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Pandora Hearts ~Caucus Race~ #3
Pandora Hearts ~Caucus race~ 3
そうだよ。すべては君という光のために――。
待望の小説第3弾はジャックがオズワルドに決闘を申し込む「A PROMISE LOST」を始め、オズがはじめてのお使い!? エコーがコスプレ!? そしてヴィンセントが崩壊!? などを描いた4編を収録。もちろん大好評の望月淳描き下ろし後日談コミックも!
待望の小説第3弾はジャックがオズワルドに決闘を申し込む「A PROMISE LOST」を始め、オズがはじめてのお使い!? エコーがコスプレ!? そしてヴィンセントが崩壊!? などを描いた4編を収録。もちろん大好評の望月淳描き下ろし後日談コミックも!
270 pages, Paperback
First published May 27, 2013
9 people are currently reading
354 people want to read
About the author
Jun Mochizuki
184 books909 followersJun Mochizuki (望月淳 Mochizuki Jun) is a Japanese comic artist (manga-ka), best known for the fantasy shounen series Pandora Hearts/パンドラハーツ.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 13, 2024
There are some characters in Pandora Hearts that have such great presence, regardless if they are villains or not and regardless if they do a lot or not. For example, Elliot that starred in volume 2 is such a character; you only need to see him a couple of times to understand what kind of character he is. In this volume, this person is Jack.
Jack is such a peculiar character and you only need to see him a couple of times to understand the simplicity, yet complexity of his thinking process. I am happily surprised that the author, Shinobu Wakamiya, managed to capture the essence of Mochizuki's characters in these short 3 volumes and I am extra happy that each volume had 1 bigger story that was the star. Of course this volume's star was the story about Jack and Oswald (and Lacie, I suppose).
All stories were connected more fluidly this time around with a direct timeline among the 4 of them, though the true link between them would have been Glen/Levi and his books. I think Vincent's story was a bit overdone, however he is one of the more complex characters that he is even deceiving himself, so she wrote what she had to write.
In general, I'm satisfied from these light novels and kind of sad there was never a 4th one made, something that the author was also hoping for!
Jack is such a peculiar character and you only need to see him a couple of times to understand the simplicity, yet complexity of his thinking process. I am happily surprised that the author, Shinobu Wakamiya, managed to capture the essence of Mochizuki's characters in these short 3 volumes and I am extra happy that each volume had 1 bigger story that was the star. Of course this volume's star was the story about Jack and Oswald (and Lacie, I suppose).
All stories were connected more fluidly this time around with a direct timeline among the 4 of them, though the true link between them would have been Glen/Levi and his books. I think Vincent's story was a bit overdone, however he is one of the more complex characters that he is even deceiving himself, so she wrote what she had to write.
In general, I'm satisfied from these light novels and kind of sad there was never a 4th one made, something that the author was also hoping for!
April 17, 2018
Final rating: 4.75/5 stars
Probably the weakest one in the series, but still very loveable.
I really enjoyed Vincent's and Ada's story and the past trio as well.
Lovely.
Probably the weakest one in the series, but still very loveable.
I really enjoyed Vincent's and Ada's story and the past trio as well.
Lovely.
August 4, 2019
Plot - 4
Character - 4
Writing Style - 4
World Building - 4
Art - 4
Cover - 4
Rating - 4 🌟/ 5 🌟
Character - 4
Writing Style - 4
World Building - 4
Art - 4
Cover - 4
Rating - 4 🌟/ 5 🌟
December 30, 2024
"Black magic, the occult...how many times do I have to tell you not to drag me into your vulgar little hobbies? Despair in the face of your folly and plunge into hell, sow." (Vincent...calm down a bit, will you?)
"Go on, cry disgracefully! Scream and wail! Twist that filthy little face and beg for forgiveness!" (Geez...not Vincent getting mad at an orphaned little kid).
Ada deserves someone better. Like Vincent's brother, Gilbert.
The story with Oz gifting Gilbert a glove was my favorite. My second favorite was Echo's. Thirdly, I loved learning more about Jack, Oswald, Lacie and Levi. Especially Jack. He really is a complicated character at times. Him and Oz are the most complex ones to me.
"Go on, cry disgracefully! Scream and wail! Twist that filthy little face and beg for forgiveness!" (Geez...not Vincent getting mad at an orphaned little kid).
Ada deserves someone better. Like Vincent's brother, Gilbert.
The story with Oz gifting Gilbert a glove was my favorite. My second favorite was Echo's. Thirdly, I loved learning more about Jack, Oswald, Lacie and Levi. Especially Jack. He really is a complicated character at times. Him and Oz are the most complex ones to me.
April 16, 2022
Like we stated in the previous reviews, I think these light novels are for hardcore fans only since it’s based on the everyday life of characters we came to love in the original series.
I really liked the story about Oz wanting to get Gilbert some leather gloves with his own money. They both do so much for the other without thinking and that just makes me love them even more, lol.
I did also enjoyed the story with Jack, Lacie and Oswald. The fact that he’s obsessed with Lacie yet he never forces her to anything is something I find kinda amusing, I guess.
The story about Echo was kinda meh (never liked her). And the date with Vincent and Ada was, as usual, a bit weird. She obviously likes him but Vince is conflicted by this young woman’s crush on him.
Overall, a nice, lighthearted reading.
PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
Volume 1 | Volume 2
I really liked the story about Oz wanting to get Gilbert some leather gloves with his own money. They both do so much for the other without thinking and that just makes me love them even more, lol.
I did also enjoyed the story with Jack, Lacie and Oswald. The fact that he’s obsessed with Lacie yet he never forces her to anything is something I find kinda amusing, I guess.
The story about Echo was kinda meh (never liked her). And the date with Vincent and Ada was, as usual, a bit weird. She obviously likes him but Vince is conflicted by this young woman’s crush on him.
Overall, a nice, lighthearted reading.
PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
Volume 1 | Volume 2
September 3, 2019
It's always nice to go back to this series~
March 3, 2024
This series is a blessing. After all that sad and depressing moments, it's good to read something light and simple but also alighns so much with the main plot.
The short stories are about the characters' day to day life. Stories and moments when they don't engage with Pandora related stuff. As someone who's suffering from a PandoraHeartshangover, it really fills this gap I'm feeling.
While I'm glad for this series for being all light and happy, there's also some sadness as we know what'll happen to most of the characters.
After reading the second story about Gil's gloves and making connection with the main story, I just...I completely lost it. And then there's the story with Oz imagining having a family of his own, and also the one with Elliot and Leo. It's really heartbreaking to know that most of their dreams never came to be.
I'm already at the end of this series. This is the last book and the final book we got on PandoraHearts. This is really goodbye. Honestly, I wish for more. But it's a good closure for the PandoraHearts series. Thanjkyou for the wonderful journey.
The short stories are about the characters' day to day life. Stories and moments when they don't engage with Pandora related stuff. As someone who's suffering from a PandoraHeartshangover, it really fills this gap I'm feeling.
While I'm glad for this series for being all light and happy, there's also some sadness as we know what'll happen to most of the characters.
After reading the second story about Gil's gloves and making connection with the main story, I just...I completely lost it. And then there's the story with Oz imagining having a family of his own, and also the one with Elliot and Leo. It's really heartbreaking to know that most of their dreams never came to be.
I'm already at the end of this series. This is the last book and the final book we got on PandoraHearts. This is really goodbye. Honestly, I wish for more. But it's a good closure for the PandoraHearts series. Thanjkyou for the wonderful journey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2018
Personally, I am a very big fan of Pandora Hearts. The manga is my number one favourite manga, and has some of my favourite characters overall and even after four years no other story has even come close to beating it. It has affected my own creativity a lot (I both draw and write as a hobby) and I have a huge respect for Jun Mochizuki for that. Just because I am a big fan however, doesn’t mean I can’t see any flaws. Not that this series of light novels are that bad, but it’s not a masterpiece either. I think I saw someone say that this volume in particular is the weakest out of them, and I think I can agree.
But let’s just jump right in, shall we? (Obs, there is some spoilers that could ruin some surprises, so if you want to go in blind and experience those, I recommend you just read the story for yourself instead.)
The first thing I can think of is that sometimes the narration becomes overly clear, explaining stuff when it could have been less obvious and more subtle. Like the parallel Levi was making when speaking to Lacie, about a book he was working on that he had based off her and Jack. As someone who has read the manga, the connection became obvious enough when he was explaining the idea, but it's still narrated as if we'd not know anything at all. It makes you feel a bit like as if the author think you're dumb, which I don't think is the intention but nonetheless, it had me irritated a few times.
The writing is overall... Unique, still. It's in no way something amazing and beautiful, but like manga in written text form. And while it is an interesting way of structuring it, I mean, you can pretty much see the panels in front of you while reading (even the speech bubbles because of the way it's structured!) I feel like it's missing out when it comes to using novels as its own medium, like wasted potential in a way. Sometimes certain words gets repeated way too much times too. I'm not English native and had never seen the word "wryly" before (As in "smiling wryly") but I sure know it now so well I'm going to have nightmares about it, having flashbacks to how often it was used.
On the other hand, I love the way Echo's journal was brought in for some variety in her chapter. It was a nice way to summarize and convey information much more interestingly, at least for smaller parts and spread out like it was here. It also gave us a little bit more of her character specifically as Vincent's valet.
Then there's also how Evil B's work was brought up from time to time like quotes, as if it the story was quoting a real life author's work, which gave it an added bonus of charm and life in my opinion. A bit meta(?) in a way, and I loved it!
Something I really liked this time around story-wise was the red threads through this chapters, and how they were all kind of connected or in a way, bled into each other very nicely, which was a nice surprise. The first chapter opening with a tale from Jack's time where we're introduced to the idea that Levi is a writer who writes under the pen name Evil B. In the second chapter, the book he was hinting at writing next shows up! And while the second and third chapters don't have a clear connection at first (unless you count the mention of Jack, that goes back to the first chapter in a way I guess), it does when a plot point from the third continues in the fourth chapter which in turn brings up a thing from the second. I loved this very much, even if the second volume also did a similar thing with Snowdrop, the stories felt connected to each other and less random, but this time with the use of actual characters instead of just a pet we barely knew was a character before this.
I also very liked that more worldbuilding was brought up, like parts of the streets of Reveil and so on, that's something the main story actually lacks a little bit in my opinion if I may say so, but I'm glad we learned something new about the universe instead of it being 100% fluff.
...a majority is still just fluff but nonetheless.
And other, more character focused opinions of this volume (obviously very biased ‘cause I have my faves. Also please don't take this as serious criticism!):
+ Plus points for having a story focusing on the four adult characters from Jack's time (Tragedy trio + Levi), I happen to really like Levi so I was happy he got a chance to appear, and that his books appeared in the present time as well, which I thought was a bit exciting. And I don't exactly complain about getting to see more of the Tragedy trio interact either.
- Minus for too little Break. Needed a higher dose of this one.
- Minus for a full chapter with Vincent, from Vincent's pov. I can barely stand him. Though, props for making me laugh anyway (in most cases, not going to lie, due to him suffering) and making me for a moment care at least a little about him. I'm not saying he's a bad character, no way, but I can't help but want to smack him with a chair everytime I think about him, 'kay?
Sorry if this review is a bit of a mess, it began as just a note on my phone and not much more. Oh well.
But let’s just jump right in, shall we? (Obs, there is some spoilers that could ruin some surprises, so if you want to go in blind and experience those, I recommend you just read the story for yourself instead.)
The first thing I can think of is that sometimes the narration becomes overly clear, explaining stuff when it could have been less obvious and more subtle. Like the parallel Levi was making when speaking to Lacie, about a book he was working on that he had based off her and Jack. As someone who has read the manga, the connection became obvious enough when he was explaining the idea, but it's still narrated as if we'd not know anything at all. It makes you feel a bit like as if the author think you're dumb, which I don't think is the intention but nonetheless, it had me irritated a few times.
The writing is overall... Unique, still. It's in no way something amazing and beautiful, but like manga in written text form. And while it is an interesting way of structuring it, I mean, you can pretty much see the panels in front of you while reading (even the speech bubbles because of the way it's structured!) I feel like it's missing out when it comes to using novels as its own medium, like wasted potential in a way. Sometimes certain words gets repeated way too much times too. I'm not English native and had never seen the word "wryly" before (As in "smiling wryly") but I sure know it now so well I'm going to have nightmares about it, having flashbacks to how often it was used.
On the other hand, I love the way Echo's journal was brought in for some variety in her chapter. It was a nice way to summarize and convey information much more interestingly, at least for smaller parts and spread out like it was here. It also gave us a little bit more of her character specifically as Vincent's valet.
Then there's also how Evil B's work was brought up from time to time like quotes, as if it the story was quoting a real life author's work, which gave it an added bonus of charm and life in my opinion. A bit meta(?) in a way, and I loved it!
Something I really liked this time around story-wise was the red threads through this chapters, and how they were all kind of connected or in a way, bled into each other very nicely, which was a nice surprise. The first chapter opening with a tale from Jack's time where we're introduced to the idea that Levi is a writer who writes under the pen name Evil B. In the second chapter, the book he was hinting at writing next shows up! And while the second and third chapters don't have a clear connection at first (unless you count the mention of Jack, that goes back to the first chapter in a way I guess), it does when a plot point from the third continues in the fourth chapter which in turn brings up a thing from the second. I loved this very much, even if the second volume also did a similar thing with Snowdrop, the stories felt connected to each other and less random, but this time with the use of actual characters instead of just a pet we barely knew was a character before this.
I also very liked that more worldbuilding was brought up, like parts of the streets of Reveil and so on, that's something the main story actually lacks a little bit in my opinion if I may say so, but I'm glad we learned something new about the universe instead of it being 100% fluff.
...a majority is still just fluff but nonetheless.
And other, more character focused opinions of this volume (obviously very biased ‘cause I have my faves. Also please don't take this as serious criticism!):
+ Plus points for having a story focusing on the four adult characters from Jack's time (Tragedy trio + Levi), I happen to really like Levi so I was happy he got a chance to appear, and that his books appeared in the present time as well, which I thought was a bit exciting. And I don't exactly complain about getting to see more of the Tragedy trio interact either.
- Minus for too little Break. Needed a higher dose of this one.
- Minus for a full chapter with Vincent, from Vincent's pov. I can barely stand him. Though, props for making me laugh anyway (in most cases, not going to lie, due to him suffering) and making me for a moment care at least a little about him. I'm not saying he's a bad character, no way, but I can't help but want to smack him with a chair everytime I think about him, 'kay?
Sorry if this review is a bit of a mess, it began as just a note on my phone and not much more. Oh well.
January 7, 2019
The last entry in the Caucus Race Light Novels, if anything, I can now officially say goodbye to the last consumable piece of Pandora Hearts.
───────────────────
Out of three novels so far, this one is the one I liked the most. It’s probably because we started the story about some of the most interesting characters in the series, since it was just one story from the 4 presented in the book. I feel a little annoyed at that given that I really believe they deserve more page time in a novel like this one. Then we had to go back to the other characters and it became somewhat boring again, despite the stories all having a slice of life mood, the fact that we see a different side to the time before the tragedy of Sablier, made the instance intriguing for me. When we went back, it had the same mood as the previous novels which isn’t something I like reading all that much.
Now if I take the stories themselves, none of them in the entire series of these novels are actually thaaaaaaat boring. It’s just my state of mind is wired towards expecting mind blowing things over and over again with this series, which these novels never provided to me. I really wish I was looking for more mellow things to read before starting them, it might’ve been more fun, but again I guess I expected way too much out of Wakamiya-sensei. The writing in itself is something I enjoy, because she stays very close to how the characters behaved in the manga series and the anime. Maybe, it doesn’t work as well in a written format compared to the drawings in the anime, but I can easily visualize manga Alice for example, doing everything that she’s doing in this novel.
Seeing Break and the others again is always amusing when taking in these situations, and I’m not going to deny that I was intrigued by the instances where people you don’t really think would show up, actually did. That being said, my favourite story out of ALL remains the first in this one. I enjoy seeing the time 100 years ago, I wish that it would have expanded to include snippets of other characters in other periods of time to keep it more linked or in other places if you catch my drift, but I guess I’ll make due with this lonely entertaining one.
A bonus here would be where one of the stories actually builds up the world a bit. In the manga and in turn the previous novels, we see the world through the Dukedoms eyes, lower ranked entities in society don’t get that massive focus if you exclude the few instances from the manga. In this novel, we get to see a little more about them, how they are in their lives, where they live and hear some interesting gossip. It’s not that extensive for sure, given the direction of that particular story, but overall it’s still something new to gain from this series of novel so I’ll take it as a bonus regardless.
In the end, I didn’t really enjoy this series. Some instances were okay, that is a form of solace, but other than that I do consider the time I spent on this somewhat wasted on things I didn’t enjoy. The fact that it’s from Pandora Hearts made me push on and read it, but I think I’ll just stick to reading the manga again and being blown away by it. Suits me better :)
Final rating: 2.5/5
September 11, 2021
This is a review of the entire series. I’ll try to make spoilers minimal.
Pandora Hearts ~Caucus Race~ is a series of 3 light novels based on Jun Mochizuki’s Pandora Hearts manga series (which I’m currently reading through). All 3 light novels are a collection of stories that take place during the manga’s storyline. Each story focuses on a certain character from the series, and the stories included are mostly lighthearted.
I enjoyed each light novel, but I can only recommend these light novels to Pandora Hearts fans who haven’t read them yet. If you’re new to the Pandora Hearts series, start at Pandora Hearts, Volume 1 instead. I give the Pandora Hearts ~Caucus Race~ series a 4 out of 5 overall.
Pandora Hearts ~Caucus Race~ is a series of 3 light novels based on Jun Mochizuki’s Pandora Hearts manga series (which I’m currently reading through). All 3 light novels are a collection of stories that take place during the manga’s storyline. Each story focuses on a certain character from the series, and the stories included are mostly lighthearted.
I enjoyed each light novel, but I can only recommend these light novels to Pandora Hearts fans who haven’t read them yet. If you’re new to the Pandora Hearts series, start at Pandora Hearts, Volume 1 instead. I give the Pandora Hearts ~Caucus Race~ series a 4 out of 5 overall.
March 11, 2021
the final book in the light novel series:
- oswald, lacie, and jack shenanigans! before things went to hell. we could've had it all. i adore oswald, he's one of my faves.
- oz wanting to buy a gift for gilbert with his own money was something i never knew i needed but i am extremely grateful for this wholesome content. they deserve the world.
- vincent and ada... a further insight into their complicated relationship and especially vincent as a character because this mf claims to hate her but at the same time he couldn't stay away from her. ada is just an angel i was glad to see more of her.
- echo!!! a precious bean i love her the most.
i genuinely enjoyed every single page of this light novel.
- oswald, lacie, and jack shenanigans! before things went to hell. we could've had it all. i adore oswald, he's one of my faves.
- oz wanting to buy a gift for gilbert with his own money was something i never knew i needed but i am extremely grateful for this wholesome content. they deserve the world.
- vincent and ada... a further insight into their complicated relationship and especially vincent as a character because this mf claims to hate her but at the same time he couldn't stay away from her. ada is just an angel i was glad to see more of her.
- echo!!! a precious bean i love her the most.
i genuinely enjoyed every single page of this light novel.
December 16, 2021
Jack/Glen and Lacie are not my favourite group in this series so.. It's not the best for me.
The story with the gloves was... Okay until it was drawn out and became ridiculous.
I do feel that the books became progressively better (translation wise, anyway) as they went, but book 2 is still probably the best overall. Not that I'm saying any of them were good.
What a shame.
The story with the gloves was... Okay until it was drawn out and became ridiculous.
I do feel that the books became progressively better (translation wise, anyway) as they went, but book 2 is still probably the best overall. Not that I'm saying any of them were good.
What a shame.
June 11, 2021
It's never a good sign when a novel makes you dislike characters you like in the original work.
March 27, 2022
I loved this!! Especially since the last story revolved around my favourite character and the pictures in it was really adorable!!!
August 27, 2022
Compared to the first one, I really enjoyed all of the stories in this volume!
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