Brother, master, friend... There once was an impure soul who, unknowingly, sealed a contract with Humpty Dumpty in the dark bowels of Sablier. But the time has come for him to face both his true self and his sins. Reexamining the events that have led him to this juncture, he comes to a realization and, choosing to stand by his convictions, decides on a course of action...as though it may yet save him somehow...
I think this is my favourite volume of the series so far! My god does the author know how to play with your emotions, the story is so well thought out and the pay off of the reveals and plot twists is just so satisfying. Plus the fact the story is backed with such incredible art?? It’s amazing
ELLIOT!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!! AND WHY LEO?! WHY DID HE HAVE TO RECEIVE ALL THE PAIN?!?! *tears* My life.... is coming down all around me. Elliot... was my best friend, and I loved him! SO WHY'D THEY HAVE TO GO AND KILL HIM OFF?!?! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THEM, EVER!!
Death, Death, Death. The blood pooling to my right The poor fellow's life line is slipping out
Death. Death. Death My heart's still beating But for how much longer?
Death. Death. Death. Why do you hold on so? Why cannot you let me go?
Death. Death. Death. Does everyone have to die? I refuse to see a reason why
They were good people, let them live I wish to be with my friends again Death, why are you so alone?
Vincent, Vincent, Vincent. You do not realize your request Will damage more than fix
You must earn Gil's love, not just give up. So stand up on your feet. Tell him what you really want Say it loud and clear
Dear Duke Nightray, For you I have sympathy none You killed my dear Elliot, and for that you are done.
Oh Ilsa, I do fear That your dream has been fullfilled. You've seen Jack, and the Tragedy of Sablier part two
Before I go on to the main story, I want to point out the beauty of the interior pic of Rufus Barma with his chair. Each volume has a pic in the first page/title page of the character featured on the cover with a chair. Often, that chair is symbolic of something about that character. Often (but not always) the character is seated.
For Barma, the chair is Lady Sheryl's wheelchair. And he's not sitting in it. He's leaning against the back of it, slumped on the ground. He looks so despondent, my heart broke for him.
Anyway, sorry for the digression. I just really love that image.
This volume re-visits the notion of "sacrifice," especially when it comes to sacrificing yourself. In the last volume, we learned that Elliot's role in this was not what he thought it was. Now, he has a choice of where to place the burden of sacrifice. His choice stuns those around him, and really made me sad that this kind of depth was only hinted at in previous volumes. He turned out to be more than I expected.
As a result of his choice, we also get to see why the Nightray house did what it did with Gil, Vincent, Leo, Fianna's House and even Elliot. It's a direct contrast to Elliot's decision, and also serves to highlight Vincent's role in this horrifying sequence of events.
Because this volume is really all about Vincent. Yes, there's the conclusion of events at Isla Yura's house, and a bit where everyone is recovering from recent events (powerful in and of itself), but the weight of this volume (whatever doesn't center around Elliot) belongs to Vincent, both his choices in the past and the choices he has yet to make. We also finally learn why, in spite of being Jack's valet, he would help the Baskervilles. It's such a tragic reason. But it also explains why he never brings anyone close. Not even Gil. (Actually, that should read, "especially not Gil.")
And for just a moment, Vincent gives us a glimpse of the person he might have been.
I don't really have any highlights for this. It's all wonderful, and tragic, and beautiful, and gah I think I'm going to completely lose it by the time this series ends.
(Note to self: keep buying the English translations of PH.)
We finally see Leo's true role in the series as well as the burgeoning alliance between him and Vincent. The loss of Elliot is one of the most profound ones of the series. If even Vincent is mourning you and saying you were a good guy, you know it's true. We don't see a whole lot of Oz or Gilbert's reactions; Leo takes center stage. This makes sense since he was by far the closest to Elliot and his entire motivation has been for his sake.
This is definitely what brings him and Vincent closer together. They both have one person they would do absolutely anything for no matter how heinous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
You know, sometimes authors decide to kill characters that did nothing wrong and that fucking hurts.
Elliot basically understands what happened to him and how he became Humpty Dumpty’s illegal contractor. Now he’s realized what he’s done and who Leo’s true identity is, he doesn’t want to hurt anybody and he won’t give the burden of his death to others.
This leads to Vincent talking to Leo, who is grieving the loss of his master and who now accepts he’s the next head of the Baskervilles.
Now, at this point, I’m just afraid that nobody will get their HEA. Pain is only gonna get worse and though this is a re-read for me, it still hurts like the first time.
The main thought in the week post finishing the Headhunter Arc? What it reveals about the Nightrays and how their classism caused an irreversible rift that leaves its surviving members torn over what's to come. As our other leads muse over what all took place at the halfway point, Mochizuki bounces us back to Elliott and Leo's relationship (not as homoerotic as something I found while watching the anime led me to believe). We also get a peak into the latter's past and how Vincent's guilt continues to build within him to the point where he believes the only solution is to erase his existence altogether. He's not as selfish as he initially came off to be. He's got layers like this story (maybe too many), and he does care about his brother in a way that does make me care for him.
Please don't do anything to Ada your seiyuu have been siblings in another anime thanks!
RITIRO TUTTO QUESTO VOLUME È /LA/ COSA PEGGIORE CHE ABBIA MAI LETTO NON È POSSIBILE CHE MI SIA VENUTO IL MAGONE AD OGNI PAGINA ALLA MORTE DI [REDACTED] HO DOVUTO INTERROMPERE PER BOH TRE GIORNI PER QUANTO MI VENIVA DA PIANGERE
vincent nightray is that bitch on another note, starting from this volume/volume 14 the art starts to evolve into something even more insane and beautiful I love it
Mi elliot preciosote, tu te mereces todo lo bueno de este mundo. Ahora recuerdo porque Elliot es uno de mis personajes ficticios favoritos, todo el valor y coraje que tiene es impresionante. Lo quiero mucho y lo he guardado conmigo desde la primera vez que leí Pandora Hearts.
Lo que dijo Oz de que el cielo estaba hermoso y eso lo molestaba me recordó a como me sentí cuando falleció alguien cercano a mi, porque de verdad que cuando esas cosas suceden el dolor te paraliza pero parece que solo a ti te afecta y el mundo sigue y al mundo no le importa que alguien se haya ido o que hayas perdido algo, todo continúa. Es medio heartbreaking pero así funciona.
I'd like to start by saying that with my two decades of manga reading, Pandora Hearts has recently earned its way to being one of the best manga series I've ever read - and to think I almost didn't pick it up!
There's actually a bit of a story to it: Pandora Hearts was being released around the time I knew I would be moving overseas. At the time, I had no idea how moving to the other side of the world would affect my manga buying. Also at that time, I was working at a comic store with staff discounts at my disposal and I never had to worry too much about picking up whatever I fancied. When I first saw Pandora Hearts, I thought the art looked beautiful and this just might be a really good manga. It also struck me as a manga series that could go on for quite a while [which was a reasonably accurate assumption as 24 volumes is not a length I could commit to lightly]. Not knowing how I'd get my hands on manga or how long this series would be let me to putting it back on the shelf. And I confess, it was filled with quite a bit of regret.
When I finally did move overseas - a family friend had a good bye gift. The shape was easy to discern: it was undoubtably a manga volume. While thankful for receiving a gift, I was also nervous: having worked in a comic store, I knew for sure: I either already own it or am not interested in it. In addition, the friend in question doesn't know the first thing about manga. To my surprise, it was the first volume of Pandora Hearts which was probably the single only volume she could have taken from the shelf that wasn't already in my possession and did interest me. How she managed to pick out that one I don't know, but it's a coincidence I feel thankful for and, in some cheesy way, made me feel like it was just meant to be that I read Pandora Hearts after all.
Fast forward to 2023, I finally found the time to read this 24 volume series and am absolutely delighted. My original observation remains: the art is absolutely stunning. With the exception of a oneshot debut work, it's hard to believe that this is quite close to being a beginner's work - you'd not believe it just looking at the first volume's art.
My other thoughts are largely around how hard it is to praise a story you think is so thoroughly good as this one is. It's not really a plot you can explain to someone, it's a story you have to read for yourself as even the latest volumes will throw some surprises at you. But I think, besides the art, what really contributes a lot to this work are the characters. Oz might be our main character, but we have a large cast and they are all lovingly created. There's hardly a character you won't be able to like in one way or another, even the most broken of them. It's quite a feat to create a story that makes you care and worry about almost every character's fate.
And worry you can indeed: it has light and beautiful moments, but it is essentially a dark tale and you'll constantly worry whether the characters will make it through. Needless to say, there are losses throughout the story. There are plenty of twists and turns, things that will surprise and shock you.
I will also add that the plot is complex and not always easy to follow. Some characters have multiple names - this becomes even more difficult for some characters who also have multiple personalities who also have multiple names. Not everything in the plot made entire sense to me - it's hard to say whether they were plot holes, not explained well enough or I was simply missing something - a reread might answer that. But regardless, when these moments arose, I decided to just go with the flow and it didn't disrupt my reading experience at all.
Besides a bit of confusion here and there, I can't fault this series with anything. The pacing is well done, the 24 volumes were neither too long nor too short [something I often complain about] and it wrapped up nicely. For such a dark read, there's also a lot of soft story telling which just concludes this with a very wholesome ending. There is close to no romance but I wasn't missing it [and I'm a big romance reader] - the friendships and bonds between the characters were absolutely beautiful even without much romance thrown in.
I'm glad I did read this series and it is definitely going down as one of my favourites. Highly recommended.
Finally back to reading this fuck ass beautiful mess of a manga after months! i will in fact finish it before 2024 ends!
chapter 58: - i'm still in shock man, you're telling me Elliot literally killed his ENTIRE FAMILY??? this is insane!! -elliot losing it hearing his blood brothers planning to kill his adopted brothers?????? i'm crashing out. he loves Gil and Vince :(((( -god damn it....tragedy after tragedy... the nightray trio (elliot/Gil/vince) really can't catch a break, holy hell
chapter 59:
- no no no no nonon Vince and Gil are fighting my boys are fightinggggggggggg :(((((((
- oh god Vince face, smiling and resigned, after gil yelled for Oz, worried about OZ....when everything Vince ever did was for Gil, and he's worried about someone else :(
-even distressed elliot care about Gil and echo daammmmmn
-Elliot sacrificing himself, pisses me offffffffffffff nah i really hate it .....here to the baddest bitch in the entire cast
chapter 60:
- Gil looks so shellshocked bro 💔💔💔 his half brother elliot is dead, he thinks vincent betrayed him....Jesus christ he really can't catch a break
- oh god Gil comparing himself to Oz- his master is very unhinged. he even looks deranged smiling. and here Gil is again thinking about Master , not about the fact that Elliot& vince and the nightrays are his family..... jack you donkey you fucked Gil up
- my theory is gilbert even stops himself when saying Oz, because he isn't thinking about Oz, he is thinking about master as in jack
- gilbert thinking that Oz was composed and dignified when in reality he dissociated the fuck out of his mind, i feel like this is very childish of gil.
- gil finally showing emotions when it comes to vince.....ooooh i'm excited for the drama
- vince looking like a dark angel over the vessel of Glen (who wanted the body of his brother) is making me emotional
- Vince " i wouldn't have minded shouldering that burden for you elliot." and " you're a great man, elliot.".......damn
- i wonder now why elliot didn't want vince to kill him, is it because he didn't want him to regret it, because we have never seen a instance where elli hated vince.
Chapter 61:
- hehehe i already knew the head hunter, the queen of hearts, wasn't just elliot....
- vince is already my favorite character in the entire series, but damn he just keep being interesting
- noooooooooooooooooo, vince calling Bernice "mother" before stopping himself and calling her by her name 😭😭😭 did the little boy found a mother in Bernice nightray??? we may never know 💔💔
-vince being upset about elliot being taken advantage off??!! that duke is using his son for experimenting and taking his reignited anger by cutting the curtains....he does have a heart 😭 😭
- i think another factor of vince being mad MAD in this situation is that he sacrificed so much for his family " Gil", yet duke Nightray saw his entire family dies and he only care about trivial stuff like honor, status, interests.
- one fun thing i noticed, vince never addresses break as a human, he addresses him by his chain, Hatter, maybe he dehumanize him on purpose and reminds him that his time is ticking
-wait....vince feeling like he see himself in duke nightray bc he (still blame himself for sablier) did all that for himself and gil?????
-vince loved elliot bc he made Gil happy confirmed.......omfg💔💔💔💔
-oh my god!!! elliot was alive and heard what vince said??? 💔💔
-vincent wish.....is to "die immediately after he is born" so Gil lives in the sun forever without a past of suffering and a future of agony........i fucking hate this series with my whole soul 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
- " i want to give Gil a world and a past where i don't exist." i'm gonna throw up wtf wtf wtf wtfffff
he loves gil so much, and feel so much guilt for the pain his existence brought on gil that he is willing to have his entire life erased so Gil can live happily...i hate here chat omfg 💔💔 💔💔
Noo, why did Elliot have to die?! He was my favorite aside from Break and Gil. I honestly would've rather had Leo die instead of him (sorry not sorry.) I have mixed feelings about Leo...I get that he wanted his friend Elliot to live but making him an illegal contractor without his will or knowledge of it? It would've been better if he had let him die back then. And the way he died was so messed up. Elliot didn't believe in self-sacrifices like Oz and he even remembered reprimanding Oz for that reason yet that's how he had to die.
So Vincent was the original head-hunter. His reasons for it were for protecting Gil, same reason why he aligned himself with the Baskervilles. I don't even care that Vincent wants to die for his brother Gil's sake. He can die for all I care. Assuming he knew Elliot was an illegal contractor (I was a bit confused on when exactly he figured that out) he could've stepped in or at the very least attempted to save Elliot if he really cared about him like he claims. The only thing I like about Vincent is how he killed Elliot's father because that man was psychotic for willing to let his own son die for his own selfish agenda.
I never really cared for that Yura guy either. His whole character was just plain annoying to me. His death had no effect on me. I didn't even realize he had died.
Duke Barma, the guy on the cover of this volume (I think), I don't like him that much either. The way he talks sometimes confuses me although I can understand a few sentences he says but that's it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.