Print Review: Alice the 19th

Review Alice the 19thWritten by WarpshadowRating good/ very good

The magical girl formula is infinitely adaptable. While it is usually a genre for younger girls Alice the 19th shows that it works for older girls as well.

Alice Seno is a shy girl who has the misfortune of having fallen in love with her sister's boyfriend. One day she saw a rabbit in the middle of an intersection and out of a crowd of people she was the only one with the courage to save it. The rabbit ran out to be no ordinary member of the species and informed Alice that she is a Lotis master, someone who has special power with words. This brings no comfort to Alice who with a poorly chosen phrase wishes her sister would disappear and and banishes her into the darkness.

While Alice the 19th may appear to be an ordinary magical girl manga, cute animal mascots and all but this is a story that is aimed at teenage interests. As such this is a story about swirling emotions and love triangles rather than wacking the monster of the week with a magic wand. Even though this manga does touch on moral issues it wisely avoids preaching. The artwork is a nicely done shojo piece which means bishonen (including the main character which suspiciously looks like Tamahome if you are familiar with the creator's other works) but other facets are not neglected. While this manga isn't an instant classic I would consider it to be a worthwhile addition to the manga library of anybody who reads shojo.