Product Details

• Actors: John DeMita, Alex Fernandez, Jack Fletcher, Julia Fletcher, Matt McKenzie
• Directors: Toshio Hirata
• Writers: Matsuri Akino
• Format: Animated, Color, Dubbed, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Urban Vision
• VHS Release Date: March 28, 2000
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1890603589
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,046 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The four adventures in this collection originally aired as very brief installments in a serial on a Japanese channel similar to MTV. Although there's a fair amount of gore, these tales are not so much horrifying as creepy, with unhappy characters seeking emotional solace from the bizarre creatures found in a mysterious Chinatown store. Presiding over the shop is the transvestite Count D; his cool, unruffled manner frustrates detective Joel, who keeps finding victims of unusual crimes among the shop's recent customers. A grief-stricken couple purchases a rabbit that looks like their late child, with terrible results in "Daughter." Like the hilariously inept American feature Night of the Lepus, "Daughter" attempts to turn rabbits into deadly monsters--and fails. "Delicious," in which the spirit of a wronged bride returns in the guise of a mermaid, recalls the folk tales that have inspired Japanese artists and writers for centuries. The Hollywood rags-to-riches-to-rags saga "Despair" and the less-effective political thriller "Dual" combine elements from Eastern and Western myths. "Recommended for mature audiences" for violence, profanity, brief nudity, sexual situations, and ethnic stereotypes. --Charles Solomon

From the Back Cover

From the back cover:

The terms of sale are non-negotiable, and a breach of contract can be deadly.

Man-eating fish, matricidal rabbits, mythical beasts of ancient legends - Welcome to Chinatown's most unique pet shop. This way, please - there is a variety of exotic creatures to choose from; and the perfect pet for everyone waits here to be brought home and cherished. But be careful; what you see is not necessarily what you get.

The Count sells rare specimens embodying second chances for love, dreams, and hopes, but with specific instructions for proper care. The consequences of deviation are simply murder. The pet shop cannot be held responsible for the aftermath of a broken contract. In an age when man is exceptional at self-delusion, the Count's greatest selling point is honesty. Whether or not the client can handle the responsibility, however, is a matter of life and death.

Warning: Contains scenes of extreme violence and brief nudity. Recommended for mature audiences.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome...Tonight you will find something you desire., March 3, 2001

By 

Matthew L. Mutchmore (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pet Shop of Horrors (DVD)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horrific indeed..., September 22, 2003

By 

S. A. Lamont (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pet Shop of Horrors (DVD)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something you desire..., November 15, 2001

By 

Martin Prehn (DK 2650 Hvidovre Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pet Shop of Horrors (DVD)

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.