Pet Shop of Horrors

[Teahouse Keeper]

I popped by the bookstore the other day and read the browsing copies of some Tokyopop manga. Whoa. I picked up Pet Shop of Horrors!! Read the first story and got hooked!! I'm so hooked, I'm now downloading the anime.

The first manga story is about a rich young woman who wants a pet to show off to her rich friend. She visits the Pet Shop where she meets Count D who shows her a very unique creature. He says it's a male bird, but it's unlike any bird she's ever seen. It looks human. Actually, I thought it looked like a Bali/Indonesian/Thai bird creature.

Anyway, there are some rules to follow before taking the creature home. Break any of those rules and the Pet Shop will not be held responsible. It's like buying Gremlin Count D says that the bird's voice is unbelievably beautiful. For payment, Count D does not want cash--he wants particular tarts and cakes.

So then, the creature is delivered to her huge home where he is put in the greenhouse. Sure enough, his voice is really very beautiful. Count D says the bird will never stop singing for her.

Later, the woman's father forces her to marry a man, but she refuses. The bird cheers her up. Soon, she begins to wonder if the bird is lonely and feels that it might be better if he had a mate of the same species.

She asks Count D to find a female bird and he does. The rule is that she must leave the birds alone in the greenhouse for a certain number of days. Under no circumstances must she visit them.

During those days, she can hear the male bird singing. But before the days are over, the singing suddenly stops. Curious, the woman enters the greenhouse.

To her horror, the male bird has been eaten by the female bird. Angry, she slaps the female bird for devouring the poor male...But Count D says that it is the way the species reproduces. The rule was meant to keep her out of the greenhouse until everything was over. But because she disobeyed the rule, she saw the horrible sight.

Until the last, even as he was eaten alive, the male bird continued singing for her.... *shivers*

The English translation was really very good, although there's one part I didn't quite get. I stood there and read just this story. Didn't have time to read the rest, unfortunately.

Wonder what the Chinese version is like. Wonder whether the rental shop has it...

I read the reviews...my wonderful seiyuu Toshihiko Seki is playing Count D!!! Ooh...his sexy voice!! And there's a detective who's investigating Count D. But it seems the detective may have some other subtle interest in Count D....Hmm...

[pippichan]

I wonder what Count D looks like.... Dangerously handsome?

The theme is like a manga I've ever read entitled "The Nightmare Invitation". But it's an antique shop instead of a pet shop. And the keeper is - of course - attractively handsome. ;D The shop only appears for those who're in trouble and there's always a right thing for each person's problem. The payment is not cash but the buyer's soul. The keeper will collect it after the particular item does its evil thing to the poor customer. Pretty interesting story!

[Teahouse Keeper]

Count D from the anime (looks the same in the manga):

Arrghhh...searched for The Nightmare's Invitation online, but didn't find much!! It's done by Nekoshima Rei and Ootsuka Akira. Volume 1 was published in 1992 and Volume 5 was published in 1996. That's all I got!! >:(Arrghhh...after reading your description, I really want to read it!!! Arrghh!!!

[pippichan]

So... The Nightmare's Invitation has indeed only 5 volumes. I always thought that there's volume 6 onwards but I didn't get them. Why it stopped in volume 5?! There's still mystery about Noal (Noir) and his love of a lifetime, Rumier. A tragic love story, sure, but why? Because Noal is a devil prince and Rumier is a human? Aaah, I wish there was volume 6!

And that's how Count D looks like! Dangerous, indeed! ;D You said he wants tarts and cakes for payment. What're his favourite tarts and cakes, anyway?

[Teahouse Keeper]

Oh! So the title is not complete? Maybe the story is meant to hang like that? Mm...it may be impossible to find out whether there is a volume 6. As it is, information about the title is so little. I searched using every term I could think of, including the Japanese title. Still, I came up with nothing.

Hahahah...I can't remember the name of the tarts and cakes he wanted He asked to have them specifically. I thought it was very amusing and interesting that he didn't want cash He looks dangerous but I guess he is not as bad as the shop keeper who wants the buyer's soul as payment *shivers*

[pippichan]

I think Noal is not that bad. Yeah, he's a devil but because of some mysterious reasons he's forced to collect 1000 souls for another devil named Asmodieus. And there are special occassions when he lets go his victim because the victim has a true heart.

Come to think, the buyers aren't innocent either. Many of them have evil intention so I guess it's appropriate if they're finally dragged to hell.

[Teahouse Keeper]

Oh! I see! So Noal is actually a good demon Hahaha....I think Noal is even more interesting than Count D! Is Noal handsome??

I discovered another rental shop that's just opened near my home. It opened 3 months ago and the titles are all new and beautiful. Unfortunately, it doesn't have Gravitation (which my usual shop has) and FAKE.

I think my usual shop has more titles and cost less to rent. But the new shop has better staff. Also, there are reward points that can be exchanged for stuff such as a year's membership. Plus, if I can't finish the books on the due date, I can call them up and ask for an extension. My usual shop doesn't allow extensions and these days, the staff are mean.

I asked these 2 shops about Pet Shop and they said they don't have the manga. I think they didn't know what I was talking about because I didn't give them the Chinese title I still don't know the Chinese title for it....

Mm....maybe I should ask the shops about Nightmare's Invitation...wonder whether they have it. I can't believe they don't have Pet Shop. There should be Chinese translations of it. The English version is already out...how can there be no Chinese edition??

[pippichan]

Yeah, Noal is handsome! ;D

Oh, the staff at your old rental shop are mean these days? How come?

[Teahouse Keeper]

Yeah, mean staff. Strange thing is, they used to be quite nice and friendly. They would smile at least a bit and one of the staff would even thank customers when they returned the goods.

These days, the staff do nothing except read manga that belongs to the shop. They used to read manga in the beginning too but now it's worse. They are glued to the manga and are quite rude when you ask them things. It's as if by asking them, you're bothering them. As if they are paid to read manga instead of taking care of customers.

I'm annoyed by their poor attitude and service. They don't even know what's in their inventory. When I ask them about certain titles, they would shrug their shoulders and say "don't know". One of the staff would say "don't have" when actually they do.

And then, there's the matter of due dates. A customer is only allowed to ask for more time during the day of rental, not after. So once the due date is set, it cannot be changed. This means I often have to negotiate with them for more time.

The other day, I asked for 2 weeks but was allowed a week. I asked for 8 days and it was granted. Then thinking that it might not be enough, I asked for 10 days and was very rudely refused.

I don't see why the girl at the counter had to be rude about it. She could have answered me politely since I asked nicely. What's more I am a regular customer.

*shakes head* It is true the shop has a lot of titles, but their attitude.....If I were the boss, I'd fire all of them and hire better staff.

I still have 2 more volumes of Gravitation to go. Maybe after I'm done, Ill stop going there and visit the other new rental shop instead (the new rental shop doesn't have Gravitation manga). I've actually been thinking of stopping even before I found the new rental shop.

Plus, some time back, I discovered that they might have been overcharging me for VCDs. It has to do with their computer system and the thing about renting 4 discs and getting the 5th free.

[pippichan]

Oh, that's very bad. How could they act like that to the costumer?! But I think I ever experienced the same thing at several stores - mean, uncaring shop assisstants - and I remember swore to myself never ever visit the store again! Hm... I don't know why some shop assisstants have that kind of attitude. Maybe because they think the shop isn't theirs and either being polite or not towards customers they still get paid. The stupid one here is the boss, I think.

[Teahouse Keeper]

Yeah!! The silly one is the boss. For this rental shop, I never see the supervisor or boss at all!! So, it's no wonder the staff enjoy themselves.

Yeah, actually such shop staff are very common. I don't know whether it's because they are paid little or something else. Yeah, maybe it's because the shop isn't theirs. But I think since they are in this business, they should at least try to play their part

[pippichan]

I'm just thinking that maybe it's because of their nature, too. There're a few of shop assisstants who are very dedicated to their job so no matter the boss is around or not, they do their best in running their jobs.

[Teahouse Keeper]

Yeah, I think it depends on a person's character too. It's not entirely a matter of money