I remember the first time I saw Petshop of Horrors (read Scary and Strange Anime from October 2000). I believe the first words out of my mouth were, what the hell is this? It is a freaky series but pretty cool. I totally liked the fact that we had an actual animated Twilight Zone on our hands combined with the sequential storyline that most anime follows. The two episodes left me wanting more and that is exactly what I decided to get.
Just recently, I got my hands on the new Special Edition DVD for Petshop of Horrors. This edition contained the first two episodes I all ready saw, plus the next two episodes that were released. Even more intriguing were the special options that allowed me to watch the show in Japanese or English, with subtitles or without. I even got to hear commentary from some of the English voice actors. This was really cool and allows you to watch the DVD three different times and get something new each time definitely making it worth the price.
The DVD contains a story set in a small pet shop in Chinatown. This show offers a little more of the Tales from the Darkside variety in that each episode is a self-contained anthology piece dealing with the purchase of an animal bought at the pet shop. The story deters from the traditional anthology setting in the fact that there is a continuing storyline that follows a cop who tries to catch the pet shop owner, D. He knows that the owner's pets are dangerous to say the least. Well, anyway, they actually are. If the purchaser of say, a bunny does not follow the rules, that person will most likely face death, as seen in two of the episodes (read the Petshop of Horrors October 2000 issue for a review of these two episodes).
The third episode, Despair is about a man who is a struggling actor. He lost everything he has, including his girl, who left him when his career did. To ease his comfort, he goes to the shop to get a pet. He loves pets and decides to get a lizard, who strangely looks like a beautiful woman with bumpy skin in certain areas of the body. The only thing is, her eyes are covered and one of the rules is, never take the covering off her eyes, for if you look at them, you will turn to stone. The unfortunate man ends up falling in love with the creature and fights temptation. Whether he succeeds or not is another story that we will discuss after you have watched.
The final episode elevates the story, displaying the power of D. In this final installment, entitled Dual, a legendary pet is sought after by a politician so that he can gain power. But what the public servant or his campaign manager realizes is that to get that power, blood must be shed all around you. This story was complicated and difficult to understand. I will have to watch it again in order to understand the story.
Again the great part of a DVD is that you can watch it in several different before it becomes a repeat to you. Watching it in Japanese allows you to enjoy it as it was truly meant to be enjoyed. Watching it in English gives you a chance to fully understand it, without having to do too much reading. And in this case, watching it with the commentary offered some true insight into how the process of dubbing works, what these dubbers think of the actual characters and more. They are "watching it as you are," so they tell some jokes here and there and that make this option very interesting. I learned a lot from my viewing experience, something that wouldn't have been possible had I been watching just the video. Plus, there is some bonus footage of a video, as well as trailers.
This DVD is packed with strange, compelling storytelling that will have you watching it again and again. You will learn to enjoy it the first, second and third time around. Won't you step in to the Petshop of Horrors? Comments and or questions about this article can be sent to JMinners@ybfree.com.