Alice in the Country of Hearts Volume 4

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By Quin Rose and Soumei Hoshino, based on the game by Quin Rose. Released in Japan as “Heart no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Wonder World~” by Mag Garden, serialized in the magazine Comic Blade Avarus. Released in North America by Tokyopop.

I’ve been reading and enjoying the Alice manga since it started coming out, but haven’t reviewed one till now. Mostly it was because I wasn’t quite sure what to say. Alice is one of those mangas where I greatly enjoy the experience, but wonder why. I’m clearly not the target audience, nor is this title particularly deep or filled with broad comedy. It is what it sets out to be: a manga adaptation of a game for females, with the plot being “which guy will she pick?”. Of course, being a manga adaptation of the game, she’s not about to pick anyone.

I decided to review it, however, after taking a look at another manga based off of an otome game, Ugly Duckling’s Love Revolution, which I reviewed back in July. That was a good example of what NOT to do when basing a manga off of a game – it required knowing the game, and kept all the characters as ciphers, so you didn’t really care.

That’s absolutely not what’s happening here. First off, the manga is actually telling a story. I’ve never played the Alice game, so I don’t know if it’s retelling the basic events of the game or what, but you won’t be lost at all if you’re unaware of its origins. Secondly, while the guys in this manga *are* total otome game stereotypes (the brooding sullen guy, the mean sarcastic guy, the cheery obsessive guy, the cheery psychotic guy…), the main male characters are all fleshed out and made interesting, if only as you want to see if they’re all going to snap and kill each other.

For once, the ‘All Girls Want Bad Boys’ idea works well, as you aren’t left choosing between a bunch of bland bishies, but guys with real emotional problems. Likely NONE of these idiots would make a good boyfriend for Alice, which is a good thing as I suspect that, like Ugly Duckling, she won’t be choosing one in this manga, not wanting to annoy readers who picked a different path. Getting away from the romance game genre allows these jerks to be JERKS, and the manga is better for it. It also helps you really admire Alice’s steadfast attempts to be friends with most of them, even the ones that she normally can’t stand such as Peter or Blood.

The manga started out being only loosely based on the Wonderland books, and that’s even more accurate here, as Volume 4 has little to no resemblance to anyone from the original Carroll. Instead we’re left to wonder about the world Alice is trapped in, and what the basics of it are. We’re given very little information, and even then only in bits, so have to work out for ourselves not just what is going on here, and the character’s motivations, but also why they’re all obsessed with Alice. Yes, yes, she’s the protagonist, but it goes further than the game origins. It reminded me almost of Suzumiya Haruhi, with Ace at one point saying that he plans to kill Alice just to see what happens, a plotline that should be very familiar to readers of that series.

Of course, I admit a lot of the philosophical questions are purely in my head. The manga is not really interested in providing me answers to my thoughts, or to delve (much) into psychological issues. The only weak point in this volume I found to be the start of the final chapter, which clearly makes a leap forward into the other two games available in this series, mentioning the other worlds (Clover, Diamonds, etc.) available to Alice and also introducing the Joker. A better segue would have made things more smooth – instead I wonder if there are chapters missing.

This is much better than I’d expected, and I’m pleased that it’s been such a huge success for Tokyopop – consistently in the NYT bestseller lists for weeks. It’s not going to blow anyone away, but I’d definitely recommend it as an excellent example of how to write an adaptation of a ‘romance’ game where you have to pick one amongst all the various options – whether those games be tons of women OR men. Recommended.

Rin-Ne Volume 4

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By Rumiko Takahashi. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz.

As if to answer my prayers for more flawed and annoying characters, this volume of Rin-Ne brings the big guns. Here we meet his father Sabato. It’s always a pleasure seeing Takahashi draw parents. They’re so aggressively horrible, and totally play to her strengths, as the more awful a character is the better the comedic potential. From UY with Ataru’s parents constantly wishing he’d never been born and Ryuunosuke’s psychotic and abusive dad to Genma ‘why yes, I traumatized my son over and over as a child to make him grow stronger’ Saotome, Takahashi’s fathers are unrivaled.

And here we have Sabato Rokudo, who manages to set new lows. If this manga wasn’t essentially a lighthearted fantasy comedy, it would be grotesque. (Fans of Hayate the Combat Butler, and his parents, know what I’m talking about here.) Here we have a man who tells his young son that his mother is dead, then holds a competition to see who can be his “new mom”. He’s liberally stealing money from his son’s bank account and leaving huge debts with IOUs in his son’s name. And best of all, he’s desperately trying to get his son to become a MURDERER in order to hold up his failing company of murderers.

We’d seen Rinne get upset about damashigamis in the previous volume, and this one goes further into explaining why. It blithely discusses the fact that damishigamis go after the souls of humans who aren’t supposed to die yet, and take them to the afterlife. Um… that’s killing them. No two ways around it. And his father is one of the top damishigamis around, and wants his son to take over the family business? If I weren’t already so used to ‘hilarious’ Takahashi plots that are stunningly horrific when looked at seriously, I’d be disgusted.

Luckily, the funny is also brought. There’s tons of silliness here, ranging from Sabato’s various weapons of debt (I wonder if the debt/death puns are solely a Western coincidence?), to the side chatter from all the various girls and demons Sabato has charmed into wanting to marry him, and of course the simple one-liner gags, like Sakura’s cell having not only a barred jail door but an easily walked-through sliding panel door. It’s a froth of silly that’s not going to make anyone gasp or cheer, but is fun and relaxing.

As for our two leads, Rinne is getting a little better, especially as he seems to finally be realizing that he’s falling in love with Sakura. In fact, the rest of the cast all seem to be acting on the basic idea that they’re already a couple. Which would be great, if only we knew what Sakura felt about it. Or indeed at all. If anything, she gets even WORSE here, being the most implacable and unemotional Takahashi girl I’ve seen since Kasumi Tendou. I actually have to wonder if it’s getting to be a plot point, rather than a deliberate choice. This was especially noticeable at the end of the arc with Rinne’s father, where she’s asked if the statement about her dating Rinne is a lie. Her reply is “Hmmm… I guess so” with a blithe smile on her face. Later we see her in her room thinking she was happy Rinne wasn’t forced into a marriage, but again her face is so implacable it’s suspicious. Did she leave her temper in the afterlife?

I enjoyed this book more than the previous two. Even though this can be a very frustrating series, I’m prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt. And I hope we can see more of Rinne’s horrible father soon – he adds much needed spice.

Manga the week of 9/22

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A small but filling dose of manga next week.

Vertical has the second volume of Felipe Smith’s manga from Japan, Peepo Choo. The first volume was very much in your face. I may review all 3 at once, since I never got a chance to review the first one.

Viz has what they list on their website as the final volume of the Shakugan no Shana manga, which may come as a surprise to those who know that Vol. 7 came out in Japan a while ago. When I first saw this, I thought it might be due to low sales, but it could also be a licensing issue, or something else. I still think calling an unfinished series finished is the wrong way to handle it. There’s also the first volume of the low key samurai manga House of Five Leaves from Natsume Ono.

Yen has a pile of stuff. I’m not certain if this volume of With the Light is the last (the creator died before it was finished), but it’s still worth your time. Bunny Drop is eagerly awaited by the whole blogging community, while Bamboo Blade is eagerly awaited by ME, and I believe this volume is the one that ‘catches up’ to the anime series. Cat Paradise is a series I couldn’t get into, but lots of my friends like it, and it manages to exist in Champion Red without being creepy, always a plus. This is its final volume. And for those who enjoyed the yaoi otaku weirdness of My Girlfriend’s A Geek in manga form, now you can read the novel it’s based on.