Pandora Hearts

Reminiscent of a broken toy box, the mystical Abyss is a terrifying realm home to monstrous creatures called Chains. Most believe it to be only a fairy tale, used to scare children who misbehave. Oz Vessalius, the cheerful and mischievous heir of the noble Vessalius family, is one such individual—until, at his coming-of-age ceremony, the mysterious Baskerville Clan arrives and condemns him to the Abyss for a sin he neither committed nor knows anything about. Oz then forms a contract with Alice, a unique Chain who can take on human form, in an attempt to escape from the Abyss.

As Oz struggles to unravel the mysteries behind his sin, the Abyss, and a tragedy from one hundred years ago, he and his companions find themselves confronted by the Baskervilles and ghosts from the past. Meanwhile, his journey back home is plagued by relentless despair.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Included one-shot:
Volume 8: Pandora Hearts (pilot)

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Background

Pandora Hearts was published in English by Yen Press from December 15, 2009, to March 22, 2016, and again in 12 omnibus volumes in a complete box set titled PandoraBox. It was also released in French by Ki-oon from July 1, 2010, to April 14, 2016; in German by Carlsen from March 18, 2011, to June 2016; in Spanish by Norma Editorial from March 23, 2012, to June 23, 2016; in Polish by Waneko from October 1, 2012, to July 28, 2016; in Italian by Edizioni Star Comics from November 3, 2012, to March 2, 2016; and in Brazilian Portuguese by Panini Comics from April 2016 to March 2020.

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Characters

Break, Xerxes

Main

Nightray, Gilbert

Main

Alice

Main

Vessalius, Oz

Main

Rainsworth, Sharon

Main

Nightray, Elliot

Supporting

Vessalius, Jack

Supporting

Nightray, Vincent

Supporting

Will of the Abyss

Supporting

Echo

Supporting

Reviews

Jan 18, 2025

Shineix

Recommended

This is my first review ever but I have to do this. Pandora hearts is an absolute masterpiece that everyone should read.

At the beginning it was interesting and confusing but I continued reading. The first 30 chapters are good but not great however it only gets better from there. The second half of the story and the final arc are some of my favourite in fiction and I've read many good series such as LOTM and SS etc. The characters are so beautiful and the main antagonist is perfect.

I cannot express how much I love this series, it was so good I finished it in ...

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Jan 27, 2022

moOnday_8

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (10/107 eps)

Might be an epic series seeing how high up is ranked out here on MAL, but one thing I also learned from the MAL rankings is that, not ALL top/highly ranked series will grasp my interest.

Main reason why I dropped this is the character design as well as the silly and gag relief moments the author randomly throws at you. I does not suits my taste and I find it very annoying. Which is a bit funny, cause in fact this was my main issue with the anime adaptation of Vanitas, but now that I started reading it, it somehow became more bearable.

Has a sightly ...

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Apr 26, 2010

Rampant

Not Recommended

Preliminary (33/107 eps)

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.

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Poll: Pandora Hearts Chapter 10 Discussion gdavge2003 - Apr 2, 2009	15 replies	by doratea »» Yesterday, 2:41 AM
Is this better than Vanitas no Carte? AjiX101 - Feb 17, 2022	13 replies	by Pixelated_Vision »» Jan 12, 4:50 PM
Your favorite chapter? AsrielXL - Oct 13, 2022	8 replies	by Pixelated_Vision »» Jan 12, 4:36 PM
Poll: Pandora Hearts Chapter 92 Discussion ( 1 2 ) luminousmx - Mar 30, 2014	89 replies	by Pixelated_Vision »» Jan 12, 4:32 PM
Debating trying the manga again Deanomac2010 - Jan 7	13 replies	by Pixelated_Vision »» Jan 12, 4:17 PM

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