With Pandora and the Baskervilles in a race to discover the whereabouts of the seals that secure Glen Baskerville's body, Oz and his friends are caught up in the ensuing fury of this ruthless hunt. Amidst this chaos, Oscar Vessalius organizes a brief respite for his beloved nephew and his companions in the form of an outdoor tea party. When Oscar surprises all present with an impromptu group photograph, the memory of their fleeting peace together is captured in time so as to never be forgotten. If only such memories could be made to last forever by the simple act of wishing...
"Looking at the same thing and then deliberating is not the only way to walk together. Even if you are walking different paths, individuals continue to be linked together." [changed the quote]
At the moment, I'm giving this four stars, though it should really be more like four and a half. There's so much in this volume to like/love that I feel like I should give it five stars anyway. I can't even describe what about this feels off. I'll see if I can manage it after I do some general rambling first.
This volume's theme is "growing up". Eventually, the innocent children we were give way to creatures who know. What I love about this manga is that Oz isn't the only one going through these transitions.
We start with Vincent, of all people. Now, here I have to say that I still think he's twisted and evil and miserable and I don't care how awful his life was when he was a kid. Gil went through the same garbage and he still has a good soul in him.
However, with Mochizuki, you never know. The character you're praising today could be the one who slits another character's throat tomorrow. The innocent child who blushes whenever she gets the attention of a handsome gentleman, could turn out to have a taste for torture and the occult.
And it seems that vice versa can also be true. Even though I've only softened a little toward Vincent by knowing his past, I can't help but smile at the glimmer of redemption Mochizuki has given him.
Gil's brief discussion with his brother also shows that Gil has done some thinking as well, and is trying to form a more mature and stable relationship with his brother. I loved the look on Vincent's face afterward. I hope he takes Gil up on his offer before too long.
Lady Sharon also shows that she's maturing emotionally. She's become stronger and more self-sufficient. She doesn't need anyone protecting her from ugly truths anymore, especially Break. It's fascinating to see how he handles it.
Elliot, too, has begun to look at what he was taught and what's real. His participation is turning him into a character to admire.
And, of course, Oz has begun to play games at the level of the Great Dukes. His intelligence manages to get Pandora inside the mansion of the foreigner, Isla Yura.
Can I stop for a sec and give a warning here? Isla Yura is the freakiest thing in this manga so far. That's right, folks. I'm saying he's freakier than missing eyes, cut-up human organs, sadism, insanity, chains, and spells that tattoo how much time you have left in this world on your chest.
He tops all of that.
Anyway, yes, growth. I'm really thrilled with how this story is progressing. And if I say anything more there will be major spoilers.
So why not give it five stars?
I think it's because this volume tries to get back to a light-hearted tone and tries a little too hard at times. The story tends to jerk around a bit as a result. It's not too jarring, but still, it's there.
Introducing Isla Yura....Sometimes, when an author introduces a foreign element, it really adds to the story. Fullmetal Alchemist gained a lot of depth with the foreigners that got tangled up in the plot. I'm hoping the same things happens here, but at the moment, Isla Yura feels too much like a plot device, not a character with true depth. I trust that will change as the series progresses.
And finally, the scene where Oz, Break and Co. try to infiltrate Barma's residence felt like Mochizuki had no idea how to get certain characters together, so she kind of slapped some elements together to get something by her deadline. That sounds harsh, but I'm pretty sympathetic, actually. That scene, and the tea party that kind of comes from nowhere and feels a little forced, are only two out of many, many amazing scenes in this volume.
And now I have to wait two months until I can buy volume #13. :(
At the beginning of the volume, we see Ada and Vincent, who look like they’re basically in a weird relationship. Vincent doesn’t really care for her but she doesn’t seem to mind.
Anyway, after all what happened before, Oz and Elliot are trying to make peace between the Vesssalius and the Nightray households instead of hating each other without reason. They truly have more in common than they realize and the whole group held a beautiful garden tea party –if only to give us a little bit of breathing.
Later on, the group convinces Yura, a weird looking guy who’s obsessed with Jack Vessalius, to held a coming-to-age party (like Oz had when he turned 15) in order to gain information about the Abyss, the Tragedy of Sablier and all its consequences.
Oz takes advantage of Yura’s obsession and makes himself a target to the Baskervilles, who want nothing but to repeat what happen 100 years ago. But apparently, not everything is what it seems…
So much good stuff going on in this volume. The first half was a bit annoying because it featured the two characters I really can't stand: Ada and Vincent. But the second half was great. Break finally told Sharon about his eyes, Elliot is warming up, and we're getting closer to finding out who the Headhunter is. I'm satisfied.
Ada’s occult room ajdhdjsjdhxhdh “You’re my dear son!” 😭 Why are the best characters silly goofy clowns with clinical depression who lose an eye or their vision
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.
I still think Ada and Vincent's whole "relationship" seems odd. In this volume, we learn more about Vincent's true motives and intentions for "dating" Ada. I knew he was up to no good. Ada liking occults and occult-like things was a bit of a surprise but at least she has a personality separate from Oz, I mean everyone has their hobbies. I did like how her showing Vincent her hobby made his real personality show, even for just a second since his whole facade with her is fake and the mask has to slip eventually.
As for Uncle Oscar and Oz, I love their whole dynamic. The fact Oscar always wanted a son and he thinks of Oz as one is just so touching.
Another thing I really liked was the added backstory of Oz and his parents, including his mother which we had little to no information about before. And the shocking revelation that Oz may have been switched out at birth by his own spiteful father (and maybe that's why he considers Oz "a vile creature".) But if that's true, then why did Oz's father switch Oz out in the first place?
Finally, the thing I liked most in this volume was the relationship dynamics between Oz and Elliot and Break and Sharon. First off, I really like how Oz is starting to grow on Elliot and they even fist bumped and declared themselves friends (finally.) That moment between them was very sweet. As for Break and Sharon, I've always loved their dynamic since they both care deeply for one another and Sharon sees Break as her elder brother and Break sees her as his loving daughter. But what I really liked was how Reim and Sharon's grandmother made it a point to Break that he needed to tell Sharon about his declining eyesight. I love how they both got into Break's head and Break was hesitant to tell Sharon since he thought she wouldn't take well to the news and it would take her a while to accept it for what it was but when he finally did tell her, he was proven wrong and he smiled now knowing that Sharon was a stronger woman than the woman he knew before.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
- bro i'm just heaving sighs by this point, vince & gil literally can't catch a damn break. sold to a freak show by their mom?? " why did you abandon gil as well? why didn't you kill me? if you had killed me... gil at least could've been happy.." FUCK THIS SHITTTT I HATE IT HEREEEE - ada is a freak too. will they match each other's freak? ahahahaha - vince losing his cool is so cutee, it humanizes him - both gil and vince hate ghosts, why??? - gil and vince moment yipeee wholesome bros hours FOR ONCE - ooooh the story is finally getting good this oz might not be the real oz, crazzyyyy
47: - oz being friends with elliot rubs me the wrong way, like you treat his brother like a servant a slave a babysitter , so patronizing and weird i hate it. by the end gil should cut off oz of his life and get his shit together ( if he lives to the end)
48: - 2010s anime essential and UNESCAPEABLE cross dressing without consent and with underaged characters moment. roll my eyes
49: - prediction: someone's ass will be beheaded
notes: -lately i have been thinking why didn't the writer age up oz , his behaviors and the situations he finds himself in especially when it come to other adults around him give me the 2010s weird vibes ( like in black butler and shit) make my skin crawl, also i still can't stand his ass and thank god there's so many characters to make the story consumeable.
-also all my favorite volumes are the ones that focuses on gil and vincent. they're my favorites characters. and i have been doing thought experiment where they're the main characters.
- bro i'm just heaving sighs by this point, vince & gil literally can't catch a damn break. sold to a freak show by their mom?? " why did you abandon gil as well? why didn't you kill me? if you had killed me... gil at least could've been happy.." FUCK THIS SHITTTT I HATE IT HEREEEE - ada is a freak too. will they match each other's freak? ahahahaha - vince losing his cool is so cutee, it humanizes him - both gil and vince hate ghosts, why??? - gil and vince moment yipeee wholesome bros hours FOR ONCE - ooooh the story is finally getting good this oz might not be the real oz, crazzyyyy
47: - oz being friends with elliot rubs me the wrong way, like you treat his brother like a servant a slave a babysitter , so patronizing and weird i hate it. by the end gil should cut off oz of his life and get his shit together ( if he lives to the end)
48: - 2010s anime essential and UNESCAPEABLE cross dressing without consent and with underaged characters moment. roll my eyes
49: - prediction: someone's ass will be beheaded
notes: -lately i have been thinking why didn't the writer age up oz , his behaviors and the situations he finds himself in especially when it come to other adults around him give me the 2010s weird vibes ( like in black butler and shit) make my skin crawl, also i still can't stand his ass and thank god there's so many characters to make the story consumeable.
-also all my favorite volumes are the ones that focuses on gil and vincent. they're my favorites characters. and i have been doing thought experiment where they're the main characters.
Ya prácticamente voy por la mitad y seguimos en la racha de que a cada pregunta respondida se abren 50 más. Por ende sigue siendo igual de atrapante que el primer tomo, no baja en ningún momento el ritmo. Además, todos los personajes rebosan carisma y tienen su propio protagonico para brillar en algún punto de la obra, encima que están bien escritos, todos tienen sus razones a sus comportamientos, pensamientos y reacciones, es increíble. Aparte que ya los quiero a todos(Ada i luv u! Jaja), excepto a los que no, pero eso es lo mejor: como te hace un personaje que aún teniendo las mil y un "imperfecciones", te hace otro que con 2 lineas lo odias con todo tu corazón.(quizás estoy exhagerando,olvidé como se escribe(????, y luego tengas sus justificaciones y todos pasen a ser solo una escala de grises, lo cual sería lo mejor)
Bue, el dibujo es divino, la estética victoriana-romantica-rosandoelvisualkey (tampoco sé como se escribe:,) le da un puntazo.
Y creo que ya tengo a la mitad de los personajes como mis hijos y la otra mitad como mis husbandos, una fracción se reserva en la caja de "al trastero" para así no verlos por un rato. (Tf???)
Ahora, por qué escribo esto? Porque los tomos que estaba leyendo los sacaba de la biblioteca, este es el último que había ... :,,,( so ahora a buscarlos por otras vías:p. O quedarme con la historia a la mitad.
Tập này có rất nhiều điểm sáng. Cuộc hẹn của Ada và Vincent với cú twist bất ngờ siêu mắc cười. Tiệc trà và cái ôm của bác Oscar sưởi ấm trái tim t. Oz và Alice trong trang phục hầu gái siêu cấp moe >.< và cả Lễ ra mắt với đủ loại trang phục dạ hội lấp lánh cầu kì (Đồ của Oz và Sharon-chan là đỉnh nhất, Sharon xài son bóng rất đẹp)
Huhuhu là một người đã từng đọc hết cả bộ truyện thì phần tiệc trà làm t ấm lòng nhưng cũng buồn nhiều. Nhất là khi Eliot và Oz nói chuyện về tương lai và cái cụng tay tình bạn hứa hẹn sẽ cùng nhau tiến tới. Tốt đẹp và đầy hi vọng. Nhưng t biết rằng tương lai ấy không thể đến.
Thực ra khi đọc mấy tập đầu của PH sau 10 năm (2015-2025), t đã nghĩ rằng có lẽ tình yêu của mình dành cho PH đã ít đi vì cảm giác đọc khá xa lạ (?) không giống như trong trí nhớ. Rồi dần dà qua từng tập làm quen lại với nhân vật và đặc biệt là đoạn hội thoại này làm t cảm thấy tiếc nuối và đau lòng (khi viết những dòng này tui đang khóc vì cảm xúc quá). Không biết đối diện với tập 14, 15 kiểu gì khi điều cần đến cũng sẽ đến.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Dans ce tome plus léger que les autres nous, l'autrice n'hésite pas à faire une pause dans la narration et à rassembler les personnages principaux autour d'une tasse de thé. On en apprend plus sur le personnage d'Ada avec un retournement de situation très comique. Sur la deuxième moitié du tome, l'enquête sur les sceaux continue avec l'introduction d'un personnage au fort potentiel comique ou malaisant : Isla Yura. Le bal de la fin est l'occasion de mettre en scène des mondanités aristocratiques qui sont le nouveau terrain de jeu de l'enquête.
"Llenaré de suciedad... Esa máscara inocente tuya... Con mis propias manos... La pintaré de una negra oscuridad".
Estamos llegando a la parte emocionante de la trama.
Secretos sobre el nacimiento de Oz están surgiendo a la luz. Parte de la familia Nightray juntos con otros grandes ducados se unen a la causa para vencer a los Baskerville.
No obstante, aquellos que parecen aliados, empiezan a revelar que conocen a gente de importancia, por lo que su lealtad se verá puesta a prueba.
¿Será que los villanos se adelantarán a nuestros héroes y den paso al triunfo del mal?