Friday, April 28, 2017

"See, that is the Gilbert I know." ("I'm this idiot's left eye.")

Wherein Jack is ashamed....but not really. (Spoilers involved but not too many. If you plan to read maybe read my review afterward. If you don't plan to read the series you won't be spoiled anything because it likely won't make sense to you.)

Did I start this? No, I did not. Contrary to what my best friend might claim. All I did was get her to watch Avatar, The Last Airbender. She took it further and started anime, and then manga, and dragged me along into it.

Therefore, here is my review....because yes, I finished a complete manga series. And I must confess, this is more of a rant about how hot one of the characters is and not so much a review.

Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki



With an Alice in Wonderland twist, the story follows Oz and the many friends and foes he comes in contact with. (My favorite of whom bears the name of Gilbert Nightray. *HintHint* the hot one.)

First off, I have never in my life read a more complicated, twisted plot. Even after I finished my head was reeling and I plan to reread it to catch everything I missed the first time. Personally I love stories which leave me spinning and going, "WOW" throughout. I love to try and figure things out but still have the plot make sense. Somehow Jun managed to pull this off brilliantly.

Mostly though I loved the characters. While the plot was tons of fun nothing surpassed the amazing cast of characters.

First there is Oz. Little, adorable, sad Oz. Oz, who suffers so much and then when you think he will finally get answers his world is shattered and you can't help but hug the book in an attempt to hug him. Seriously, that fella needs a nice holiday somewhere. Away from A CERTAIN SOMEONE I CURRENTLY DISLIKE.

Then we have Alice, also known as "Stupid rabbit." This term of endearment was given her by Gil. Alice is the spunky, meat loving companion of Oz. She gets him out of as much trouble as she gets him into and is always at his side. She's like his shadow, his loud, bossy shadow. She is quarky and I love her.

Next is Break. Break with his sweet tooth, teeth, and his refusal to enter or leave a room in any normal fashion. Break who balances things on his head, eats Oz's cakes, drinks tea, and hangs upside down from trees. Break with his ridiculous sleeves and Fufu-ing. Break whom I didn't trust and have been apologizing too ever since for it. Break, who I may copy by flapping my sleeves about as I fufu. Yes, Break was wonderful. He also broke my heart.

There are so many others I loved. Elliot, Leo, Reim, Sharon, Uncle Oscar, Ada - and those I hated or strongly disliked depending on what they did to the characters I loved: Jack, Lacie, Oswald, Stupid Levi, Creepy Vincent....and so on. There is a long dislike/ hate list.

And lastly in my character list is my all time favorite, the one I have admitted as to being hot even though I rarely if ever say anyone is hot.

Gilbert Nightray. Yes, wonderful Gil. I can't even put into coherent words what it is about him I love so much. There are many things I loved about him. His loyalty and devotion. His friendship. The way he looked out for those he cared about, and those who were creepy but family. His struggles. His growth and character development.
Then there are the less noble sounding reasons. His pistols. His hat. His coat. His speeches. His cooking. When he shared his hat and coat. His eyes. His smile. Eh....there, now that I've embarrassed myself I'm sure you get the idea. The fella is wonderful, okay? And I love him. He rates up there on my all time favorite character list.

Gil aside, this series is worth reading. Even if you are like me and refuse to read Manga, this is worth it. Story telling like this is hard to find.

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