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Summary: "Count D no Pettoshop e youkoso. Koko wa Chinatown..."
Review: 'Welcome to Count D's Pet Shop. This is Chinatown, a mysterious place where rare and valuable commodities are in abundance. Tonight, you will surely find something you desire.' You don't find anything odd about the above, do you? Pet Shop of Horrors is a rare find in itself, although many have claimed it to be simply a different take on a common theme. Don't simply brush it aside as 'normal' horror anime (much of which is not very well done), it's actually quite well done for what it is. The setting is supposedly LA's Chinatown. Deep inside Chinatown, there is a mysterious, luxurious pet shop. The owner is an equally mysterious young man with a weakness for sweets, the effeminate 'Count' D. D's shop has many clients, even some numbering among the rich and famous. Recently, it has come to the attention of a young, brash homicide detective named Leon that there has been a string of mysterious deaths - all were clients of the pet shop. Of course, there is a reason for this. After all, this is no ordinary pet shop and there are certain terms that each customer must be sure to keep to. If the terms are not kept to, management will not assume any responsibility for what happens. Unfortunately, during the course of these four OAV episodes, none of the customers manage to adhere to their contracts. They do, however, get what they deserve. The episodes are very nicely animated with rich coloring and fluid character movement, and I heavily recommend the Japanese version over the English dub for the most part. The DVD transfer is flawless and sparkling. There are a few extras included, such as the original opening song and commentary by the English voice cast. If you find this OAV interesting, please check out the original (albeit hard-to-find) manga by Matsuri Akino, as it answers the many questions that the ending will leave you with (and for all you shounen-ai fans who noticed the odd 'tension' between D and Leon, there's payoff). So, check out Pet Shop of Horrors - in the end, surely you'll find something that you desire.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, mysterious, eerie.
Review: Again, my intuition served me well when I decided to buy this on whim. Actually, I had seen the cover before, and was intruiged by the dark, mysterious picture. When I read that the host of the Pet Shop was also an effeminate Count who dressed in drag, I was even more curious. This series is excellent, for lack of better words. It also leaves you with a true sense of eerieness, because the characters in the film do not find any happiness or respite, except for in the last segment, but even that has a very eerie premise in itself. The Count is very fascinating, and I love his voice in the original Japanese. He has a perfect repose, sinister beneath the cool, pleasant exterior. I think the man who did the dubbing for the American voice didn't realise this and tried to sound too effiminate without that essentially sardonic undertone that the Japanese voice incurs.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, mysterious, eerie.
Review: Again, my intuition served me well when I decided to buy this on whim. Actually, I had seen the cover before, and was intruiged by the dark, mysterious picture. When I read that the host of the Pet Shop was also an effeminate Count who dressed in drag, I was even more curious. This series is excellent, for lack of better words. It also leaves you with a true sense of eerieness, because the characters in the film do not find any happiness or respite, except for in the last segment, but even that has a very eerie premise in itself. The Count is very fascinating, and I love his voice in the original Japanese. He has a perfect repose, sinister beneath the cool, pleasant exterior. I think the man who did the dubbing for the American voice didn't realise this and tried to sound too effiminate without that essentially sardonic undertone that the Japanese voice incurs.
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Summary: Welcome...Tonight you will find something you desire.
Review: Chinatown's most unique pet shop offers everything from dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles to the most rare and unusual mythological beasts. Choose anything you would like, but remember, there is a price to be paid and rules to be followed. If the rules are broken in any way, the pet shop cannot be held responsible for what happens..... The Pet shop is run by the enigmatic, effeminate Count (yes--it's a man, not a woman as you would assume from seeing the character) who sells each customer the pet that will not only grant their wishes, but teach them a terrible lesson as well. Pet Shop of Horrors was originally presented on Japanese television in small 1-2 scene segments on a music video channel. Urban Vision's video and DVD releases do a wonderful job of blending them together. All four self contained episodes are on the DVD release, along with deleted material (a music video style opening that was thankfully not used) the usual assortment of trailers, and extremely informative audio commentary by the English language director and several of the voice actors. These offbeat tales may not be for everyone, but I found them to be very entertaining. It owes a lot to "Friday the 13th: The Series" and even "Gremlins", but it does manage to create a palpable sense of mystery, and I found myself wondering just how the pets would reveal their true colors and what horrible thing would happen to the owners. A handful of anime's best and brightest worked on the project including Rintaro (Final Fantasy), Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Wicked City, Ninja Scroll) and Hishashi Abe (Vampire Hunter D). While this series does not break a lot of new ground, if you can appreciate the supernatural with a great sense of intrigue and characterization, then this is a series for you.
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Summary: Understanding What's in Front of the Dotted Line
Review: Deep in the heart of the city is Chinatown, a rather mysterious location playing by rules of its own. Located there is a petshop ran by the rather enjoyable Count D, one whose motto is "to sell love, dreams and hopes" by granting each of its customers something special. With those come only a few rules and the signing of a contract; a document that should be followed carefully because the petshop cannot be held responsible if it is ignored. The series is broken up into 4 episodes, all enjoyable and some even moreso than others. Although animals are involved in all of the tales, there are other ideas posed here by the assembly of talents such as Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Bio Hunter, Ninja Scroll, Wicked City) and Hisashi Abe (Vampire Hunter D) that overcast this tale with more than their far share of darkness. The first tale begins a little slowly, with parents that want nothing more than to reclaim the most precious jewel they lost, and ends on a bit of a "happy" note, dealing with politics and the high costs of happiness. Still, the two pieces that occur in the middle; one dealing with love and the concept of crocodile tears and the other leveling its eyes at the struggles the successful have and the mirror into with ambition casts its gaze, are beautifully done. For these two alone I would have given this five stars, but there was so much more. Perhaps it should be noted that these tales are not soaked in gore and violence, but are instead little snapshots of the souls that are affected and the things that possess them. While there are moments of both, this is endowed is quite a bit more as well, making you wonder exactly what type of "exotic" pet you're leasing the next time you need a companion.
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Summary: Wish there were more like this
Review: Excellent piece of animation. Wish there were more movies with short tales like this. The stories are short but very interesting.
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Summary: Horrific indeed...
Review: I always loved this anime, from the moment I rented it. Q-chan [the name of the twinkie-bat thingie that Cound D has] is so sweet, especially when he tries to pull the strawberry [his favorite food] off of the cake, and Count D is always adorable, especially when he's fawning over his sweets. ^_^ Leon is a detective from New York, who happens to find a lead on one ofo his cases one day that sends him to Chinatown. Particularly, a tiny pet shop. He goes into the depth of the shop and finds the owner, who he mistakes for a woman at first. The owner is D, who takes Leon's accusation of secretly being a dealer of drugs and slaves without batting an eye. All he sells are love and dreams, he explains to the annoyed blonde detective. Love and dreams. After all, it's just a pet shop. Or is it? The series is four episodes long, translating four stories from the manga [Despair, Daughter, Dual, and Delicious] into an animated format. I think the manga, which has ten volumes, goes into more character depth and is a bit better, but then again, that's because it has the time to do so. D and Leon's relationship grows, and Q-chan is shown to be... Well, something else entirely. And the manga also has Papa D, the utter freak who is the Magneto to Count D's Xavier, in a way. Bottom line, the manga's better, but this is good.
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Summary: This kicked ass
Review: I bought Pet Shop of Horrors after someone recommended it to me and I have to say it is one purchase I'm glad I made. Sadly, there are only for episode in what seems like a very promising series. The characters Leon and Count D are intriguing and they play wonderfully after each other. There bantering will no doubt inspire some slash fanfiction later. I highly recommend this series, especiialy if you like slightly odd and humorous horror stories
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Summary: Excellent moody horror.
Review: I bought this DVD without knowing anything about the contents, only on a whim, and I do not regret it! The stories proved to be wonderful Twilight Zone like stories with an asian feel, although they are not set in Asia at all, but in an undefined Chinatown in the US. Another excellent thing is the main song in the chapter about the mermaid. Hauntingly beautiful. My least favourite of the stories is the first one about the rabbit, although it sets the stage nicely for what is to come and Count D is one of the best characters I have seen in a while. I definately recommend it.
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Summary: Something you desire...
Review: I have watched a fair share of anime series in my time and I can honestly say Pet shop is definetly one of the most unique, interesting and fascinating ever. Not only are the stories creepy and full of nice little mean twists and wonderfully screwed up characters it's impossible not to love, but aside from LAIN this is the best dub work I have ever heard in an anime series. CONTENT: Even though all the stories are based on the same premise ("don't brake these 3 rules or your pet will kill you") the stories all have different morales and ideas behind them making each show different from the last. DAUGHTER is about how too much love is not a good thing. DESIRE is about not confusing guilt with true love. DESPAIR is about living a short but happy life and be remembered for the good things. DUAL is about sacrificing everything for someone else and thus gaining one's own happiness. I like them all, and I LOVE the first one. DVD: has great features. True, the dleted material is really just a weird video opening that I thank God they didn't use on the show, but there are also a number of interesting trailers, and best of all a commentary with the director and the voice actors for Count D and Leon the cop. Now THAT is really hillarious and quite enlightening at the same time. That's worth the price in itself. I highly recommend this to anyone.
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