hey, seemingly i'm the first one here...*grin grin* does this mean that imdb users don't watch anime *that* often? no, no means to offend anyone...but there are very great shows from japan, and POH is one of them.
in my opinion the original manga (the comic) is of a lighter style, funnier, full of humour and wits, but the animators made the show more serious...it was a *dark* anime, quite a bit of bloody things here and there, depressing at times, but the plot was pretty attractive: a mysterious petshop in Chinatown owned by a gorgeous young Chinese, selling all kinds of strange/rare species, all customers must sign a contract with the owner and if the contract is broken, tragic consequences will follow...a young American police investigator starts to pursue the shop owner relentlessly, believing that he was a smuggler, only to unfold the chilling stories of the petshop one by one.
the author ripped off all the mental defence we have and *coldly* reveals our human weakness. the customers, seeking comfort and relief in their pets, often destroy their paradise once again when reason surrenders to passion. love, guilt, friendship, betrayal...the pets seem to represent our desires and feelings, which we often let go wild and bring devastating consequences...(when talking about this anime i always tend to be this *deep*...)
i must mention the artwork and the seiyuu (voice actor) here. as this show only draws 4 chapters from a 10-volume manga, the artwork was done in extreme care, and the effect was splendid as well as delicate, with an air of oriential mystery. the seiyuu for the central character, the shop owner (titled as Count D, and all 4 story titles begin with his initial, D) was flawless with a charming, darkly sweet and somewhat *dangerous* voice...and the *cute investigator* in this movie has an energetic voice which suits nicely with his bursts of blond hair^^
i gave it a 9 out of 10. in one word: excellent.
P.S. just to those who like this movie: the manga is a must-read if you love the story, for the manga is far more interesting with more stories and pet catalogs at the end of every volume...and you get to read about the unsolved mystery of the Count's origin, his family and his personal pet (the animation doesn't have time to answer all these) and maybe a bit about the rather *unusual* relationship between the Count and the *cute investigator* LOL