Pet Shop of Horrors
Pet Shop of Horrors is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Matsuri Akino. It was serialized in Ohzora Publishing's Apple Mystery, and later in 's Horror M from 1994 to 1998, with its chapters collected in ten volumes. The series focuses on the eccentric Count D, proprietor of a mysterious pet shop located in the heart of Chinatown, and the numerous patrons who visit his supernatural shop. The series was licensed in North America by Tokyopop.
A four-episode anime television series produced by Madhouse was broadcast in 1999. A second manga series, titled Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo was serialized by Asahi Sonorama in from 2004 to 2009, and later published as a webcomic on 's Horror & Fantasy Club site from 2009 to 2012. Its chapters were collected in twelve volumes. The manga was also licensed in North America by Tokyopop, who only released eight volume from 2008 to 2011.
A spin-off series, titled Pet Shop of Horrors: Passage-hen, which follows Count D's grandfather in Fin de siècle Paris, was irregularly published in HarperCollins Japan's Mugentō and Harlequin Original ; five volumes were released. Another spin-off, titled Petshop of Horrors: Hyōhaku no Hakobune-hen, featuring Count D's father as the protagonist, was serialized in Harlequin Original from 2018 to 2020, with its chapters collected in three volumes.
Plot
"Count D" is the mysterious caretaker of a pet shop in Los Angeles Chinatown. Each of D's rare pets, which all have strangely humanoid appearances, comes with a contract with three major points. These points differ for each animal sold, and breaking this contract usually results in dire consequences for the buyer, for which the pet shop claims no liability.Individual chapters of Pet Shop of Horrors are often based on these consequences, and are each written as a stand-alone story, usually introducing one or more new characters in each chapter. With the exception of the main characters and their families, it is rare for a character to carry over to a later chapter, providing the series with a very episodic nature.
The detective Leon Orcot is used to tie the chapters together into an ongoing plot, usually in the form of a subplot within each chapter. Initially he suspects D of malicious criminal activity and using the pet shop as a front for drug trafficking. As the series progresses, he learns more about the pet shop and D himself, entering into a strange friendship of sorts with D as he works to uncover the truth.
Characters
Main characters
;Count D;Leon Orcot
Other humans
;Chris Orcot;Jill
;Samantha
Animals
;Ponta / Pon-chan;Ten-chan
;Honlon
D's family
;D's father;QChan / D's grandfather
;New D
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Matsuri Akino, Pet Shop of Horrors was serialized in Ohzora Publishing's Apple Mystery, and later in 's Horror M. Ohzora Publishing released ten volumes, under the Missy Comics DX imprint, from March 1995 to September 1998. Bunkasha later released the series in four volumes from February 24 to March 29, 1999.In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by Tokyopop. The ten volumes were released from June 17, 2003, to January 11, 2005. In August 2024, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that it had licensed the series and it will be released in a collector's edition with an all-new translation starting in February 2025. It was distributed in New Zealand and Australia by Madman Entertainment.
Other series
A second series, titled Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo, known in Japan as New Pet Shop of Horrors, started in Asahi Sonorama's on April 22, 2004. In June 2007, the company announced that it would cease operations, and the magazine went on to be published by Asahi Shimbun Publications, until it last issue released on April 23, 2009, and the series continued as a webcomic on 's Horror & Fantasy Club site on August 20 of that same year. The series finished on November 15, 2012. Asahi Sonorama released four volumes from January 2005 to April 2007; Asahi Shimbun Publications republished the four volumes on November 26, 2007, and released the twelfth and last volume on February 2, 2013. In North America, Tokyopop published eight volumes from February 28, 2008, to February 1, 2011.A spin-off series, titled Petshop of Horrors: Passage-hen, started in HarperCollins Japan's Mugentō on March 23, 2013. It is set in late 19th century France, and the protagonist is the grandfather of Count D, who runs a pet shop in a shopping arcade called a Passage in French. The series moved to Harlequin Original in February 2015; its latest chapter released on May 11, 2017. Five volumes were published by HarperCollins Japan from August 24, 2013, to June 24, 2017.
Another spin-off series, titled Petshop of Horrors: Hyōhaku no Hakobune-hen, was published in Harlequin Original from September 11, 2018, to March 11, 2020. It features Count D's father as the protagonist. Three volumes were released from December 27, 2018, to May 18, 2020.
Anime
produced a 4-episode anime adaptation of various chapters of the manga in March 1999. The anime first aired as a miniseries on the TBS television network before being sold on VHS and LaserDisc.Urban Vision released the Pet Shop of Horrors anime in North America, initially across two VHS tapes in February and May 2000 respectively. It was then re-released on a single DVD video in February 2001. Sentai Filmworks had acquired the license in October 2008, with distribution by ADV Films. However, in 2009, A.D. Vision announced that it has shut down ADV Films and distribution rights were transferred to Section23 Films, who continues to distribute titles from Sentai. It would eventually be released on DVD as a "Sentai Selects" title on January 5, 2016. In the UK, It got its DVD release via MVM on August 2, 2010.