Pandora Hearts - Reviews

What makes this unique is how it is a dark themed Alice in Wonderland. You have several of the main cast from Alice represented here directly, then combine some of the themes and whatnot, and toss in a darker story with a rather dark twist. Considering that there are no other anime really that utilize this theme, you have something unique. If you like Alice in Wonderland, give this a watch. I do think this would be more aimed at the older viewers, due to the more classical graphics, and slower pacing. A younger audience may feel bored far quicker and have trouble following the story.

The story is far from great however. While this is extremely story oriented, the ending doesn't feel right and it feels really unfinished as some of the main purposes (like locating Alice's dreams, and the Baskerville group) are left largely unfinished. Combine that with what seems like some fragmented story shifting, and there are many times where it becomes rather confusing to follow. The first few episodes are incredibly boring, then quickly some of the demonic action begins up and comes off promising. After that, a large portion of the middle episodes go back towards focusing on the characters and their backstory, while also switching to some more Alice themed bits. Somehow it never truly gets past this stage and quickly comes to a finish with a few rather good episodes (and returning to the demonic themed content). The progression just feels really slow at times to where it is really boring. As there are 25 episodes, there should have been several more, or a faster pacing to cover more of the important story components. The ending just doesn't match the original intention (which was to figure out exactly who Alice & Oz are, along with the Baskerville's significance and goal in all of this).

The art style is a bit more classical, this looks like something more from the 90's which is great, and works. The mouth animations are really sloppy though and rather irritating. Well in advance you can see them talk, but the audio doesn't start till after a while. This is not a sync issue or anything as the animation and audio end perfectly however. It just looks like the characters are talking in advance of thier actual lines. With 25 episodes, this will eventually get more annoying.

The characters were well done, and very critical to the story in this case. You have four main royal families much like the olden days, with thier servants and all that. All the main characters from these families were interesting enough, each with a significant purpose (minus the Baskerville presence). Then you have characters from the world of Alice in Wonderland. Alice is obviously one of the main key characters, but there is also some Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat. This Alice is obviously very different, and is at the mercy of anyone who will feed her meat. She has a cute, but also very rough side to her. Add a couple of strange, demonic, nightmare style characters like you might expect from an Alice in Wonderland nightmare type scene, and you have a pretty interesting cast of characters.

Overall, it is a decent watch, and the only Alice in Wonderland type of anime out there really. I would have ranked it much higher if the ending felt properly finished. The confusing and boring pieces can be overlooked, but neglecting to finish or shed proper light onto some of the main story components is hard to overlook when it chooses to bypass the conventional 12-13 episodes and favors 25 already. Another 5-10 would have really helped.

Overall I really enjoyed pandora hearts. The charactor design was wonderful and the clothing design was some of the best i have ever seen in an anime. Also the soundtrack was very beautiful and held my attention through to the end. Sadly these were what caught my attention instead of the story. this might be just me, but i believe that some of the charactors were rather bland, generic, and not deep (such as alice being that charactor that eats massive amounts of food and is just loud all the time ect.). This wasnt all of the time though because Oz seemed to have quite a few scenes that were very good, and it made his charactor very interesting to watch but sadly he seemed to take most of those scenes. (a few for break were pretty good) Many of the plot twists were obvious from the get go. i am not going to ruin it, but the final twist in the last episode i guessed right from the begining. The anime takes alot of influence from alice in wonderland which i am also a huge fan of so that was really cool. I only wish that they went alittle further with it, because it seemed to be lacking. (i would have really like to see the Cheshire Cat to be less just cat like and more like the book with its riddles and such. i think that that is another example of how boring the charactors were.) The concept of the story itself wasnt really too bad. there were a couple of dark scenes that were very interesting and enjoyable. though the charactors were very generic and boring, the banter between them was VERY good. The way they lightened scenes with their slapstick was very comical. They would be right at the end of a serious scene and then after a short pause Raven and Alice would look at eachother and you would here "BAKA!" this and that while other charactors would be still discussing plot.

The bad-

Boring charactors, obvious plot twists, not enough alice in wonderland, instead of being either a light anime or a really dark one it kinda was just alittle of both.

The good-

somewhat intersting plot, beautiful animation (ecpecially with clothing and props), great soundtrack, hilarious banter and slapstick.

As i said overall i REALLY enjoyed the show. I have not read the manga (yet) so i cant really complain about the ending. Also, i am sure that the charactors were probably explained much better as well in the manga but we will see. It is my opinion that if they had taken the show and went in more of a single direction, whether it be adding in more alice in wonderland stuff, or if it was more dark throughout, or SOMETHING, it would be an anime worth top ranks

(This is my opinion) 

The Storyline although compared to some Anime, for me was unique in the fact it started in the past, but very quickly came into the present which then the main storyline and adventure starts. I also like the fact that they didn’t explain everything all at once and that, us as watchers had to figure things out ourselves (or ask your boyfriend to make sense of it). Another thing this storyline did was KEPT ME HOOKED after a certain episode, and any Anime that keeps me hooked and makes me go to bed late (later than normal) deserves praise.

The Animation and Sound was amazing and truly brilliant. The OP song was very catchy and it really added to the feel of the Anime and the ED was a perfect ending to every episode, although when it came to the eps where you have to watch the next ep straight away, I kinda didn’t watch the ED’s. The Animation really went well with the Anime it is too and it couldn’t have been done any better than it was.  

The Characters were truly remarkable, even the ones that I didn’t really like. Oz, Gilbert and Break were my favourite 3 characters because they all had a personality that I really enjoy, for example, Breaks humour.

Overall I really loved this Anime and it was so close to be perfect, but the slowness and part of the ending really robbed it of that perfect rating. 

Pandora Hearts was something that was hyped up to the point where I refused to watch it. When the commotion died down, I convinced myself to try it out. (Everyone likes the Alice theme, right?) I was pleased with Pandora Hearts. I watched the episodes obsessively until I finished the series. The main character, Oz, was tossed into the Abyss (like Hell for humans) on the night of his coming-of-age ceremony. Once in the Abyss, he runs from creepy dolls and creatures that want to kill him. He meets Alice, a Chain (creatures that can be used if you form a contract with them). The two form a contract to get out of the Abyss, something Alice has always longed for since she lost her memories. Once out, Oz discovers that he has been held in the Abyss for quite a few years (10 to be exact), but is still in his child body. He joins an organization known as Pandora to aid his search for Alice's memories. For the most part, the two collect hazy fragments whenever they destroy monsters. 

Lucky for those who truly enjoyed PH, I'm easy-going enough to give this anime a 6/10. The ending, in my opinion, was very rushed. I feel like the anime flowed well up until the last episodes. The "boss battle" at the end did not happen, and it left a lot of questions unanswered. Whether or not they will be making a second season or not is unknown to me. However, I think Xebec could have done better at the last few episodes.

The plot in itself is one of the diamonds of this series. The characters journey through Alice in Wonderland themed areas and fight monsters like Cheshire (who I felt sorry for) and the people who threw Oz into the Abyss. The twists and added suspense make this anime enjoyable. I felt like I could really understand the characters, and sympathize with the bad guys (even though they're evil). There were times when I was creeped out, though. This anime might not be for those who are scared easily. It isn't as bad as some horror and suspense out there, but Pandora Hearts shoot me up a bit. 

Overall, I really began to love the Jack/Oz combination. The two characters made me really long for more in the story. Gilbert is also one of my favorite characters in the series. The comedy with the relationships between everyone make for good breaks when everything is serious. 

I would have to say this anime is a good watch, but not something to be obsessed over. The production of this anime was poor, and I feel like the cliff hangers were unncessary.