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tatselk · 5 years ago

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PSOH Passage Hen: Chapter 5 “Dissolution” (Pt 2)

This summary/ review has been divided into 2 parts because of how long the summary is.

My summaries/reviews of the previous chapters can be found here: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5: Pt 1].

As always, I’m not sure of the exact spelling of pretty much all the names.

SUMMARY

16. Catherine brought her bubbly self to see Sofu and Fantome Noir again. As they had tea, she talked about the Statue of Liberty and how her father, who was a frequent traveller, could always look at the Statue of Liberty on his return to New York and know that he was home. Catherine then went about trying to convince Fantome Noir to go traveling with her by saying that she could taste delicious food, wear beautiful clothes and maybe even meet some great men. Catherine added that Fantome Noir shouldn’t be brought down by her lover’s death and should go out there to experience a new romance. Sofu muttered as an aside, “Sigh~ This is why I hate Americans-”

17. Fantome Noir got Sofu to relate a message to Catherine for her, “Do you know what it means to fall in love?” Catherine said of course and began listing the “lovers” she has had in the past like her classmates. She even fangirled over Victor again and wondered what she should do if he proposed to her. But Fantome Noir interrupted her to say that that was romance, not love. Catherine was confused by this and said that her favourite was still her father who was dashing, kind, learned and gave her whatever she wanted. She had never met anyone better than him and wanted to marry someone who is even more outstanding than him. Sofu mentioned that it would be difficult to find someone like that. Catherine agreed and quickly broke down into tears saying that she wanted to see her father again as soon as possible.

18. We cut to the Paris Police Station, where we find that Hans had previously requested for help from the police in finding Catherine’s father. Hans was informed that a man who had Brandt’s passport and wallet was still alive and had been arrested by the police. However, he was probably not Brandt as he looked to be in his 80s or 90s; perhaps he was a beggar who had stolen the passport and wallet from Brandt. Hans asked to speak to the man who was arrested and was taken aback when he saw how bedraggled he was.

19. We return to Catherine who was crying and Fantome Noir who had reached out to touch her head. Fantome Noir opened her eyes gradually and said that she wanted to see Catherine’s father too. Even Sofu was surprised at this; he got all excited that a contract could be formed between Catherine and Fantome Noir. Catherine began happily planning the living arrangements for Fantome Noir and how once they found her father, all four of them could return to New York together.

20. This was interrupted by Victor popping up through a set of curtains to tell Sofu that Lena had asked for him at the front of the shop. Sofu, Victor and Hans went there and left Catherine and Fantome Noir to chat. We discover that Lena had found Dubois and brought him back. After sitting down to tea together, Sofu, Victor and Hans learnt that Dubois had met Brandt half a year ago. Hans asked Dubois if he had sold Fantome Noir to Brandt. Dubois mentioned that he mistook “Fantome Noir” for “Black Ghost”, which was an eel from South America (and which was going to be exhibited at the Paris Expo). The sale fell through and Dubois thought that Brandt had returned to New York.

21. At this point, Hans brought up what had happened at the Parisian Police Station last night. He could not get any answers out of the man who was arrested and he suspected that Brandt had already been attacked and killed by some rogues. Then they brought up how since Brandt wasn’t looking for the Black Ghost eel, the Fantome Noir that he was looking for might be a mermaid and went into discussing mermaid lore about how mermaids have very long lives, how eating their flesh can render one immortal, how “The Little Mermaid” was based on Fouque’s “Undine”, how mermaids had a lifespan of 300 years old etc.

22. Sofu poured cold water over the others’ romantic discussion of mermaids and mentioned that despite their appearances, mermaids were ferocious in nature and ate meat. Dubois brought up how the Black Ghost eel was the same and Victor freaked out because he had placed the eel with other fish when setting up the site exhibiting animals at the Paris Expo. So Dubois and Victor quickly ran off to rescue these fish from being eaten.

23. With only Sofu and Hans left in the front of the petshop, Sofu turned to Hans and said that he wished to meet the old man who was arrested. He added mysteriously, “Realising the customer’s wishes was the duty of the shop.” At the Parisian Police Station, Sofu and Hans found that the old man was extremely ill and probably only had a couple of days left to live. Sofu asked if they could take the man away; the police allowed them to do so as since the man’s identity was unknown, if he died, the best he could hope for was to be buried in the public cemetery anyway. On their ride back to the petshop, Sofu mentioned that he wanted Fantome Noir to verify the man’s identity.

24. After the three of them crossed the bridge and gotten to the palace, the old man suddenly seemed to recognise Hans. Catherine appeared and the old man managed to call out her name haltingly before being interrupted by a fit of coughing. Sofu gave the old man a cup of something to drink. After a few moments, the old man dropped the cup and looked as though he was choking badly before gradually turning into a young man.

25. Hans and Catherine reacted in shock because this seemed to be Brandt but one who was far younger than his actual age. Sofu mentioned that this was merely terminal lucidity. Brandt seemed to recognise Sofu and addressed him as Count D but Sofu stated that this was the first time that they have met. Sofu also addressed Brandt as Your Highness and asked him to hurry as the Princess was waiting for him.

26. Brandt threw open a set of curtains dramatically and knelt down before Fantome Noir. “Many apologies for the delay. I’ve come to take you away.” Hans and Catherine freaked out at this and Catherine asked if her father was a prince. Brandt laughed and began his explanation. On the night of his wedding, the maiden (presumably Fantome Noir) had disappeared from the ship. Before long, a storm appeared and Brandt was swept overbroad and dragged into the ocean by a few mermaids, who were Fantome Noir’s sisters.

27. Having dragged him into the ocean, these mermaids kept scolding Brandt for being ungrateful and breaking their sister’s heart etc. He declared that if he had known that she was the one who saved him, he would not have gotten engaged to a human girl whom he met later. The mermaids got Brandt to swallow a black pearl, which caused him to choke and feel hot. They told him that he now had the same lifespan as a mermaid; that he had to find their sister and marry her and that until that day came, they would not forgive humans.

28. When Brandt woke up again, he found that he had washed ashore onto a foreign land. He also discovered that he didn’t age. So he began traveling across Europe in search of Fantome Noir. Along the way, Brandt met a Count D whom Sofu said was probably his grandfather. This was about 100 years ago. This Count D suggested that Brandt go to USA; Brandt did so and began aging. As he crossed the sea, he kept hearing the mermaids asking him to hurry.

29. After Brandt discovered that Dubois didn’t manage to find Fantome Noir either, he became extremely dispirited. As Brandt walked along a bridge across the Seine River in Paris, he heard voices telling him to hurry and that time was running out. He toppled over the rails of the bridge and fell into the river. Brandt saw Fantome Noir in the river and called out to her. But he realised that she could not hear or see him. He also remembered that he was no longer young or handsome; thinking that she probably couldn’t recognise him even if she saw him, he rose to the surface of the river again. When Brandt was fished out of the river, 300 years’ worth of aging had hit him all at once. He could not move, he could not remember anything clearly, he could not even ascertain who he was.

30. Back in the present day, upon hearing his story, Hans and Catherine were extremely ashamed that they had failed to recognise Brandt. Fantome Noir then made the startling announcement that she wasn’t the one whom Brandt loved; she was his daughter. She explained that her mother should have turned into foam after jumping off Brandt’s ship but she was pregnant with her so she gave birth to her before dying. In other words, this Fantome Noir was Catherine’s elder sister and was in mourning for her mother. On hearing that he did not make it in time to see the original Fantome Noir, Brandt gradually grew older again, died and turned into foam.

31. After Brandt’s death, Catherine suddenly brought up the point of why Brandt got together with her own mother if he was so devoted to the original Fantome Noir after all these years. Hans then mentioned that both of them were actually orphans from the ghettos of New York whom Brandt took in. Brandt had wanted to adopt both of them but Hans, who was at an age whereby he understood things, insisted on acting as his servant to repay him for his kindness.

32. Later, it seemed that Sofu recounted everything that happened to Victor and Dubois who had returned to the petshop for tea. Victor noted that one of Sofu’s fingers were injured but Sofu said that it was nothing. Someone wondered about how long the lifespan of the half human/half mermaid Fantome Noir would be and Sofu said that his father and grandfather were still studying mermaids. Sofu also mentioned how mermaids could only give birth once in a lifetime as the baby would claw its way out of the mother’s body and use the body as a source of nutrients, which caused Victor and Dubois to throw up. The chapter ended with Lena asking about Catherine’s love life and Sofu hinting that it was right beside her but she didn’t realise it (I think he was referring to Hans).

THOUGHTS

1. Yay, the first “real” petshop transaction (sorta) in this series! AND it continues the theme of mermaids and A Tragic Love Story in PSOH! :)

2. If there is one thing that perfectly sums up the overall relationship between Sofu and Victor, it is probably my fav convo between them in this chapter.

Sofu: Welcome to Count D’s pet-

Victor: Hello!

Sofu: What? Oh, it is you, Baron. -_-‘’

Victor: Hey, hey, don’t be so cruel~~~ I thought we have a very good relationship?

Sofu: Don’t say such things that would cause a misunderstanding.

Victor: Ah, here’s a small gift for you. Today, it is Galette des Rois.

Sofu: Thank you for your care and concern! :)

3. Is Sofu even trying to run a business or exact revenge on humans by opening the shop so late??? He’s like worse than D was in SPSOH.

4. Given Sofu’s statement that he hated Americans, I’m now REALLY curious as to how/why the Ds went to USA.

5. Even though Catherine fangirled over Victor, it just feels like they could have been siblings. Haha.

#psoh #petshop of horrors #pet shop of horrors #psoh passage hen #petshop of horrors passage hen #pet shop of horrors passage hen #matsuri akino #akino matsuri #sofu d

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ruthlessnightsscans · 5 years ago

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Hi! First of all thank you so much for the uploads and translation of Pet Shop of Horror. All your hard works are appreciated very much. I knew about this manga way back then but it just recently that I discovered translation of it. Really greatful for your works! I'm not full aware if of all the sequels and prequels of all if it tho. Would mind listinv it all or maybe correct what I know. -Pet Shop of Horror -PSoHTokyo -PSoH Passage Hen Was searching for it and there another1 hyouhaku??

Hello! I’m glad another fan reached our page. The correct order of the mangas is as follows: Pet Ship of Horrors (that came out first) then Shin Pet Shop of Horrors (this was called PSOH Tokyo by the publisher) then there’s Passage hen (which is a prequel actually about Sofu D. This came out later so we are releasing the volumes after the first two series) and Hyouhaku no hakobune hen (this is the newest series with only 2 volumes out. It will be about Papa D. You will get to read these volumes after we uploaded the 5 volumes of Passage hen). Hopefully, a new volume will come out soon and we can continue the translations. For now, you can find the first two series on our page and the first volume of Passage hen (though the second one will be available really soon) I hope this helped a bit. If not, then let me know. :)

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howlingmoonrise · 5 years ago

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Okay, I’m a few months new to the fandom. I was introduced to it by the anime and I’m trying to get my hands on the manga. I’ve seen some panels of manga here on tumblr and regarding your Leon appreciations posts if I remember - if I recalled wrong I apologize - right Leon has worn croptops. Can we just take a second to appreciate that part of his character?

Fear not, my friend! While the official Tokyopop translation is out of print and it’s hard to find the individual volumes at a good price much less the whole collection and it’s also terribad what the hell were they on when they were translating PSoH like there’s whole parts where they legit just ad-libbed and it made zero sense, the fantastic group @ruthlessnightsscans has an amazing translation on their tumblr here, and they’re also translating the sequel series Shin/Tokyo PSoH (please don’t accidentally start reading that one instead of the original i’ve met more than one person who did bc the names were so similar) as well as the prequel/spin-off Passage-hen and are planning on translating the other prequel/spin-off series coming out right now, the last two for which there’s no word of an official translation. I’m delighted to say we’re in good hands ;)

i’m gonna be real with you tho, i was wracking my brain for a full five minutes thinking about whether or not it was canon for leon to use crop tops or not because on one hand it might very well be but on the OTHER hand he’s also exactly the kind of person who WOULD wear them and so we might have collectively decided in the PSoH hive-mind that he wore them at one point.

So I obviously did what I do best and went through the whole manga.

No dice until volume 4. In his defense, according to the mangaka early!Leon was meant to be a more serious sort of cop with a style like Miami Vice iirc, so he starts off with a suit + t-shirt combo on the first volume, and mellows out to button-downs and very high-waisted jeans paired with t-shirts stuffed in, meaning it’s hard to say if they’re actually crop-tops or not. THEN he starts getting zanier, and in volume 4 we’re rewarded with THIS amazing little combination with a crop-top on top of a button-down!

After this, we start seeing more of those signature Leon Looks™, with weird-ass t-shirts with the sleeves rolled up and jean vests and even more high-waisted pants as well as the occasional leather jacket. The flannels and button-downs occasionally make a return (actually, remind me to one of these days write a full post on leon orcot’s wardrobe bc my boy is really something).

also, not a crop top but look at my disaster bi son!!!!!!!

he has such a weird taste in clothing i love him so much

then FINALLY another crop-top sighting on volume 7!!!!! on the next few pages it looks like another of his tucked-in t-shirts but we know better

then we get A TRUE ACTUAL CROP TOP SIGHTING right on the first chapter of volume 8, which coincidentally is one of my favourite chapters in the manga (special thanks to @prince-kraehe for the perfect screenshot when i went to the psoh server despairing that i couldn’t remember whether he’d actually worn a crop-top or not)

this crop-top is sadly the last one leon wears in the manga, but also the most memorable. a good end to the crop-top line, i think.

leon is just unapologetically disaster bi 90′s son and i love him so much

#i ended up babbling about my son skldjfklsjdgkljdsf don't even act surprised i don't deserve it #half the screenshots are shitty bc i was just flipping through the volumes i do own and taking pics in very low light sdlkjflskdjgjl #PetShop of Horrors #leon orcot #psoh #pet shop of horrors #howl replies to stuff #whenthemarshmallowmettheslayer #long post #leon's crop tops

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tatselk · 5 years ago

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PSOH Passage Hen: Chapter 5 “Dissolution” (Pt 1)

This summary/ review would be divided into 2 parts because of how long the summary is.

My summaries/reviews of the previous chapters can be found here: [1], [2], [3], [4].

SUMMARY

1. This chapter got off to an unusual start with what looked like a woman who had committed suicide by jumping off a ship and into the ocean. There were hints of her having been disappointed in love and how she wanted to forget everything.

2. We quickly cut to Victor who was working on a site in which animals were to be exhibited at the Paris Expo. His work was interrupted as he made the acquaintance of a young woman called Catherine Brandt (?) from New York, who was accompanied by her butler, Hans. She was looking for Alphonse (?) Dubois (from Chapter 4). Victor informed her that Dubois was away at the moment and had left Victor to do his work at the Paris Expo (ah, so that’s why for once, we don’t see Victor having tea with Sofu or otherwise having a good time haha).

3. We then come to why Catherine was looking for Dubois. Catherine’s Father, Brandt, had previously hired Dubois to help him obtain a creature called Fantome Noir. Dubois had acquired what he suspected to be Fantome Noir and asked Brandt to come to Paris and verify if that was the case. Brandt had left to do so about half a year ago and nothing has been heard of him since. Victor offered to bring Catherine to Dubois’s house in the countryside the next day to see if there was anything there that could help her out.

4. That evening, Catherine and Hans were back at their hotel. Catherine’s fangirling over the handsome and gentlemanly Victor was tersely interrupted by Hans who reminded her that they had to find Brandt ASAP and return to New York since they were living on credit which would dry up quickly if Brandt turned out to have died. If that happened, she would have to marry some steel magnate’s eldest son to keep things going. Frustrated, Catherine threw a pillow at Hans and said that she wanted to marry someone she chose for herself.

5. The next day, Victor, Catherine and Hans turned up at Dubois’s house in the countryside. From the correspondence they found there, they discovered that Fantome Noir seemed to be related to oysters and involves something valuable (“the world is my oyster” and all that). So they all went over to Sofu’s petshop to pick his brains on what Fantome Noir could be.

6. Of course, Sofu knew what Fantome Noir was but he demurred in showing them what she was since she was shy and required a special tank so it would be difficult for an ordinary household to raise such a pet. After much insistence from them, Sofu agreed to show them Fantome Noir. But he warned Catherine that he could not guarantee if Fantome Noir could be sold to them; it all depended on fate.

7. After leading them to the underground tunnels of the petshop, Sofu brought them over a round bridge and into a grand palace filled with beautiful people. Catherine was outraged as she thought that Sofu had brought them to a brothel. But Sofu explained that these were all mermaids. He then led them off to a more secluded part of the palace to see Fantome Noir, which was a nocturnal creature. In a darkened room, Sofu pulled back some curtains to reveal a veiled woman with closed eyes and who was dressed all in black.

8. This woman was Fantome Noir. Catherine noted that she looked at though she was in mourning. Sofu noted that she had been in this state since she was separated from the only man she ever loved. Catherine was sympathetic to her plight whilst Victor just ruined the mood by saying, “Eh, widows are very attractive.” Haha. Catherine asked Fantome Noir if she had met her father before. Sofu had to write out the question for her on her palm. Catherine asked if she was deaf and Sofu explained that since she lost the man she loved, she had isolated herself from the world by closing her eyes, stopping up her ears and sealing her lips.

9. Upon hearing this, Victor burst out in excitement that Fantome Noir is the mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Mermaid”. Catherine and Victor then bonded over their shared dislike of the prince in the fairy tale. Sofu looked So Done with them and related the message from Fantome Noir that there is no need to worry about her. Victor and Catherine protested that she shouldn’t hold herself up; she was still young and beautiful and could start over again in a new relationship etc. Fantome Noir “said” that she did not wish to love anymore and wanted to forget everything. Sofu then related Fantome Noir’s message that a man had come to see her half a year ago but he wasn’t sure if this was Catherine’s father. Sofu then cut off further questions by saying that Fantome Noir was tired and wished to rest. Catherine tried to press the issue but Victor stopped her from doing so and said that they should leave.

10. That evening, Victor, Catherine and Hans had tea together. Catherine was furious that Sofu was running a brothel or trafficking people behind the front of selling pets whilst Hans was concerned that they had been drugged and had hallucinations. Victor smilingly said that they had indeed seen mermaids and that there were many mysterious and unknown creatures that existed in this world. He also noted that at least now they knew that Catherine’s father seemed to have been looking for a mermaid. Catherine asked if Dubois knew of Fantome Noir’s true identity and wondered if the man whom Fantome Noir saw was Dubois. Victor didn’t think that was the case as Dubois and Sofu did not look as though they knew each other when they first met (Chapter 4) and that Sofu should have been around and recognised Dubois if he was the man whom Fantome Noir met. They then moved onto wondering how to convince Sofu to sell Fantome Noir to them. Victor noted that this depended on whether a customer and a pet were fated to be together and on Sofu’s mood, not on the amount of money offered.

11. The next morning, Catherine and Hans turned up at the petshop to find an annoyed Sofu who said that the shop only opened after afternoon tea. Catherine said that they knew that and had brought a huge spread of desserts for him. Sofu got all excited and quickly invited them in. Catherine turned to flash a V-sign at Victor who was standing outside the shop; it seems that he had been the one who taught them how to get into Sofu’s good books.

12. Sofu brought Catherine and Hans to the palace to see Fantome Noir. He tried to get Fantome Noir to open up on the man whom she met half a year ago. Fantome Noir “replied”, “As you know, I’m deaf and blind. I don’t know anything about the other party.” Catherine unloaded a whole barrage of questions which Sofu passed onto Fantome Noir but she simply “said” that she doesn’t remember and asked them to leave. Again, Catherine tried to press the issue but Hans shook his head and they took their leave. After leaving the palace, Hans noted that Victor had told them it was an East Asian custom for one to only be able to get a favourable response from esteemed persons on one’s third visit to them.

13. Sofu peeked out from behind the door of the shop as he watched Catherine and Hans walk down the covered passageway where his shop was located. He turned to find Lena (the petshop trainer mentioned in Chapters 3 and 4) and her younger brother, Lou, in the shop. Lou sounded like he was interested in Catherine; Lena scolded him and reminded him that she was Sofu’s customer. They then mentioned that she must be quite capable to have crossed that bridge to the palace, which was difficult for them to cross, and Sofu said, “I suppose so.”

14. Victor then popped up out of nowhere in the shop holding a teapot and tray of desserts. “Oh? That round bridge? Is it that difficult to cross?” Sofu got mad at Victor and demanded to know if he was the one who taught Catherine how to get into his good books. Victor tried to soothe him, “Don’t be angry. I really want to see a real-life mermaid~” He added, “Besides, I’m already on this ship; I can’t back out now. I’m interested in knowing her father’s whereabouts too.” This got Sofu musing as to where that “foolish prince’s” ship went (unclear if he was referring to the prince in the fairy tale or the “prince” whom Fantome Noir was parted from). Anyway, we cut to an old-timey ship with sails that was tossed about by waves in a storm and a prince being swept overboard. He seemed to have been dragged down by a few sinister-looking mermaids into the depths of the ocean.

15. Catherine and Hans have arrived back at their hotel. Hans received a telegram; he seemed to have gotten upset at it and crumpled the telegram up. Catherine asked what it was about and he answered that it was nothing. Just before she went to sleep that night, Catherine vaguely noted that Hans seemed to really like Fantome Noir when he first saw her and wondered if mature women were more attractive. We then cut to Hans stalking about furtively in a poverty-stricken district. He noted that it smelled familiar and was just like the place which he had grown up in.

#psoh #petshop of horrors #pet shop of horrors #psoh passage hen #petshop of horrors passage hen #pet shop of horrors passage hen #matsuri akino #akino matsuri #sofu d

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tatselk · 5 years ago

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PSOH Passage Hen: Chapter 4 “Degagement”

Back with another (long) summary/review of the PSOH Passage Hen chapters!

My summaries/reviews of the previous chapters can be found here: [1], [2], [3].

SUMMARY

1. This chapter began with Sofu D and Victor at Victor’s place. The two had just finished watching a musical performance by female Japanese entertainers (I think they are geishas?). These entertainers were in town for the Paris Expo and Sofu got to know them through the Japanese ambassador who was based in Paris.

2. They were abruptly interrupted by an old friend of Victor’s whom he hasn’t seen in half a year (who’s like a louder, scruffier and ruder version of Leon). I’m not sure what this guy’s given name is (might be Alphonse) so I will be referring to him by his surname Dubois. Dubois is an explorer/ hunter who is tasked by zoos and museums to bring back animals from all over the world. Dubois brought Victor a frog as a present from his most recent expedition to the Guiana Highlands.

3. At some point, Dubois made some disparaging remarks about pets being mere playthings and compared them to the entertainers whom he sees as overly servile in pandering to men. He also added that he preferred strong pets and women whom he could spar/ do battle with. Sofu smirked and said that the petshop can offer that.

4. Sofu, Victor, Dubois moved over to the petshop. In the underground tunnels of the shop, they came across a Japanese-looking wooden house. As they went in, arrows and shurikens suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Sofu presented Dubois with a katana and Dubois was thrown into a sword fight. After being quickly defeated, everyone (other than Dubois’s opponent as she was still a novice) sat down to a banquet where it was revealed that Dubois’s opponent is one of the abovementioned entertainers, who is also a warrior.

5. We cut to the novice entertainer/warrior (Nadeshiko) who is in the petshop backroom telling one of the petshop trainers from Chapter 3 that she doesn’t want to go to sleep yet and that she wants to attend the banquet. The petshop trainer chuckled and said that the Little Princess was still too young. Nadeshiko protested that she isn’t a kid anymore and that her elder sisters and deceased mother were already married at her age.

6. The petshop trainer’s younger brother, Lou (the male escort/ hyena who also appeared in Chapter 3) appeared and teased Nadeshiko about being a kid. The petshop trainer told Lou off for teasing Nadeshiko and informed him that Nadeshiko is a special guest whom Sofu entrusted to her to mould into a proper married lady. Nadeshiko bowed down before the siblings and requested for their guidance in becoming an outstanding woman. She also mentioned that she left Japan for her family’s honour and for herself to avenge her father’s death.

7. We cut to Sofu and Victor who are out on a walk. They met Japan’s ambassador, who was busy overseeing the construction of the Japanese site at the Paris Expo. Dubois also turned up: he was involved in the Paris Expo as there was a plan to exhibit rare animals from all over the world at the Paris Expo. A long discussion re: animals, mythological creatures, the expedition to the Guiana Highlands, cultural differences ensued. At one point, Dubois mentioned that when Japanese people said “We will handle it in the appropriate way. Let’s discuss it tomorrow.”, they really just meant “no”. Sofu noted that this is similar to what Chinese and Korean people do. At the end of the discussion, Dubois asked Sofu to arrange for a meeting between him and Nadeshiko. Sofu simply smiled and said, “I will handle it in the appropriate way”.

8. We then cut to Nadeshiko who is learning how to arrange flowers. Distracted by her thoughts on Dubois, Nadeshiko made a mess of the flowers she was arranging and stomped off. Nadeshiko asked the petshop trainer for permission to go out onto the streets to look for the man who killed her father. But the petshop trainer basically told her “no” in a roundabout manner.

9. The scene cuts to Dubois who was trying to find his way around the Parisian underground tunnels. Undeterred by Sofu’s diplomatic refusal of his request to meet Nadeshiko again, Dubois decided to sneak into the petshop at night to meet her. At one point, Dubois was attacked by what looked like cat-fox hybrids with bat wings. Just when it looked like Dubois was going to be eaten alive by these hybrids, Nadeshiko turned up and put a stop to things.

10. Dubois was about to launch into a conversation with Nadeshiko when they heard voices of people(?) who were frantically looking for Nadeshiko. Nadeshiko grabbed hold of Dubois and dragged him away to escape them. They eventually emerged above ground near the Luxor Obelisk. Nadeshiko bandaged Dubois’s shoulder injury for him and they talked abit about the moon and Japan before coming to the main point. Dubois got all excited when he heard that Nadeshiko wanted to meet him again. BUT it turned out that Nadeshiko wanted the chance to spar with him again because she enjoyed the challenge. So Dubois asked if she wanted to try a different kind of challenge.

11. We cut to the so-called challenge which Dubois proposed, which is… essentially going out on a date at a café. Which happened to include a near kiss by Dubois disguised as an attempt to lick cream off Nadeshiko’s face. Which resulted in Nadeshiko drawing her katana and preparing to attack him with it. Dubois only managed to avoid serious injury to himself for the second time that evening with the intervention of Lou.

12. Back at the pet shop, a Serious Conversation took place between Sofu and Nadeshiko. Sofu reminded her of her mission and of how she had to return to Japan to get married to her fiancé or else her family would be destroyed. He also asked her not to get too chummy with Dubois. Nadeshiko said not to mention Dubois since it gave her a stomach ache just thinking about him (seems that she just has a crush on him but she doesn’t understand it as such) and abruptly went off to bed. The petshop trainer and Lou turned up to tease Sofu about not knowing how to handle a young girl like Nadeshiko. Sofu dropped an ominous-sounding line that he was alright with her crush if it would bring her happiness BUT that she cannot be with Dubois. HMM…

13. Sofu and Victor are at the Japanese site of the Paris Expo again. They admired a vase with a very life-like crab carved on it and the Japanese ambassador mentioned some belief that objects will come alive/ gain a soul when they have reached 70 years old. Some discussion about religion ensued. As Victor and the ambassador turned away and walked off, the crab on the vase waved to Sofu. Sofu shushed the crab and walked away whilst looking back with a fond little smile. After leaving the site, Sofu and Victor had tea at a café. Sofu was pissed at Dubois taking advantage of Nadeshiko whilst Victor tried to smooth things over and apologised on his friend’s behalf.

14. We cut to the petshop backrooms with Sofu telling Nadeshiko that Dubois wanted to invite her to his house to apologise for his behaviour. She was reluctant to do so until she was goaded into it by the petshop trainer and Lou who asked if she was too scared to face her enemy.

15. Sofu, Nadeshiko and Victor are off to visit Dubois’s place in the countryside! Dubois greeted them whilst dressed formally. Sofu began picking at what he sees as Dubois’s inadequacies but Victor quickly distracted him with desserts. This left Dubois and Nadeshiko to talk to each other in peace. Dubois then showed Nadeshiko to a room full of weapons, told her to take her pick and they happily began sparring with each other.

16. In the middle of their sparring, Dubois suddenly confessed his feelings for Nadeshiko and asked her how she felt about him. Nadeshiko mentioned that she had a fiancé in Japan and that it was her duty to marry him since she was the only female left in her family etc. Things took a dramatic turn when Dubois pinned her down and said that he always gets what he wants. In turn, Nadeshiko punched Dubois, held him down with her katana against his neck and told him that she would choose her own husband and then… kissed him full on the lips. Wow ok. (blinks)

17. Sofu and Victor overheard shouting and quickly went over to the weapons room. They found Nadeshiko standing over Dubois and looking as though she had drunk his blood. Nadeshiko ran off into the woods surrounding the house and Sofu chased after her, where it was revealed that she is actually a wolf.

18. We cut back to the house where Victor was helping Dubois up. Dubois was confused as to what happened because he thought things were going great with the kissing so he stuck his tongue into Nadeshiko’s mouth and got bitten by her. Even Victor was kinda done with Dubois at this point. Lol. Also, Dubois seemed to like Nadeshiko even more now than he had seen her fighting spirit…? But anyway, we discover that what really freaked Nadeshiko out wasn’t really Dubois’s forwardness but him showing her his collection of taxidermied animals. We then cut back to Sofu/ Nadeshiko where she was crying about how Dubois was the one who killed her father (a wolf in Dubois’s taxidermy collection).

19. Back at the petshop after the visit, Nadeshiko was still upset over her discovery about Dubois. But Nadeshiko pulled herself together, declared that she would avenge her father herself and asked Sofu to pass an invitation to Dubois in which she challenged him to a duel. An intense discussion between Sofu and Dubois ensued with Victor desperately trying to keep the peace (and not have this blow up into something affecting France-Japan relations).

20. The duel between Dubois and Nadeshiko was an intense one. When Nadeshiko got knocked to the ground, she basically transformed into a wolf in her rage and bit Dubois on the neck. In turn, Dubois turned into a werewolf and then a wolf. Victor freaked out and Sofu calmly explained that this was the Beast of Gévaudan which Victor had asked Sofu to show him (refer to Chapter 3). It turned out that one of Dubois’s great-great grandfather, who was like some beast who looked like a human, married a human woman and had a son with him. So Dubois is like half-human, half-animal I guess?

21. Just when Wolf!Dubois looked like he was going to kill Wolf!Nadeshiko by biting her on the neck, Victor shouted at Wolf!Dubois to stop. Wolf!Dubois realised what he was doing and licked Wolf!Nadeshiko instead, who licked him in return. They gradually turned back into human form and Dubois asked Nadeshiko to marry him. Nadeshiko looked towards Sofu who’s all, “Fine. Do what you want. -_-‘’”. The couple then turned back into wolves as they ran off happily into the woods. Victor shouted out his congratulations after them and told them to come back and look for him if they ever got cold or hungry.

22. Internally, Sofu ruminated and still had doubts about whether allowing Dubois and Nadeshiko to be together was the right thing to do. This then cut to the last page where it was stated that in 1905 (5 years after this story), the last male Japanese wolf died and the Japanese wolf became extinct.

THOUGHTS

1. I quite liked the overarching theme of dealing with cultural differences (e.g. communication styles, religious beliefs). But I thought more could have been made of these to contribute to the conflict between Dubois and Nadeshiko, rather than just more or less collapsing it into a “you killed my father and I will avenge him” storyline.

2. Heh, Sofu D just looked So Done with all the romance that went on in this chapter (at least 80% of his expressions were like this: -_-‘’). Whereas in Chapter 3, he was all supportive of Kalina’s goal to exact revenge on men by becoming a famed demi-monde. Now there’s the cold and disdainful Sofu I know from PSOH! XD

3. For the first time ever in this series, Victor looked like the Serious and Responsible One because Dubois is even more (ridiculously) frivolous and flirtatious than the self-admittedly hedonistic Victor.

4. Since I began reading this series, I was convinced that Victor is an adorable cinnamon roll. But with every chapter that I read, I keep getting MORE evidence of his cinnamon roll-ness. :) On a side note, the difference in the dynamics between Sofu/Victor and D/Leon seems to be that the former is like a Slytherin/Hufflepuff relationship whilst the latter is more of a Ravenclaw/Gryffindor relationship.

5. I am kinda fascinated with the winged cat-fox hybrids. Were they planted in the tunnels by Sofu to protect the petshop? Were the winged cat-fox hybrids the inspiration/ models for Sofu’s Q-chan form in PSOH?

#psoh #petshop of horrors passage hen #matsuri akino #akino matsuri #passage hen #pet shop of horrors passage hen #psoh passage hen #sofu d #petshop of horrors #pet shop of horrors

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tatselk · 6 years ago

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PSOH Passage Hen: Chapter 3 “Discipline”

After a long hiatus, get ready for an equally long post. As always, I’m not sure of the exact spelling of pretty much all the names.

SUMMARY

1. This chapter revolves around Kalina, a young girl from the countryside who just moved to Paris and is living with her older cousin, Tajianna. Kalina first gets to know Sofu D as she works at a patisserie, which Sofu visits, and is asked to make a delivery to the pet shop.

2. After leaving the pet shop, Kalina chanced upon Tajianna and a man. Tajianna introduces him as Matthias, a student at the University of Paris. Matthias asks Tajianna and Kalina to dinner later that day and promises to bring a friend along. Kalina assumes that Matthias is Tajianna’s boyfriend. As Kalina is worried that she does not have the proper clothes to dine out in, Tajianna loans Kalina her own clothes. At the dinner, Matthias introduces his friend, Damian, who is a law student at the University of Paris.

3. After the dinner, Tajianna tells Kalina that Damian is not a good catch, as it would take a long time for him to achieve material success as a lawyer or civil servant. In comparison, Matthias is better as he studies literature and is set to inherit his family’s fortune. Tajianna ended their conversation by mentioning that their family’s financial troubles would be over if they can find a rich man to depend on.

4. One day, Damian goes to see Kalina at the patisserie and invites her out to dinner later that day. Kalina rejects him by saying that she has to do her part-time job of sewing. Damian then hands Kalina a small box and leaves. Kalina opens the box and wonders what the contents of the box are. Sofu D randomly sneaks up behind Kalina and informed her that the contents of the box are Calissoms, which are almond biscuits from Provence.

5. The story cuts to Damian and Kalina going out. As they were walking across a bridge, they saw Tajianna behaving intimately with a random guy. Kalina was confused as to why Tajianna is with this guy if she is already in a relationship with Matthias. Damian is surprised at Kalina’s confusion.

6. The next scene then cuts to Kalina confronting Tajianna about the latter working as a social escort. Tajianna defends herself by saying that what she is doing is different from prostitution and that all young women working in Paris engage in such work to earn extra money. Kalina hurriedly returns the clothes, which Tajianna had lent her earlier, as she feels that they are tainted. Tajianna got angry and said that as Kalina also wishes to send money to her family back home, she might as well engage in such work too. At this point, Tajianna suddenly feels nauseous and we discover that she is pregnant.

7. We then cut to Tajianna telling Matthias about her pregnancy. Doubting the baby is his, Matthias gives Tajianna some money to get an abortion and leaves. Tajianna commits suicide by jumping into the Seine. We then see Kalina at Tajianna’s funeral. Damian attends the funeral and Kalina asks him where Matthias is. Damian informs her that Matthias has returned home to marry his fiancée. Upset, Kalina pulled away from Matthias and said that, “All men are the same”.

8. Kalina returns back to her rented apartment. However, she was kicked out as she could not afford to pay the rent which the landlady asked for. Whilst out on the streets, Kalina bumped into a sleazy old guy who propositioned her. She pushed him away in disgust, ran off and was nearly knocked down by a passing carriage. Luckily, Sofu turned up in time to pull Kalina to safety.

9. Back at the petshop, Sofu offered Kalina a pet to comfort her in her grief over Taijianna. Kalina protested that she could not afford the pet and expressed the wish of wanting to make lots of money and showing everyone what she was made of, in order to seek revenge for herself and Tajianna. How could Sofu pass up the opportunity to grab such a customer?

10. Sofu brought Kalina to a backroom of the petshop where there were many beautiful and finely-dressed women. Kalina freaked out, thinking Sofu brought her to a brothel. Sofu noted that the women are powerful demimondaines and basically convinced Kalina that to achieve her goals, she should become one of them. What followed was an intensive course of training by these women (I’m gonna refer to them as “petshop trainers” for lack of a better term) to transform Kalina into a demimondaine.

11. We then cut to Sofu visiting Victor at his place. In return for promising to show Victor the Beast of Gévaudan, Sofu wrangled an invitation from Victor to a special performance at the Paris Opera for both himself and Kalina for Kalina’s “debut”. Kalina managed to charm the masses and after the performance, lots of people swarmed around Victor asking after Kalina. Victor told them that Kalina is a distant relative of his who was in Paris for a visit.

12. Post-Opera, Victor visited the petshop to drop off a whole bunch of letters, which Kalina’s admirers left with him. To be able to pass herself off as a lady with her admirers, Sofu brought Kalina round to various establishments to give her real-life practice of interacting with people in that guise. Kalina managed to do so admirably; even her former bosses at the patisserie where she worked at did not recognise her.

13. Whilst out and about with Sofu, Kalina also met Damian who didn’t recognise her at first. When he did, he was disappointed and said, “So you are just a prostitute after all.” Kalina slapped Damian in anger and ran off in the carriage with Sofu. Sofu and Kalina’s next stop was the Eiffel Tower. Sofu’s point was basically to show Kalina that metaphorically, she could be above all of Paris/ rule over Paris and hence strengthen Kalina’s resolve to become a first-class demimondaine.

14. Kalina’s efforts paid off when she received invitations from two grande dames of Parisian high society. Kalina needs to impress at least one of them so that she would have an entrée into Society. Whilst attending a ball hosted by one of these grande dames, Kalina saw Matthias who didn’t recognise her from before and was asking her to dance. She freaked out and nearly blurted out the whole thing that happened with Matthias and Tajianna (which would have blown her cover of being Victor’s relative). Luckily, an animal from the petshop, in the guise of a young male escort, cut in in time and asked her to dance.

15. After meeting with the two grande dames, Kalina was thoroughly unimpressed. One is a countess of the ancien regime who is wrapped up in the glories of the past/ overly concerned with pedigree to care about things in the present, like caring for her son. The other is basically a nouveau riche who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. When speaking to her petshop trainers about the snobbish attitudes of these grande dames and the other upper-class people whom she has met, Kalina described them as hungry animals which are regarding their prey.

16. Time for some good, old fashioned petshop-related deaths! The Parisian high society/ jungle analogy continues. On a night of the full moon, the young male escort I mentioned from before shape-shifted into a hyena and attacked his sugar mommy. Similar violent attacks by hyenas occurred all over Paris.

17. From the newspapers brought in by a shocked Victor the next morning, we learnt that a fire destroyed the manor of the countess, the nouveau riche was ruined by a failed investment and that eyewitnesses saw the shadows of large, hound-like figures on the streets near certain manors. But all Victor really cared about was whether the hound-like figures were the Beasts of Gévaudan (which Sofu had promised to show him) and if so, why didn’t they come to HIS manor so that he could see them. -_-‘’ Sofu wryly noted that if the Beasts did visit Victor, he won’t even be at the petshop at that point.

18. Upon finding out about the fall of the two grande dames, Kalina went into philosophical musings about the fleeting nature of fame and fortune etc. and wondered about what path she should take from now on. Kalina started binge-eating some stuff nearby and found a box of biscuits which were the same kind as the Calissoms Damian had given her. Even though Kalina was angry that Damian had called her a prostitute, she was also happy that he was the only person who could still recognise her, even after the transformation she went through. 1 year later, we (and Damian) discover that Kalina had enrolled at the University of Paris, with the aim of securing suffrage for women in France. And, uhh, I guess they lived happily ever after?

THOUGHTS

1. So far, this is my favourite chapter in Passage Hen as: (i) the themes of poverty and prostitution inject a dose of realism into the series and remind us that late 19th century Paris was not all about patisseries, aristocrats and parties (on a sidenote, was strongly reminded of the story of Fantine from Les Miserables by what happened to Tajianna); and (ii) it is nice to see Sofu D liking and actually helping out a human, since he doesn’t seem to have done that before.

2. It was kinda amusing that upon seeing Sofu and Kalina in the same opera box as Victor, the people at the Opera immediately assumed that Victor was carrying on with both of them.

3. When Victor was being bombarded by questions about Kalina and lying about her being his distant relative, someone said, “So that means she is not your lover??” Victor’s response was, “Oh no, of course not. If not, how could I sit together with Count D?” And someone was all, “Ehh!? What does that mean?” Yes, Victor, could you please be less cryptic and tell us exactly what you mean by that??? 0_0

4. Petshop-related (metaphorical) deaths/ ruins finally happened! You didn’t think Sofu was really only hanging around in Paris for the sweets and cakes, did you? XD

5. I’m not sure if Victor NOT receiving a visit from Sofu’s hyenas attests to him being an adorable cinnamon roll who ought not to be punished or to if it shows Sofu’s (secret) attachment to him. HMM…

#psoh #petshop of horrors #pet shop of horrors #passage hen #psoh passage hen #petshop of horrors passage hen #pet shop of horrors passage hen #sofu d #matsuri akino

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tatselk · 7 years ago

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PSOH Passage Hen: Chapter 2 “Debut”

SUMMARY

1. This focuses on a friend of Victor’s, who is in charge of the performances at the Paris National Theatre and the Moulin Rouge. I’m not sure how his name should be translated so I’m just going to refer to him as “The Director”.

2. The Director is holding an audition to find performers for an upcoming performance, which is to be coordinated with the Paris Exposition (note: Victor is a major investor in this performance). Victor and Sofu D attends the audition, at which the Victor accidentally lets slip that the performers at the underground plaza beneath Sofu D’s shop (which was revealed to Victor in Chapter 1) are better. Intent on finding the best singer possible for the performance, regardless of the singer’s background, the Director requests to attend the underground plaza. Sofu D reluctantly agrees to it.

3. Whilst at the underground plaza, the Director does find an incredible singer named Orpheus. Unfortunately, the singer is a castrato and the making of castratis have been outlawed for years. After some internal struggle, the Director decides to just go for it and hire him.

4. The next bit rather abruptly cuts to Sofu D showing Victor some creatures in a tank in the pet shop. As Victor still looks rather listless, Count D asks him if anything is the matter. Victor replies that he feels bad about revealing the existence of the underground plaza to the Director as it is rare that Sofu D and himself have a secret which is only known to the 2 of them.

5. Sofu D decides to show Victor some half-human magical creatures at the back of the pet shop, like centaurs, griffins and mermaids, so that there would once more be a secret that only belongs to both of them. At some point, sirens show up and Sofu D hurriedly asks Victor to put on earplugs so that he won’t be lured by the sirens’ song.

6. The scene cuts to Sofu D who is welcoming a lady into the pet shop. The lady tries to stab Sofu D, but was quickly subdued by the animals at the pet shop. The lady then reveals that she tried to attack Sofu D as it is because he introduced Orpheus to the Director that she failed to get past the auditions. The lady also says that she can’t forgive the Director and that she hopes the performance for the Paris Expo fails. Upon hearing this, Sofu D offers her a pet, which he promises will grant her wish.

7. The scene then cuts to rehearsals at the opera theatre, which are going well. The Director is pleased but recalls an incident 10 years earlier where his superior at the Opera national de Paris refused to let the best dancer play the leading role, as she wasn’t French. The superior was of the opinion that this is necessary to retain the purity of France’s cultural heritage. Angry with this, the Director had quit and worked hard elsewhere to come up with the most entertaining and mass-market performances possible.

8. Coming back to the present rehearsals, it was discovered that all the performers who are French nationals have fallen sick. The remaining performers are all students from overseas or immigrants. The Director wonders briefly if he was sabotaged because he is a Jew. Regardless, the Director quickly bounces back and is determined to put on an impressive performance.

9. We then cut to Victor and the Director attending another audition. The lady who tried to stab Sofu D turned up again. We learn second-hand about how her audition went as Victor bursts into Sofu D’s shop to tell him about it. Victor is super uncomfortable with Orpheus and the lady performing together as, even though they are supposed to be performing a love duet together, they are actually fighting with each other and sound discordant together. Victor also calls this lady a siren.

10. After further conversation between Victor and Sofu D on various subjects, including the trouble with introducing alien animal species into an untouched environment, they were interrupted by a moustachioed guy who bursts in and hugs Sofu D tightly whilst exclaiming “Long time no see!! I hope you have been well!!” Sofu D has no idea who this is and it transpires that Sofu D’s father had known Moustachioed Guy (again, no idea how to translate his name) whilst the latter was at the University of Vienna. Anyway, Moustachioed Guy asks Sofu D to tell his father that Moustachioed Guy’s long-running research will be completed soon and gives him a book which is presumably about said research.

11. And now we cut back to the Director’s highly anticipated opera performance, “Voyage du Nouveau Siècle”. Victor and Sofu D attend the opening night together. Sofu D reminds Victor to put on earplugs. The opera is basically about a young gentleman, “Baron Viktor”, who goes with his maid (played by the lady who tried to attack Sofu D) on an all-around-the-world trip to find a wife.

12. We come to a point in the opera where “Baron Viktor” is stranded on a deserted island and meets a queen, played by Orpheus. The queen says that she will marry “Baron Viktor” if he can sing a song with her in her country’s language. Before the singing begins, Sofu D reminds Victor about the earplugs.

13. This duet was going well when it was interrupted by “Baron Viktor”’s maid, who pleads with the queen to save “Baron Viktor”’s life, in exchange for hers. Victor freaked out at this point as he thought that she is a siren whose song would steal the souls of the audience. However, Sofu D reassures him that she is not a siren, but another mythical creature whose song is one of love, not competition. The performance ends well.

14. We cut to the Director leaving on a train. He intends to produce more shows in America, which will involve people from all over the world and can be appreciated by everyone. The Director invites Victor and Sofu D to watch these shows. After seeing the Director off, Victor invites Sofu D to have crepes with him, which Sofu D readily accepts. Along the way, Victor and Sofu D have a little conversation in which Sofu D tells Victor that the Moustachioed Guy’s research is about the 4 major blood groups and the future possibility of carrying out blood transfusions, regardless of gender, race or nationality.

THOUGHTS

1. I really didn’t like this story, as it was too long and meandering and had way too many abrupt changes in the scenes. Also, there seem to be various plotholes/ unresolved issues. Examples include:

(i). Is Orpheus a human castrato? If so, what is he doing at Sofu D’s shop? If not, what sort of animal is he? Also, in hiring him, is the Director considered a customer of Sofu D?

(ii). How did the pet, which Sofu D gave the lady who tried to stab him, help her achieve her wish of the performance not being a success, when it seems to have been successful?

(iii). What was the point of Sofu D’s reminders to Victor to put on the earplugs if there aren’t any sirens singing during the opera performance?

2. For me, the main highlight of this chapter was the relationship between Victor and Sofu D. Gosh, Victor is so cute and sweet and in love with the animals at the pet shop! And Victor and Sofu D are hanging out together so much!! Plus, I note that this is only Chapter 2 of this series. Remember how long it took for Leon to willingly hang out at the pet shop in the original PSOH? I’m now shipping VictorXSofu D almost as hard as LeonXCount D. :)

3. The other thing I found intriguing about this chapter was the research on the 4 major blood groups. There are so many questions I have about it: why is Sofu D’s father interested in the research on different human blood types when the Count Ds aren’t human? Was he involved in any part of this research? Does he plan to help or harm humans with the knowledge from this research?

4. Seriously, at this point, I’m running out of names for keeping track of all the various Count Ds. Haha.

5. There was one moment of self-reference in the “Voyage du Nouveau Siècle”, which I found hilarious. Earlier on in this chapter, Victor told the Director that his aim in life is to taste good food, drink fine wines, dress fashionably and pursue beautiful ladies. In the opening act of the opera performance, “Baron Viktor” said this exact line. :D

#psoh #petshop of horrors #pet shop of horrors #psoh passage hen #petshop of horrors passage hen #pet shop of horrors passage hen #sofu d #victor #baron victor #matsuri akino #akino matsuri #count d

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tatselk · 7 years ago

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PSOH Passage Hen: Chapter 1 “Decheance”

Started PSOH Passage Hen right after the end of Shin PSOH/ PSOH Tokyo. Here’s what I think about it so far…

SETTING 1. Sofu D runs a pet shop in an elegant shopping passage in District 2 of late 19th Century Paris. Unlike in the original PSOH and Shin PSOH, the backroom of the pet shop is no longer a maze of corridors with Chinese-style décor, but what appears to be the Parisian tunnels/ sewers.

2. Sofu D’s equivalent of Leon Orcot/ Vesca Howell is a young, affable and cultivated French nobleman, Baron Victor de Li/Le[something something] (not sure as to how his surname should be translated). Victor hangs around Sofu D as he is totally enamoured with the animals at the pet shop and keeps buying more and more pets. Also, Victor is totally into grabbing Sofu D’s hands and piling him with sweets. :D

SUMMARY 1. Victor first visits the pet shop and sees Sofu D. Victor wishes to buy a special pet for the girl accompanying him. Sofu D offers the girl a Lhasa Apso breeding pair for free, on the condition that she will return their descendants to the shop. The girl readily accepts. (NOTE: the girl drops out of the story after this as she rejected Victor and was too busy with the Lhasa Apsos). Then Sofu D turns to Victor and asks him what sort of pet he wishes to have. Victor asks for a dodo bird. Sofu D asks for more time to procure it.

2. When Victor returns another day, Sofu D offers him a choice between a pair of passenger pigeons and a dodo bird; Victor picks the former. It is here that Sofu D shows Victor the human forms of the various animals. Victor was confused at first but eventually rolls with it. After this, Victor basically turned his home into a zoo and kept hanging around/ helping out at the pet shop, in lieu of attending the Parisian salons and theatre like he used to.

3. On one of Victor’s visits at the pet shop, Sofu D receives a customer, Eugénie de Montijo, who is the wife of Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. She wishes to obtain a Kirin, in order to place a young boy (not sure how to translate his name), who is a descendent of one of Napoleon I’s illegitimate sons, in power. Eugénie knew that Napoleon I obtained power because he had a Kirin. Sofu D asks Eugénie to bring the boy with her, in order to see whether the Kirin would accept him.

4. When Eugénie and the boy turned up, Sofu D seems to have tried to deter them from their mission by first showing them skeletons in the Parisian catacombs and explaining that a king must be able to understand, know and rise above the deaths of millions. Subsequently, Sofu D shows them what seem to be the ghosts of Louis the 16th and Marie Antoinette, who apparently attack them.

5. The scene then cuts to Sofu D, Victor, Eugénie and the boy, who are at the top of the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile and are regaining consciousness. Sofu D informs them that, unfortunately, the Kirin deems the boy unworthy. Dejected, Eugénie wonders if the Bonapartes’ age of glory is truly over. Sofu D notes that, even without the Bonapartes returning to power, their lasting influence can be felt everywhere from Haussmann’s renovation of Paris to the excellent water and sewerage systems beneath the Parisian streets. Eugénie tearfully accepts this point and leaves with the boy.

THOUGHTS

1. Sofu D and Victor are so cute and comfortable with each other! It reminds me of the dynamics between Count D and Leon in the original PSOH, but fluffier and less antagonistic. Probably helps that Victor is so chill, loves the animals at the pet shop and is not working in law enforcement. Haha.

2. Despite the revenge-against-humans mission which the Count Ds have had since generations ago, the Sofu D here is all nice and not-revenge-y. And totally accepting of Victor hanging around him. Now I am worried if Victor eventually does something really awful that made Sofu D go into a “hate all humans” mode. 0_0

3. The Count Ds never fail to have a sweet tooth. In fact, Sofu D confessed to Victor that he chose his shop location largely because there are good desserts available nearby. Haha.

4. It is pretty clear by now that the Count Ds definitely have A Type: human (definitely), taller by about half a head (yes), athletic figure (yup), easily excitable (no question), blonde-haired (presumed).

5. After Vesca’s, Leon’s and Taizu’s scepticism/ inability to accept the mythical creatures of the pet shop, it is pretty funny to see how Victor just rolls with any and all weirdness which happens with Sofu D’s animals. Lol.

6. We discover that an Eastern European princess granted the Count Ds with the title of “Count”. Wonder if we will know how/ why this title was granted…

7. The art quality in PSOH Passage Hen is probably the worst of the 3 PSOH series. I dunno why, everything is just less detailed and more slipshod. It is pretty weird, considering how I thought the art become tidier and more elaborate in Shin PSOH. -_-‘’

#psoh #petshop of horrors #pet shop of horrors #count d #sofu d #victor #paris #petshop of horrors passage hen #psoh passage hen #pet shop of horrors passage hen #matsuri akino

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