Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo: Volume 1    by Akino Matsuri Order:  USA  Can TOKYOPOP, 2008 (2008) Paperback      Reviewed by Ricki Marking-Camuto Pet Shop of Horrors is one of my all-time favorite manga series, and I was sad when it ended after a good eight-volume run. Therefore, I was overjoyed when I found out that Matsuri Akino had created a sequel to the series, Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo. Count D has left the US and opened his bizarre pet shop in Neo Chinatown, Tokyo. Once again, he is selling strange and exotic pets that grant their new owners' desires in unusual ways. The pets have a tendency to take on human form, which leads Neo Chinatown's owner's son Woo-Fei Rau (aka Taizuu), to believe that Count D is running some sort of brothel. He tries to investigate, but D shows him that he is trafficking in nothing more than pets. Each story in Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo concerns a different owner with a different problem, and the pet who is able to fulfill their heart's desire. However, it would not be called a horror novel if all of these dreams had happy endings. The most terrifying story in the collection is actually the side story Door that centers on D's grandfather. The pet in this story is not the scary part; the real horror comes from the fact that the pet the elder Count D sells to Eva Braun sparks Hitler's mad pursuit of a master race. Akino's artwork is just as beautiful and imaginative as it was in the original Pet Shop of Horrors. The stories themselves are also very well-done and psychologically suspenseful. However, the frame story is lacking a little. Maybe over the course of future volumes, the relationship between Count D and Taizuu will deepen, even as Taizuu tries to prove D is running a prostitution ring. But no matter what happens between the two, I do not believe it could ever rival the relationship D had with Orcot, the detective investigating the murders that seemingly connect to D's Chinatown pet shop in the first series. Pet Shop of Horrors fans definitely need to check out this beautifully-drawn and suspenseful sequel. Even if you have never tried any of Matsuri Akino's previously works, pick up Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo and you will be hooked. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews