Spartan: Welcome to the Cosmia blog’s first ever manga discussion, I’m Spartan and joining me is the host of the blog, Mr. Cosmia.
Today we’re reviewing the first two volumes of Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino.
Cosmia: Is it the first ever manga discussion? Well, I guess it’s the first one that’s a group act.
S: Now that you mention it, I guess it is.
So the basic synopsis of nearly every chapter involves Count D, a mysterious peddler of pets giving people companions, telling them very specific rules on what they need to do to keep the pet (and themselves) alive, and more often than not they don’t, shenanigans ensue.
C: Count D’s pet shop is run in Chinatown. Which Chinatown? IDK probably the New York one.
S: Oh it’s definitely the New York. Most of the buildings line up with the NYC. Actually wait, I’m wrong, it’s in Los Angeles.
C: I guess that makes more sense in a way. So it’s a Japanese manga in an American setting with a Chinese main character. A rather international setup you don’t see that often from Japanese media.
S: Indeed, it is rather refreshing. Also uses the setting to its advantage with the multi ethnic nature of the US to its advantage.
C: Pretty much all of the customers have been pretty damn white as far as I can tell so far, but yeah, theoretically it could.
S: They have? *fervently checks through chapters* son of a gun they have been!
This dialogue keeps going. You can read the rest here.
Cosmia 