PandoraHearts, Vol. 1 - manga (PandoraHearts, 1)

I really enjoyed this book on three fronts: story, translation, and digital version.Pandora Hearts is an interesting story taking elements from Alice in Wonderland and adding it's own elements and twists. If you like a story with interesting characters, some action, and plenty of mysteries, definitely check this out. And despite the title which put me off of this at first, there isn't much romance at all. The hearts in the title seems to refer to both Hearts as an Alice in Wonderland allusion and in the relationships between characters (friendships, family ties, etc.).The translation keeps the honorifics when used and defines terms in the back, which is my favorite type of translation for a manga. It doesn't try to westernize everything (even if that may be slightly appropriate for a European set story). It even defines western terms that may not be well known (e.g., one volume defines a term from Dante's Inferno).The digital version is excellent. Unlike other digital mangas I've read, this one actually keeps the color pages mid-volume in color instead of making them black and white as if it were a print volume. I really liked that, especially since Pandora Hearts has such nice color pages and covers.

The moment I saw some mangas were available for Kindle, I looked to see if this was among them. I didn't bother to contain my excitement when I saw that it was.This is long, on-going manga with the usual utterly meaningless name. A more fitting name would have been "Mind Screw", as some 90 chapters in, I still have no idea what's going on or going to happen, but it's a great ride, so who cares?The characters are wonderful, they're all different individuals with many expressions and tones. There will be villains to hate (then sympathize with) and villains to sympathize with (and then loathe), heroes to be confused over (but ultimately love) and heroes with woes to laugh at (and then cry over), side-characters that will have you laughing (and then gibbering nonsense in sadness) and side-characters whom you will remember. And many characters whose death... Gibber nonsenseThe storyline is so long and convoluted I'm not sure if it was all actually planned or just kind of happened that way.Bottom line: One of the best stories of all time in exactly the medium it deserves. You will be missing out if you don't read it.

Fifteen-year-old Oz Vessalius is more excited about exploring the special family residence he gets to visit for his coming-of-age ceremony than the ceremony itself. But what he finds there is just the start of his decent into prophecy, danger, and the Abyss, a mythic prison from which there is supposedly no return.Pandora Hearts starts slow and couple for a few chapters, then rapidly throws intrigue and conflict at the reader in breakneck fashion. It works for me because the world and its mysteries are engaging, but there are far more questions than answers in this set up volume. Oz really knows nothing about the chaos he’s thrown into, so neither do the readers. Yet the little clues and foreshadowing provided, as well as the glimpses of the various forces at play and dire pronouncements delivered, are quite engaging and pique curiosity nicely.I enjoy the twisted layer of Alice in Wonderland that permeates everything, and am curious to see if there is eventually an in-world explanation or if it’s entirely thematic. Either way it works to add a little something extra to the manga. Its Alice serving numerous roles as enigmatic partner, powerful creature with her own agenda, and representation of “Wonderland” (rather than being the point of view outsider), gives the potential for significant depth as things proceed. I hope it’s capitalized on.From the protagonist who doesn’t know his hidden powers to the female co-lead with nebulous background and motivation to the mysterious organization investigating the world no one thought was real, Pandora Hearts has numerous cliched elements of Shounen manga at its core. But I like the way they’re presented and blended here, and am definitely going to read at least a bit more.

Pandora Hearts is the kind of manga that will make you say: "Damn, that's original!". It's a mystery story, but not the typical crime-solving right way story. It's about a boy named Oz, who's trying to find why his existence is considered a sin, and a girl known as Alice, who's trying to find the place she belongs in the world.Everything revolves around the Abyss, a place where the sinners and criminals go. You know how to come in, but you don't know how to come out. Oz will find answers, even if it means that he will be even more confused about it.In his fifteen-year-old ceremony, the clock will tick, everything will freeze and strangers will put the boy in the spotlight, making him ask himself why he exists. "Your sin is your very being" the stranger said.He'll be swallowed by the abyss, a dark, scary and dangerous "world" where he will be deceived by weird creatures until he finds Alice. Alice is Alice. That's all she knows - Where she comes from, why she's in that place and why she feels a connection with Oz is not known. She wants to find her memories, but first she needs to make a contract with the human boy to get out the abyss. Will Oz help the hopeful girl or will he turns his back on her, leaving that place by himself?