Pet Shop of Horrors

hey, seemingly i'm the first one here...*grin grin* does this mean that imdb users don't watch anime *that* often? no, no means to offend anyone...but there are very great shows from japan, and POH is one of them.

in my opinion the original manga (the comic) is of a lighter style, funnier, full of humour and wits, but the animators made the show more serious...it was a *dark* anime, quite a bit of bloody things here and there, depressing at times, but the plot was pretty attractive: a mysterious petshop in Chinatown owned by a gorgeous young Chinese, selling all kinds of strange/rare species, all customers must sign a contract with the owner and if the contract is broken, tragic consequences will follow...a young American police investigator starts to pursue the shop owner relentlessly, believing that he was a smuggler, only to unfold the chilling stories of the petshop one by one.

the author ripped off all the mental defence we have and *coldly* reveals our human weakness. the customers, seeking comfort and relief in their pets, often destroy their paradise once again when reason surrenders to passion. love, guilt, friendship, betrayal...the pets seem to represent our desires and feelings, which we often let go wild and bring devastating consequences...(when talking about this anime i always tend to be this *deep*...)

i must mention the artwork and the seiyuu (voice actor) here. as this show only draws 4 chapters from a 10-volume manga, the artwork was done in extreme care, and the effect was splendid as well as delicate, with an air of oriential mystery. the seiyuu for the central character, the shop owner (titled as Count D, and all 4 story titles begin with his initial, D) was flawless with a charming, darkly sweet and somewhat *dangerous* voice...and the *cute investigator* in this movie has an energetic voice which suits nicely with his bursts of blond hair^^

i gave it a 9 out of 10. in one word: excellent.

P.S. just to those who like this movie: the manga is a must-read if you love the story, for the manga is far more interesting with more stories and pet catalogs at the end of every volume...and you get to read about the unsolved mystery of the Count's origin, his family and his personal pet (the animation doesn't have time to answer all these) and maybe a bit about the rather *unusual* relationship between the Count and the *cute investigator* LOL

What a pleasant surprise. Even though it's pretty much 4 episodes played back to back... they connect perfectly together, are so well written and I'm disappointed that's all we got. So think of it as an anthology, similar to say something like 'Tales from the Darkside' with a minor touch of 'Gremlins'. Very much morality tales, sometimes dark, while other times heartbreaking and always weird with a moody gothic ambiance. Thanks to the wonderfully hallucinogenic animation and chilled lounge music creeping in.

The episodic tales are connected by a Chinatown pet shop of very rare/exotic animals and a determined homicide detective who sees a spade of unexplainable deaths linked to this pet shop. The reason for the deaths usually involves a sales term, which usually consists of 3 rules. If those rules are followed by the owners then they should've have any issues but if the contract is broken, it can have devastating consequences. The interactions between the detective and the polite pet shop owner Count D were just as riveting as the four stories. The first tale 'Daughter' was the strangest of the lot, therefore the one I enjoyed the most. I didn't find it to be as predictable in its outcome. While the third tale 'Despair' was an affective love story... similar to the second tale 'Delicious', yet very different in tone with the second tale going for shock. Both bittersweet though. While the fourth tale 'Dual' was less impactful in its progression, yet holding an air of melancholy at least the interactions and interplay between Count D and Detective Orcot during this last story made up for it. Especially when we learn how far Count D's reach is within the city.

So I enjoyed all the stories to varying degrees. They flow well together, tautly told and it's uniquely its own spin on a familiar exercise with Count D spouting his proverb wisdom to counterbalance Orcot's questioning after every story. And to remind they did sign a contract to follow those rules.

The Petshop of horrors with it's androgynous proprietor is a mystery to a sustain very irritatingly American detective. And yet to all others it is but a place of love and dreams. Oh, until they go against the agreement that is. But, that is not Count's fault. Truly a peace of art with beautiful animation, very little action, and a great lesson to be learned at the end of each episode. It could be considered rather repetitive after a while, but until then, it is a great example of Japanimation.

As much I like some anime that have less episodes and do it right, however this anime with 4 eps and the ending being added as a cliff hanger kinda put me off. Anyways aside from that, I thought Count D was a really well done evil character who damn dresses so elegantly!

Although I do admit the first and last story were pretty sad. I won't go into detail on them if anyone is reluctant to see this gothy classic anime. Definitely watch it regardless of it's age!

I'll start by saying that maybe it's too simplistic to say that "Pet Shop of Horrors" is an anime form of "The Twilight Zone." They are different shows. Yet, they both thinly disguise parables of morality in the horror/sci-fi genre. However, each episode of "Pet Shop of Horrors" preys upon a given deadly sin of a character from the entrancingly effeminate and mysterious Count D who gives the buyer exactly what he or she wants. The lust in their soul around the pet he or she receives grows until the owner dies from exhaustion, and the police find a seemingly innocent pet waiting for attention.

Confused? Don't be. It's all very simple. And well worth the time to investigate how awesome the anime is and the stories are, as well as how beautiful and lavish the animation is.