Pandora Hearts, Volume 23

Pandora Hearts #23

by Jun Mochizuki, Tomo Kimura (Translator)

The cogs of destiny guide Oz, Alice, and Gil to the final chapter. Someone once said that what awaited them at the end was all-encompassing darkness that would swallow their world whole. But never was the possibility of a warm glimmer of hope just beyond the dark, waiting to pierce through the shadows, disavowed...

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

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2015

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

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really upset about 90% of the things happening right now but Echo's "I AM" moment was absolutely perfect.

[Faye Fite · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to need therapy after finishing this series. I just...Lottie isn't bad? And Break had that little piece of backstory I didn't know about...? And Vincent and Gil? *deep breaths* Please let this turn out okay. One more volume to go!

[Phantomº · Rating 4 out of 5]

And here it is, the fated meeting of Glen and Jack...
Only one volume left? No way...this is going to hurt a lot, isn't it.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

One by one, I am losing my favorites, but I am hoping for a happy ending in the next and final volume. As always, beautiful art and lovely storytelling. Recommended.

[EmpressKoh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll say this until I die, but can authors stop with the half baked love interest always saving someone, instead of the deeper bond of family or friend?? Ada should not have saved Vincent, it should have been Gil. Still one of my favorites series ever but I had a bone to pick with this trope. Never makes sense to me.

[Ady Weasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vincent está tan perturbado que su deseo en su mente está bien, pero como le dijo Gil eso no ayudará de nada. Ame a la señorita Ada, su forma de aceptar a Vincent es tan linda.

Echo me rompió el corazón nunca creí que tuviera una historia tan triste y tan distorsionada

Ahora si vamos a descubrir el desenlace de la historia

[Michael Schmid · Rating 5 out of 5]

es war soooooooooooooooooooo traurig q_________q mag gar nicht mehr wissen, wie alles endet xD oder doch o.O

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

Miranda está loca, pero requeteloca. De alguna forma entiendo a Vincent, ya que todo lo malo que hacía se justificaba bajo el pretexto de que sería borrado. Me gustó la relación que desarrolló con Ada, ya que ahí se justifica la personalidad tan sosa de ella (aunque igual es triste que sea principalmente para salvar a Vincent).

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

VINCENT MY BOY 😭😭😭😭
I love Ada so much I need a something just for them 🙏🏻

[ʀ⭒. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lost count on how many times I cried while reading this

[gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS CLIMAX, THIS CLIMAX IS KILLING ME!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Can't believe I've got ONE. MORE. VOLUME!!!!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have so many emotions right now. Oh, Mochizuki. You did it again. Somehow I will prepare myself for the final volume, if I can get over the events of this volume in time.

[Mal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual tears in my eyes. Actual. Tears.

Mochizuki was probably sketching this like I wonder how many important characters I can off before reaching the end

[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.

[Ayxan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hm, idk. Disappointed at a lot of things.
- Vincent doesn't deserve to live, imo, since he pretty much wasted all his life with his own death wish (really wondering why he just didn't commit suicide).
- He also doesn't deserve Ada's love, since he only used her. Really surprised that girl actually loves him, which is kinda cringe.
- Zwei was pretty annoying, and I can't believe she died. Obviously there have to be some deaths and it would've been pretty unrealistic if Jun didn't kill any beloved characters, but Vincent deserves it much more. .

I'm glad that Ada get to have a bit of a bigger role, and also Liam is pretty damn amazing. And Zwei at least got some character development. Chapter 93 was the best.

But Vincent really pissed me off. He really does not deserve to survive.
Also, Jack is back, even though mostly in the past, and I'm just barfing at his face & voice. That guy's so disgusting.

[Emily Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally someone was able to knock some sense into Vincent. Who knew it would be Ada and not Gil? Gil tried at least, but it was Ada who really helped Vincent stop and really question his death wish. I'll admit that Vincent has grown on me a little, but he's still not my favorite. I guess I missed it, but apparently Break had saved Vincent in the last volume? I'll have to go back and find that part. Really it's Break's parting words with Vincent and the fact he protected him, and Ada's words that are finally starting to get Vincent to realize that it's not too late for him to change for the better. And that he doesn't have to die for his past mistakes.

That part where Echo died gave me literal chills. She was my favorite female character before her split personality came into the picture...but she was still a good person.

[Kazu · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pouco a pouco cheguei em um ponto que não podia dizer qual face eu estava usando .
Oswald, você é um amigo querido pra mim e Gilbert e Vincent são importantes pra mim.
Mas eu não lembro se esses sentimentos são sinceros ou se eu só estou fingindo.

Eu estava com medo sabia? sem saber mais quem eu era , me deixou com um medo indescritível. Era tão grande que quando percebi.
EU ODIAVA LACIE. Mas eu também percebi que o ódio estampado no meu rosto era inquestionavelmente real."

Até quando o Vincent tá tendo Arco de redenção ele é filho da puta vsf.

O Leo lembrando das memórias que ele tinha com o Elliot me destruiu.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buena primera parte de la pelea final, aunque el conflicto Echo-Zwei-Noise-Doldee-Doldum es tan lioso y nos importa tan poco al los lectores llegados a este punto de la historia, que parece un rewind del volumen 19 con el conflicto Alice-Voluntad del Abismo que tuve que leer cuatro veces y hacer diferentes supuestos en mi cabeza hasta que tuvo sentido. Con Echo, ya ni intentas entenderlo porque es un personaje secundario y, sinceramente, con la locura de tramas que tiene esta historia, la cabeza de lector llega un momento que ya no da para más.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jun ya me explicó todo y yo finjo que le entendí cuando en realidad leí varias veces estos capítulos para comprender bien apenas una fracción de lo ocurrido.

El asunto aquí es que a todos se les fue la olla y perdieron de vista cuál es el bien común. Por eso me gustó cuando el señor al que no recuerdo le dice a Leo que es igual de egoísta que todos los Glen. Al final todos lo son porque no quieren olvidar la vida que ya vivieron en pro de una que no será de ellos. Por ese lado, entendible, venga, es la paradoja clásica del viaje en el tiempo.

Ya en el lado de la tristeza, pufff. Lloré.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

"No le tengo miedo a la muerte. Tampoco siento apego por la vida. Pero... En algún rincón de mi corazón, quería que alguien me perdonara"

Estamos a un tomo del final de esta gran historia que nos ha ofrecido risas y mucho dolor... Estará por concluir. Hemos tenido que pasar por varias pérdidas, y aún así esperamos que los personajes encuentren la luz que necesitan y al fin puedan salvar al mundo de la destrucción que Jack y Glenn con sus acciones han buscado.

[reen · Rating 5 out of 5]

echo-chan, you will forever be one of my dearest. 🤍

echo's character is one of my faves in the series... im just glad shes happy now

and of course, we thank oz for this, as well. thank you, oz, for making echo feel like she's Echo and simply not just a reverberation. She is Echo. Echo is Echo. and that is who she is.

much love and forgiveness to vincent as well who was simply a victim in jack's evil plans. glad you have Ada now — treat her well, vince.

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is hugely emotional and filled to the brim with information. It's combining everyone's stories right before the end.

[Isel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dam, even Noise made me sad. Mostly it was Echo but still!
Now on to the last volume!

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m starting to get tearful. This is madness!

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking

[Citybones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un poco demasiado caos. Vemos la resolución del arco de Echo y la relación de Vince y Ada. Que personalmente detesto.

[Judith Groen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This. Was. Intense!