The best thing about the series is that it excels at storytelling. Even though the episodes are only 20 minutes, each manages to deliver a highly original and interesting mystery that will have you on the edge of your seat until the end. Episodes 2 and 3 are especially good and show just how exceptional a writer Matsuri Akino can be. Were this a substantially longer series, I would recommend it without reservation.
Unfortunately, Petshop of Horrors is just a small sampling of the 10 volume manga, and it simply wasn’t possible to do it justice in such a short time. Count D and Detective Orcot, rather than dynamic main characters, function solely as a way to tie the stories together and provide a voice to narrate the morals. And while the first three episodes are quite good, the last is not really a mystery and ends abruptly. This is perhaps fitting: there is no overarching plot, so there isn’t really a reason to have an ending.
The series also suffers from notably poor production values. It’s not very old, but the animation looks much older (think late 80s), and not in the good nostalgic way. And while the character and animal designs are quite good, many shots are dark or blurry, and the framerate often results in choppy movement.
The soundtrack has a couple of nice tracks (e.g., Damage), but on the whole it’s pretty lacking, and many of the songs don’t fit the show at all. Dope, for instance, sounds like something out of an 80s porno. The Japanese voice cast is fine. The English voice cast arguably has a better Count D, but Detective Orcot’s voice is cringeworthy.
Petshop of Horrors is a good example of how much production values and budget matter. Hopefully Madhouse or another studio will decide to pick up the full story in the future and dedicate the resources it deserves. In the meantime, you can at least see a snapshot of the manga brought to life. At four episodes, there’s not much to recommend, but it’s also a small investment for a potentially large return.
