Pandora Hearts – 04



Short Synopsis: When Oz wakes up from the Abyss, he’s greeted by a certain threesome.
Episode Rating: 7,5/10 (Good)
Okay, so this episode was mostly meant as a build-up, to close off the introduction for this series and introduce the rest of the main cast of characters that it’s going to work with: Break, Sharon and Reibun. Obviously not the most exciting episode of this excellent series, but still a really good one.

Here’s one thing that I don’t get though: why the heck does Reibun look like a grown up Gilbert? And if it indeed is Gilbert (hinted at everywhere by the promo art) and lots of years must have passed since Oz was cast into the Abyss, then why hasn’t Sharon grown up as well?

In any case, it’s interesting how Oz and Allies aren’t exactly allies of Break, Sharon and Reibun, but instead they’re just two parties with the same goals, and they were actually nearly enemies if things would have gone a little different. There’s going to be an interesting tension between them for the rest of the series this way.

We learn quite a few things in this episode, including what Alice has been hiding: the fact that she lost her memory. This is why she couldn’t remember strangling Oz when he found the locker, since that memory of her seems to have been erased. It’s interesting how she never wondered why she ended up right with Oz of all people: it’s because he met her before when she was in the abyss, through that watch of his. After that point, something must have happened to wipe out her memories that way.

At the same time, Oz also proves that he’s quite a bright kid in this episode: he’s observant and quickly draws conclusions based on the things around him. That could prove to be interesting in the next couple of episodes, and as an added bonus he seems to move more and more away from your average wimpy lead this way.

Oh, and on a side-note: why exactly is the animation of this show so hated? I mean, I know that it isn’t the best animation out there and all, but I see no reason to dislike this show based on the animation: there are no distorted faces due to inaccuracies, there aren’t many still frames, the character-designs are distinctive and not copy-pasted. What more could you want? What makes the artwork in this show so “atrocious”?

16 thoughts on “Pandora Hearts – 04

  1. It’s Raven, not Reibun.

    And most of the complaints towards the animation seems to be because of how washed-out the colors look. It makes Pandora Heart looks more 90s, considering how most animes today go for the clean colors.

  2. Every last one of your questions will be answered relatively soon _> one by one… And yes Oz is interesting he’s not just intelligent but so calm and collected that it strikes people as odd in the series. As for the art… I don’t know whats so horrible about a washed out look? I think it works for a series that is going for a dark look, I don’t see vibrant pastels really adding to the atmosphere too well IMO. So I don’t see the art as being “atrocious” if you want atrocious go take a look at Akikan or Bokura ga ita.

  3. The one who complaining about artworks in Pandora Hearts is most likely those who praises high quality animation and graphics – such as in Macross F or Basquash or any kind of Production I.G. works.
    MAybe…the dull background art? But the character design is alreaady good enough for my taste…some moe gothic lolitas X some bishonen = win

  4. I didn’t really see the background as being dull, seeing as they interact with it, in addition areas like the abyss was quite creative. Oh well this is just another mystery or mainstream taste to me I guess XD, seriously it doesn’t look bad maybe they were expecting vibrant colors like the promotion artwork but in retrospect would that really work?

  5. If they keep with their current pace of one chapter an episode then you should get your answers in episodes 6 through 8.

    I don’t get the complaints either, truthfully this series feels kind of nostalgic because it feels like it’s from the 90’s. One problem I have with a lot of series these days is that they feel kind of plasticky and the characters don’t seem to match their backgrounds. I don’t get that with this.

  6. I actually quite like the 90s colours. It adds an extra element of ye olde to it, which I think works quite well with the theme.

    Its one of the only shows I can watch in low quality and think it actually enhances the experience. Strange, I know.

  7. Everyone one of your questions here will be answered perhaps in the next 2 to 3 episode. Anyway, I’m rather fine with the colors and animation.

  8. What everyone else said – His name is Raven, and the answers should come up soon enough.
    I never liked old animation styles in general, so I don’t like PH’s animation style regardless of whether or not it fits the atmosphere of the story. That and the manga art gives off a different feeling than the anime art, at least in my opinion, so I can’t quite get used to it.

  9. I’m just one of those unobservant people who can’t tell the difference anyway; so it doesn’t bother me much than the occasional “Oh, the colors are a little washed out. Oh well.”

  10. The only thing that really bothers me about the anime art is that, compared to how 07 Ghost’s style was adapted and changed a bit here and there to better fit into TV-presentation, Pandora Hearts is somehow just a copy-paste experience…
    That, the fact that the added stuff (eg: the fight against the Polo-Hedgehog) doesn’t look that great.
    And that they somehow always seem to save money on the wrong ends. Somehow this episode was just a monologue of Break, when in fact everyone seemed to interact much more in the manga…

    I don’t know, somehow the series has just not won me over yet…

  11. Raven is the correct name, not Reibun. 😀 Don’t worry, I sometimes don’t get names either.

    I really never “complained” about the animation- I did say it was a bit tacky, but the lovely use of washed out, dull colors really made up for that all, because even though it makes the animation look not so great, it really sets the mood for the whole story- a dark, yet Alice-In-Wonderland- sort of story. 😀 So far, PH has really set my moods up for a great anime- it’s followed the manga straight to the heart, and even adds it’s own little tidbits for some variety and depth. Questions will start piling up for a while though. Just warning you now 😀 You’ll find yourself answering your own questions from previous episodes, only to ask twenty-some more! That’s kind of the delight of this suspenseful manga though- it doesn’t lose it’s grip on the audience, and the anime seems to be following this really, really well. I thought at first they might not manage to pull it off, but PH has become made one of the top three (so far) in my Spring Anime list- I had high hopes for 07 Ghost, but has been kinda disappointed. Who knows though? It’s too early to tell. 😀

  12. it may be because of it is ripped, but when I download the h264 version, it looks fairly worse than the xvid version of other series. More grainy, less contrast, etc. Other than that, animation is alright.

  13. If only this series could keep its dark atmosphere at least most of the time… It gets ruined by the relatively young lead and the cute character designs. The only thing holding it together right now is the mystery, though I hope it becomes more serious as it goes along

  14. I don’t know, I was able to appreciate the art of this series thus far. Between the music and the artwork, it kinda brings me back to the good old days of anime where the fantasy sub-genre had much more to offer. Anyhow, Good episode.

  15. If only they could either keep or improve the animation, PH would be getting more good views (except if they somehow changed the storyline later, that’s when they’ll be finished by me XD)

  16. Atrocious?! Where the hell did that came from? I love the art of this series. It fits the atmosphere of the story perfectly. To be honest, I find the color palette of some anime today atrocious.

    Anyway just stop by tho comment that I love this series! And I want to thank you psgels for introducing me to this great anime and consequently to the manga as well. Thank you! ^^

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