Pet Shop of Horrors 7
Posted: October 24, 2010 Filed under: Pet Shop of Horrors Leave a comment »Matsuri Akino – Tokyopop – 2004 – 10 volumes
I am ridiculously addicted to this series. I’m only writing this up so that I can read the next volume.
This one was particularly good because it revealed more of the background details about D. I had given up on learning any of that, or having any sort of plot to this series, so I was pleasantly surprised when D’s sister showed up and started talking about his father. I was a little creeped out by… what happened to her in the end, and who she really was. I’m glad that Akino included the assurance in the back, otherwise I would have been very, very worried.
Meeting D’s sister also inspired some choice comments from Leon. I’m still a little foggy on the relationship between he and D, whether he considers D a friend or not. I think it’s supposed to be ambiguous, but I love that the chance to meet his sister forces an admission of friendship out of him.
The first story in the volume focuses on Leon, and it was also another wonderful peek into how D and Leon size each other up. I loved the dream/reality takes, where you weren’t quite sure what was going on, and I loved the twist at the end that turned everything around. This story was probably my favorite of the whole series so far.
There were two other stories in this volume, both of them wonderful. One was about a group of Cambodian assassin children, and the other was… a “customer” story, except this time it was a medley of people that all shared the same theme. I did hate that the younger girl wound up acting the way she did, since she was the most successful of all. I also liked the additional notes from Akino in the back where she mentioned she didn’t know what animal appeared in anthromorphic form at the end. It was just something creepy.
I do love girls’ horror comics, and although this one has a lot of other flavors, it’s probably… well, it probably has some of the best writing of all the ones available in English. I like Bride of Deimos better, but admittedly, Pet Shop of Horrors is the better series. Well worth tracking down if you are so inclined.
