At the halfway point, the series gets a little deeper into our characters’ lives as Orcot’s family arrives on the scene. Our first tale, Dual, follows an ambitious politician and his arrogant demand that Count D hand over the creature that apparently cinched his grandfather’s political prowess in decades past. D, never one to take orders, reluctantly allows a meeting, but the mythical Kirin, the lord of all animals, has another master in mind. In Day Nursery, Orcot shows just how much he trusts D by leaving his six-year-old brother Chris in his care while trying to juggle work and custody questions with his remaining family. Chris, mute since he discovered his mother died giving birth to him, runs away into the depths of the pet shop and is astounded at all the people he meets there, completely unaware of their true nature. Will he return from the refuge, and will Orcot find a way to keep his brother by his side? Most importantly, will he convince D to help him? Darling, featuring a hilarious beginning that has D and Orcot bickering like an old married couple, brings a grumpy feline, the animal who chooses the heir of a foreign country, to D’s shop hoping to hide from responsibility and the conclusion that her own prince does not love her enough to give up the throne. In the final story, Dance, a swan-loving prima ballerina realizes her time has past–will she be able give up the love of her “prince” and her career or will she unleash her bitterness on her current rival? This volume includes some wonderful highlights of Count D and Orcot’s friendship, from D scouring Orcot’s apartment clean of muck and porn to shield the young Chris to Orcot getting tipsy in the pet shop and finally “seeing” all of the pets in their human forms, much to his bewilderment.
Pet Shop of Horrors, vol. 5
ISBN: 1591825024
By Matsuri Akino
Tokyopop, 2004
