Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo Volume 1 (v. 1) [Paperback]

Matsuri Akino (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo

Count D has moved his petshop from New Yorks Chinatown to Japan, in this follow-up to the popular Pet Shop of Horrors series. The Count prides himself on selling love in the form of magical creatures. But buyers beware--if the contract is broken, the Count cannot be held responsible.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–While Pet Shop of Horrors is certainly a catchy title, it could be misleading for American audiences who might expect a more traditional type of horror. Some of the people who come to Count D's pet shop are given children instead of pets, or pets who transform into children overnight. These customers manage to suspend their disbelief and their qualms when they learn that the children have magical qualities. They transform their owners' lives into something both astonishing and bittersweet. A mother is killed by her ex-husband, but miraculously saves her child's life in the process. A man and a magical dog save the life of a woman he loves, and in doing so they both die and are reborn. In an extra flashback story, Count D's grandfather provides a special pet for Hitler's lover Eva Braun in the form of a child with blond hair and blue eyes. The black-and-white artwork is eye-catching and dramatic, propelling the story forward. However, some of the text is printed directly over the graphics, rather than in thought or word balloons, and is difficult to read and easy to miss. This is an unusual manga that will leave its readers both satisfied and perturbed.–Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library
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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (February 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427806071
• ISBN-13: 978-1427806079
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #938,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a blip on the horizon when compared to the original., January 8, 2009

By 

WMHMW - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo Volume 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

Well, I have to agree with the person who said; "I wanted to love this, but it really disappointed me." It's quite true. This continuation of Pet Shop of Horrors isn't what I expected, especially looking at Matsuri Akino's previous work. The original was truly one of the most enjoyable manga I had read in a while, and when I learned that it had a sequel, I was looking forward to something just as wonderful as the original. Even though I knew that there was no way Leon, Jill and Chris,who made the prequel so enjoyable, would be there any more, I was sure Miss. Akino would come up with some other characters to fill the void they left.
But sadly, that just didn't happen, and Wu Fei is the kind of guy who, if he's around, just makes a story boring and stiff. I am by no means a fan of perverted jerks, but I have to admit that without Leon, this story just isn't the same anymore.
That said, I suppose you can guess that D's not the same as he used to be either. He just isn't the half-comical, half-serious guy who we saw, sparring playfully with Leon, anymore. He's more like the DVD version represented; wierd and really quite frightening at times. And none of the 'special' animals, like Tetsu, Ten-chan, Pon-chan and Honlon, whom we all knew and loved from the original series get as much page time as they used to. (And Q-chan, one of the cutest animals in the place, turned out to be D's grandfather, so Q-chan's not around anymore either! What a shame!) And with Wu Fei as the D's new 'enemy', the animals have no one to mess around with the way they did with Leon.Apart from that, the stories, too, no longer hold much appeal for me. They don't carry the flavour of the original.
So, all in all, I can say that this sequel isn't what I expected. Even though I will continue reading it, in hope that the stories will brighten up soon, I will probably never enjoy it as much as I did its prequel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Moth to the Flame, May 4, 2008

By 

Tsubaki-hime ((Queens, NY USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo Volume 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

For those who have no clue, this is the sequel to PET SHOP OF HORRORS -- a ten volume anthology horror series often described as a cross between THE TWILIGHT ZONE and GREMLINS. It was Matsuri Akino's first manga out of her now eleven written, and it is still her most popular.

The original PET SHOP is my favorite manga series, and I strongly recommend reading it before this sequel. However, the new series seems designed so that a new reader can follow quite well, with the relevant back-story being revealed gradually in the manner of clues to a mystery. One can even read the three Tokyo stories ("Domestic", "Double-Booking", and "Dust") without entirely spoiling the first series, if one then wants to try it. Warning: This does not apply to the side story set in Berlin ("Door"), a previously unpublished story written shortly after the conclusion of the original PET SHOP and never published. It assumes knowledge of the first series and is spoilery.

So what is it actually about? Our protagonist "Count D" once ran a pet shop in LA Chinatown which claimed to sell "love and dreams". Of course, the first series was not called PET SHOP OF LOVE AND DREAMS for good reason, and the Pet Shop soon drew the attention of a suspicious LAPD detective, and eventually the FBI. To make a long story short, D eventually departed LA abruptly and under dramatic circumstances.

Now -- several years later -- this same Count D has just opened a new pet shop in "Neo-Chinatown", a Chinese-themed mall in the Tokyo red light district of Shinjuku. As in the first series, each individual story tells us of one of D's customers and his/her new pet. Meanwhile, D acquires a new ongoing nemesis/foil in building manager Woo-Fei Rau, the son and heir of the owner, a Shanghai business tycoon. The elegant Woo-Fei is the polar opposite of the Count's last antagonist, and in fact seems to have a lot in common with Count D himself . . . such as being wicked. Not that this helps them get along.

Compared to the first series, there are many differences, including more polished artwork. The look is less Gothic and more urban. The tales seem (so far) less gory and more sad. The most striking difference is that in the early volumes of the first series, the individual stories were the stars, the ongoing story developed gradually, and Akino didn't even make up her mind what city it was set in till late in the series. Here in PSOH:TOKYO the Shinjuku setting is being carefully established from the start, and while the individual stories are okay, the real fun is in the ongoing story arc, which starts being developed from the first page.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Beautiful, April 17, 2008

By 

Elisa Ventura (Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo Volume 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

Absolutely Beautiful
I have already seen the manga in Japanese. A friend of mine had it. It is on the Shonen-Ai side. But the story is different from any other you have seen and it is beautifully drawn. I hope amazon could sell the art book of these series. A have seen de DVD also it have the 4 stories of the manga that are more on the horror side, but the manga have many more stories, some are romantic ,some are funny some are sweet , some are sad, you won't get bored. Now I'm buying it in English because I want to read the stories.