Everything you thought you knew about Pandora Hearts was a glorious lie.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Jun Mochizuki
Translation/Adaptation: Tomo Kimura
What They Say
The determined feelings of one man cross the divides of time and space, bringing to light the past hidden in the depths of his memories. Thus, reality begins to swirl and shift, as if the desires of his heart have been the darkness gnawing at everything all along . . .
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This volume of Pandora Hearts is full of shocking introductions, dramatic exits, and some dark backstory which has been lurking underneath. I’m going to try my best to keep spoilers to a minimum while explaining what makes this volume so great.
Each volume has featured a character on it’s cover, and Alice has been conspicuously absent. This story began with the simple quest for Alice’s memories, so before reading the volume I thought that was her. Nope, that’s not Alice on the cover, it’s actually Lacie.
Who is Lacie?
The last volume dropped the bombshell revelation that Jack Vessalius was not the kind hearted spirit trying to prevent a tragedy from reoccurring. Jack, a illegitimate son who at his lowest moment met a runaway Baskerville girl named Lacie, is not the hero everyone thought he was.
This entire volume not only flips everything we thought we knew about Pandora Hearts upside down, but provides the answers to many of the lingering questions that Oz and the readers have wondered about. The details of the Abyss and the Baskerville clan are explained, and even the significance of the chains the Baskerville’s wield. We have Jack’s backstory in full, and the introduction of a character who changed the course of destiny for an entire nation, the previous Glen Baskerville named Levi. We also find out what both men’s connection was to a woman named Lacie.
Who, since she’s not Alice or Alice’s twin, is instead Alice’s mother!
She’s also not what I expected her to be at all. Her headstrong and capricious ways hide a strong determination and her loyalty to her brother Oswald. She set Jack down a path to becoming the man he did, and didn’t look back. Alice inherited much from her mother beyond just her looks.
After everything that is revealed in this volume I certainly didn’t expect to find elements of Oz’s background in the final pages. Oz is confused, and I’m doubly confused. I expect that the next volume will explain the event in further detail, at least I hope so! The weird final page of the book left me scrambling to dig out the first volume to see if any of the strange and shocking revelation was foreshadowed in Oz’s first meeting with Alice. There’s the barest hint it may have been, which makes me wonder at the length and depth of the planning which went in to this series. On the other hand, it’s such a nonsensical reveal that I can’t help but wonder if it is yet another lie spun by Jack to control Oz.
Closing out a fantastic volume, the author apologizes for her silly extra comic after that shocker of an ending. She shouldn’t have, because I now desire the fake Pandora Hearts fighter video game she came up with. Someone should make that happen!
In Summary
Pandora Hearts is a series which has carried itself on the strength of it’s mystery and characters. A simple quest for lost memories and identity has turned in to a war of shifting alliances and now has become a test of wills. Oz has stood against every challenge up till now, but now I wonder if it was all for nothing. His entire life seems to be one big lie, and now more than ever I’m not sure how Oz’s group is going to survive the truth. Even though I feel we’ve hit a climax, anything could happen from this point on, and in this series it probably will.
Content Grade: A –
Art Grade: A –
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: B +
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: August 27th, 2013
MSRP: $11.99
If you’re looking for a bigger hint, re-read the parts where Oz and company went to Sablier, and Oz used a certain thing for the first time. And notice, since then, how often has Oz summoned the B-Rabbit… and how often has he just done things himself?
There are hints as to what Oz is in many places. Besides, think, there is only one being in this universe that could have made Oz into what he is. This should make you think who gave Jack a powerful chain.