Pandora Hearts

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This is my first time ever writing a manga review, so please bare with me.

I want to start saying that this manga may not be the easiest reading; the plot is like a puzzle, at first you get to see the big picture, but without getting into the details, you won't reach the end result. I must say that this may be my favorite part about the series, each little detail is relevant either for the main plot or to get some character development and that enriches the story more and more every time you read. There's actually no time to get bored because everything ... is in constant movement.

The characters development here it's delightful as no one ends the same way they started, they go back and forth in their own individual worlds. The premise here is that there's not one only way to act, but actually a wide range of options where everyone can go at their own pace, and that makes possible for us readers to experience first hand the emotions/thinking that made a character the way they're at the moment or why they decided to change in some point.

Finally, the art. The main points are it's beautiful settings, a great amount of details, and a unique way of expressing emotions. In this last point I want to emphasize, because Mochizuki Jun is not only great with words (like those white/black pages that made me cry with dialogue solely), but the way she can make a few pages or even with just a single smile to overflow with emotion makes this manga a master piece.

Hope this would help you if you're still not sure about reading it, but give it a try.

Pandoras Hearts is one of those Mangas that has a great storyline with great parts to it, but also some things that can drive the reader nuts.

Story: 6

I found the new use of shingami in the manga to be very unique, unique in the fact that the soul reapers so to speak, aren't really dead souls in the asspect that we usually see, like in Shifumi Letters or Bleach. This was a plus when I first started watching the Anime, which drew me to the Manga.

Also, the storyline is chalk full of references to Alice in Wonderland. Many of the characters and chains are based ... off of characters from the book, and if you have read the books or seen any of the adaptations, this too might also draw one in.

I also saw a resemblance to the short Manga, Fairy Cube. The re are small elements in there that fit into both, like the stuffed rabbit toy, the small girl, or even the fact that there is a raven based being in both of these peices of work. Perhaps Pandora was influenced. In fact, it is likely that Pandora is highly influenced by a lot of things.

Normally, this would get the story a eight or higher, but I came across the problem of the fact that there are some rather dry cliques and humor running about that tend to get dragged out to the extreme, to the point at times of annoyance. I wish not to go into them as that would rather ruin the story.

Art: 8

The art is lovely, and well done, but there are a few times that it gets a little bit sloppy. This tends to be more noticible if one comes from an Anime that has brushed up and covered these mistakes up. And to note, I've studied art, so I could possibly be nitpicking things, but there were a few points where, even though I enjoy the art work pretty much, there were times I was a bit turned off. But then I'd come across an extremely good peice and it would go back and forth..

Character: 7

Gilbert is my favorite character. You learn early on that he has problems beliving in himself and his abilities, not to mention self esteme issues. He is also very loyal, yet also very childish, for which he gets made fun of. One also learns that his outward appearance doesn't exactly match his inner, but this isn't something one learns until later on.

Alice is another one of my favorite characters. Most of the really good humor comes from her, Gilbert or the Uncle, but mostly her. She also has a majorly firy temper that one can find quite enjoyable. Her self pity moments are rather logical, as she has been trapped in the abyss for so long.

What isn't so good is our main hero. Sure, he is all spunky and happy go lucky in the beging of the Manga, but when he takes an angst trip, boy does he take them. One needs to be forewarned that there might be times that one might want to strangle him for these reasons. There are also a few other such problems too, that brings a really good character cast down from normal.

Enjoyment: 9

Despite the problems in the Manga, I find I am enjoying the storyline very well. It is unique enough that one wants to find out the ending and to see where the author takes the reader on this journey.

Overall: 8

One needs to be fully forewarned, as great as Pandoras Heart is, there are going to be times when one may or may not get frustrated with the storyline. I know I have and I have had to put it down, cool down a bit, and come back. Particularly when the main character has gone into his angsty moments.

I do not really have a ton of specifics to say here because I just really could not care about this...there was nothing to hate and nothing to love. The premise was a little interesting, but this manga prefers to bog itself down with poorly written gags, atrocious dialogue, and frivolous declarations of affirmation than actually focus on either action or story.

The basic premise of the story is nice enough - secret mysterious prison like madman world that exists alongside the normal world and represents awful things for pretty much any human being. Okay, nice enough! Except...they never explain pretty much anything about it in ... particular. Even worse, our main hero is straightaway declared to be the key to obtaining that power...and no one really says why. We get some vague exposition along these lines, but never anything interesting or helpful; all the interactions and dialogue are more along dramatic lines.

Similarly, there is an interesting enough idea of needing to get back Alice's memories. Great, so we have an actual mission! Except there is no real rhyme or reason to how she gets them back (she just does), and it never really becomes anywhere near a main focus; again, dramatic character interactions and meetings kind of train wreck all of this.

The characters are all essentially uninteresting - Oz the tragic hero who overcompensates by being excessively friendly and accommodating, Gilbert who exists basically to be his homoerotic friend (they made his character dark for a while, then just totally destroyed that to get him back to being homoerotic), Alice the initially tsundere, then just naive and secretly really nice...(ch. 20 p. 32 - She gets angry easily, and her words are harsh, but...the real Alice is very gentle, and loves to cry, and she is very stupid as well...her appetite is also very huge!) *yawn*. Some of the characters have potential for being interesting, like Break or Vincent, but then never actually get to be interesting. The dialogue, always fractured, and ADD of this work ensure that they cannot have any profound details or interactions. It always comes back to bad gags or bad friendship speeches...

All in all, this is not really a work worth anyone's time. It offers a nice concept and world, but fails to flesh them out, it offers boring characters, boring dialogue, boring character interactions, beyond typical gags, and the banter is always lacking in wit. It throws vague calls to Alice in Wonderland mythos and expects you to think that it makes it instantly awesome (unfortunately...this works on almost everyone...). This is a work that offers frivolities instead of awesomeness.