Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors, Volume 1 by Matsuri Akino(2008).
© Tokyopop
Title: Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors
Issue: Volume 1
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Story and Art By: Matsuri Akino
Publisher: Tokyopop
Price: $9.99
TOKYO PET SHOP OF HORRORS
By: Nadia OxfordDate: Monday, March 10, 2008
Anyone who's worked retail is familiar with customers' tendencies talk about "The Back" like it's a Kingdom of Plenty.
"Excuse me, do you have these shoes in red? Well, are there any in The Back?"
"Hi, do you have any more of these sweaters in your flyer? No? Well why don't you go check The Back? I'm sure there are lots that haven't gone out on the floor yet."
In Akino's Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors, the storage room of the enigmatic Count D's pet store does in fact contain his "real" stock. Of course, customers can find a dog of fine pedigree in the front end, or a Persian cat from good lines, but "Pets and Dreams" tends to attract unorthodox buyers. With its compelling human cast and fascinatingly weird animals, volume one of Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors is good read for established Pet Shop of Horrors fans and anyone who wants something different in a horror manga.
Granted, Pet Shop of Horrors isn't very scary (certainly not Drifting Classroom scary) or gory, but there's a certain psychological thrill behind some of the stories. Volume one contains several tales that are seemingly self-contained, but all carry a similar theme: A troubled man or woman needs a special kind of companion that the soft-spoken and androgynous Count D subsequently provides. Some of these pets include an unusual borzoi for the girlfriend of a yakuza boss, a lucky cicada for a failed author and (most interestingly) a mythical kirin for the mistress of Hitler himself. The new owners are often quick to discover that their new pets aren't the typical four-footed kind; more often than not, the animals shape-shift into a human form and present themselves as "servants."
The reaction from the "masters" is what drives the stories forward; unlike many animal-centric mangas, Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors doesn't forget its human cast. The first story is particularly interesting, wherein a single mother stumbles upon Pets and Dreams while hoping to find a dog for her son. She does receive a companion, and it reveals more about herself and her abusive husband than she cares to know.
Count D has some troubles of his own to take care of. Word about the mysterious nature of his pet shop is attracting the wrong kind of attention. Having been forced to move store out of L.A. once before, he's not eager to give up the prime piece of real estate he's scored in Tokyo's Chinatown.
Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors of full of weird stories, weird people and weird animals, and a combination of the three assures good times. Volume one retails for $9.99.
