Review: Gakuen Alice

Gakuen Alice

Ratings

Plot: 9/10

Art: 8/10

Characters: 9.5/10

Overall: 9/10

Recommend? Definitely

I'll admit from the start that I'm a little biased about this series. This is the first manga I ever read and I've been an avid fan ever since. Nonetheless, the ratings I gave here are not just based on bias: I compared it to all the other shojos I've read and I have to say this manga is a great find.

A bit of a summary: The story begins with our main female protagonist, Sakura Mikan (for the less Japanese-orientated people her name would be Mikan Sakura), in her rural hometown. Here, the school is being shut down due to insufficient funding and thus all the students must now migrate to a nearby city school. Yet, at the last second, the school is somehow saved by a mysterious donor. The donor is in fact Mikan's best friend, Imai Hotaru, who traded her freedom for the stability of the school. In exchange for the school's stability, Hotaru is sent to a special school known as Gakuen Alice (aka Alice Academy) for "gifted" students. Mikan, heart broken over the loss of her best friend, decides to run away from home and chase Hotaru down all the way to Tokyo and attempt to get into this prestigious school. It isn't until Mikan somehow makes her way in that she discovers the true meaning of "gifted" and the consequences that come with these gifts.

The first 8 or so volumes are very fluffy shojo stuff with foreshadowing hints. After that you start to get into the real deep dark storyline in this manga. Gakuen Alice only seems like your typical shojo: in reality it's a tragic story about love, life, friendship, sacrifice and hope. That's what makes it unlike many other typical shojo: it's not about just one theme (more specifically: it's not just about love), rather it's about the many different facets of life and relationships. The plot is nowhere near stupidly predictable or boring: it's well crafted and very intricate. It really entangles you into the enchanted world of Gakuen Alice.  The story touches your heart while also having its tear-jerking moments and dark storyline. 

The manga has a cast of amazing characters who you'll come to love and care for. After spending time with them, you get to see their flaws, their fears and their strengths. Plus, with a longer series like this you get to see something that a simple 5-10 volume manga doesn't have: a ton of character development. The characters in this manga truly do change both in their perception of the world and in their actions. Each must face his/her own set of worries and inhibitions and each must eventually confront them. The depth of character development and engagement the reader gets to see is quite an enjoyable experience. 

Now for a bit about the aesthetics of Gakuen Alice. The art style, in my opinion, is rather unique. Personally, I find many run-of-the-mill mangas have scarily similar drawing styles. Plus many characters in these mangas look similar aside from the way hair is drawn. I can assure you you won't find much of that in Gakuen Alice. The mangaka, Tachibana Higuchi, has a art style that really compliments her story-telling style and the story itself. Plus, due to the length of the series, you can see her style slowly progress and change bit by bit. Nothing about her art really annoys me (keep in mind that I can get REALLY picky) and I often find myself drawing her characters.

Overall I'd recommend this series to anyone who's looking for a good series to read. Yes, it is shojo, but that doesn't mean it can't be a great series with plot twists and suspense (for all you die-hard anti-shojo fans).You may think I'm lying considering the fact that the manga is mainly about a group of 11/12 year olds, but believe me: the story goes deeper than you think. The first volumes are very misleading and judging it to be a simple and childish manga would be a big mistake (there's a reason why it's tagged as tragedy). Anyone looking for a good manga that has both deep ideas and conflicts as well as comedy, cuteness and a some childish whims will surely enjoy this series. I know I have. 

Well that's all for now (by for now I mean for this review not about the series... it's still ongoing right now so I may rant about any new chapter releases haha).

Feel free to comment etc~~~! 

Chang'e