Pandora Hearts, Volume 21

パンドラハーツ [Pandora Hearts] #21

by Jun Mochizuki

What you have been granted is the "possibility" of survival.
"I want you to be 'happy'..." With these parting words, one man sacrifices himself to save Oz and his companions, who have been chased into a corner. That sentiment succeeds in awakening Oz's heart, long held captive in the depths of his own soul, as though breaking all the chains that bind him... But when Oz learns of the heavy price of his revival, can his resolve withstand it?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Mystery, Graphic Novels, Comics, Shonen, Adventure

210 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2013

About the author

Jun 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.

Reviews

[Nərmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncle Oscar! I love you! Goodbye...
The stars of this volume : Reim, Break, Rufus Barma.
Reim - he is perfect, clever and kind)
Break- he is fantastic as always! I love him even more. And sometimes I forgot he is blind.
Rufus - I didn't expect you motivation to be love!
And about golden -trio: Alice, Oz, Gilbert.
The extra chapter about these trio being together once again warmed my heart :') Alice is so compassionate and her crying over the delicious food Gilbert won't be able to cook , were sweet^^, Oz left his suicidal character and helping Gilbert to dress... I hope they stay together))

[Michael Schmid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warum nur muss alles so traurig sein q__q

[Faye Fite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my gosh!!! This series just gets better and better. Such a sweet scene with Oz helping Gilbert out after the...incident. And Break is still such a badass. I love the character and plot development. It just keeps getting more and more layered.

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m literally drawing out the end of this series as LONG as I can…I’m not ready! Idk how the entire ending is gonna fit in 3 volumes, I’m not ready at all!

[fxtiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sus rufus

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

These characters are too multi-layered my mind is in shambles (with my heart)

[ʀ⭒. · Rating 4 out of 5]

RUFUS SUPERMECY 🗣️🙏🏼

[Phantomº · Rating 5 out of 5]

LORD BARMA YOU....YOU....you lovesick smartass.
(I had totally forgotten he had red hair wow)

[lu ¿ aero · Rating 5 out of 5]

devo smettere di kinnare suicidial characters

[♛ Federica ♛ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

[Ady Weasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta guerra se basa en traiciones, no puedes saber realmente en quien confiar pues cada uno actúa bajo su propio beneficio para lograr sus metas.

El regreso del sombrerero es impresionante.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bueno pero es que a mí Echo me da igual. Me intrigaba la morrita al inicio, pero como nunca se me decía nada de ella pues se volvió alguien equis y hasta ahorita se me dice qué onda con ella es de ah, mira. Que igual su trama con Ada no es mi fav porque si hay dos personajes a los que no se les hace justicia es a ellas dos. Una porque no me contaron nada de ella y la otra porque me decían cosas irrelevantes.
En fin. Tonto Jack ve todo lo que causaste.

[Azelyn Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not obsessed. I don't know what you're talking about! Nevermind that I read 3 volumes in one day. But I did wait months to find out what happens! (As such, I had to look up synopses to write these reviews because I didn’t remember what happened.)

This volumed turned out to be bittersweet. I like the relationship between Oz and his friends and mentors, but it’s really bittersweet.

I still don’t like Duke Barma. Seriously, he’s annoying. And kinda predictable.
Barma: I won't work against you because... I'm in love!
Me: *blinks* Seriously?

In all, I gave it 3/5 stars for some annoying backstory but good cliffhanger. For my recommendation of this series, see Pandora Hearts 1巻 .

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mochizuki really isn't giving us a break at all with this series. We keep hopping between one tragic event after another without a proper breather, but that's okay—it keeps the plot at a fast pace as it speeds towards the series' end. While this series has focused on the tragic events of Oz's life, the twenty-first book takes a deeper look at Rufus Barma, the one man whose recent actions have thrown poor Oz and Gil for a big loop.

My full review of PANDORA HEARTS volume 21 is now at my blog.

[Mariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breakkkkkk!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Break on a rampage. And, the power of love. Can this story wrench my heart any more than it already has? Probably.

[Chiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE OZBERT MOMENTS IN THIS ONEEEEEEE

*KEENING*

[khione · Rating 5 out of 5]

i never doubted you, rufus 😭🫶 even tho the way u speak annoy me a little 😣

[Bibliothecat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review for complete series

I'd like to start by saying that with my two decades of manga reading, Pandora Hearts has recently earned its way to being one of the best manga series I've ever read - and to think I almost didn't pick it up!

There's actually a bit of a story to it: Pandora Hearts was being released around the time I knew I would be moving overseas. At the time, I had no idea how moving to the other side of the world would affect my manga buying. Also at that time, I was working at a comic store with staff discounts at my disposal and I never had to worry too much about picking up whatever I fancied. When I first saw Pandora Hearts, I thought the art looked beautiful and this just might be a really good manga. It also struck me as a manga series that could go on for quite a while [which was a reasonably accurate assumption as 24 volumes is not a length I could commit to lightly]. Not knowing how I'd get my hands on manga or how long this series would be let me to putting it back on the shelf. And I confess, it was filled with quite a bit of regret.

When I finally did move overseas - a family friend had a good bye gift. The shape was easy to discern: it was undoubtably a manga volume. While thankful for receiving a gift, I was also nervous: having worked in a comic store, I knew for sure: I either already own it or am not interested in it. In addition, the friend in question doesn't know the first thing about manga. To my surprise, it was the first volume of Pandora Hearts which was probably the single only volume she could have taken from the shelf that wasn't already in my possession and did interest me. How she managed to pick out that one I don't know, but it's a coincidence I feel thankful for and, in some cheesy way, made me feel like it was just meant to be that I read Pandora Hearts after all.

Fast forward to 2023, I finally found the time to read this 24 volume series and am absolutely delighted. My original observation remains: the art is absolutely stunning. With the exception of a oneshot debut work, it's hard to believe that this is quite close to being a beginner's work - you'd not believe it just looking at the first volume's art.

My other thoughts are largely around how hard it is to praise a story you think is so thoroughly good as this one is. It's not really a plot you can explain to someone, it's a story you have to read for yourself as even the latest volumes will throw some surprises at you. But I think, besides the art, what really contributes a lot to this work are the characters. Oz might be our main character, but we have a large cast and they are all lovingly created. There's hardly a character you won't be able to like in one way or another, even the most broken of them. It's quite a feat to create a story that makes you care and worry about almost every character's fate.

And worry you can indeed: it has light and beautiful moments, but it is essentially a dark tale and you'll constantly worry whether the characters will make it through. Needless to say, there are losses throughout the story. There are plenty of twists and turns, things that will surprise and shock you.

I will also add that the plot is complex and not always easy to follow. Some characters have multiple names - this becomes even more difficult for some characters who also have multiple personalities who also have multiple names. Not everything in the plot made entire sense to me - it's hard to say whether they were plot holes, not explained well enough or I was simply missing something - a reread might answer that. But regardless, when these moments arose, I decided to just go with the flow and it didn't disrupt my reading experience at all.

Besides a bit of confusion here and there, I can't fault this series with anything. The pacing is well done, the 24 volumes were neither too long nor too short [something I often complain about] and it wrapped up nicely. For such a dark read, there's also a lot of soft story telling which just concludes this with a very wholesome ending. There is close to no romance but I wasn't missing it [and I'm a big romance reader] - the friendships and bonds between the characters were absolutely beautiful even without much romance thrown in.

I'm glad I did read this series and it is definitely going down as one of my favourites. Highly recommended.

[Emily Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow so I was wrong about Duke Barma...I knew he had a special connection with Sharon's grandmother (or mother?) Sheryl? (Is that how u spell her name? I forgot.) But I didn't know he actually was in love with her. Sad she rejected him because she was already married to her husband but they became friends, nonetheless. At least, it was explained why Barma attacked Break and took Break's chain, only to give it back to him when Break needed it the most.

I'm just waiting for Break to sacrifice himself or to die trying. Barma sacrificed himself after helping Reim, Oz, Alice and Gil. Who's to say Break won't do the same? I mean, Break never said he didn't want to die, only that he didn't want to die "yet". And it's the "yet" that really bothers me. At this point, I'm expecting Break to die in the next volume or maybe the last. But on another note, I did like the end where Oz helped Gil put on his shirt since Gil's left arm is gone. And the playful teasing and banter between Gil and Alice was sweet and funny too.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

"En mi opinión... Lo más preciado y hermoso que hay, por lo que vale la pena apostarlo todo en la vida. Es ni más ni menos que... El AMOR"

Estamos a solo tres tomos de llegar al final de esta bella y trágica historia.

Y creo que después de varios tomos de puro sufrimiento para los lectores, este número representa la esperanza.

Oz, no está solo.
Nunca lo ha estado y dudo que lo esté hasta el final.

A pesar de llevar la carga de ser Jack Vessalius, sigue siendo él. A cuya personalidad siempre se le ha atribuido a un ser lleno de alegría. Es difícil no amar a ese niño y si no fuera por todo lo horrible que ha pasado, sería lo más puro que puedas conocer en una persona.

Aquí veremos amor, mucha amistad y varios encuentros que nos harán derramar muchas lágrimas.

Ha sido muy bello.

[Ayxan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liam is back!! Yay.

Didn't like the revelation that Rufus is in love with Lady Rainsworth – I had really hoped that they were best friends without the cliché –, but it came in handy this time.

Bit disappointed in the Baskervilles. I really liked them and they're supposed to be the good guys, yet fail to act like such in the present... man.

A whole volume without Jack tho!!! Such a blessing.

The bonus chapter was really cute, and gives me lowkey anxieties about Gil or Oz dying. While it's very likely that Jack's body will probably have to be killed, I do hope that Oz will be reborn someday – in a body that's his own and not a chain. Just a normal human. Together with Gil.

[Kazu · Rating 4 out of 5]

" Eu preciso parar Glen, eu não quero que ele mude o passado"

O Reim tendo os seus 5 minutos de fama decifrando os enigmas do Barma pior que os usuário de reddit tentando descobrir códigos de arg.

Como assim o Barma é um velho com Complexo de inferioridade e que só quer viver ao lado da mulher que ele ama 😭

falta incríveis três volumes pra encerrar a obra e eu não faço ideia como essa história pode acabar

[Cami L. González · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jajajaja el duque Barma es un loquillo. Al fin llegué a lo último que leí hace tres años, me quedan solo tres tomos y como no quiero que se acabe tan rápido lo dejaré para mañana. Está demasiado emocionante.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only three volumes and I will be done with this manga...I am already missing it

I can't believe that Duke Barma proposed to Sherly and when faced with her big fat "no because I am married", he was just okay we can just get rid of your husband x)

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such turmoil.

[Citybones · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Sinceramente ya me lo esperaba de Rufus.

[aj · Rating 4 out of 5]

break i would die for you you stinky man

[Kaito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad overall - Break is badass as always, and it was nice to see more of Rufus, although I still think that he is kinda bland and uninteresting.

[Pinky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oz travels Sablier to stop Glen from destroying the past.