Beautiful creatures called "Alichino" grant any wish to those who find them--but at a price! A young lady searching for an Alichino wants to bring her brother back to life. She meets Tsugiri, a handsome young man who she thinks is an Alichino. While Tsugiri turns out to be a mere mortal, he does have a mysterious connection with these rare creatures--a connection that brings him and those around him grave danger!
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This example of shojo, manga for teen girls, will captivate anyone by its art alone. The story involves "Alichinos," beautiful, supernatural beings hunted by humans because they have the power to grant wishes; in fact, the name means "those who entice," and the Alichinos actually feed on the souls of those who seek them out. They especially hunger for the "Kusabi," humans born with exceptionally powerful souls who are the only beings able to kill an Alichino. This opening installment introduces Tsugiri, a handsome young Kusabi who is hunted by some Alichinos and protected by others, including one in owl form who has a penchant for spouting sardonic observations. Both sides of Alichinos are mustering their forces as the book ends, so more plot complications are sure to follow. The story has a dark, magical flow to it, but its main attraction is unquestionably the art. Shurei is an award-winning artist in Japan, but this is her first outing as both writer and artist. Each page of this work is a lovely composition, full of the swirling fabric and hair typical of manga but worked into a layout that is as intriguing as it is beautiful. Her exquisitely fine line work and intense characterization enliven the story, while drawing the readers' attention from panel to panel. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–This volume–the first of a trilogy–introduces the concept of the Alichino, a beautiful creature that grants wishes but is inherently evil and feeds off human weaknesses. Tsugiri meets a girl in search of the enigmatic creature in order to save her brother's life. Throughout their quest, he learns more about the Alichino and himself, and this graphic novel ends in a tense cliff-hanger that leaves readers wanting more. Through traditional back-to-front and right-to-left manga illustrations, they are drawn into a world of heroic fantasy and the quest to distinguish between good and evil and truth and deception. This book has exquisite illustrations and a compelling story line. Although delivered with minimal violence, sex, and harsh language, the story is complex. With the wildfire popularity of manga with teens, this volume is an excellent choice for graphic-novel collections.–Jennifer Feigelman, Plattekill Public Library, Modena, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and Boring,
By tami "pinkboxcutter" (chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Alichino Volume 1 (Alichino (Prebound)) (Paperback)
This is one of those titles that had so much going for it. As soon I saw the posterboy for Alichino, Tsurigi, on the Tokyopop website a year ago, I was entralled, although the only other information available was the title. I thought I'd never seen such beautiful manga art-and the prospect of an entire series having the same consistent style of gothic beauty was enough for me to commit myself to the entire thing, even though it wasn't going to be released for a while. As more information became available, I further and further intrigued; the author had won a prestigious award for her work; the preview was stunning, and throughly interesting; the chracter profiles on the site were fascinating. When i researched on the net, readers of the Japanese version had nothing but good to say.
I was so anxious to get Alichino that I acutally made a store employee search for it in the backroom when I couldn't find it on the shelf-and then I bought it on the spot. While I flipped through it on the ride home, a few things worried me- Alichino is only 130 pages long, a little more than half the size of a typical manga. and I already knew before that it was a discontinued series in japan, meaning only 3 were available for the planned english translation. I wondered how far they could possibly get with the story. Also, the poster included had somewhat faded colors. I looked foward to this book so much it almost pains me to say it, but Alichino is actually pretty boring... The story, which doesn't really have any "plot" to it just yet, is more of an introduction. It seemed that all there was was explanation to what WOULD be in the future books, but with not much substance in the beginning. All dialogue is spent describing important terms like "Kusabi" and "Alichino" in long, drawn-out conversations. This was probably meant to add mysticism to what the two are, but in actuality it could have been summed up with the same impact with just a few lines. The fact that the characters, although breathtakingly lovely in thier costumes, are expressionless, only adds to a feeling of malaise. They literally never change expression, not even in intense moments. Alichino is not a bad piece of work- every image has its own individuality, a discordant attractiveness that is reminiscent of Clover- each page able to stand on its own as an artpiece. Somehow, though, it just doesn't work. It reminded me of an artstyle where words accompany the image, which makes it SUGGGESTIVE of story- but still REMAINS an artpeice. While I could enjoy each beautifully dark picture, i couldn't string them together to make a story. This is the first manga that's ever bored me- but it is a visual masterpiece, which is why it's at a 3. Also, judging from all the good press I got from other sources- it's going to get better, probably. Not only that, I think Tokyopop messed up the translation a little,which, even though it lowers the quality of the book, should leave the overall storyline intact. I very seriously considered returning this- but now I am keeping it for aesthetics, and on the gamble that the next book will be better. I am definitely flipping through it first in the store, though. I think anyone who was as swept away as I was by art should get the artbook instead of grappling with the manga. (It's expensive, though.)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
We want your soul,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Alichino Volume 1 (Alichino (Prebound)) (Paperback)
Sometimes artwork is so beautiful that it can cover up even a limp storyline. That's nearly the case in the first volume of "Alichino," where exquisite beings grant wishes in exchange for the wisher's soul. It's graced with Kouyu Shurei's exquisite, luxurious artwork, but it can't hide that the plot is thin as worn silk.
Tsugiri has a deep loathing of alichino, even the one who lives in the same house as him. And when he stops an alichino from feeding on a vulnerable young girl, the alichino reveals something terrible -- Tsugiri is a "kusabi," a human with a powerful and pure soul. He is the only one who can kill an alichino, but if one devours HIS soul, it will become incredibly powerful. Shocked, Tsugiri is only narrowly saved by a friend of his foster father Enju. Though he knows alichino can lie, he is having dreams of death and terror that seem to reveal him as a kusabi. So he enlists the help of the alichino Myobi, who can show how the part of his past that he cannot remember -- and the key to what and who he is. The alichino are a very interesting idea -- exquisite winged beings who will grant whatever you wish, but will take your soul as payment, and can be very nasty if you don't do what they want. And artistically, "Alichino" is an exquisite trip for gothic aesthetes. As a story, it's pretty limp. Not bad, just limp. Shurei's artwork is absolutely stunning -- detailed, sensual, with a gothic flair in the elaborate clothing and luxurious settings. It's also populated by beautiful, androgynous men, who are indistinguishable from women, and have long flowing hair and what appears to be lots of makeup. The one exception is Myobi, a kindly alichino who looks like a little girl in elaborate Victorian dress. Too bad the plot isn't nearly as good. We're thrown in without much explanation, and everything that happens after that is pretty cliched. Special powers, a clueless young man, and creatures who are out for his blood. Sadly Shurei doesn't add much to this story, and as a result, nothing unusual or unpredictable happens for... the... whole... story. Nor do the characters really get developed, since only Myobi has any dimensions beyond angsty-young-man. They don't grow, and they don't even change expression, which adds to the feeling that we're watching a beautiful painting that hints at a story, but never actually tells one. The first volume of "Alichino" is a case of "style over substance," with its staggeringly beautiful artwork and limp plot. Worth checking out for a pretty, light read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable,
By
This review is from: Alichino Volume 1 (Alichino (Prebound)) (Paperback)
Story: Other reviewers have already covered that ;).
Art: Stunning! In a way it reminded me a bit of Sang-Sun Park's ("Les Bijoux" & "Tarot Cafe") style but still had it's own originality. The art is what lured me to the series. Character Development: I have to say, despite how beautiful every character is they're personalities are not well developed at all. Every character is unpredictable in their actions and not neccesariliy in a good way. Overall: I found that it jumped into everything a tad too quickly, there was no introduction whatsoever. The plot is very slow-moving (mind you, I have only read this volume), almost to a fault. Very little actually happens in the first volume and it leaves a lot to be desired. There are many mysteries that need to be solved not only with the characters but with the whole world "Alichino" is set in. Reccomended: Yes, if you aren't a fan of fast-moving plots. Otherwise, stay away from it--you won't like it.
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