Customer Reviews

Alice 19th, Vol. 1: Lotis Master

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is another series by manga expert Yu Watase, and it marks a departure for her in a number of ways. Stylistically it is similarly executed to "Ayashi no Ceres" or "Fushigi Yugi: Mysterious Play" but at the core it is very different.

The story centers around a young Japanese girl named Alice who (oddly enough) one day finds a rabbit in the middle of a busy intersection. Concerned for it's welfare, she boldly runs out to the middle of the street to save it only to be nearly hit by oncoming traffic as well. To her surprise she is aided by fellow high school member Kyo Wakamiya, an upper classman whom Alice has been lusting after since she first saw him in her older sister Mayura's archery class... problem is that she is not the only one to fall prey to Kyo's understated charms, her sister also has a thing for him. The real problem lies in the fact that Alice is a very shy girl, not one prone to saying what she wants or feels, so when her sister steps in and gives Kyo a present for his seventeenth birthday, along with pledging her love to him, Alice stands by in private, agonizing suffering, and not only accepts that they will be a couple but also encourages Kyo to accept Mayura's love. Seeing as how Mayura is a beauty and freely goes after what she wants, Alice figures she has no chance.

Sounds like a typical love story Shojo doesn't it? I assure you, that is only the beginning. It quickly becomes apparent to Alice that the rabbit she had saved is no ordinary leveret. When Alice first rescues it the rabbit leaves behind a bracelet with a glowing jewel on it and disappears. Kyo helps her look for it for a few days, and manages to find it, but by this time Alice has already discovered the rabbit's true nature. She is actually a shape shifting creature named Nyozeka, a creature determined to teach Alice the ways of the Lotis Master. A Lotis Master is one whom masters the use of words for magical usage, more or less. Nyozeka, in her true form, appears as a partial rabbit young girl, a sight that astounds and confuses Alice when she first sees her. The other forms she takes is an ordinary rabbit and a small ball of fluff with rabbit ears large enough to fit into Alice's pocket. At first Alice resists this creature, especially when Kyo and Mayura get together and she is left to deal with her unrequited love, but an incident caused by Alice that results in Mayura's disappearance encourages the young heroine to undertake the journey to become a Lotis Master. There is also the issue of a young man named Tatsuya Matsujo (also a member of the archery club) who Mayura sets up with Alice before she disappears. He becomes insanely jealous of her friendship with Kyo and attempts to force himself upon Alice. Tatsuya shows up periodically pursuing Alice, claiming she is "his girl" and must do what he says. So, of course, there is a love triangle (rectangle, in this case) but it is not just typical Shojo manga, and it seems like it is only going to get more interesting.

Kyo has a secret that reveals itself in the end of the first volume, and Alice must find her sister. Is it enough of a plot to keep me reading? Definitely. Is it as good as other Watase works... I'm not sure about that. For one thing, the illustrations in the other series are tighter and much better executed. The illustrations here do not have as much body to them. Another slight flaw comes with Nyozeka, but that just may be a personal preference of mine. I don't tend to incline to stories with animal like creatures helping out the protagonists to discover things about themselves or to reach a higher plain of existence... unless it's "Donny Darko" (which coincidentally also had a rabbit fiend helping him along, for those of you who have not seen it yet). This is just an inclination isolated to me though, I'm sure many people will find this right up their alley. One other thing I noticed is that Alice just seems so under developed and young... I know that's the point, that she develop through the series, but she just did not seem to have that inner strength from the get go that, say, Miaka from "Fushigi Yugi" or Aya from "Ayashi no Ceres" started out with. I know she will develop as a result from her adventures, but to me she just seems so...young. Perhaps it is unfair to compare this piece solely against previous series that Watase has created, but seeing as how I loved both of those series, and I was looking forward to this, I can't feel that this just falls a little short of that perfect curve. It is, however, a worthwhile read, as it still has an interesting plotline around certain characters, but for me it is not the pinnacle of Watase's work. It might be better as an animated series than a serialized manga. That being said, I think it deserves a rating of 4 stars, just because of these slight imperfections.

Alice 19th was the first manga I had ever read, my friend let me lend it from her and I loved it! It's about a high school freshman girl named Alice Seno, she has an older sister named Mayura who is pretty and popular, while Alice is just sort of plain and shy... Alice has a crush on Kyo, a very brave (And cute I might add.) boy who is her sisters age, and sadly her sister has a crush on him too. But it's not all normal like that-I'm a reviewer, and meh job is too REVIEW- So continuing...

There is PLENTY of magic in this book...(TONS in the series.) When Alice magicly hears voices telling her not to save a bunny who is in the middle of an intersection, and she does it anyway, she learns that the bunny is really a magic bunny named Neozecka. When Neozecka tells Alice that she is a Lotis Master, it turns her life upside down...and her sister I might say...

Ok, on with my darned reviewer lecture again, I'm the reviewer-and I am going to tell you that this series is not all perfect, clean, and innocent. I really must say that this book is more for teens...even if I'm not a teen...(Baaaaad me.) The first book is really clean, but as the books continue there are quite a few 'bad' words. Not VERY bad ones though, just slight. I must warn though-in the fifth book, Mayura goes naked for about five pages or so but she was only naked because she ment to take a bath. One things I also like about this series and that I have seen in other manga is that this book lacks in 'gory' pictures...so it's kinda hard to get grossed out.

There are good things though-the pictures are cute and incredible, and hilariously funny. So many great expressions from peeved to jolly-good-happy. There is also quite alot of humer too; lots of it...and me being the weird one likes dat. ^^ Although if you are really into romance you might get annoyed, the author somtimes ruins a good moment by humor. Oh well, me no care! There are also quite a few kissin' scenes, some people get annoyed and/or grossed out by those but that's another thing that does not bother me... heh, heh.

Happy reading ^__^ I hoped this review helped you!

I'm just asking you quick: please don't descriminate because it says kid's review. I'm older and smarter than my age.
Okay. I'll say it straight out. I'm your typical-ish girl american teenager, who hates (I wish I could triple-bold that) any sort of Manga or Shojo or whatever kind of book this is. My friend has made me try many, many series and I have hated them all. She almost gave up hope: until she tried Alice 19th.
I was bored anyway, so I decided to try it. WHOA.

This first one is very good - not the best in the set, but still very good. Alice is hard to describe. She's not quite shy. She just holds back her feelings, because she doesn't like hurting anybody else's. So, she hides behind her beautiful sister Mayura, and is hardly ever noticed. She likes cell phones and email and all of that, and rarely has long discussions, or emotional ones. The biggest feeling she hides back is her love of Mayura's boyfriend, Kyo. Kyo and Mayura are both in the archery club, and seem to be deep in love, but Alice loves Kyo, too. Being herself, she holds back, which later causes a whole world of trouble. Then, she sees a rabbit just lying in the street. She hears voices, saying, "Who cares? It's just a stupid rabbit," or "I'm not killing myself for some bunny." She runs out to save it, and does-but now the car is coming for her. It just so happens that Kyo is there, and he saves them all. Then, the rabbit turns out to be a magical Girl-Bunny creature, who I think is extremely cute. She tries to tell Alice about her Courage and the Lotis words, words with powers that can save people from the darkness in them all, but Alice doesn't really seem to care.
Until she tells her sister Mayura she wants her to dissapear. Why?
Because she does.
All of the books are about The Lotis Words, the dark, the love she has for Kyo, Alice's unapparent courage, but the main plot is how she and Kyo must team up in order to save Mayura, who they both need in their own way.

I have read all the books of the series, and I'm actually going to buy all seven at some point. While some areas of this book are not so well done, in my humble opinion, this is a piece of work that is original, filled with action, more than a little romance (which, come to think of it, I don't love either), and definitely a very cute bunny. The characters that appear are hilarious, adding some comedy to the serious situation. I love certain quotes in the book-they make me laugh all the time.
FINALLY,AND I HOPE YOU READ THIS PART, THESE ARE THE MOST ADDICTIVE BOOKS EVER, EVEN IF YOU HATE THEM. YOU CANNOT STOP READING THEM. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

If you just heard about this somehow, or if you are bored to death, you should find a place to borrow this book or buy it sometime. This is definitely the best (and only) book in whatever category this is I have ever read.

Alice 19th Volume One was the most enjoyable Shôjo series I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The art is improved from Ceres, and is very beautiful. It draws in a bit of the Magical Girl genre, but not too much. It has a bit of a western feel to it, making it much different than Watase-san's previous works. The characters all look different, and seem more like real people, unlike in Fushigi Yuugi. The storyline is decent, and very original. Watase-san throws in comedy when also being serious at the same time, and shows things from two different points of view. The translation is good, and one of VIZ's best, in my opinion. This is an enjoyable series for both Guys and girls, and is recomended.

Koenma

When I first picked Alice 19th up I was thinking to myself, "Hummm... Yu Watase ... not my favorite author... too romancy..." But I bought it anyway just to give it a try since I had with Ayashi no Ceres and Fushigi Yuugi(by the way . . . if you see the FY anime, I highly recommned Japanese with Subtitles otherwise you'll hate it! But the manga's cool)Well I was instantly pulled into the story by Alice's dilemma with her own feelings becauase unlike Miakas or Ayas it just seemed more real and palpable. There were parts where I actually wanted to tear up because they tugged at my heart strings. And now I'm anticipating the next volume, because this one just leaves you hanging there with a small twitch in your undereye. But don't let that throw you off, because if cliffhangers discouraged people, Lord of the Rings would have never become to popular. It's a very good manga, the story line has a few cliche's that resemeble Watase's previous works, but otherwise you'll see no resemeblence between Aya/Miaka and Alice. Watase's art as also matured and perfected in it's beauty. If you thought Fushigi Yuugi was gorgeous, you'll fall head over heels in love with the Alice artwork. This is an A class manga that any girl, and maybe a few open minded guys, can really get into. It deals with real problems while also incorporating magical fantasy into the mix. As a fan of Japanese Anime and Manga for over seven years now, I highly recommend this as a must have for any manga fans collection.

The best Manga ever!!!!! Well the basic story revolves around alice; A meek, quite heroin who is completely in love with Kyo. You see she was walking to school, and saw a bunny in the middle of the road. No one else cared, but Alice couldn't just let it die. So she jumped and caught it as a car was hurdling towards it. She would have died if Kyo hadn't pushed her out of the way. See she knew Kyo from her sister's archery class, but never had the courage to talk to him. Okay the bunny turns out to be a half girl/bunny who's there to tell alice about the lotis words(long story, you'll have to read it). Now back to Kyo, her sister is also in love with him! But Kyo doesn't know who he likes, plus Alice just can't tell him how she feels. You'll never be able to put this down untill the end, where you'll want to reread it over and over (I've already read it 12 times). It's a story of love, mysterious forces, and gut splitting comedy( I laughed so hard I fell off my bed, and in some parts cried despearetly).

From Yu Watase, the creator of the definitive bishounen fantasy anime/manga Fushigi Yuugi, as well as the popular Ceres, comes this new manga inspired by the old Lewis Caroll story.

Set in modern day Tokyo, Alice Seno is a young teenager who has trouble speaking her mind. Her older sister Mayura goes to the same school as her, and she has a major crush on a boy in her archery club, Kyo. But so does Alice.

One day, Alice notices a strange rabbit lying in the middle of the road. She runs out to save it from getting run over, and she in turn is saved by none other than Kyo. The rabbit is earing a strange collar with a red jewel on it, and it runs off leaving the jewel with Alice.

The rabbit then finds Alice later on and reveals itself to be a small bunny girl named Nyozeka, although they call her Bunny in the American version. She goes on to tell Alice that she is someone gifted with the ability to use Lotus Words which are like encantations that when said will actually bend reality for the speaker, something like granting wishes.

It might seem like a good thing to have this power, but Alice is very shy and has problems standing up for herself. This costs her when she accidently wishes for her sister to dissappear, and she does! She doen't vanish into nothing, but more becomes blocked from Alice's life. Later on, Alice inadvertantly uses her new power to look into the mind of a boy she jilted which causes the whole school to become a living
nightmare.

This is kind of a new turn for Watase's work which were usually a little more original. Where as this is bending to the "magical girl" brand of manga like Cardcaptor Sakura, it does contain some elements which make it more dramatic. Alice is pretty decent shoujo title, as if the cute bunny girl wasn't a big enough pull for it.

I'll say this right away-- I'm not really a Watase fan. Fushigi Yugi was cool, until it got to the ninth volume, and I stopped reading it (it totally turned me OFF). Then I picked up Ceres: Celestial Legend and I found myself disliking the main character (she's kind of a bimbo with no morals). And then I found Imadoki! Nowadays... and I totally fell in love! I bought all the books at once (and there are only five, so it was pretty easy on my wallet), and I found myself reading them over and over again. After Imadoki I decided to give Ceres another shot, and now I like it okay. Then I found out about Zettai kareshi! (He'll be my boyfriend) so I read translations over the internet, and this was followed by Appare Jipangu, which is one of my favorite mangas. It was after all this that I picked up Alice 19th. Yuu Watase's manga stories all have similar themes: sex, love, horror, and violence. Alice 19th cuts down on the sex and violnece and turns on the horror and love, and it is one good manga. Alice Seno is a shy girl with a crush on an upperclassman, Kyo Wakamiya. She constantly feels overshadowed by Mayura, her older sister, whom is pretty and popular (quite the opposite of Alice). One day, Alice spots a white rabbit in the midle of a busy intersection and she saves it's life. Shortly afterwards, the rabbit, who turns out to be a magical rabbit called Neozeka, tells her that she is a master of the Lotis words and that she has the ability to save the world! As she adapts to this, Alice tells her siter, Mayura (who has now become her crushes girlfriend) that she wishes she would just dissapear, and this is exactly what she does. Mayura is now no where to be found, so Alice teams up with Kyo, the handsome but aloof boy she loves, Frey, a super cute Norwegian boy who wants to marry Alice (and flirts with every girl he sees), and Neozeka, the adorable rabbit girl, to find out what has happened to Mayura, and become Lotis masters (with tons of humor along the way!). This managa is really cenosored for Yuu Watase,and it could be for teens, but the rating keeps kids who could read this from reading it. It's really funny, and Watase draws really cute guys (especially blondie Frey). The romance isn't obsessive, with questions of morality and all that, and there are a few plot twists along the way. I definetly reccommend this story.

Ok, first of all I would like to say that I absolutely adore Watase. Her artwork is absolutely gorgeous! I've read all of her works out in the US: Imadoki!, Ceres: Celestial Legend, Fushigi Yugi, and Alice 19th. I would personally recommend all of these books if you're looking for a good read(especially Ceres. Or Fruits Basket, but that's a different author). All of her series are similiar in their central theme but still excel because of the wonderful characters and intense storyline. Alice 19th is no exception. The story is very Watase in it's craziness(not that that is a bad thing). A lot of people find it confusing but that is probably because they haven't read Watase before. She enjoys throwing screaming fastballs at us. The manga itself is extremely enjoyable(you'll probably find yourself staying up late just to find out what happens next) and beatifully done. The romance is sprinkled sparcely throughout and lends a moment of peacefulness to the otherwise fast-moving storyline. Although some parents may not want their children to read this because of the age rating(my parents don't want me to read any manga so...) this series is very clean compared to most of her other. If you enjoy Watase's works then I suggest Imadoki! for children who are a little younger(I still can't figure out WHY that got a 16 or older rating...) Overall, Alice 19th is a wonderful manga although it is not my favorite compared to Yu Watase's other fantastic series( I LOVE CERES!! FY can be too redundant... although I still love it... ah, I'm completely hooked on it...) Thanks for listening to the ramblings of a Watase fangirl!

Yuu Watase is the manga-ka of many popular manga including "Fushigi Yugi" and "Absolute Boyfriend". But I have to say that though "Alice 19th" didn't get as much hype as some of her other series, it's one of the best.

The story follows Alice, a young girl who is in love with her sister's boyfriend, Kyo. She feels overshadowed by her older sister, Mayura, and is too shy to stick up for herself or say what's on her mind. One day, she rescues an odd rabbit. On that same day, she tells her sister that she wishes she would disappear, and surprisingly, her wish comes true. The rabbit, who turns out to be a magical bunny girl named Nyozeka, tells Alice that she is a "Lotis master", and must use the power of the Lotis words to bring her sister back. Using the Lotis words, she can enter the "inner heart" of people and fight the ugliness that dwells inside them.

I enjoyed the story, and I liked the theme of the power of words. It works especially well with Alice's shy character as she learns to express herself and have courage. There are also themes of the darkness that lives inside everyone, and I thought this was realistic and well-done.

The characters are likable and more developed than those in some of Watase's other series. Alice really does grow throughout the manga. Kyo also shows depth as he struggles with his difficult past, and the romance between the two is sweet. I liked the gentle affection between them. It was much deeper than the romance in "Fushigi Yugi" and "Ceres". The characters do brood often, and it can seem a little overly dramatic, but it's the kind of drama that's fun to indulge in. And Frey's character lightens up the mood when it gets too heavy. Frey is well done too, and although he's mostly there for comedic relief, he has his own story. Nyozeka also adds humor, and she guides Alice when she gets confused. Mayura is vengeful, but at times she's conflicted by her desire for revenge and her love for her little sister. Chris is a good character too, but since he enters the story much later, I won't talk about him. The only two characters I felt didn't get enough attention were Billy and Mei Lin.

The art is beautiful. If you haven't read any of Watase's other works, you're in for a treat. There are plenty of hot guys to oggle at, and I think Alice is one of Watase's prettiest heroines. The costumes and scenery are also pretty to look at.

The only problem "Alice 19th" suffers from (aside from the lack of characterization with Billy and Mei Lin) is its length. It's only seven volumes, but I started to feel like things were dragging and got a little frustrated. This is what prevented me from giving it five stars.

If you like shojo, "Alice 19th" is great. Definitely one to look out for.