クローバーの国のアリス~ナイトメア

by QuinRose

In the waking world, he's sickly and scared to speak in front of crowds. In a world filled with dangerous criminals and killers, he can't swing a sword or shoot a gun. But in dreams, Nightmare Gottschalk is smooth, mysterious, and powerful. And he will do anything it takes to win Alice's heart before someone else can come and steal her away. Romance takes on an intriguing new form in this sweet but dangerous love story between Alice the Outsider and this strange, contradictory Nightmare. Also in this bonus side stories for Alice, and a visit to the Crimson Empire!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Comics, Retellings, Graphic Novels, Comics Manga

Paperback

First published February 25, 2010

About the author

Quinrose is a games company which is also responsible for the manga based on their games.

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is very rare that I find a manga art style so unappealing that I can barely get through the book. I already read the Nightmare trilogy and already noted the uniquely off putting art - back then I hoped this standalone would be better until I realised it's by the same artist. Unlike the trilogy, this one has even less substance plot wise to even remotely make up for the art. The story of Alice and Nightmare also only makes up about half the book, the remaining half is dedicated to Crimson Empire which I was also not a huge fan of. And if you are looking at this cover and thinking my comments on the art are overly harsh - believe me, they are deceiving as the art inside looks nothing like the cover as was also the case with the trilogy.

[Tifa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in this volume, but maybe my expectations were too high. I'd been looking forward to a story all about Nightmare because he's funny and adorable, but unfortunately, this wasn't it. First, the art was terrible, definitely not up to the standard of the other volumes. Several of the characters were actually unrecognizable, this artist changed the styles that much. While Nightmare was still in-character in the writing, he didn't look like himself. Second, the story was cute, as usual, but super short. This volume is fully one-third a Crimson Empire story, and I don't care for that manga. The rest is not even fully Nightmare, but instead contains a short one-shot of Alice/Peter and another of Alice/the twins who look nothing at all like their usual designs. In all, I was more disappointed with this than any of the previous volumes and the only reason I gave it 3 stars is because Nightmare made me laugh out loud a couple times. He still deserves his own story, drawn beautifully and told at greater length.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed in this one.

For starters, of the 192 pages of the book, only 100 were actually dedicated to Alice at all. The other 92 pages were a preview, or something, of an entirely different series (whose name I forget but which is a similar type of game to the Alice story).

Of those 100 pages, only, like, 60 were dedicated to Nightmare. The rest of those pages were short vignettes - one with Peter (ew) and another with the Twins.

None of these stories felt complete, not even the Nightmare one. I didn't feel like there was any real character or relationship development, and not even any kind of satisfying ending - they all sort of just ended.

Also, some of the artwork was kinda borked. Not nearly the same quality as previous installments.

I sorta felt like they just wanted to get this one out, and didn't really care about the quality at all. It's sort of soured me on buying more of the series.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could really get behind this one, but while the stories were entertaining, I can't really get behind the pairing of Alice and Nightmare. It just feels a little forced and substanceless than a lot of the other pairing oneshot books. And again, Job's art style is not exactly one I'm a fan of.

[Lauren Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light Spoiler: Less than half the book was about Nightmare. There were two other Alice stories, which could have been saved for Toy Box/Junk Box. And as cute as the Crimson Empire stories were, they were unnecessary.

[Meme · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only about half the book is dedicated to Nightmare & Alice's story. *sighs* such a big let down.

[Lexington Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all the art wasn't good at all and there wasn't much a story

[Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t think I’d like this illustrator, but I did! Hope the other Nightmare books will be just as good as this one once I get to them.

[E.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly enjoyed Nightmare and Alice together. I always thought that was a weird coupling. This volume was kind of strange though because it started off with Nightmare/Alice but then it went into a two side stories featuring a Peter/Alice type of thing (almost but not quite) and Twins/Alice (can we stop with the Twins already?!) and then it goes into like 5,000 pages of Crimson Empire. Like, I get it...you have a new manga series but WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT 20% OF THE BOOK. I'm here to read Alice, not Crimson Empire. Also, the art was....interesting. I don't hate it, but it was hard to get used to. Similar to The Clockmaker's Story, I enjoyed Alice's interactions when she was with Nightmare. She seemed less annoying than she usually does, but perhaps it's because she's with a mature, slightly neutral person who isn't prone to crazy violence.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, I really wish they'd stop pushing that stupid Crimson Empire manga in the Alice in the Country of series. If i wanted to read Crimson Empire, I'd have bought the goddamn Crimson Empire manga. At least it wasn't half the manga this time, but still, it was a quarter of the book.



I'm not sure if it's the English or Japanese publishers pushing it, but please stop. It irritates me to no end when I shell out $14 expecting one manga and a chunk being sacrificed to another manga I don't even like.



From now on, when I'm at the bookstore I'm going to flip to the back of the book to make sure I'm not getting cheated out of my Alice. It's not worth paying the $14 to buy a book that's half not what I want.

Anyway, I enjoyed what was actually Alice in the Country of Clover. Alice actually initialized some of the romance, which was a nice change of pace. My only complaint is the artwork, which felt really dark and heavy compared to the softer lines of previous works by different artists.

[Ariel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first Alice manga and just...?? I hope the main story is better because it is one of my friend's favorite series. Luckily the android game is fun and the overall story in this manga is cute. I love Nightmare's cattepillar hideout pose. The "he's lazy and pathetic" thing was annoying because as a sick person myself it seemed pretty clear he snuck off to bed because he was exausted from um running a whole country? And he was afraid of hospitals and medicine because he'd been sick so long. When he drank the Kompo medicine and temporarily felt better he was much better at his job, because he had the energy to actually do it. Also the "I'll marry you if you get healthy!" thing? Blegh. Urgh. "In sickness and in health" people! The story about the kidnapper henchmen people was boring and generic. Nothing got resolved romance wise. The short stories afterwards were okay. I liked the Peter and Ace one. Then the Alice part was rudely cut off by a long Crimson Empire special insert that took up one third of the book. Lol what even is Crimson Empire? I bought it because it said it was about Nightmare and my friend thought I'd like him.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was another interesting branch off for the series and paired Alice with Nightmare. We do not usually get to see a lot of him in the other books so it was interesting getting to see him as a main character for a change. This volume has a different artist who has a slightly different art style than most of the other books. There were also two short stories about Alice at the end of the volume as well as a Crimson Empire bonus story. The first Alice based bonus story was about Alice, Peter, & Ace. The second bonus story was called "TAG @ Heart Castle" and was about Alice and the Bloody Twins.

[Nazish Ahmed (Nazish Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is 2.5 stars as well.

Nightmare is one of my favourite characters in the manga, so I was hoping for a better story about him, but nope, and also the art wasn't nearly as good as the other volumes, it's probably because there was a different person drawing this time. But what I'm really disappointed about is that the Nightmare story was less than half of the book, the rest was a one shot of Peter (ugh, I hate him so I skipped that one), and a one shot of the Bloody Twins, which was ok, and the rest was a different manga that I don't care about.

[C.E. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the Alice series, and Nightmare is a character that I've been waiting to see get a volume or two of his own. The story about Nightmare and Alice is good, but it's not quite half of the volume. A couple of Alice shorts and Crimson Empire fill out the book. Additionally, the artwork wasn't as consistent as other entries in the Alice series. A different Nightmare series is advertised as forthcoming in the back of the book. Hopefully, it will provide more satisfying content.

[Adriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 3.5
The art has some serious problems in this volume, it looks like it was rushed and they just inked the sketches. A real letdown, since the art is a main part of why I like this series.
Nightmare only gets about half a volume to woo Alice. It has action, romance and a lot of fun, I just wished we'd gotten a whole volume's worth of it. The rest of the volume is a couple of short stories with other characters that are more fun side trips than actual stories.

[Alexandra Graves · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel harsh saying this, but this book was by far the worst book I've read in this series. I was disappointed deeply because I like Alice x Nightmare. I was twitching and grinding my teeth throughout the entire book. Art is terrible, characters messed up, plot and romance unbelievable, and just plain blech XP. Also, almost HALF of the book was another book (some preview). glad I just borrowed this instead of paying.

[Elizabeth Gilliam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not even get past the artwork to finish it. Just curious did they draw this blindfolded or have there kids do the drawing there are a few other options I could mention but don't feel like right now. Basically this book sucks maybe if they re-do it I might reread it and give it a better rating but right now it was there first worst one ever. :(

[muse · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful, sadly. I was looking forward to reading a story about nightmare. It starts out okay (if we put behind us the lackluster art quality) but then the story just ends 1/3 way through the book. There is a short scene with Peter and one with the twins, then the rest of the book is just Crimson Empire stuff. Really wish I hadn't spent money on this one.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice and Nightmare kiss and he asks Alice out on a date. Nightmare and Alice get taken hostage but Nightmare breaks free and saves Alice and himself. Afterwards, Nightmare asks Alice to marry him and she says yes. Alice cooks Peter a meal and later he tries to kill Ace. Dee and Dum rescue Alice and vow to keep her safe.

[Elaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get over the bad artwork in this one. WAY to angular and sketchy for this series. It added nothing to the story and you could barely distinguish the characters from one another. The only explanation I can think of is that they wanted to get this one done quickly and rushed production.

[DJL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay, though I wasn't quite as thrilled with the art style.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

This mostly just made me ask: why? Again, bad artwork. I really wish there had been a consistent artist and story. The characters are really all over the place for the...extras.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, but it's really more of a 3.5 because the art is so sketchy that I sometimes have trouble telling characters apart. Which makes me sad, because the story is sweet and I love Nightmare!

[Raven · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story made no sense, the artwork sucked and there was too much random filling at the end of stuff I didn't really care about. This volume didn't need to exist.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

The artwork is not as good as the rest of the books. The story feels forced. disappointed

[Queen Candy Toppenmarble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like everyone else, what happened to the art work! and why is it that slightly less than half the book dedicated to Crimson Empire?? other than that i enjoyed.

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems the art style was a little different this time. Slightly weird, I don't know. Anyway, this was okay.

[Doneisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is as good as the previous ones in QuinRose's other Alice in the Country of... books. But the art in this one makes it almost unbearable to read. Its not very well drawn.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE getting to know this character more! More Crimson Empire: Circumstances to Serve a Noble at the back.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story- Nightmare is hilarious. Art is gorgeous. The bonus stories were fantastic as well.