Pandora Hearts

Pandora Hearts is a shounen manga and animation series. The anime series adaptation is produced by Xebec, and the anime ran for 25 episodes while we are hoping for another season.

Plot

The story follows Oz Vessalius, a young boy who just turned fifteen. Even though his relationship with his father isn’t good seeing as he was always absent, he is the heir to the Vessalius Duke House. On the day of his coming-of-age ceremony, the young Oz is thrown to the "Abyss", where Alice turns to the chain known as Black Rabbit and saves him.

Chains are created by the Will of Abyss and the only way for them to leave Abyss is to form a contract with a human. There are illegal and legal contracts. When an illegal contract is formed, a clock-like seal appears over the Contractor's heart. The hand in the seal moves like on a clock when the chain uses its powers. There is also the possibility of the contractor dying, if the contract becomes void. When the hand on the seal makes one full rotation, the contractor and the chain are dragged into the deepest level of the Abyss.

Now, Alice has lost her memories and Oz wants to return to his world so the two of them form a contract and manage to leave Abyss. When returning to the real world, Oz finds out that time doesn't truly exist in Abyss. So, even though Oz has remained at the age of fifteen, the other people of his world have become older by ten years.

Oz unravels the mysteries behind Alice and the Will of Abyss, the strange organization known as Pandora and the Baskervilles, as well as the Tragedy of Sablier and his own father.

Main Characters and Their Chains

Oz Vessalius is voiced by Junko Minagawa. He is the main character of the story; a fifteen year old boy with blond hair and green eyes, and he is short. He has formed an illegal contract with the chain called Black Rabbit which is Alice.

Alice is voiced by Ayako Kawasumi and she’s the heroine of the story, with the goal of finding her lost memories. She has long dark brown hair with two side plaits when she’s human and she loves to eat meat. She speaks her mind and she’s loud-spoken. When she’s in chain form, she is B-rabbit, the most powerful chain in the Abyss which is an anthropomorphic rabbit with black fur, red eyes and holds a giant scythe.

Gilbert Nightray is voiced by Azuma Sakamoto when he’s younger and by Toriumi Kousuke when he’s older. He is Oz's best friend and loyal servant. Oz likes to call him Gil. He is terrified of cats and can't quit smoking. His constant fear us that as Oz grows, he will be left behind. While Oz is in Abyss, he obtains the chain called Raven (which used to be Glen’s) and works for Break as a member of Pandora. Raven was sealed by the Nightray family and eventually tamed by Gilbert.

Jack Vessalius is voiced by Daisuke Ono. He’s the hero who defeated Glen Baskerville 100 years ago. He looks like a grown-up Oz with a long plait, and their personalities are the same. He is currently residing in Oz's body, and he’s also able to possess him and speak through him. When Jack controls Oz’s body, he has full control of Black Rabbit’s powers.

Xerxes Break is voiced by Ishida Akira, and he is a member of Pandora as well as a servant of the Rainsworth Dukedom. He likes everything that’s sweet and he has a small doll which he calls, Emily. He is usually a carefree person but he shows his dangerous and evil side when he has to. He has a contract with the chain called, Mad Hatter (which kind of seems like Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland"). Mad Hatter looks like a giant top hat with flowers, under which is one big eye. It has the power to destroy the power of the Abyss and kill chains. When Break uses its power to a large extent, he coughs up blood because his previous identity had already made an illegal contract with Albus.

Sharon Rainsworth is voiced by Hanazawa Kana and she is a member of the Pandora organization. She is twenty-three years old but she looks like a fourteen year old girl thanks to her legal contract with a chain, the black unicorn Eques who is used for: a) data collection b) taking people to other dimensions by warping places and c) Sharon can conceal Eques inside a person’s shadow, which helps her hear and see over the distance. Sharon was the one who found Break in a fatal condition and from then on, they’ve always been together, thus having a close relationship.

Vincent Nightray is voiced by Jun Fukuyama when he’s older and by Fuyuka Ōura when he’s younger. He is Gilbert's younger brother by one year, and just like how Uncle Oscar brought Gil to the Vessalius family, Vincent was adopted by the Nightray family. He has long, golden hair and his left eye is golden like Gil's, but his right eye is deep red. He shows like he has two personalities: a) when he loves his brother Gilbert to the point of obsession, along with his smiling, easy-going personality and b) when he is unstable and he cuts stuffed animals with scissors. Vincent has a legal contract with the Doormouse.

Oscar Vessalius is voiced by Hideyuki Umezu. He is Oz's uncle, an easy-going and very caring person. He is the one who brought Gil to the Vessalius family, and he is viewed as a father by Gil and Oz.

Opening/Ending Themes

The opening theme is "Parallel Hearts" performed by FictionJunction, and there’s also "Hitomi No Chikara" of the maxi-single. The first ending theme is "Maze" and the second is "Watashi wo Mitsukete" by Savage Genius.

Review

It is a very intense anime, and even though there are parts filled with comedy, the parts which will make you unable to move from your seat are filled with psychological questions, the thoughts and feelings of the characters.

The fights that take place in it along with the mystery bring the anime onto a whole new level making it even better. The characters are very well developed for both sides; the evil and the good characters, and you’ll even love them.

Also, there were many scenes in this anime that have made me watch it again and again, and the great thing is that they make the same impact on my mind as the first time I watched them. It’s something that doesn’t happen very often and when it does, I can tell the anime is grand.

If you would like to watch an interesting anime which is filled with the fantasy world around contractors and chains, then I suggest watching it. I promise you will like it so much, that you’ll go read the manga series so you can unfold the rest of the mysteries and find out what really happens.