The Vessalius family is certainly an eccentric one.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Jun Mochizuki
Translation/Adaptation: Tomo Kimura
What They Say
With Pandora and the Baskervilles in a race to discover the whereabouts of the seals that secure Glen Baskerville’s body, Oz and his friends are caught up in the ensuing fury of this ruthless hunt. Amidst this chaos, Oscar Vessalius organizes a brief respite for his beloved nephew and his companions in the form of an outdoor tea party. When Oscar surprises all present with an impromptu group photograph, the memory of their fleeting peace together is captured in time so as to never be forgotten. If only such memories could be made to last forever by the simple act of wishing…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Pandora Hearts totally tricked me in this volume. I fell for Vincent’s monologging, his ominous internal dialog, and all the rest of his scheming leading up to the events in this volume. That sick feeling that the story was about to spring his trap on Ada (who looks so forlorn and vulnerable on the cover), and as a helpless reader there was nothing I could do about it.
In the end the only adage that can be applied to the outcome of Vincent’s plot for now is “you have to fight crazy with crazy.” That’s all I’m going to say about that.
Ada isn’t the only Vessalius getting some character development in this volume. Oz’s uncle Oscar also has a bit of his past brought to light, and a secret about Oz’s birth that just confuses matters more.
A big tea party probably had to happen at some point, even though it comes out of nowhere. What homage to Alice in Wonderland would be complete without one? However sudden and navel-gazing it might be, the whole affair feels like one massive death flag for the entire cast, and the back of the book blurb doesn’t help console those fears. I am now full of dread for what the future holds.
Soon the story plunges into the next conflict, as Oz and his group learn that one of the seals might be outside of the country. Enter the extremely creepy Yura, a nobleman from outside of Pandora’s influence. He’s obsessed with Jack Vessalius and immediately becomes infatuated with Oz. Oz handles the situation with surprising cleverness and manages to set up a way to infiltrate the man’s home to find the next seal.
Over the course of the series the humor has been one of my larger hang-ups with Pandora Hearts. I wouldn’t want the series devoid of humor, and I enjoyed the weirdness, but man was it awkward in early volumes. The funny bits always suffered from poor timing or poor execution early on. In more recent volumes the humor is far smoother and has an appropriate lead up, while being no less absurd or strange.
Under the pretense of Oz’s societal debut, a large number of the usual cast assembles to dance and party, and to locate that seal. There is a nice scene between Break and Sharon which is a bit heartbreaking, and it makes me wonder what Sharon is to Break exactly, and vice-versa. Of course, wherever Oz goes the Baskerville’s can’t be far behind, and so is the mysterious headhunter. The next volume is shaping up to be a tense one.
In Summary
There is a certain ominous shadow looming over the cast in this volume of Pandora Hearts. A feel-good group photo only feels like foreshadowing for horrible future events, which isn’t helped by Oz’s pessimism and Vincent’s usual scheming. It’s not all bleak though, and I have a new respect for Oz’s sister Ada. I’m still waiting for Alice to step back into the spotlight, as her story is still on hold for now. We do get the first glimpse of the world at large with another group of players moving into the scene, which makes the events of recent chapters take on a grandeur, more fleshed out feeling.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A –
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: B +
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: October 30th, 2012
MSRP: $11.99
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