"Abyss" was supposed to be a legend, a tale to frighten young children, a horrific place where evil people were taken. But Oz Bezarius discovers the truth for himself. After being forced into Abyss when his coming-of-age ceremony gets crashed, Abyss turns out to be a separate dimension that looks like a giant broken toybox. And the only way to leave is to make a contract with a being named Alice, who sometimes exists in the form of an impertinent young girl, and at other times as a giant anthropomorphic rabbit. Once they return to our world, things start to really get interesting….
It's hard to give a summary of Pandora Hearts, since it has so much content. It's mostly a drama, but there is some action/adventure. The setting is late 19th-century Europe (probably England). As it progresses, plot twists and turns keep coming. Questions pile up. Who is the strange man that appears in Oz's dreams? Why does his father avoid him? Why is he called the "key of abyss"? Who is Alice really? Why are her and Gil's memories missing? What was the tragedy of Sabrie? How is everything connected? There's so many story lines going on, puzzles to solve, and clues coming up, that you don't have time to get bored.
Memories is a key theme of the story. Several characters have lost their memory. There are frequent flashbacks. Events are often told out of order, as they're retold to the main characters rather than when they happened during the story timeline. (Which helps keep you in anticipation for when the events to be revealed.) At the beginning of most episodes is a brief recap of the last events of the previous one.
***Storytelling***
The pacing is excellent. Some animes have a lot of content in the beginning, and then sort of sputter out. Others have a slow pace, but then rush to finish everything in the end. Others have "filler" episodes that mess up the pacing or add content that's out of character. But this one, it's perfect. The overall tone of the story is dark, even tragic. But tons of humor is added, so things never get oppressive. You've probably seen some of the themes before in other animes (making a contract with a supernatural being, searching for missing memories, references to "Alice in Wonderland," an other-dimensional "broken toybox"). But even if some plot points are cliches, they work here.
For those who have read the manga already, the stories are practically identical. I didn't notice any filler episodes. The ending is done well, fitting in with events in the manga. It provides a satisfying ending, but still leaves some questions hanging, allowing for a possible second season (the manga is still ongoing at this time).
***Art and Animation***
Excellent, in my opinion, but I can understand if some people might not like it. There's something about it that feels very "classic." When I first started watching it, I though it might be something from the 90's but it was actually aired in 2009. Animes made within the past few years have a certain slickness. But this one has beautifully done motion animation that resembles classic animation. Many of the backgrounds also have the classic hand-painted look. The color palette looks old-fashioned. Colors often look washed out or faded, and pale yellow and olive green are common. The character drawings also do a great job trying to imitate the manga art. Black lines on characters are extended or enlarged to provide mild shadows, which is commonly done in manga, but rare in anime. Overall, it look more "hand-crafted" than most animes that have come out in the past 5 years. I liked that, since I felt it gave it a more timeless look, but I can understand if others think it's boring.
***Music***
The composer (Yuki Kajiura) also did the music for Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, so some of the scores sound reminiscent of TRC. But I liked the music on TRC, so that's fine for me. The music box theme is also an extremely iconic tune, and ties the story together very well.
***Characters***
Great. There are many memorable characters. Each is distinct, and many have secrets they're hiding (even Oz). That's one of the most intriguing parts of the story. Who are these people really? What are their pasts?
***Potentially objectionable content***
Not a lot compared to most animes out there. Very little swearing. Vincent is a total psycho. His habit of stabbing and slicing stuffed animals is disturbing. And he mistreats his servant girl. There are some scenes with bloody bodies. There's also quite a bit of bloodless action and fight scenes. Some of the "chains" (beings of abyss) take the forms of creepy and disturbing dolls. There's other stuff, but it's fairly mild. There's a scene where everyone gets drunk and gets silly, and Alice partially succeeds in taking off all her clothes.
Overall, I really loved Pandora Hearts. It's one you can watch several times and still enjoy.
