The Bottom Line
A girl enters an exclusive academy and struggles to fit in while staying true to herself. This sounds familiar, but Gakuen Alice puts a new twist on the term 'gifted students' by giving the kids and teachers mysterious powers. A surprising mix of sweetness and magic with a touch of darkness, Gakuen Alice is off to a promising start, provided you can suspend your disbelief for a moment and just enjoy the ride.
Pros
- An interesting twist on the magical school / psychic kids theme
- A fully-realized fantasy scenario that is magical and fun with a hint of darkness
- Cute and quirky characters with secrets that unfold gradually to keep the reader intrigued
Cons
- An odd mix of comedy, drama, reality and fantasy that sometimes doesn't quite add up
- Mostly androgynous and somewhat anorexic characters make it tricky to sort out who's who
Description
- Original Title: Gakuen Arisu (Japan)
- Author & Artist: Tachibana Higuchi
- Publishers:
TokyoPop (US)
Hakusensha (Japan) - ISBN: 978-1-4278-0319-1
- Cover Price: $9.99 US / $12.50 CANADA / £6.99 UK
- Age Rating:
T – Teens Age 13+
for mild violence, bullying
More about content ratings. - Manga Genres:
- Shojo (Girls') Manga
- Comedy
- Drama
- Fantasy / Magic
- Paranormal / Supernatural
- US Publication Date: December 2007
Japan Publication Date: 2003 - Book Description: 192 pages, black and white illustrations
Guide Review - Gakuen Alice Volume 1
When Mikan, an ordinary girl from the country goes to visit her friend who goes to a school for gifted children, she soon enough finds out what these 'gifts' are in this first volume of Gakuen Alice. "Gakuen" means "school" in Japanese, and "Alice" refers to these special powers and the students who have them. Most Alices are harmless but some have fearsome psychic abilities and a sense of superiority to 'ordinary' people.
Mikan's best friend Hotaru has an Alice – she's a gifted inventor. When Hotaru is accepted into the Alice Academy, heart-broken Mikan goes to Tokyo to be reunited with pal. What Mikan doesn't realize is that she too has an Alice – a special gift that earns her admission into the school.
With characters that are on the cusp of puberty, there's not a lot of romance here. The emphasis is on deep friendship between gal-pals Hotaru and Mikan, and bad boys Natsume and Luca (although it's a mystery to me why sullen Hotaru is BFF with hyper-dramatic Mikan).
Since this is a fantasy, to fully enjoy Gakuen Alice, you have to be willing to ignore some detours from reality. Such as… 1) in a dense metropolis like Tokyo, how does the Alice Academy takes up space equivalent to New York's Central Park without real estate developers knocking on its door? 2) How does Mikan run away and get instantly enrolled in an exclusive school without her parents calling the police? 3) Baby chicks the size of Godzilla?! Oops. Spoiler. Sorry.
Gakuen Alice offers a surprising mix of comedy, fantasy and drama. From page to page, the story's tone changes: slapstick comedy segues into dark scenes of classmate cruelty followed by encounters with cute forest critters. You never know what to expect next. All in all, Gakuen Alice is an intriguing shojo manga that has the magical potential to enthrall tween readers looking for the next big thing.
