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 loss
...
reflects 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)
Alternative Titles
Japanese: パンドラハーツ
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
25
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Apr 3, 2009 to Sep 25, 2009
Premiered:
Spring 2009
Broadcast:
Fridays at 01:29 (JST)
Licensors:
NIS America, Inc.
Studios:
Xebec
Source:
Manga
Demographic:
Shounen
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#14412
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#551
Members:
440,802
Favorites:
5,223
Available AtResourcesStreaming PlatformsMay be unavailable in your region. | Reviews
Filtered Results: 95 / 96
Sort
Your Feelings Categories Feb 7, 2010
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 loss ... May 31, 2009
I would just like to say that this is the very first anime I've given a 10 to without watching it in its entirety. I've always enjoyed twists on Alice in Wonderland and I love the darker genre of anime so needless to say Pandora Hearts drew me in right away.
The synopsis doesn't do the story justice. Imagine being 15 and having everything and then being sucked into a world that is similar to a broken toy box where the dolls try to eat you. Thats just what Oz Bezarius goes through on his coming of age ceremony on his birthday. I won't say ... Jul 2, 2010
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 of ... Jun 25, 2013
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, as ... May 30, 2009
First off, I have to confess that the only reason why I'm writing this review is because there is a review here that says it's a horrible anime and I can't allow that to be said, 'cause this is my favourite anime of all time! (sorry MAL this just had to be said don't worry I focus only on the anime from now on)
Pandora Hearts is a anime/manga that is completely unique, seriously I've read over 200 manga's (i haven't added them all to my list on this site btw) and searched through hundreds more to find one similar to this and I can't find ... Apr 17, 2011
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 what ... Apr 25, 2009
Suffice to say I love this anime so much, by just watching the first episode I'm already addicted to it.The plot of the story is Original and Interesting,the background music suits the anime well,The art is good but the quality kinda pisses me off but overall this anime is spectacular.Can't wait to see more episodes of it.
Oct 15, 2014
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 into ... Apr 4, 2010
(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 they ... Jun 20, 2010
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 ... Jul 12, 2009
The Story:
I rated the Story of Pandora Hearts a full 10 because the series simply has one of the most amazing stories i've seen so far in anime. The story is well written with multiple twists and the cliffhangers at the end of each episode really get you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next episode. The story also has some elements from Alice in Wonderland but they are all modified to fit the anime story. The Art: Pandora Hearts is drawn and animated quite well and i quite like the Victorian style of buildings and clothing. Still the animation is not even ... Jul 3, 2009
This is the first review i am writing so excuse me mistakes or anything.
Pandora hearts is one of the most ORIGINAL animes i've seen so far and i have seen many. The attention to detail is very sharp like the clothing and plot. If you haven't read the manga then i suggest you do, it tells u everything from episodes so far with a few spoilers. But the anime itself follows the manga very very closely and giving the same manga titles as the anime titles. The story of Alice and Oz's adventuress outbreak of discovery, pain and realisation is immense and addictive leaving me ... Dec 18, 2013
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 same ... Jun 4, 2011
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 have ... Nov 2, 2009
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 this ... Sep 3, 2009
first off I whould like to say this is my first REAL review so I hope its good ^-^
10/10 Story I love the story for Pandora hearts its one the most original stories i've seen in an anime.The story is veary funny yet trippy because you first start of with this party and its all happy but then Oz falls in the abyss and its so trippy with all the floating dolls,furniture,food,ect and oz meets Alice and Oz ends up trying to find her memories and its just awsome overall 9/10 Art The art in Pandora hearts good and really sets the mood for a funny,sad ,scary,ect sceen.The ... Jun 19, 2022
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 some ... Jul 22, 2014
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 is ... Jun 12, 2009
Pandora Hearts, a great story for people who likes adventures and fantasy. I guess this will be the first and most precious anime that I gave "All-10". It's from Square Enix, and they make the whole scene really amazing. Let's relate it to some games, ..like, kingdom hearts, a boy lost in his way? To tell the truth, this is the first time I've ever seen related to that game, that's why I like to watch it over and over again. Even though I didn't finish it yet since it's still airing, I know the left episodes for the viewers to watch will be more
...
Mar 17, 2015
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 may
...
|