Spotlight Manga: Pet Shop of Horrors MAL Series Information Page: Pet Shop of Horrors MAL Score - 8.49 (by 969 users) Ranked - #57 Popularity - #158 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the series that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate a manga: Art, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Art - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Art - discuss any pros and cons of the art styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Character - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to specific characters in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pro's and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 4 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticize and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to seeing how this discussion will develop. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL (28/02/2015) - Yes: 0 - No: 4 - I haven't read this manga: 42 ~ Abstained: 0 This manga was NOT inducted into the club's Manga list - 0% |
LindleFeb 28, 2016 10:03 AM
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| *copypasta'ing my review* Reading this series, one might think they can smell the sweet scent of cake and incense that lures unsuspecting customers to Count D's exotic Chinatown shop. Like moths to the flame, readers turn the page over and over in a constant search for the truth behind the seductive illusion that Pet Shop of Horrors is. A collection of vignettes, much like Aesop's Fables of old, the short stories that make up the manga are timeless in nature. Though we are not new to the idea that humans a...re destroying the world, Pet Shop takes a very unreal turn, not attacking man for it's domination, but for it's very nature. Through the eyes of animals, the course of greed, jealousy, lust, wrath unearth from the most unlikely sources again and again. The perpetrators are all different, but the manga illustrates again and again that it is because they are human. This ideal, terrifying as it is, holds a reluctant mirror to ourselves with each story as we see what we are and what we could be. To throw it over the top, the moral is never forced down your throat. You will get it if you get it, but if you don't, it probably doesn't apply to you to begin with. The story is highlighted heavily by it's thick artistic detail and design. Matsuri Akino paints us a crystal-clear picture that no manga-ka could possibly make any more luxurious a vision. Visceral in nature, we see the beauty turn to unspeakable horror before our very eyes. Eyes drawn to be racked with terror, Akino suspects our reactions and reflects them in such a surreal manner, I've never seen anything like it in anything I have ever seen or read before. There is no sloppiness here. Everything is exquisitely crafted in ink. The ringleader of this deconstruction of humanity is the coy, cake-loving D. Though shy in expression, D demonstrates a variety of various emotions as the series progresses, to which credit could be given to no one other than D's exact opposite; the crass, violent detective, Leon Orcot, who is out to arrest D for a variety of charges, none of which Leon can ever prove. It is only his presence that invokes D, but alone he is essentially a waste of pages. This conflict between the two of them persists the length of the manga and is the cohesive force that holds the various short stories together. What is more inspiring is it's Cowboy Bebop-like approach to its characters, in which each chapter-exclusive character is fleshed out to his or her full potential in regards to the story at hand. To say I enjoyed this manga is like saying Leon has a fixation with D. It is a gross understatement. These are stories that are universal in their lessons and timeless in nature. This manga is not just a warning though, but a sign of hope, as sometimes the outcome of any given story is not a thing of disgust and horror of the capabilities of our kind. Take it for what you will, but any reader will likely recognize the tales as one or the other. The art, the story, the dialogue, everything is spot-on. The recurring characters are never betrayed and warped into something they are not and remain as mysterious at the end as they are at the start. To conclude, it is this humble reviewer's notion that Pet Shop of Horrors is the Cowboy Bebop of manga. It has no real genre unto itself and can be accessed by just about anyone without any other knowledge of anime or manga. Thus, it is my opinion that Pet Shop of Horrors is nothing short of a masterpiece. *ahem* HELL FUCKING YES! 10/10 BABY! |
| My first novel, Kardia has been published! Click here to read! |
| Splitter has pretty much summed up my opinion. Pet Shop of Horrors is an excellent collection of stories. I've given it a 9 as some of the artwork wasn't to my tastes. That's one of the few minor flaws with the series though. |
| What a day! What a lovely Day! |
| I read this seven years ago, so can't fully remember why I gave it 6/10 but believe I enjoyed the overall manga and liked the art but didn't feel it deserved a lot of the praise it has gotten. I believe this was because of the vignette style of the chapters (too episodic, if you will) and a lack of engaging with the characters. Anyone else wanna chime in? |
| Translated review: http://naomeapeteceestudar.blogspot.pt/2014/07/petshop-of-horrors.html I'm not much for reading manga, so take it with a grain of salt I was very curious about this manga since I watched the short 4 episode OVA. There is a shop in Chinatown that sells all kinds of weird animals. In each of the short stories of this manga, we meet one of the animals - with a very human characterization - and what is the consequence of having them. Each story and animal have a theme: each animal represents the problems that the characters of the story have (from spoiled children to people that want to lose weight) and the way they solve them. Or not. This is a very interesting concept, anthropomorphizing animalsC to talk about human problems, cut the realization of each story is off the expectations. All of them seem too short, with a lot of loose threads that could be explored, and many times with consquences that seem to be forced only for the ending of the story. Each animal has a set of rules, written in a contract, quickly forgotten as the chapters advance. Besides that, the comedy elements appear in a very inadequate manner, cutting the rythm of the narrative and not adding much. There are little recurrent characters, that are extremelly simple. The detective seems ionly to work as narrative mechanism and Chris, his brother, has a little strange and too long of a story, that could have concluded in a much simpler way. However, the main character - Count D - is extremelly interesting. As it's explained in the final chapters, there's more into him than an aura of surrealism and mistery. I thought this character was fascinating, especially the way he talks to animals. [I added him to my cosplay plans] In artistical terms, we have great moments but also very confusing moments. There are various dream sequences that, even though they have their own aura, are pretty weird in what concerns the use of perspectives. There is a lot of shine, that works. The anthropomorphicla design of the animals is sometimes (a lot of times) uncçllear and it's impossible to understand what animal it is without consulting the "catalogue" that comes in the end of each volume. A manga that is worthwhile for the main character and his clothes. As for the rest, little to consider. I actually liked it, but it will be a No |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
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