole “Alice in Wonderland”-hype might be getting a tad annoying, however “Pandora Hearts” adapts the theme perfectly. It is a warped world, nevertheless it doesn’t feel that sickly abstract. The “Chains” are yet another embodiment of human fears – and so is the “Abyss” itself. It doesn’t feel like the kind of place you would want to end up in, precisely. Watching a fantasy series set in such scenery feels just refreshing. The references to the original “Alice” are subtle and often misleading, which is also accomplished very well.
ART (7)
Something is missing. The characters look wonderfully colourful and detailed at first, the surroundings are promising, but then the quality becomes an issue. With each episode, more and more flaws can be noticed. Even fight scenes tend to become dull, since those often follow the pattern of slashing, cutting, slashing and a little bit more of slashing. The worst thing is, though, how the vividness and energy of characters is lost through a dull palette. Who, in the world, robbed those poor guys of their colours, making them look just boring? What appears pretty – the hair does, oh, and Sharon’s dresses. Good job, but that’s it. Why does Oz look even more boring than he actually is, I ask? The series has a completely washed-out look which pains me a lot, since I was really looking forward to enjoying the graphics. (Apparently, the quality in the few special episodes outruns the TV animation a lot. Too bad it was rushed, too bad.)
SOUND (9)
Yuki Kajiura does an outstanding job capturing the magic of the setting in “Pandora Hearts”. The music itself is simply excellent and stands out in the series’ overall look. It is charming, at other times has a mysterious tone to it, or dramatic, fitting well with what is going on the screen. Never exaggerated. Although the score might not appear anything exceptional in the beginning, the viewer soon begins to realise that it without it, the Victorian atmosphere couldn’t be captured as good. The soundtrack is equally pleasant to the ear while not watching the show, too.
Voice-acting is quite well-done. Junko Minagawa does a good job playing the part of Oz, Ayako Kawasumi is a fine Alice, and Ishida Akira excels as always in his role (even though the character himself is not very likable). The seiyû operate their voices perfectly, creating very emotionally-convincing cast and pretty much making up for the flaws of the characters themselves. Here, I can’t complain.
The opening and ending sequences are nothing special in this case. Cute songs go along with the animation (the first ending, in particular, is full of annoying spoilers, so watch out), however they are not notable enough to make one feel like spending that additional time watching both OP and ED. They simply don’t get in the way.
CHARACTER (5)
This is exactly where the series’ biggest weakness lies – its character cast which is particularly weak, boring and cliché. Starting from the main character, aforementioned Oz, it becomes extremely tiresome and the characters don’t develop much. Oz is a good definition of a typical shônen main lead. He is brave, adventurous, protective of his friends and clumsy when it comes to love. He also has family issues to make him more of a dramatic rebel, and a whiner for a side-kick. Oz’s actions throughout the series are easily predictable and more than often he falls into banal traumas, being the kind of person who wants to save the day, become a hero and protect his princess. Sorry, this might be going well with the story, but as a character Oz is a failure.
Gilbert is, fortunately, a different story. He changes a lot – his personality becomes completely unlike, save for a few specific features that are necessary for some progress in the story (no, his loyalty to Oz is NOT a plot device for fangirl issues). Contrary to the first male lead, he keeps calm and generally stays rather dependable, when it comes to satisfying the fans. His actions certainly aren’t very surprising, as it all revolves around Oz anyway; but at least he did not make me want to murder someone whenever he appeared on the screen. Alas, one more thing must be brought up here as well, namely – Gilbert being a magnet for fans. No-one can deny his typically attractive traits (cold and introverted chain-smoker, sorry), but hey, haven’t I already said something about stereotypes in this series?
The creation of Alice turns out to be a disappointment after a few episodes. She starts off as a madwoman, a crazy sadist who cares little about who or what she might destroy while immersing herself in bloody, vicious fights. But Alice is a tsundere character – and being a genuine tsundere in “Pandora Hearts”, she can’t possibly stay this way throughout the series. An attractive, moody glutton - which she ends as – obviously arouses the interest of others, and soon the relationship between her and Oz becomes a major problem in the story. Yes. Alice, the wild Chain who only has any regard for herself, is a crying little girl inside. I can’t deny the charm of tsundere characters, but this just doesn’t seem right.
No other character really deserves any special words of praise here, sadly. There’s the hyped “Mad Hatter” Break, a particularly annoying it’s-a-secret type of pretty boy; a cast of supposedly evil manifestations of malevolence; and others who exist merely for the purpose of creating a background for the main leads. There are also Sharon and Jack who have the potential to make great characters, but are mostly neglected or idealised; there is a representative of the rare male tsundere specimen, Elliot. And there’s Vincent who is much creepier than he would normally be supposed to. They all might seem colourful at first, however inside they are not as interesting as they appear.
ENJOYMENT (7)
To be honest, this series is quite boring. All the big talk about how different and remarkable it is, and what I see is an average fantasy adventure with mediocre art and particularly annoying character cast. But it has potential – which had been wasted, unfortunately. If only the series developed in a different manner, maybe I would have been able to enjoy it more. For now, I can’t say anything special about it. Felt as if I was rewatching something else, just another episode of already known series, and it really does not bring much into the genre. It certainly isn’t bad, not at all, yet it’s still nothing extraordinary.
OVERALL (7)
Having complained a lot about the flaws in “Pandora Hearts”, I still can’t criticise the series as a whole. It has its drawbacks, just like any other show, and pluses; most notably the incredible atmosphere of a well-designed, interesting world. The one thing I simply don’t understand is how overrated it is becoming – all because of the fuss made over new adaptations of “Alice in Wonderland” which are now apparently inspiring people all over the world, while years ago it was still an eerie fairytale, more of a madman’s dream. The new versions, however, go well with the tastes of nowadays’ viewers who know what they want to see, but expect the shows to demonstrate a certain level of creativity and innovation as well. It kills those shows. “Pandora Hearts” is such a series with much power and weak realisation - a great concept trapped in a mediocre, cliché-filled box.
ZeroReq011
Ah, what do we wonder have here? A fine lot, a fine lot indeed, all wonderfully fat and skinny and in between. Come to tea then to wonder? Hmm? A wonderland you say? A wonderland! A wonderland? Fallen down the rabbit hole, you wonder? Bees in your bonnets? Butterflies in your stomach? Bats in your belfry? No need to wonder... You're already here, Wonder! It's wonderland! A wonderfully wonderful wonder of a wonderland, Wonder. But you must have wondered by now if Wonderland's the name, Mr. Wonder? No, Mrs. Wonder. It's- ...the Abyss. W-what the hell? Who's there? Pandora Hearts was adapted by a manga of the samename by Jun Mochizuki. Produced by Xebec, and directed by Takao Kato, the story takes place in a universe of two different dimensions... of sorts: a humanity inhabited Victorian era-esque setting of corsets and petticoats, and a macabre reimagining of Lewis Caroll's Wonderland, the latter infested with eldritch abominations known as Chains with apparent appetites for manflesh. There's very little doubt that this show took its inspiration from Alice in Wonderland. We follow Oz Vessalius, a somewhat mischievous, but otherwise goodhearted youth and heir to one of the four great dukedoms of the realm. Due to circumstances involving a seemingly brief stint in the Abyss, a white-themed Alice choking him within an inch of his life and a red-themed Alice, henceforth known as simply Alice, enslaving/contracting with whatever was left, Oz, the chosen one, the red-themed Alice, and the loyal attendants/oddly dispositioned allies of the Chain-smoking agency dubbed Pandora, set off to unravel the mysteries of this Abyss and its governess, its Will. Adventure with sprinkles of madness, this show is sure to satisfy shounen itches.
Introspection atop heaps of despair, this show is also sure to interest those looking for a little more. A caveat of note toward this otherwise sensationalist review: existentialism. Most of the main characters are experiencing or have gone through some form of existentialist crisis. Personal existentialist crises framed with questions such as... Why was I born? Why do I continue to live? Is there any reason for me to? There's Oz, with his eerily resigned nature toward distressing events and his stilted affirmation toward martyrdom stemming from the trauma of being an unwanted son. There's Alice, with her past memories' absence and the anguish of being perceived incomplete, the outsider, alone. Self-sacrifice for self-gratification. Suspended animation, or rather, its sensation. In fact, most of the main cast are experiencing or have experienced these issues at some point or another, and most are pursuing numerous truths, the truth behind the numerous tragedies connected to the Abyss, the truth behind Will of the Abyss, the truth behind the Abyss itself. But most interestingly of all these veracities are the ones that are personal. For Oz and Alice specifically, they need the truth in confronting their own demons before progressing elsewhere, no matter how painful that may be.
Then after, is finding the truth behind the melody. “Lacie” in all its reiterative forms, more predominantly as a simple music box number, is a work of art. Played on its own many times throughout the show, without words, with more than just feelings, this melody weaves a tale of its own. Rather than one of one-sided angst, it croons of tragedy as it compels its listeners to muse why music so beautiful, a product of which can only find in happy days, is so sad. Coupled with details of the story seen and spoken, the musical yarn is given clarity. The story, in turn, is given weight. Crafted by the talents of one Ms. Yuki Kaiijura, who composed the rest of the OST, a special mention must be said of the OP, “Parallel Hearts,” by Kaijura's Fiction Junction. With a similarly soul-rending violin solo at the beginning and haunting vocals throughout, the crescendos and decrescendos of the song match well with the fluctuating intensity of the visuals, even if those visuals do little more than introduce the settings and cast members. The EDs, ED1 “maze,” and ED2 “Watashi wo Mitsukete,” translated “Find Me,” by savage genius are of a more obligatory note by comparison. ED1, which hosts its own pretty and well-paced dynamics, is comprised mainly of Alice, suspended, vulnerable, insecure because of her lack of an identity, interspaced by Oz providing just that. ED2 is of a lighter toned portrayals of the major recurring characters accompanied by singing that wouldn't be half bad if it stayed on pitch towards the end.
The animation is consistent, nothing as eye-catchingly comparable as some of more scenic and uncanny set pieces, the notable exception coming to mind being all those murderous dolls from the latter, save those demarcatedly anime forms of stylized humor, deliberately deformed head sizes, facial expressions, and whatnot. Funny for those who like that humor, and honestly, it'd be rare to find an anime fan that wasn't, but there's no denying that, on its own, it's silly to a fault. And that quality's a problem for a show like this, especially at its inception. Here I am, breathing in the setting, the atmosphere, the substance of the established relationships, the gravity of the sinister elements at play, and then a stupid anime mug later, my immersion's shattered, and I'm left disgruntled trying to re-piece it into a semblance or even shell of what it was from earlier.
It becomes less of an issue the further on the story progresses, but the comedy, however balanced with its dramatic counterpart never really changes from this aforementioned nature, and then a new issue erupts revolving around the characters. We see our main cast in serious situations. We see our main cast in silly ones. Yet we never see much in between, and because of that, the relationships in this show lack real grounding. Real relationships constitute more than just stress and hijinks; they are made up of normal moments, of people sharing their interests in fairly realistic ways. That doesn't mean humor can't be implemented to spice these moments up, but if they are to feel sincere, then they can't be more than just elements.
Then there's another bothersome feature that has less to do with the animation and more to do with the direction. Eyes are said to be windows to the soul; it's especially true for anime, since eyes are an effective way of demonstrating powerful emotions without the need for any further body language. It's an attractive for production studios running under tight budgets, but Pandora Hearts abuses it so much on the male main protagonist that it becomes sensationally meaningless, and I'd argue it's uncharacteristic of Oz to be eliciting such pained eye expressions every episode to other episode. Such direction has to be used sparingly if the intent behind them is to signal that shit's hit the fan, because if the show as a whole is polluted with them, then it's hard to take them seriously.
Lastly is this show's heavy-handed reliance on flashbacks. Flashbacks are viable means of characterization and plot progression, especially when the object of them is to coax drama. Anyone who's a fan of Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica would attest to their effectiveness when used properly. However, Pandora Hearts does two things wrong with them. One, it uses them incessantly. Two, it uses them right before or during the majority of the series' numerous dire situations. The dramatic value a flashback may carry over to a narrative diffuses the more often it is used. Coupled with the fact that it's often used when it's convenient, to introduce it right at the moment where we are supposed to care about characters the most, it borders on contrivance. The only flashbacks I find reasonable are the ones around Alice, whom the audience is supposed to regard as somewhat mysterious, one of the major plot drives being that she's unlocking memories as she goes. It also helps that those memories are also pretty tragic.
And there you have it. Filled with execution flaws, but nonetheless layered with substantive ambition and terrific music, minding the rough start it's a show to try out when you have the time. That's me, and before I break into anymore literary nonsense, I think I'm going to get a new hat. The one I'm currently wearing is rather nice, but it's kind of old and, to be honest, I think it's giving me migraines. Could be the trapped dust, or maybe it's the mercury. How's that idiom go? Mad as a-
...the Abyss.
W-who keeps saying that?
I give Pandora Hearts a 7 out of 10.
Bouum
If I was told : 'Hey, there's another season of Pandora Hearts' I would believe it... I feel like something is still missing after 25 episodes. If I was to delete the few last episode from my mind and write this review, I would have been able put a way better score. I often say : When the Ending is bad the whole thing becomes bad. This 'rule' apply to Pandora Hearts. In fact... it's like it is made for this show. Pandora Hearts had a lot of potential ! The First Episodes were mysterious and I had a lot of question on my mind. I haveto say many of them are still unanswered or I feel like the given answer is lame. [WATCH OUT FOR POSSIBLE SPOILER!] Oz sins was his very existence ? Why ?... Because his father never wanted him ? So he send him into Abyss ? And Also, he send him into Abyss because The Will wanted him ? Is that me or that's a lot of Coincidence !?![END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER] I was really disappointed and that's only one example of the Weird Answer. Somehow I feel like the 'Tragedy of Sabrie' is also REALLY Lacking. It was mysterious and interesting and that's a good thing but as a writer you have to answer the questions in the End. Pandora Hearts didn't.
I get the main idea... I think but I had to 'Guess' many of them from what we see. I would have like to know more in details what happened and more importantly, the WHY of those event. The Baskerville killed all those people following Glen's order but why ? Why did he order that in the first place ?
Maybe I should read the Manga but, seriously... Do I want to reach the same ending ?
The Ending was ridiculous. Was it the lack of a real enemy the whole time ? In the End, you reach a point where there's no real enemy and maybe that was the problem with the whole story. They couldn't find a way to end it so they ended it this lame way by making Oz's Father and his chain the 'Temporary' Bad Guy.
I still would 'recommend' it for the interesting plot but sadly it was rushed and the ending solve nothing at all. Oz say it, in the end. He said he would still search to 'solve' the mysteries. That's why I said, I would believe if someone told me there was another season. Sadly, there is no such thing and this... This was the Real Ending !
Therefore...
STORY:: 6
Moving on to the Art. This looked like some of the First Naruto Episode. I remember them... Do you ? They were 'OK' and it was years ago ! Pandora Hearts isn't that old and the Graphic are horrible. Some scene were good but other... they were horrible. I'm thinking of the Scene at the End where he sees 'Griffon' his father's Chains painting or something on the wall. He's all shocked staring at it. Seriously... His eyes are juste getting 'BIG - SMALL - BIG - SMALL' and his hair darker on his forehead. But Still, I can deal with a Style that look more 'Old' or 'Out of date'. That really isn't the thing that screw thing us for the Show.
Therefore...
ART:: 6
I have nothing to say against the Music. The Intro was good. The second ending felt a Little out of place but it was Ok. The show wasn't all dark either so it's ok. The Soundtrack were good. Kajiura Yuki's music is always good and was going great with the show. However, the song were nothing new. I remember the song from 'Mai-Hime' and they sound really similar. I feel like I can hear 'Mezame' everywhere in those almost. I think the only song from her that are slightly different are those in Xenosaga. But this review isn't about her music ! Eh-eh.
Therefore...
MUSIC:: 9
How can you make people love character they don't know and don't understand. I love Break and... Hey, that's the only Character we were given real answer with ! Oz is annoying. Nothing to say about him really. He's the main Character. He keeps saying that he doesn't care if he dies. Then why should I care ? Is he really important ? He doesn't get anything at all. To me he was just a selfish young boy. And, Good News everyone ! His Fate is still unsure cuz, he still have the Symbol on his chest and he will surely dies when it's full even if Gil helps him slowing the process down. Maybe, that something would have been something good to add in the ending or something...
Alice was a good character... until they made her do some totally random stuff. I get it she's suppose to be the Tsundere character but, seriously ?... Her character became ridiculous at time and then it's hard to take her seriously. Also, I wish her background would have been put to light more than that with Jack and eventually, leading to the whole Tragedy thing and then... To Oz. The pieces are still messed up for the story it's no different for the Character. Vincent and Gilbert are also totally in the darkness for me. To me, Vincent is still a murder. He killed Alice and asked the Will to save Gil and him and Gilbert doesn't care about what happened ? How did he get hurt like that anyway ? I wish we knew more about them. I felt like they were somehow important.
And the character that really needed more airtime... Glen ? and probably, The Will. They tried to make us think.. 'those are the bad guys' without giving us any real answer as 'Why ?' and then.. 'Why not ?' Glen is the Bad guy. He made the Tragedy happen. We barely know why we barely know what happened between Jack and him. Why calling Jack a Hero ? He died without doing nothing... no ?
I've read somewhere someone saying the Pandora Hearts has the best character development and all. Makes my day. I would have believe it but... The Ending rushed thing for the Character also and makes me still wonder stuff about them so no... The Character are incomplete as well.
Therefore...
CHARACTER:: 7
Did I enjoy Pandora Hearts ?... I did. Yes. I did. I was hooked. Every episode, I told myself that's the Last One for today and I still watched another one after ! Yes, I enjoyed it but as I was reaching the End, somehow... I wasn't that interested in it anymore. I would still recommend it... and I will probably add the Manga to my 'I want to read that..' List for some other time.
Therefore...
ENJOYMENT:: 8
However... The Rushed and Lame ending force me to throw...
OVERALL:: 7
Maybe I had expectation too high on the ending and got disappointed by my own fault...
Who knows !
Tii
I wish the ending would continue on... yet that is what the manga is for. I heard the anime pulls you in for the mangas sake. I was automatically pulled in at the very start when Oz was bowing down to the people of abys. This anime is my favorite, and for the very first time on the top of my list to recomend to people around the world. -nod nod- My favorite movie when I was really really little was Alice in Wonderland, and now as Pandora Hearts captures that feel to it, I love it as well. If you enjoy Disneys Alice, then you'll enjoy thisAlice too
and a guy who hates being called 'seaweed head' which I find very cute.
Also, who can live without a wild mad hatter running around acting to innocent? His 'lips like sugar' will want you to know just how 'Sweet' this anime can get
;D
Resting_Bonfire
Pandora Hearts I have to make one thing clear in advance, if you want to watch "Pandora Hearts" but at the same time you are a manga reader, do yourself a favor and read the manga. The anime adaptation of Pandora Hearts includes the first 3 arcs and thus roughly the first 35 chapters. The last 3 episodes are filler episodes with an alternate ending. Although I was mostly entertained by the anime, this is one of the worst manga adaptations I've seen. The pacing was almost non-existent, and some episodes dragged on for ages. Tension was completely undermined thanks to that, of course. Even someof the most important moments from the manga seemed almost like minor dialogue. As for the ending, there are good and bad ways to present an alternative ending. And here, probably the worst possible was done. It would have been better to just declare the anime over from the Ludwig arc on, rather than allow such a disaster.
[Story 6]
Nonetheless, this adaptation contains a lot of original material from the manga, which still delivers the same content despite atrocious pacing. Pandora Hearts is one of the few anime/manga whose main focus is based on storytelling, twists, and buildup. This show has an immense amount of hidden detail and foreshadowing for future events, which turns the entire plot picture upside down the more of it is revealed.
In the adaptation, unfortunately, we only see some of the setup, which seems relatively minor without the resolution. Almost nothing about the Abyss, the characters, and the "truth" was revealed in the anime and remains hidden until the end, for the anime-only viewers.
[Characters 5]
By the end of the anime series, the characters have developed only minimally and most of their important moments and developments are yet to come. However, even here you notice how multi-layered the characters are even though they seem like stereotypes at first. Oz (whose entire existence is a collection of plot twists) is a relatively interestingly written protagonist, since, among other things, all of his character traits and problems are resolved by the end. Again, we already saw many of his self-conflicts based on his childhood and how he tried to overcome them. In a more or less self-critical and yet rational way.
Alice. The tsundere is a gluttonous, arrogant protagonist who is more a wild animal than a human being. Which, thanks to her background and her eternal existence in the Abyss could hardly be otherwise. She is the most boring of the protagonists but has enough character to be average.
Gilbert has his moments of brilliance, though later in the manga. In the anime, he only seems like a sidekick.
Most of the side characters all have their respective character arc and important relevance to the main plot, as their fates are related to each other and the truth behind the story. And some side characters, are closer to the "real" plot than one would think at the beginning.
[Animations 3]
Environments have very little detail, especially from the middle on. The dynamics are non-existent and the freeze-frame battles are immensely monotonous. Pacing is near-record poor, a single dialogue is delayed to 2-3 minutes, and fights that barely lasted 5 pages in the manga are at least 5 minutes here.
[Music 6]
The osts are quite appropriate for this kind of story and very apt in style. The intro is also well done and fits perfectly.
The biggest flaw here is how the osts are placed. In some episodes, the music plays even though nothing happens at all and in other scenes, it is missing. Imagine the character walking up the stairs with nothing happening and the main theme playing in the background.
[Conclusion 4]
You can watch this anime, especially if you are new to the anime scene and have little experience or comparative material. For anyone else, I definitely can't recommend this anime. The manga, on the other hand, I can. Despite a disappointing ending, the manga was a very interesting experience with a very well-thought-out plot.
[Enjoyment 5]
gedata
Every now and then you come across an anime with all the right tools for success but ends up having to fight an uphill battle against unfortunate surrounding factors. Take a manga that's nowhere near complete, hand it off to a studio with an unimpressive track record, and what do you get? Well, honestly now that I think about it, a lot of adaptations of manga/LNs/VNs fit this criterion, but today I'll be highlighting yet another unfortunate case in Pandora Hearts. An anime with a compelling backdrop but not a clue as to how to handle it in the long run. Whilst the show mayhave come out half-baked, I'd be remiss to leave out mention of its solid foundation
The world Pandora Hearts presents within its 25 episode run is one that makes no qualms in making parallels with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland primarily. It plays with various concepts and names from famous fairy tales and ghost stories as well. The story of Pandora Hearts is an interesting attempt at mixing of fantasy, action, horror, mystery, and comedy.The plot unfurls a tale spanning a century revolving around an event known as "Tragedy of Sabrie". More often than not, plot advancement comes from looking back at these events and seeing what each shocking revelation does to each character and their resolve to move forward. That said as far as titles labeled the "shounen" tag go, Pandora Hearts is rather slow and it's very obvious that providing exhilarating action is not top priority here. After a while, it becomes clear the story prefers to flesh out elements of the setting and the central mystery as opposed to providing fight scenes in each episode.
The slow pace isn't something I'd wholly chalk up to the lack of immediately epic plotting however and that's where on of the major failings of the plot lies. Most of the show's major revelations are shoved into 1-2 episode events that are sandwiched between....not really all that much. There're some pretty lengthy stretches here in there that ended up being filled with very trite, very anime-typical comedy which did nothing for me. Comedic timing is also a foreign concept to Pandora Hearts for the most part as the characters often make random "funny" quips during otherwise serious dialogue exchanges. The meat can be pretty delicious here, but there's way too much fat I found unpalatable. This problem also makes it so that the plot-twists are unevenly spaced out. You get a collection of perspective-changing developments in one episode, none for a fair stretch of time, and then yet another cluster of twists. Episodes 21 and 22, in particular, end up being rather dizzying as a result of this. An unfortunate side-effect of the plot developments in Pandora Hearts is that they give rise to many, many questions and character arcs that no series of just 25 episodes is capable of handling properly. Being an adaptation of an incomplete monthly series that presumably didn't sell well enough to warrant a second, this was to be expected. What can't be excused, however, is how poorly thought out final episodes were. The anime sticks with the storyline of its parent manga with blind faith until the last three episodes come along and it becomes clear that the story is nowhere near a satisfying stopping point. This, of course, resulted in the anime attempting to create its own ending and it completely betrays the efforts the show had put into all of it's interesting variables by barely addressing any of them. I'm not really a manga purist, so I say that script-writers should feel free to inject their own ideas into an adaptation though they should do it under one of 2 conditions.
1. Make it their own pet-project of sorts early on. This is undoubtedly very difficult to do as it means not only making a different ending but giving the story a different narrative purpose. Go out on a limb and change not just the ending, but the entire 2nd half or something. Make it so it has a different set of ideas or themes as well so that the adaptation can be viewed as its own thing that can even be preferred over the source rather than just a shittier version of the source with a conclusion that seems to have been cobbled together at the last minute. Examples: Fullmetal Alchemist, Bokurano, Planetes, and Gankutsuou
Or....
2. Make sure that the added content doesn't conflict with conflict with the main canon so as to effectively close off all hope for a sequel. Example: Noragami and the 1st season of Knights of Sidonia, which both ended with climaxes that weren't in the original manga nor did they make it impossible for a sequel to happen without major retcons.
Pandora Hearts opts for neither of these options and goes for an ending that not only plays around with the established canon but is also inconclusive. For those of you who've seen Claymore, think of that title's finale, but with even more unanswered questions and a much more rushed anticlimax (yes it's that lame).
As far as the actual cast goes. they do manage to get fleshed out to a remarkable degree. For the most part, however, the series banks on the character arc of Oz Vessalius (the protagonist) to a point at which actually becomes a bit of a detriment. The writers seem to have a hard-on for exploiting his emotional trauma for all it's worth. And for what? To have Oz angst and fret, and then eventually man up a little and say that he'll make a change for the better. Doesn't sound too bad right? Well, the thing is his development is cyclical, as in it resets from time to time. We see him fluctuate from emotional highs to lows several times over in the same way and it ends up becoming a tad repetitious. That said he's far from what I'd call a bad character exactly. The characters Oz meets on his journey never encourage him to develop into an unstoppable badass (he's actually quite weak physically throughout) so much as they challenge his value system. He eventually realizes the problems that lie with his childish heroics. It's a shame that his more introspective moments of sadness were far too numerous and lengthy for the simple points they got across.
The rest of the cast, in particular, do develop a fair bit in the present, but I'd be lying If I said it wasn't more interesting to see how they ended up becoming who they are. I'm not normally a fan of using flashbacks excessively, but given how all the important clues to the central mystery lie in the past, I can allow Pandora Hearts some lee-way. There really isn't any going further without taking a good long look back. Because of this, I can't say the characters "develop" as much as you might like to hear that, but the main cast (Oz, Alice, Gilbert, and Break) is made up of individuals that you can fully understand and sympathize with. Alice, herself is a pretty simple tsundere type through and through though unlike others of her type she doesn't really exude arrogance to mask weakness as she's strong as hell. Her simplistic nature and arrogance come from the fact that she lacks her memory of the traumatic events of a time long before her meeting with Oz. Not the most original character, but as an epicenter to the grand mystery she doesn't detract much from the series. There really isn't all that much to say about the characters besides looking at how they are built up, because it's actually difficult to talk about them without spoiling key plot twists (and trust me there are a lot of key plot-twists) once we finally have a strong grasp on the main players, the show comes to it's abrupt ending.
Visually, there's no escaping the fact that the series doesn't really deliver. Sure the series has neat set-pieces, but excessively drab, dark and grainy color palette doesn't do them much favor. There's also this odd, blurry filter blurs the outlines of objects in the foreground that I found distracting. The fight scenes are also not up to par as they lack inspired choreography tactics and overall direction. Audio-wise, Pandora Hearts holds up just fine. Whilst not the best I've heard of her work, Yuki Kajiura's score does a fine job of picking up some of the slack during the slower moments and mediocre fight scenes. This track in particular that's used whenever Alice is going all out against a foe is typically better then everything happening onscreen. Kajiura's tendency towards pieces with moody melancholic chants fits a morose title like this one to a tee.
It's a shame that with as much momentum Pandora Hearts was gaining that it had to succumb not only to its own shortcomings but to the same fate as many adaptations of many monthly manga before it. As it is, watching Pandora Hearts is akin to piecing together a vast jigsaw puzzle, only to discover that half the pieces are missing towards the end. There's not much waiting at the end of this rabbit hole.
treeflyer
OK, short version, take your mouse and click the arrow to take you the other direction. Get far from this show of indecisive characters, pointless enemies, and plot holes, no plot chasms so deep you find cavemen, dinosaurs, and a cackling maniac smearing feces on turtles. I'll wait... Still here? Ok, I can understand that this is going to take a little more convincing. Story: 3 Starts out fine. Oz, a 15 year old, seemingly carefree noble is attacked at his Bar Mitzvah (j.k.) and is pulled into a world called abyss where he meets a crazy woman named Alice. Alice isa chain, she has random weird powers and is stronger than a bunch of other chains but seems to need this kid to escape abyss. Within 15 minutes and only one brief talk they form a blood pact, or maybe they just kiss, and escape from a interesting and truly terrifying alternate universe (by the way, they don't come back). Poof, Oz is back, and he brought a friend (wink) however in those 15 minutes in prison, 10 years have passed. Seriously. Oz's best friend and servant, Gilbert, has become a man and seems to have spent the last 10 years nursing a semi for little Oz with the intent to bring him back from abyss.
Thus the great adventure begins, the cards are in order, the players are all set, onward to discover why Oz was sent to some crazy place for what seems like no reason. On to helping Alice free herself from abyss forever and regain her lost memories. On to, oh wait Gilbert has his master back so now...ah whatever, he'll be smart or something to help Oz and Alice. No matter what we should get some superpower battles, intelligent plot twists, and maybe a little romance between the characters...right?
No.
The plot hits the ground and the resulting explosion causes the aforementioned chasm with yours truly looking for more turtles.
Art: 6
I don't know art, but the abyss is well done and when there are those brief moments of action they are visually appealing. The art is not a problem but it can't help the struggling convoluted plot or crawling character development.
Sound: 7
Again not really an expert, but I think this was Pandora Hearts best feature. The opening was very good (I'm a sucker for percussion and violin) and the more classical background sound in scenes was a good choice for this anime, which was really trying to be a drama. The story failed, but at least the music added some heft to individual scenes. Also, the music when B. Rabbit comes out to fight is, it must be said, very exciting and maybe even epic.
Characters: 2
One character must be mentioned. The only one with a true backstory, development, and comedy (fyi, he's also crazy) Xerxes Break. The only ray of light in the bowels of the earth. This story has parallels to Alice in Wonderland, even stealing a name, and in that context Xerxes Break is the mad hatter, enough said.
Enjoyment: 1
I think its clear by now that I don't like this show. So it stands to reason that my enjoyment of this series was equivalent to grinding my eyes away with sandpaper.
Overall: 3
I doubt I can convince you that this isn't some a$$hole troll trying to keep you away. For me, anime is only worth watching if 1) the characters are enjoyable, stirring, or well made 2) the plot is well written and leads somewhere, and 3) the sound and art match and add to the intended tone of the anime (or if you want to be a purist, the manga).
A show can be worth watching if at least two of these three conditions are met. Unfortunately, Pandora Hearts only succeeds in the third condition, that is simply not enough for me.
If you still feel that you want to give this show a try feel free, your conditions may be different or this show may personally be more your style. It wasn't for me.
Naturally_Morbid
First of all, this is truly one of my favorite anime. Story: When you first read abou this anime you might be thinking "Oh great, just another remake of Alice in Wonderland." This anime has many simularities to Alice in Wonderland and has the same feeling but it has a very unique story. The story is mysterious, beautiful, and kept me interested the whole way through. Art: The art in both the anime and manga is amazing. It is not too shounen or shoujo and is very pleasant to look at. Sound: The music in this anime isn't the best quality to the anime but I found thesoundtrack to be beautiful and worth listening to when not watching the anime. Another part to sound that I find very important is the voice actors. The voice actors in Pandora Hearts do a wonderful job of portraying the characters personalities. No character was too high pitched. (which I find very annoying.)
Character: The characters in Pandora Hearts have amazing backround stories that unravel throughout the anime. They have unique personalities and character design. If you are like me, and like to cosplay, this anime is very good because the characters have beautiful, unique outfits.
Enjoyment: This anime was dramatic but it had its funny moments, and by "funny" I mean "laugh out loud funny" I found myself laughing outloud (unexpextedly) at some of the episodes of this anime. As for the fanservice in this anime it is mostly BL (boy love) moments between Oz and Gil. But it isn't overboard like some anime.
So overall I give this anime a 10. The ONLY problem I found with this anime was the ending. If you could even call it that. The anime left many mysteries unanswered but fortunately the anime follows the manga very well and the manga answers everything for you in the end. I recommend watching the anime AND reading the manga if you want to fully complete this series.
Hope you watch and enjoy this anime! ^^
dreido_avenue
Truthfully, at first, I was thrown off by the first episode of this anime. It was too generic for my tastes, both the art and the overused plot. But I still stuck with it, just for the first few ten or so episodes to see if it would improve. And it surprisingly did, with its plot and characters; the anime was a whole lot richer and promising than I had first suspected to be. Simply put, I was intrigued with the dark elements, found myself honestly amused with the jokes, and entertained with the twists that came with it. Which led me to read themanga, which actually I think is better than its anime counterpart in terms of explaining and conveying what the artist wanted to convey. To conclude, what I am trying to say is that stick with the anime and see that it has a deeper web of intricacy than what it first looks like.
musouka_3008
I will keep it short and sweet. I hated it... I truly hated it. I see so many good reviews and I don't get it. I suffered through this series. I hated the cookie cutter characters, the plot had enough loose ends to make a lovely sweater from, and the art was awful. Yea, I've seen worse in anime but not from such a high ranking series. I heard so many good things so to have actually watched it - well I'm not impressed. The story was original, however, I just feel that more could have been done to develop anything in the story, yes,ANYTHING. I felt that their was so much built up in the plot to only have it crash land in the last 5 eps. Overall don't expect to stand up and cheer at the end of the series... it gets a meh, from me.
MisaTange
Story: Oz Vessalius, heir to one of the duke houses, has just turned fifteen. His life is rich and carefree, darkened only by the constant absence of his father. At his coming-of-age ceremony, however, everything changes. For no reason that he can discern, he's cast into the prison known as the "Abyss", only to be saved by a "chain" known as Alice, the bloodstained black rabbit. It is unknown why was he cast into Abyss, how does Alice factor into it all, and what does the organization known as "Pandora" want with him. [Source: Anime News Network] Excellent story. It has many multiple twists, cliffhangers, etc withsome elements from Alice in Wonderland, but it all fits into the story. It has very little fillers, which I like VERY much.
Art/Animation:
Compared to the anime of today, it isn't anything. The animation isn't anything better.
Sound/Voice Acting:
Some of the music is memorable, some of the music (actually, one of the EDs is one of them) isn't. Some of the ending themes do not fit for the dark theme of the anime. That ending theme is Watashi wo Mitsukete, but even that is quite catchy for me. There really should be some background noise, e.g. birds singing, cicadas, etc.
On the subject of voice acting, (watched Japanese dubbed, English subs) everything is done well. I disliked very few of the voice actors, like Oz's sister, but it was very fitting for the character (Ada being very girlish).
Character:
Each and every character is lovable. Alice is a meat-loving, hotheaded Chain with a soft side. Gilbert is a loyal gunner. Xerxes is a Chain with good skill, carefree and dangerous at times. Oz is energetic, optimistic, and puts himself before others. There are so much lovable ones and a few that I dislike.
Enjoyment:
Because of its mysteries, characters, and much much more, I enjoyed this anime a lot.
Overall:
It's an anime with its share of flaws, but still watchable.
IceAndCream
I've only given a 10-star rating to a handful of animes. And this is one of them. "Abyss" was supposed to be a legend, a tale to frighten young children, a horrific place where evil people were taken. But Oz Bezarius discovers the truth for himself. After being forced into Abyss when his coming-of-age ceremony gets crashed, Abyss turns out to be a separate dimension that looks like a giant broken toybox. And the only way to leave is to make a contract with a being named Alice, who sometimes exists in the form of an impertinent young girl, and at othertimes as a giant anthropomorphic rabbit. Once they return to our world, things start to really get interesting….
It's hard to give a summary of Pandora Hearts, since it has so much content. It's mostly a drama, but there is some action/adventure. The setting is late 19th-century Europe (probably England). As it progresses, plot twists and turns keep coming. Questions pile up. Who is the strange man that appears in Oz's dreams? Why does his father avoid him? Why is he called the "key of abyss"? Who is Alice really? Why are her and Gil's memories missing? What was the tragedy of Sabrie? How is everything connected? There's so many story lines going on, puzzles to solve, and clues coming up, that you don't have time to get bored.
Memories is a key theme of the story. Several characters have lost their memory. There are frequent flashbacks. Events are often told out of order, as they're retold to the main characters rather than when they happened during the story timeline. (Which helps keep you in anticipation for when the events to be revealed.) At the beginning of most episodes is a brief recap of the last events of the previous one.
***Storytelling***
The pacing is excellent. Some animes have a lot of content in the beginning, and then sort of sputter out. Others have a slow pace, but then rush to finish everything in the end. Others have "filler" episodes that mess up the pacing or add content that's out of character. But this one, it's perfect. The overall tone of the story is dark, even tragic. But tons of humor is added, so things never get oppressive. You've probably seen some of the themes before in other animes (making a contract with a supernatural being, searching for missing memories, references to "Alice in Wonderland," an other-dimensional "broken toybox"). But even if some plot points are cliches, they work here.
For those who have read the manga already, the stories are practically identical. I didn't notice any filler episodes. The ending is done well, fitting in with events in the manga. It provides a satisfying ending, but still leaves some questions hanging, allowing for a possible second season (the manga is still ongoing at this time).
***Art and Animation***
Excellent, in my opinion, but I can understand if some people might not like it. There's something about it that feels very "classic." When I first started watching it, I though it might be something from the 90's but it was actually aired in 2009. Animes made within the past few years have a certain slickness. But this one has beautifully done motion animation that resembles classic animation. Many of the backgrounds also have the classic hand-painted look. The color palette looks old-fashioned. Colors often look washed out or faded, and pale yellow and olive green are common. The character drawings also do a great job trying to imitate the manga art. Black lines on characters are extended or enlarged to provide mild shadows, which is commonly done in manga, but rare in anime. Overall, it look more "hand-crafted" than most animes that have come out in the past 5 years. I liked that, since I felt it gave it a more timeless look, but I can understand if others think it's boring.
***Music***
The composer (Yuki Kajiura) also did the music for Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, so some of the scores sound reminiscent of TRC. But I liked the music on TRC, so that's fine for me. The music box theme is also an extremely iconic tune, and ties the story together very well.
***Characters***
Great. There are many memorable characters. Each is distinct, and many have secrets they're hiding (even Oz). That's one of the most intriguing parts of the story. Who are these people really? What are their pasts?
***Potentially objectionable content***
Not a lot compared to most animes out there. Very little swearing. Vincent is a total psycho. His habit of stabbing and slicing stuffed animals is disturbing. And he mistreats his servant girl. There are some scenes with bloody bodies. There's also quite a bit of bloodless action and fight scenes. Some of the "chains" (beings of abyss) take the forms of creepy and disturbing dolls. There's other stuff, but it's fairly mild. There's a scene where everyone gets drunk and gets silly, and Alice partially succeeds in taking off all her clothes.
Overall, I really loved Pandora Hearts. It's one you can watch several times and still enjoy.
Est_Rinaudo
This is the first and only anime that I have given a 10 score rate. I really really love this anime and I can watch it even more three times or maybe all over again and again. What I like about this anime is the storyline and character development. Most anime would focus on the adventures of the main character and forget the role of the other characters making the storyline ugly, but this anime has a very good character development and the storyline makes the viewers curious on what's next and what happened that makes them want more. I'm quite surprised that it isnot that popular, or maybe others just haven't discovered it yet.
I for example was just watching Kamigami no Asobi and found this anime on the advertisements. It suits my needs for at that time I was looking for anime to watch next. Luckily I found this so I searched for a trailer and it looks very interesting so I tried it (I'm a sucker for adventure, magical anime). At first I was watching it alone but my other friends was wondering why I was so hooked up with my laptop so they tried watching it too and then viola! I was suddenly watching with everyone!
The art is really cute and interesting too. Moreover I like the way Break and Alice was drawn especially Gilbert, Oz and Jack. The sound effects are really cool and great and I love the instrumental song "Lacie" just as the opening theme song too. I really enjoyed watching it so I was really devastated to find out that there is no Season 2 *sob* Like, seriously? this anime is great and I think it deserves a second season! but Oh well, there might be other factors why it was not pushed through so I'm just thankful that there's the anime version,(though fans would still more like the anime version) but All in All, this was really a great anime!
Kudos to those who made it and thank you for creating such a very nice anime!
