Before you consider renting Petshop of Horrors, ask yourself if you enjoy moody, non-graphic tales of the supernatural. If you do, you’ll find much to savor about Petshop; the series excels at brooding atmosphere. If you don’t, the series will do little to persuade you. Petshop, based upon manga by Mari Akino, is an acquired taste.
The Petshop version most commonly found is a compilation featuring the first four episodes of the anime OAV series. While the individual episodes were probably never meant to be seen in this way, the compilation works rather well, since the stories in each episode are only loosely connected. Indeed, the compilation format is reminiscent of such Vietnam-era films as Tales of Terror, Asylum and Vault of Horror which similarly relied on moody suspense and characterization rather than a gory, slasher approach. All such compilations need a fulcrum, and a mysterious cross-dresser known only as the Count plays the role here. The beautiful, effeminate Count represents a type of androgynous character rarely seen in anime brought to America, but such characters are more familiar to Asian audiences, particularly in anime targeted at teenage girls. Clad in gorgeous Chinese gowns and obviously homosexual, the Count will make some American fans uncomfortable. That’s a shame, because the Count’s detached, philosophical observations are quite the contrast to the usual approach used by such characters, be it gag-ridden comedy relief (the Cryptkeeper from Tales from the Crypt) or sardonic omnipotence (as in Rod Serling’s introductions to The Twilight Zone).
In each story contained in Petshop, someone driven to lonely desperation seeks out the Count’s pet shop in Chinatown and finds a pet that looks amazingly human. Each pet comes with specific instructions for care, and the Count warns each patron that the instructions must be followed to the letter. The same melancholy that compelled the patron to seek out the Count in the first place also proves to be their undoing; the instructions are never simply broken out of neglect. The underlying misogyny to the stories (one pet is a mermaid, another a medusa) is underscored with homoeroticism. Across the vignettes, the Count is involved in an ambiguous cat-and-mouse game with a blustery, macho police detective who can never prove that the Count is responsible for murder.
The voice acting in the Urban Vision dubbed version is good for a nontheatrical release. John Demita deserves special praise for his subtle work as the Count, but none of the voice actors come across as miscast or unprepared – which is a rarity for dubbed anime. Indeed, Petshop’s only flaws come from the limits inherent in its origins as an OAV. The animation quality isn’t feature film quality, and the video’s anthology origins understandably lack the focus one would expect from a film. These aren’t serious drawbacks by any means, as long as the viewer is prepared to expect them.
Petshop of Horrors is an eerie, melancholy anime series that should appeal to fans of weird horror. Teens raised on series like Goosebumps may enjoy it the most. Sadly, Petshop’s relative obscurity makes it unlikely that subsequent installments of the anime will be either completed or released.
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