Pet Shop of Horrors 4
Posted: September 18, 2010 Filed under: Pet Shop of Horrors 2 Comments »Matsuri Akino – Tokyopop – 2004 – 10 volumes
Oh, D. I still think the relationship between D and Leon is strange and intentionally slash-y, because we still have Leon randomly showing up for tea, angsting about not protecting D (though that could be construed as panic about leaving him completely vulnerable to a killer), and in a state of both shock and disbelief when D’s expertise and slight supernatural touch help him solve cases. The strange balance between the two definitely helps tie the stories together, though its the stories themselves, and the mystery behind who D really is, that keep me coming back.
The mysteries are wonderful. There’s two short stories in this volume about Leon specifically, both about plants, the second featuring hilariously anthropomorphic versions of the plants that fool Leon into thinking they are women. Score one for D on that story, the ending was strangely intelligent and very clever.
The main stories covered a fish companion, a racehorse, and… er, a vampire. The last seems like something that falls outside the realm of Pet Shop of Horrors, and the only real connection is that the vampire turns into a bat, but I did like the supernatural connection, and the story does tangle D up in things that’s fun to see, even if it only teases us at finding out his true identity. My favorite story… hm. Actually, although they were all good, I liked some of the older stories better. The racehorse one was especially interesting, since it discussed thoroughbred breeding and the origins of the modern racehorse line. That’s one of the other things I like about the series, is that there’s always a lot of research and good information behind the strange animal mysteries.
All three of the main stories also involved Leon in some way or other. It seems that the D customer stories have been phased out, but that’s okay, since the crime-themed mysteries keep what I liked about those (the customer personalities and how they interacted with their pets), and add in the fun police elements, fanciful though they may be.
And the art is good. Have I mentioned Matsuri Akino’s art? It’s wonderful. She puts a lot of thought into her character designs, and the hybrid human/animal ones that periodically show up are always beautiful. The costume designs for D and the animals are also always top notch, and she still puts a lot of work into backgrounds and scenery. I love seeing so much work put into shoujo art.
Onward to volume 5, then.
I enjoyed reading your reviews. Thanks for posting.
One of my fave parts of this series is how close Leon gets to D’s world. For example, in the fish story “Digital”, there is a short scene where Leon reaches to open the petshop door, and hears the voices of the pets. When he opens the door, of course all he sees are the animals. Then when he leaves, we the readers see the animals in their beautiful humanoid forms.
I love this type of “magic reality” series where the fantastical exist side-by-side with the mundane. It feels more escapist than straight fantasy… like if you just turn around the right corner, or look at the right time, you can also get a glimpse of the other world.
True, it does have that special touch. I especially liked that Leon’s brother could see the animals as people, and refused to see them as animals. I also loved the explanation from D that this was because he still had his innocence, since I’m kind of a sucker for that kind of thing. It is pretty great, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of it. I’m curious to see how much longer the cat-and-mouse between Leon and D continues.