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Alternative Titles

Japanese: PandoraHearts

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 24

Chapters: 107

Status: Finished

Published: May 18, 2006 to Mar 18, 2015

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: GFantasy

Authors: Mochizuki, Jun (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.57¹ (scored by 61,367 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #117²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #50

Members: 174,938

Favorites: 16,662

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Reviews

Filtered Results: 90 / 96

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Previous - More Reviews

Jun 11, 2020

Dante012

Recommended

Pandora Hearts is seriously underrated in my opinion. This is a really twisted tale, with a plot full of incredible revelations and mysteries, which makes the viewer's jaw drop on almost every chapter. Sadly, this masterpiece is tainted by a pretty bad final arc.

STORY
Oz, from the noble Vessalius family, gets thrown into the Abyss, a dark dimension used as an eternal prison for criminals. But he doesn't know what sins is commited. In the Abyss, he meets Alice, and together they have the power to get out of this world. Back in the "real" world, Alice wants to look for her lost memories, as all ...

Aug 11, 2020

Firmament1

Recommended

At the time of writing this, I’m… Overwhelmed. I’m confused. I’m pretty emotional. My feelings are complicated, but I'm convinced that what I've read is a stone-cold classic.

No manga encapsulates the idea of “It gets better later” than Pandora Hearts. At least, for me. You see, nearly all of the manga I like are generally good or at least hold my interest from the outset, and on the first read. Not the case with Pandora Hearts; It took me several attempts to get into it. The reason that this attempt worked was because I loved The Case Study of Vanitas, so I wanted to give ... Pandora Hearts a real fair shake.

Pandora Hearts can be confusing to the point of frustration; The amount of confusion caused by the series during the first few chapters was what caused me to drop it during the first few attempts. But I ended up starting over, and persevering, realizing that I was gonna need the occasional wiki summary of the chapter that I had just read, and that I was occasionally gonna have to go back, and re-read the last few pages if I realized I was getting lost. Once I did this, the story was a lot more manageable. So, I guess that’s my advice for reading Pandora Hearts; You’re gonna have to constantly refresh your memory, and give your full attention to it.

So, onto the actual story; There’s no way I can effectively summarize it. It’s way too complex for me to do so. But I will say this: Stick with it. It’s confusing, non-linear, and convoluted, but I promise that your patience will be rewarded. When it happens will vary somewhat; Some say that it’s great from the beginning, some say around volume 7, some say around volume 11, but for me, it was pretty damn late. Around volume 16. But once Pandora Hearts hooks you, you’re in for a wild ride that can only be described as a complete mindfuck. And when certain events happen, hopefully, you remembered certain plot points from earlier; Because if you do, you’ll be able to predict what happens a page in advance, and when you’re right, you’ll be shocked at how much of a mad lad Mochizuki was to set this shit up, and you’ll be satisfied at yourself for calling it. And from then on, I was hit with some of the most emotional beats that I had ever experienced when reading a manga, all while still being slightly confused as to what was happening. This might take a re-read for me to understand more. I give this aspect of Pandora Hearts a 10/10.

The art’s real good. Everyone’s a fucking supermodel here, and have the most over-the-top fashion sense that you can imagine. And it works super well here. The art’s solid from the outset, but gets better, and better over time until it eventually turns into the wonderfully polished artwork that’s also showcased in Vanitas from the very start. This aspect is definitely a 10/10.

The weakest point of the manga is the characters; While the cast is all well-developed, likeable, and have motivations that make enough sense in the context of the story, I can’t really say that there’s a single character in the cast that became an all-time favourite of mine, compared to characters like Guts, Koro-sensei, Kaiji, Luffy, or… Well, Vanitas. As I said, none of these characters are bad, there just really wasn’t a super huge standout for me. But YMMV on that front, because I know that people have gotten super attached to these characters. The characters get an 8.5/10 from me.

Enjoyment’s an odd one. At the start, I was only a step above tolerating it. Next, I thought it was fairly interesting. Then, I was completely shocked to my core, and finally, I was confidently thinking to myself: “Yep, glad I gave this another chance!” It was very much something that I consistently enjoyed more as I went along. But I think because of how a lot of the later beats ended up re-contextualizing earlier scenes, I ended up retroactively enjoying those scenes more. In that regard, I’m willing to score this as a 9/10.

Pandora Hearts is something, to say the least. As stated earlier, it started off slow, but then improved as time went on, and then it became one of the hardest-hitting manga I had read in quite a long time. It’s absolutely worth your time, and admittedly, some patience. You’ll think “Nothing could possibly be worth this wait” at the start, and once you really get to the meat of things, you think “This actually was worth the wait!”. Because that’s exactly how I felt. I’m feeling a 9.5/10 on this one. So, what are you waiting for? Give this a read.

(On a side note, while I said that I probably need to re-read it to fully understand, knowing myself… I’m probably never gonna get around to doing so.)

Jul 5, 2021

Pixelated_Vision

Recommended

Preliminary (107/107 chp)

Honestly... my favorite piece of fiction ever written. I absolutely love everything about this and I don't want it to end. I haven't read the last volume yet because like I said I don't want this to end.

Story :
Complicated storytelling has always been a wild ride for people that don't like it. But to be honest Pandora Hearts is so well written that even if you don't like complicated storytelling you will find the events that take place amusing. I personally like not understanding what is happening and slowly solving everything piece by piece with the infomation given to me. The sense of ambiguity gets ... me hooked. Pandora Hearts does a great job on getting you hooked. Right from the beginning you start asking questions that will get answered later in the course of 107 chapters and the pacing is on point too. Right as you start to feel like things are getting out of control and you have too many questions in your head it hits you with a reveal and gives you information.

Another thing I love about Pandora Hearts is how it makes you feel like everything is planned out from the beginning. I love this aspect on stories. Even though you don't know why things are happening you feel like there is a reason behind it. It makes you feel like everything that happens actually matters which stops things from being boring.

Another thing about stories that I care about is the world building. If the world where the events take place isn't interesting then you would probably care less about those events which could lead you to not like the story. Pandora Hearts's world is bizzare filled with references and is like an amusement park. There are different things to see and there are a set of rules that are in place. The rules don't feel like they were put there just for the sake of the story instead they feel like the story was built around those rules which is something a lot of stories fail to do.

Art :

Nothing to say here. Art is very subjective. I really like the new original spin the art style has on alice in wonderland. The backgrounds in the intense scenes really set the mood and the character designs make me want to wish those characters actually existed.

Characters :

ECHO BEST CHARACTER IF YOU DON'T AGREE YOUR OPINION IS WRONG. Ok jokes aside these fictional characters make me feel REAL emotions. I cried, laughed, felt sad, felt angry multiple times while reading this manga and I honestly don't know how these characters are so well written, they just... work so well in this world. Pandora Hearts does an incredible job at making you care about these characters with well written dialouge and backstories. These characters have ideologies, opinions there is none of that good guy bad guy bs (I mean yes there is but also no and I can't tell you why because spoilers) and I love that.

Enjoyment :

wow this part is very subjective and I am mostly gonna talk about my opinions. So the enjoyment you will get from Pandora Hearts is mostly tied to how much you like complicated storytelling. But even if you don't like complicated stuff I am pretty sure that you will enjoy the amazing world building and the likeable characters that made me cry like a baby. I really enjoyed pandora hearts, all the funny moments all the deep lore all the world building, it's almost like this was made for me. This is turning into me screaming about how much I love pandora hearts instead of an actual review so going back on topic. If you like fantasy adventure action type of series with a complicated way of giving information then you will most likely enjoy this a lot.

Overall :

Pandora Hearts is an amazingly well crafted fantasy action adventure series with likeable characters, an unimaginably interesting lore and an insane artstyle. 11 out of 10, five stars. Would recommend it to everyone.

Oct 1, 2020

norbud

Recommended

I literally cannot understand how anyone on earth could give this less than a 10/10 on every account if they have read all 24 volumes because my only problem with it could have been the art but this was largely due in part to the time period because by the end it is IMPECCABLE.

This story has constantly been on my mind for over a decade and there are not enough words to express how much I LOVE THIS MANGA and how much it deserves a full reboot anime worthy of it's title. The characters are so intricate and developed so much so as you ...

Mar 27, 2021

f1m0se

Recommended

This review has no spoilers

story: 10
beginning, in chapters 7 to 18 mainly that despite giving you precious information for what will happen in the story later, you can’t get past reading 5 chapters a day (the chapters have 30 to 60 pages varies a lot from which) but apart from this is really incredible, it is plot twist behind plot twist mainly after this part mentioned above.

Art: 9

I think it's amazing how the art of Jum Mochizuki evolves, not that it's bad in the beginning, but really remarkable the evolution of its trait. I wanted to highlight the direction of the manga or quadrinization, ...

Apr 6, 2020

ApacheSnow69

Recommended

As you can see from my score, the series deserve a 10. For the past few day, I been reading the manga that my sister recommended.

This series started out very basic, particularly due to setting up the mechanic and the cast. the first volume did a great job on hooking the reader off the bat. Later on, the story become more complex due to the circumstance. I don't want to go in detail because it require the audience to pay attention to the dialogue. Also, don't expect alot of action in it.

Future arc lead to a rabbit hole(*in a good way*).

My favorite character in this ...

Sep 24, 2011

niiko-chan

Recommended

Preliminary (65/107 chp)

what is happening? it's getting confussing

who is the real master of gilbert?
who is lacie to both jack and glen?
who is the real HERO and the real CAUSE of the tragedy?
the chapter 66 will reveal everything but it makes my head hurts because of what is happening

Sep 2, 2013

istillcandream

Recommended

Preliminary (86/107 chp)

I'm not normally a fan of this genre of manga (fantasy / action / drama / mystery), but the story sucks you in, the art is charming, and the world it takes place in is both layered and interesting. Pandora Hearts takes obvious inspiration from Alice in Wonderland (and an overall European ambient), but it does this in a refreshing way. Fantastic handling of plot makes this manga stick out and keeps you on your toes. If the storytelling were just a bit better, I would give this a ten, but as it is, it is a solid series and an exciting read.

My only wish ...

Nov 12, 2012

furniturewaltz

Recommended

Preliminary (Unknown/107 chp)

I think this is the only manga I've ever read that I'd give a solid 10. It's the only manga I've ever read that made me literally cry. It's the only manga I've ever read that made me feel so... just /feel/.

The characters are the strong point of the series. There is no one character you can pick as a favorite - they're all sympathetic, they're all very multi-layered. They all feel /human/. You want them to get through this, all of them, because they feel just like you do. And when you know there's no way they can all make it and the ...

Dec 6, 2017

CherryCat

Recommended

The start of this manga was a little bit puzzling, throwing us immediately in a dark, mysterious world, and then it got better and better with time. The plot, the characters' development, the twists (oh, how I love those mesmerizing plot twists) and the art are extremely well-made and perfectly thought out.

And then there's the end.
It's unfitting for such a great story in my opinion. It looks extremely rushed to me and ... "narrow". I expected either a more open end or a much more developed one. It leaves me with an unfinished taste.
Too bad, it could have been an amazing 10/10 if not the ...

May 12, 2021

fatboyftw

Recommended

Man is inherently empty, and so the only way to judge them is by the meaning they give themselves'.

Pandora Hearts is a dark psychological fantasy with great themes hampered by occasional improper use of the characters it has.

The story follows Oz, a royal in a kingdom reminiscent of ye olde England, who is at his coming of age ceremony. Unfortunately he's targeted and attacked, his only crime being his very birth. He's dropped into something called "The Abyss", where he meets a girl named Alice who forms a contract with him, empowering them both, with the cost of the strain to Oz getting more ...

Aug 15, 2013

iHitokage

Recommended

Preliminary (Unknown/107 chp)

Alright, first very important thing I need to say. I am anime only fan. To be honest I don't like manga at all and I don't see any difference in enjoyment between manga and classic western comics. I started to read this manga because as you probably know, anime has unfortunately no more seasons. (the anime really got me by the way,one of my favorite ones)

Anyway, I really enjoyed this. Even though it is manga I found it very interesting and good that I almost forgot that I read black and white still pictures instead of watching animation with sound and music.

I can ...

Apr 24, 2021

Another_Badger

Recommended

“Once I realised the things we take for granted are really miracles, I came to see everything in its precious, ephemeral beauty.”
- Lacie, Chapter 72

The first time I read this series, I was hit with so many emotions that it felt more like being trapped in a vortex than reading a manga. When rereading it, years later, I found myself appreciating all the little moments I missed before, and it only made Pandora Hearts better.

The narrative is a fresher take on the coming-of-age genre in which the idea of 'discovering who you are' takes on a new meaning. Mixing in the Alice in Wonderland ...

Jan 20, 2013

lanceypercy

Recommended

Preliminary (80/107 chp)

Great art, great characters, awesome enjoyment level, and overall score is 10.
The only thing that has a 9 in my almost-perfect review, is story. For some people (unlike me) it's easy to get the story the first time you read it. For some (like me) it's hard and you need to think long and hard about it before it starts making sense. Plus with the chapters coming out once a month, your brain forgets.
However, it is DELIGHTFUL. You can't see anything wrong with Pandora Hearts. It tugs at your heartstrings, it makes everything so...so depressed when you think about the events occurring on Oz ...

Dec 17, 2012

Saya_Cross

Recommended

Preliminary (79/107 chp)

I ll just give a short account as to why i like pandora hearts

1) character: the character depths .. their personalities and development is amazing and almost natural.. and PH has a wide range of personalities together in the same plot that makes it fun.. their perspectives clashing etc. this will not make sense to you unless u watch/read it.
2) the plot : you will be shocked at least a million times.. the plot is full of twists.. and it will actually make you think as to which side to take.. it is not a clear-cut yes-this-is-the-group-of-good-people-i-support and these-are-the-bad-guys .. at times you will wonder ...

Jan 26, 2016

IceMakeBunny

Recommended

I have to confess, going into this series I was a bit slow on the uptake. I couldn't really follow everything at first, but that certainly was not enough to make me stop reading it!

Pandora Hearts is truly a wonderful manga with so much to offer! As I continued to read it, I was able to pick up on things that I was confused about initially. Everything fell in to place especially when I went back and re-read it. The second time around everything made totally sense and I caught both crucial and funny details I hadn't noticed before. It just made ...

Jul 16, 2020

Kimi_no_Son

Recommended

Pandora Hearts was unique. The manga had a world of its own and as reader, we get to enjoy how the story unfolds in an interesting way. I picked up this manga when I was browsing for amazing manga(s) with not so justified anime adaptation. I hesitated at first because I didn't really heard any from my acquaintances and peers, but I like the sense of adventure and reading works that are not so popular among my circle. I wholeheartedly advice you to read this series if you haven't yet.

For my specific review,

STORY (9/10)
The story is fantastic. Imagine a complex jigsaw puzzle written in ... a manga. The plot unfolds at every angle and more information are given to the readers on what really is the answer to the mystery of the world. As I've mentioned before, one of the beauty in this series is getting to know more about the world and its story. Some of you might not be used in this kind of writing, as most of the popular stories tend to be linear and follow a specific path. In Pandora Hearts, the story is written in unique way and you can really say that a lot of thinking was made to complete the story and make it amazing. However, I couldn't give myself to score the story 10/10, the main reason for this is the pacing. As I've mentioned, this story does not follow a linear style of writing; therefore, you shouldn't read this manga with a narrow mind, it requires you to at least remember specific details presented before as it might get relevant later on. Still, the manga suffers just like many others in terms of making a diverse story line. There might be surprise revelations here and there, but if you really focus on the details, they won't be surprising as you've expected such event to happen. Even in the final twist, if you really pay attention to the dialogues and try to connect the puzzle, the answer will become very obvious. I think i ruined my own enjoyment because I focused on tiny details and connected every pieces of puzzle, but it might be different from your experience.

Art (8/10)
I like how the panel changes from black to white and vise versa depending on the situation. It gives diverse emotions that correlates with the respective events. The character designs were also great, and became even greater as you'll realize the hidden meanings of these character designs. It also featured comedic versions of each character that could ease up the tense a little bit and it's really fantastic. Although, when compared to other manga, you might not be surprised with the designs of the characters and the environment as you might have seen better. Maybe it's because of the age of the manga, but when compared to the later ones, the art style might just be average for some.

Character (6/10)
This was the point where my enjoyment really dropped. Don't get me wrong, there are great characters in the series that have unique personalities and quirks, and they are very likable. However, there are also poorly written ones. Some with very weak resolves but seemed very relevant, some with complex personalities but changed with just a simple advise, and some with typical and boring personalities that became very complex all of sudden. Their growths were also inconsistent as some changed for A to B, then B to C, then C to A again. Still, there are some with fruitful growths and proud resolves. But the main problem is, I got too attached with the characters and little did I know, they weren't given justice by the author. I know tragedy is one of the themes in this manga, but I don't think the ones that the author gave were really justifiable and I don't think they deserved them (you'll agree with me once you've read). There weren't even hints for such tragedy and yet they were given for the plot's sake and I pity these characters because as a reader, they didn't deserve these hardships, but were given just for the sake. Piece of advise, don't get too attached with the characters (even though the author is so good at making you get attached with them).

Enjoyment/Overall (8/10)
Most of my enjoyment fell because of my over the top analysis on the story and attachment to the characters, but the plot is so good that I can't give it below that 8. Maybe with cleaner pacing and better timing in revelations, it might have been 9/10. It was a great read, and I'm really happy that I pick up this manga. I had a fun ride, I hope you'll too.

Apr 7, 2024

ngocnemayban

Recommended

I don't know English so I used google translate to write this review
I have to say that Pandora Hearts is the best manga I have ever read. It's good because the author created a plot and built characters that are not stereotyped compared to other series.When I first read it, I couldn't even understand the plot, but I felt it was quite good and after reading it more than 5 times, I really felt the full meaning of this series.
A masterpiece so good that it can't be described in words. It's a shame that not many people know about it. It's better than many famous ...

May 26, 2020

Dominema

Recommended

Pandora Hearts hit me really hard because of many amazing qualities. It has deep and complex, yet perfectly understandable plot, bright and beautiful art that can convey madness and melancholy, if it wants to do, cast of really melodramatic characters that nonetheless feels like real people. I really wanted to write this review.

Story: 9

It handles themes that most of shonen manga have, such as friendship, love, own personality with stong emphasize on the first one, but with great maturity and nuance. Empathy doesn't always become a magic fix to problems and can bring a tragedy, especially if it done in half-assed manner. Plot starts ...

Jul 12, 2023

Wacquin

Recommended

Two words can describe this story: magically maddening! "Pandora Hearts" allures a tale of extreme complications without holding your hand. At all. As if we are chained to open Pandora's box, this manga opens to insurmountable information all at once. There will be intricate and far-apart fractures of puzzle pieces that seem nigh impossible to put together. Pandora Hearts extrapolates the intense horror accompanying heart-felt relationships into its contorted timeline. Here holds a whimsical mystery that's absurdly powerful, and revolving around it is an ensemble of characters that embody an array of philosophies and trauma to cope with the mad journey they're all destined to ... be part of.

Those in Pandora relive and re-evaluate different scenarios with new angles to help make the narrative feel personal despite it amassing many ideas. Vital rules of the lore and magic get explained through conversation that paces the script efficiently. Words cannot stress enough how engaging the puzzle of this behemoth of dark fantasy is. It is a pure enigma. The author creates Chekvov's machine gun with how many fragments get set up. Until the conflict demands it, the mysticism's shown in sparing detail. The parties who govern this world act in strides to give overarching hints, and it feels incredibly satisfying to see the various arcs intertwine in unusual ways. Being an intentionally deliberate author, Mochizuki-Sensei dives deep into the psychology and heart of her cast with much finesse. Her storytelling is efficient in having you care for the happiness and turmoil of these characters; while giving just enough information to excite you to see the rest of the world evolve through their decisions, mistakes, and determination.

The wonderland aesthetics enchant! Mochizuki Jun is no stranger to incredible art. Her intense love and influence on Alice in Wonderland show with the daring ways she limits Lewis Caroll's themes of embracing change and imagination. Each progressing volume of Pandora Hearts is delightful in pushing even more fantastical drawings of humorous madness with so much detail of wonder. The viewer experiences this otherwordly ethos alongside the cast, for they are just as confused and motivated to discover everything as we are. Pandora Hearts' characters have likability, charm, and tragedy. Mochikuzi-Sensei is unafraid to test the relationships and egos of her creations with serpentine twists that may be dangerously contradicting. She uses the contradictive nature of her noir-gothic voyage to address themes of defining one's self. Ideas of existentialism and solicitude are integral aspects of Pandora Hearts that slide across the unpredictable nature of its moral arguments. The overarching conflict is incredibly nuanced for a Shounen series, and there is excellent value in multiple re-reads of this text.

Timelines converge, realities warp, and everything lies in maddening entropy. Yet, amid all the chaos, there are undeniable truths that can't break within us. Pandora Hearts tests the extent humanity can seek meaning in disarray. Memories scattered across time, love lost across space, identities hidden in our souls. Where in the world do you think you belong?

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