Petshop of Horrors

This OVA is an adaptation to a manga of the same name that I haven't read yet so this is a review with no biases.

So, where do I start. I found this 4 episode OVA somewhere and wanted to watch it because I found the main character (Count D) interesting and attractive. I didn't know what to expect and I thought there would be more episodes (I assume it was done on a low budget).

The story is basically a mysterious petshop owner selling pets to customers and the customers end up dying in weird ways and an investigator thinks there's a link to the ... petshop owner. Each episode contains a different customer and their story.

I liked the horror aspect of this OVA, it executed well in my opinion. There were actually scary moments.

Story wise it was okay, I would've liked a more put together story but that's fine since the anime was only 4 episodes.

I liked the main character, Count D, there was something interesting and mysterious about him. He was also well designed, with a new outfit every moment. The other characters either died or weren't that interesting.

The soundtrack was really well done. The intro music and the mermaid's singing was hypnotizing.

Overall I recommend this for anime horror fans who want to watch something short and eye-catching.

Petshop of horrors is very reminiscent of the old horror TV shows like Tales from the Dark Side and The Twilight Zone. Its 4 episodes revolving around people going to a Chinese Shop Keeper which looks like its in America and getting sold a "Pet" which can be a human being (looking at least) and having to follow the rules. What happens when you break the rules? Well bad things of course and you know that's going to happen.

Petshop of Horrors is a neat idea that I cant really say is executed badly as much as what hurts it is really bad dialogue and even ... worse voice acting. What ever equipment they used to record the voices had to be some of the cheapest stuff you could get because it sounds positively horrendous. This is an older anime that came out around 1999. So its harder to blame the source as much as it is the localization in the US. I was laughing at times at just how bad the VA and dialogue was.

Well the Art style im mixed on some of it just looks bad and the animation is pretty janky so this was definitely a budget anime.

The voice acting is really bad. Its not surprising for 80s and 90s anime to have bad voice acting and bad translations of the dialogue but oh boy this was really rough. These people sound like just average people who the Studio just went up to and said "hey wanna make an easy $50 doing a little voice work?" You will cringe a lot at it.

As for the characters.. well with bad dialogue and bad VA its hard to connect with any fo them since you are probably to busy giggling at them.

Not really recommended unless you like to laugh at really bad VA and Dialogue.

A shop dealing in exotic animals finds itself as the common denominator in a series of mysterious deaths. A homicide detective is determined to make the correlation between these deaths and the enigmatic owner of the shop.

The illustration quality is high and there are a few moments of superb technical animation; however, the animation is generally stiff for the majority of the short runtime. Each episode is theme-specific and the pacing is ruinous to the representation of these themes - the overall storyline compositions are poor. The atmosphere of the series is noir and decadent; the 3-D videogame-like opening is dated and telling of this ... anime's age. The soundtrack is also telling - it is classic jazz that would not be out of place in vintage low-budget porn.

The idea behind the series is great: a mystical shop that sells the equivalency of Monkey's Paw's' for each special customer that comes in. The premise of the city police department moving to investigate the shop and its owner is also interesting, but this series explores it in both a very dated and dull way that does not hold up under modern scrutiny. The art is good and rich throughout the show, which is perhaps the high point for this short series.

Petshop of Horrors is a dated experience that does little to excite or stimulate and lacks the capacity to frighten a modern audience. While the art is of a high quality, I cannot recommend this anime for anyone seeking a fulfilling narrative experience - there simply is not much mystery to offer here.