Petshop of Horrors

About Petshop of Horrors

Looking for background on Petshop of Horrors? This horror, mystery and psychological series by MADHOUSE and Trans Arts (1999) starts out like this. In short: Count D, a quite interesting pet shop owner from an area called Chinatown, sells rare and hard to come by pets to people longing for something special, but with each sale comes a contract. If the rules of the contract are followed, everything goes fine, but if someone should break the rules of the contract, the pet shop cannot be held responsible for anything unfortunate that might happen.

Next up: Leon Orcot, a homicide detective, has linked many odd and unexplainable deaths together; they all were customers of Count D's pet shop, and he intends to find out why.

With horror at the core, atmosphere, sound and restraint do the heavy lifting. Count D (Toshihiko Seki) and Leon Orcot (Masaya Onosaka) are two of the characters you will meet early. Think of it as a pick for viewers comfortable with dark, unsettling material. The run is 4 episodes in total, so you know what you are signing up for.

Production & Appeal

Animation is handled by MADHOUSE and Trans Arts, so the studio's house style defines how Petshop of Horrors looks and moves on screen. Because it leans on horror, atmosphere, sound and restraint do the heavy lifting. Its 6.8/10 score suggests opinions are split, so it suits viewers who already like the genre. On the casting side, Toshihiko Seki voicing Count D gives the lead role a recognizable voice. Released in 1999, it competed with that season's other new series for attention.