[Character Commentary] Pandora Hearts 1: Oz Vessalius

So I just reread the entirety of Mochizuki Jun's Pandora Hearts and now I am compelled to write a commentary for its characters (just because I have a lot of feelings for them). I've mentioned my interest to this outstanding manga before on another post on my main blog, and writing this is just another way of showing my love for it. A little warning though, there will probably be a lot of "I love *insert character here" so much" because I really do find a lot of characters in this story lovable. Despite having their flaws, there are points of them which I really adore.

Before I start, I should inform you that I would only write commentaries on the characters which appear on the cover for each volume (each volume shows one major character that has appeared in the series), because I, apparently, can't write about every single character who appears in the story. Overall, there are 24 volumes, which goes to say I'd be commenting about 24 personalities, which is a lot. So bear with me on this one, as this could be real long.

I don't really know how I will do this, but I guess I will try not to tell the entire story, and rather just analyze how one character interacts with another, and how they generally act as a person. Of course, if you haven't read Pandora Hearts, this would be really confusing. But that's okay because I really just want to let out my feelings, and you're probably just bored, anyway.

Also I'll be showing their pictures (the art is reaaaaaaaalllyyy gorgeous), so you can feast your eyes while you read. And so you can imagine the character better. The first image will be the characters as seen in the cover of the volume, and the second image will be them in their character chairs.

Okay I'll start.

1. OZ VESSALIUS

Name: Oz Vessalius

General response towards the character : Protect this baby at all cost!

Generally, Oz is a happy-go-lucky kind of a 15-year old. At the start, we see him playing with his little sister, Ada, and his servant, Gilbert. He is somewhat brave as he is not afraid of getting in trouble, but he is not brave in terms of confronting his own father (who doesn't regard him and talk to him at all), and this is because his father had rejected him once and he's afraid he might experience that again. Oz also has a different way of looking at some things. Like for example, he may have Gilbert as his servant but he tries his hardest to protect Gilbert, as he believes it is the duty of a master to protect their servant, and not the other way around. Overall, Oz looks for happiness from his surroundings and is very fond of his family (except his father) and the people he wants to be friends with.

Throughout the story, Oz is constantly presented as part of a trio, along with Alice and Gilbert. The three of them are together most of the time, so I'll start commenting on this part.

After Oz finds out the truth about Gilbert, he clings to him as if nothing has changed. Oz is particularly close with Gilbert in a way that there is this Master-Servant bond between them that is really strong and mutual, that it comes out more as familial, despite them not sharing the same blood. Despite that, Gilbert can be seen as more attached to Oz, which I will expound further on Gilbert's entry. You can still see the Master-Servant relationship they have, it's just that Oz is more like an adviser rather than a master who orders and orders. Oz regards Alice on a more platonic way. Alice is not human, she is a chain (creatures that come from the Abyss), and throughout the first half of the story, it is a fact that Oz is contracted (bound) to Alice, in a way that Oz can command and use Alice's power when he wants to. Despite this, Alice claims ownership towards Oz, and Oz doesn't feel any objection towards this. He regards Alice as a character he needs to help, and not as someone he can use to defend him when his in danger. From this, I can say that Oz doesn't have a sense of hierarchy or status when it comes to the people he is fond of. He treats everyone equally and he doesn't demand respect from others, even when he deserves it.

Throughout the story, Oz suffers a tremendous loss of self. Not in a way that he is losing his sanity, but in a way that the story pushed a frightening fact on him, and that who he believes he is is wrong. Very wrong. He also has a habit of accepting things as it is, so even if he is confused, he doesn't inquire about it with other people, so as not to bother them. With this, he is willing to handle all his weight so he could not force it to others. This kind of character is something that Elliot Nightray finds repulsive. Oz is very fond towards Elliot, even though their first meeting didn't really start out with Elliot wanting to be friends with Oz at all. Oz genuinely wants to be friends with Elliot because of two reasons I could think of. One, Elliot (and Leo) becomes the only boy around his age when the entire story takes place, so he is naturally comfortable with him even though their ideals oppose. And two, he wants to close the gap that happens to resides between the Vessalius and Nightray families. He doesn't introduce to Elliot that he's a Vessalius, of course. Throughout the Lutwidge Academy Arc, where both characters first meet, Oz's desire to be friends with Elliot just grows bigger and bigger, and it's actually really cute and heartwarming seeing it. With this, I can say that Oz really doesn't care about a person's background at all. He sees a person as a person first, before deciding whether they are enemies or friends.

This stays true when Oz meets Echo (I'm sorry I'm taking a huge breath because I ship Oz and Echo very much, it actually hurts it really hurts). Echo is also a servant of the Nightray Household, particularly to Vincent Nightray. One thing about Oz is that he has a tendency to woo girls. Oz is, frankly, very good-looking. Even at his coming of age-ceremony, he was looking for a cute girl he wants to meet. For this part, I'd be talking about how he regards Echo. See, in the story, although Oz is really close towards Alice, I find it particularly interesting that I can't seem to sense a feeling of romance between them at all. I feel it much strongly towards Oz and Echo, and I learned to understand this because I realized how similar both these characters are. I've mentioned before that Oz suffers a tremendous loss of self throughout the story. That is because we find out that Oz really isn't human at all, and he doesn't even own a body (GOD I WANNA CRY). Oz is a special case. As to the difference between the Oz x Alice and Oz x Echo pair, Oz's relationship with Alice are backed up by Alice's memories of him as a plush toy, that's why I could never see them as more than friends. This was why Oz always seems like he is under control of Alice when in fact he is far more stronger than Alice. Back then, the only thing Oz was supposed to do was to keep Alice smiling, as a toy who provides happiness and support. The Oz Vessalius which has the truest personification of the Oz we know, the one which developed attitude and personality through the people around him, could only be seen when he is with Echo. Oz is far more comfortable with Echo than I thought. Even when they've just met (not even in good terms), Oz was very friendly towards Echo. And I know this is just Oz being himself (No B-Rabbit or Jack influence), but it is quite different as to when Oz wanted to be friends with Elliot. He wants Elliot's camaraderie (as members of different households), but he offers companionship and encouragement towards Echo, wanting her to experience the fullness of life despite being someone's slave. Oz naturally is comfortable with Echo because unbeknownst to him, they are actually very similar. This similarity between Oz and Echo will be expanded further when Echo's entry comes. Here I just wanna emphasize as to why I really applaud the manga to show different kinds of friendship one can offer. This particularly to Oz x Alice, Ox x Elliot, and Oz x Echo.

When Oz wakes up after escaping the Abyss, Alice is already contracted to him. He meets Xerxes Break and Sharon Rainsworth immediately. Xerxes is knowledgeable about chains, and knowing Oz had escaped Abyss through illegal contraction with Alice the B-Rabbit, he determines that Alice would pose danger. Oz, however, is protective towards Alice despite having only met her for a brief moment. He is determined that since Alice had helped him escape Abyss, he would not let any harm befall Alice. Oz's relationship with Break is something I can't quite put. A part of this is mainly because Break is such a mysterious character. Xerxes Break is the first person ever to make Oz question about himself. And Oz, being shocked with this, feels danger towards Break. But Oz doesn't easily get scared. In fact, he retorts to Break. Right after Break had warned Oz about the possibility of Alice lying to him, he replied, with a straight face, that Break and Sharon could be lying to him more, since they haven't really explained much about the organization, Pandora at all, so he trusts Alice, who is a chain, more than them (at that point). Oz had met Sharon Rainsworth on his coming-of-age ceremony before. He had a crush on her but it wasn't really that serious. There aren't really a lot of interactions between Oz and Sharon. Nevertheless, Oz considers Break and Sharon to be close friends.

The only thing Oz is really afraid of, as I've mentioned before, is confronting his father (and also, witnessing the Tragedy of Sablier). As a child, Oz had been rejected by his father. His father doesn't talk to him at all, and he doesn't recognize Oz as his son. He doesn't even refer to Oz as a person, and simply calls him "that thing". This put a heavy thorn towards Oz and any form of communication towards his father would lead him to believe he'd be hurt and rejected once more. Oz's mother passed away, and so Oz is very much closer towards his uncle, Oscar Vessalius, and his little sister, Ada. I will expound Oz's relationship with Oscar in great detail in Oscar's entry (because I might not finish this and cry instead if I explain it here now when I am not ready). The lack of love from parents is probably a factor as to why Oz clings to friendship so much. He knows how it feels to not have someone love you, even those bound to you by blood, and, as the person that he is, he doesn't like anyone to feel this way at all. No matter what their background is, nobody deserves to feel rejected and alone, so he tries his hardest to fix ties between people. And what's sadder is that throughout the story, Oz is the one questioning more and more if he has any right to exist at all. The good thing about Oz is that he isn't stubborn. He might have his own ideals, but he listens to the encouragements the people around him tells him. And he also tries to be stronger and doesn't let negativity affect him. He is firm but he is not hard-headed.

Oz could be seen as naive, since despite having gone through a lot, he still sees things in a positive way, believes in "friendship", clings to hope, and everything of the sorts. Even when confronted with Leo (who is at that time supposedly an enemy), he announces that them being friends is a reason not to fight. He doesn't welcome violence as a way to solve a problem, yet he is determined to find a solution in a safer way. He thinks about others to the point that he doesn't care about himself (probably a product of Zai Vessalius' rejection towards him), and he wants nothing more than harmony between him and the people he loves. Oz is very warm and he is someone I really want to hug immediately if I see them get sad.

Overall, Oz is someone who really treasures the things that he has. He doesn't ask for much, just enough. And he will do anything to protect this world of his so much, no matter how much discouragement he'd hear.

#charactercommentary