Pandora Hearts Vol. #09 Manga Review

It’s time for Oz to take the initiative, but the trip to get to the bottom of Sablier is a long crazy one.

Creative Staff
Story/Art: Jun Mochizuki
Translation/Adaptation: Tomo Kimura

What They Say
The incuse on Oz Vessalius’s chest ticks onward, but the young heir to one of the four great dukedoms directs his gaze back, seeking the facts behind a centuries-old tragedy. Intent on examining the ruins of Sablier despite warnings to scare him away, Oz and his makeshift party of explorers wander through the remnants of the former capital in search of clues to shed light upon the consuming darkness of the past. But in the yawning void where the opulent city once stood, will Oz come face-to-face with the truth? Or will he find misery the only resident…?

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’m starting to notice a theme with each passing volume of Pandora Hearts. This is certainly not a series of one dimensional characters. There are so many hidden pasts, identities, and personalities that if each one were split apart the cast would be twice as large! Of course, this makes for some fantastic intrigue nestled amid the mystery.

The core mystery which the series has been built upon is the tragedy of Sablier, where an entire city was sucked into the Abyss. Up until now we haven’t really seen what effect this had on the country and it’s people outside of the four great houses. It was a hundred year old tragedy, after all. This changes when Oz and his usual retinue ditch Break and sneak off to investigate the ruins of the city.

Before we can get to that, we catch Vincent up to no good once again. He has already dug his claws into his brother, opening the way for the hidden traumatic emotions of the past to eat away at Gilbert. Now we catch him beating up Echo after she returned from her trip out-on-the-town with Oz. Not only that, he’s feeling up Lottie at the same time, although from her spicy dialog she’s not exactly unwilling towards his advances. Vincent isn’t just crazy, he’s apparently the biggest pimp in town, and he has set his sights on one more girl as well… Oz’s sister.

Arrival in Sablier reunites Oz with Elliot, but the reunion is far from a happy affair. Elliot feels caught underneath the shadow of the Nightray legacy, which is putting him at odds with Oz and Gil’s devotion to his former master. Gilbert has a particularly rough time as he fights against the urge to protect Oz at all costs, which would mean taking Alice out of the picture. The further the small group descends into the strange gaping hole punched in the middle of the slum which used to be Sablier, the stronger the madness lurking there takes hold. Haunting visions of the past spring to life and, much like a horror movie, the group is split up. Taking the horror motif one step further is the inclusion of the twisted resident living in the dark miasma beneath the city.

It’s through Oz, and Jack inside him, that we finally meet Glen Baskerville, and his terrifying chain. Glen’s former underlings aren’t far behind Oz’s group, along with Elliot and Leo, and a certain someone else taking up the rear. The action turns frantic at the end of this volume, as forces clash in surprisingly sudden and violent confrontation.

The volume closes out on a terrible cliffhanger, along with the author’s extra, which is even stranger than usual.

In Summary
After a slow volume 8, Pandora Hearts punches up the pace and provides a shocking reveal to start, and multiple cliffhangers for a close. We finally start getting a glimpse at the world at large with the trip to Sablier and seeing the orphanage there. The long awaited reveal of Glen Baskerville finally arrives. There’s a great mix of action, suspense, and drama during the journey to the depths of Sablier. The awkward and patchy humor of earlier volumes finally seems to have worked out it’s timing issues. I hope the rest of the series maintains this momentum, and I’m dying to know what happens next.

Content Grade: A –
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: B +

Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: March 27th, 2012
MSRP: $11.99

Kate O'Neil

http://www.fandompost.com/author/sonicbug/

Kate has a long history of leaving pieces of herself all over the internet, alighting upon fandom after fandom to briefly taste of its nectar before flitting away. She has accrued a collection of manga so large she believes her home may now have structural integrity issues. She also watches anime, plays video games, and occasionally writes and draws. You can also listen to her on the Fandom Post Radio podcast, available wherever fine podcasts are streamed.

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