Five Things I'll Miss About Pandora Hearts

Spoiler alert: Discusses Mochizuki Jun's Pandora Hearts up to and including volume 22.

I've just finished the 22nd volume of Pandora Hearts - which, WOW - and for some reason, Yen Press has no information about the next, allegedly final volume. Not even a placeholder on the series page! Yen Press, y'all killing me over here.

There are not many series in which I feel physical and emotional consternation after finishing a book, but damn if MochiJun's Pandora Hearts isn't one of them. Over twenty volumes later and she still has the power to make me care about her expansive cast of characters while keeping the story fresh and interesting. Plus, she knows just when a series needs to end. And right now, the end of the story of the Abyss and Oz is coming sooner than later.

With the end of the epic fantasy manga series Pandora Hearts just on the horizon (probably, most likely), I'm looking back at some of the things I'm gonna miss when Oz and Alice and the rest of the team sign off for good.

(Well, until Yen Press releases the Caucus Race companion novels. Excited for those!)

Manga Review: Pandora Hearts GN 21

Pandora Hearts volume 21
Author: Jun Mochizuki
Yen Press
208 pages

"I want you to be 'happy'..." With these parting words, one man sacrifices himself to save Oz and his companions, who have been chased into a corner. That sentiment succeeds in awakening Oz's heart, long held captive in the depths of his own soul, as though breaking all the chains that bind him... But when Oz learns of the heavy price of his revival, can his resolve withstand it?

Spoiler alert: Review contains spoilers for previous volumes and the current 21st volume.

Mochizuki really isn't giving us a break at all with this series. We keep hopping between one tragic event after another without a proper breather, but that's okay—it keeps the plot at a fast pace as it speeds towards the series' end. While this series has focused on the tragic events of Oz's life, the twenty-first book takes a deeper look at Rufus Barma, the one man whose recent actions have thrown poor Oz and Gil for a big loop.

Manga Review: Pandora Hearts GN 20

Pandora Hearts volume 20
Author: Jun Mochizuki
Yen Press
208 pages

The pathetic farce that has unfolded in earnest is no more than an absurd yarn spun by the man who caused the Tragedy of Sablier by following his heart's desires. The players in his tale begin dancing with abandon, their emotions bottled up inside, as though they are marionettes manipulated by a master puppeteer . . . (Source: Yen Press)

Spoiler alert: Spoilers for the Pandora Hearts series up to volume 20 are in this review.

This month in the world of Pandora Hearts: an escape, a series of revelations, a loss, a death, a return. At twenty volumes and onwards, Jun Mochizuki seems to have yet fully invoked the true depth of the world of the Abyss and the secrets of Pandora that color the lives of her characters. This volume is heavy on character developments from small to big, and it is the final act of this one that will have long time readers cursing out Mochizuki louder than ever.

Manga Review: Pandora Hearts GN 19

Pandora Hearts volume 19
Author: Jun Mochizuki
Yen Press
192 pages

Pandora, now under the control of Leo and the Baskervilles, bears witness as the truth of the being known as Oz Vessalius is exposed for all to see. Amidst the warped tragedy that plays out mercilessly, one who has lost everything catches a glimpse of the ridiculous fairy tale contrived by a living ghost as though a forbidden box has just been opened. (Source: Yen Press)

Spoiler warning: Spoilers for the Pandora Hearts story up to this most recent volume are in this review.

This review will be slightly incoherent at parts, emotionally heated at others. This is because Jun Mochizuki, whether through a pact with a witch or a contract with the Abyss itself, has the unmatched ability to metaphorically pluck out the reader's heart and squeeze it dry before putting it back, leaving the person in a pool of their own tears.

Do I speak too strongly? Perhaps, but it only begins to describe the emotional roller coaster that Oz, Gil, Alice, and the rest of the Pandora Hearts crew have been on for the last couple of volumes. Volume nineteen is the breaking point, an explosion of drama and revelations, and much like any explosion, it's so very hard to look away.

The Story So Far: Pandora Hearts

Pandora Hearts volumes 1-17

Art/story by Jun Mochizuki

Published in English by Yen Press

The air of celebration surrounding fifteen-year-old Oz Vessalius’ coming-of-age ceremony quickly turns to horror when he is condemned for a sin about which he knows nothing. He is thrown into an eternal, inescapable prison known as the Abyss from which there is no escape. There, he meets a young girl named Alice, who is not what she seems. Now that the relentless cogs of fate have begun to turn, do they lead only to crushing despair for Oz, or is there some shred of hope for him to grasp on to? (Source: Yen Press)

"This world is like a dark night that swallows everything."

Pandora Hearts, despite what some might think, is not some Black Butler pastiche gone wrong (hell, the plots aren't even that similar). It's not an Alice In Wonderland-inspired Gothic tale in the vein of, say, Alice In The Country Of Hearts. Pandora Hearts may live within a realm of Alice inspired references but it is not limited to Lewis Carroll's 'verse. This is a bloody, dark hearted kind of fairy tale where safety is an illusion, everyone is a lie, and back stories are meant to be blown wide open by the terrible truth.

Honestly, if you get up to volume seventeen in Pandora Hearts - the most recent release by Yen Press - and you don't find yourself cursing out Jun Mochizuki and her deliciously deceitful ways, you might want to read something else. To love Pandora Hearts is to love having your heart pulled out and stomped on on a regular schedule, and enjoy it. I can't remember reading a volume which didn't have me at the end of it stomping my feet, frustrated that I didn't have the following volume already in my hands.