Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, Vol. 5

クローバーの国のアリス ～チェシャ猫とワルツ～ [Clover no Kuni no Alice: Cheshire Neko to Waltz] #5

by Mamenosuke Fujimaru, QuinRose

“I WANT YOU OUT OF HATTER MANSION.”

Now that Alice and the Cheshire Cat have gone from friends to lovers, they need to adapt to their new relationship–and the changes within themselves. Boris wants Alice out of Hatter mansion immediately, yet Alice hasn’t found the right time to tell Blood. But the shady dealings of the mob family may force her hand. Will the Mad Hatter take it in stride, or flip his lid?

It takes a crazy kind of love to navigate the romantic landscape of Wonderland.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels, Comics, Comics Manga, Young Adult

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2010

About the author

FUJIMARU Mamenosuke
Name (in native language): 藤丸豆ノ介

Reviews

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh boy do those intimate scenes between Boris and Alice make me uncomfortable.

My level of interest in the main story is definitely starting to wain. I feel like there were hints of plot development but ultimately nothing really happened.

The Boris/Alice relationship as it stands is not nearly as interesting as the intense love/hate relationship she had with Hatter, there's no real tension.

I did however, very much enjoy the the side story at the end that takes place in the Country of Hearts, before the move to Country of Clover. Since it is in the past it is pre-Alris (Alice/Boris?) and involves a very fun scene in the amusement park, budding romance, and a dash of unrequited love. Ah, unrequited love, terrible to experience so very entertaining to watch.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for complete series

The Cheshire Cat's spin off in this series sadly has a very weak start, although it does catch itself and turns into a reasonably well thought out series - surprisingly longer than than the main series at that. I think one of the biggest issues is that Boris' personality is quite different from what he is like in the original series and he is arguably one of the more loveable characters. In this spin off, he is pushy and possessive, borderline arrogant and strangely flirtatious. In the original, he seems a lot more innocent and perhaps more oblivious to love, he is clearly affectionate toward Alice but it is never really shown in an obvious romantic way whereas here it is sexual from the start. I also found Boris' nicknames for Alice rather off putting. As the story progresses, Boris luckily becomes a bit more mellow. While he still uses the nicknames for Alice, he shifts back a bit closer to his original personality.

The story also has a strangely slow start, I found the first few volumes quite hard to get through. That might be because the entire focus is on the back and forth between Alice and Boris. Unlike most of the other spin off series, though, this one actually has a plot besides the relationship running in the background, and it's a more than decent one that could have easily been part of the main series. It adds more depth to Alice's character and background, has some good tension and mysteries going on and also lets us get to know some of the other characters better. Ace is handled much better in this instalment than he was in his own spin off and also Peter is a much more compelling character than he was in the original series.

The series as a whole isn't as good as the main series, and I am a little sad that they didn't do Boris justice. But I do think that it is one of the better spin offs and it does add value to the franchise over all. It has a rocky start but if you can get past the first volumes it's a worthwhile read. It's also worth noting that each volume has some bonus stories at the end that also focus on Alice and Boris but follow an entirely different plot line - these are not highlighted well enough can it can easily happen that one continues reading without realising one has left the main story and moved on into the bonus which can really be confusing at times. I always flipped through the book to mark there the bonus story starts before starting to read to avoid just that.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I'm a little frustrated with this volume, since over half of it is side stories. I've not been going through all the side stories included in this particular set, as I want to keep my focus on the set story of "Cheshire Cat Waltz" since this is my first time going through it as a whole. So far the inclusion of side stories hasn't bothered me in previous volumes, but in this one in particular it takes up half of the page count for volume 5 if not more. It's just frustrating to feel like I keep getting the main story cut short on cliffhangers and then the rest of the volume is filled out with other things.

That being said, I don't hate this volume. The actual story focus is a shorter, faster-paced chunk, and it's got a lot of development for Boris emotionally, as well as additional focus on the mob families with their power struggle and espionage occurring (which is our b-plot) and some good moments with Queen Vivaldi. I'm also really curious to see the outcome of this, as Alice's memories of her sister have always been a crucial point in the "Alice in the Country of [...]" banner of titles, and something is occurring with those memories in this volume as well! Hopefully the last two volumes don't disappoint!

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot??? What happened to the plot??? The same issues are cropping up. Will she live with Boris? Will she leave the Hatter Mansion? I guess the side story was cute but it took up half of the main story so it felt like my money wasn't going anywhere.

Will finish the rest since I have the series already but I hope the last two volumes manage to actually tell a story because who knows what's going on anymore.

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This brought in huge drama and pulled at my heartstrings. oh my god....

[E.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just live with the god damn cheshire cat already, Alice. Jesus.

[Lanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this one. :) watching Alice struggle over wether or not her relationship with Boris is moving to fast & her mixed feelings about her sister. & Boris wanting so badly to protect her but also wanting to make sure she still has her own space.... They both clearly care for each other, but are scared & confused at the same time about how to handle it & all their other issues to.

Then there's the hatter mafia & the faceless fighting... It's really getting heated & I can't wait to see how it finally all works together.

Loved the artwork as always, but what really got me 2 4 stars was the great little side story. :) so great!

I can't wait to have all seven so I can read them all back to back & absorb the whole thing at once. (It'll probably help with a few of my lower ratings in this series.)

A good pick for romance fans & Anyone looking for an odd, but fun twist on Alice in wonderland.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

another absolutely awesome and adorable volume of Alice in the Country of Clover. there is more relationship drama with Boris... and an extra that shows the beginning of the Alice/Boris relationship.

I think Boris and Elliot are my favorite Alice-suitors... ok i like the twins too (or rather "two" heeheehee). But i haven't read The Clockmakers Story yet so Julius might also be a candidate.

There was ONE MAJOR PROBLEM though... THE COVER IS A TOTAL LIE!!!

they didn't fly fish on a flying fish!! and i was so looking forward to Boris wrangling a massive flying fish!! and maybe learning more about the creatures swimming through the forest...

i have to say however that i liked what was in the story a lot more than i liked what i wanted to be in the story, i mean sure, world building is nice, but plot development is nicer.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last volume - volume 4 - had my favorite cover. And this volume has one of my least favorite covers. Erg. Get Boris back in the dress suit, please!

Boris continues to be suspicious of the Hatters (the mafia), and tries to persuade Alice to move out of Hatter mansion once again where she has been staying since she got kicked out of the Amusement Park when the country changed to Clover. The suspicion seems to be well placed at the close of the volume for this story arc.

The second half of the volume is the back story of when Alice first met Boris in the Country of Hearts. Boris has changed significantly since meeting Alice. Like all the role-holders, he didn't value human life including his own. The back story is also to be continued, hopefully in the next volume, as I enjoyed this nearly as much as the present-day arc of Cheshire Cat.

[Tifa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This continues to be my favorite of the Alice storylines, by far. Boris is an interesting, well-developed character compared to most of the males, plus he's really adorable with Alice. My only complaint about this volume is that the main story is pretty short, so at least one-third of the book is a what-if AU of Boris and Alice at the amusement park from the Country of Hearts. It's very cute, too, and adds even more depth to Boris. Overall, I'm really enjoying Cheshire Cat Waltz all the way around, and the art continues to be beautiful, particularly in the color pages at the beginning of the volume.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 5: The story continues with more faceless being killed. Boris is worried about Alice's safety as someone apparently tried to abduct her or maybe even kill her. Alice, meanwhile, is still dreaming about the "real" world she came from.

Jack Diamonds seems to be her dead boyfriend. Boris swears he will protect Alice although he's also afraid to do anything to/with Alice that might really upset her.

A faceless group planned to use Alice as a weakness of someone they are after. Alice plans to leave Hatter mansion and might move in with Boris.

[Gypsy Esguerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Things are getting serious and more bizarre than it is as I read this fifth volume. And I instantly got hooked with Blood than Boris. And Julius is an extra character that shouldn’t have been an extra character."

Read more: http://gypsyreads.tumblr.com/post/138...

[Hannah]

good

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boris becomes a little too overbearing and Alice starts to pull away and questions their relationship due to things others have said.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this series has the most plot of all of the Alice storylines. And I like that Boris is changing. I wonder if everyone else will change as well?

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

My NFNT review is up here.

[Jadetj28]

FUCK U ACE AND......FUCK THAT WOMEN AT THE END AND FUCK EVERYTHING IM PISSED XD

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

Another good volume. That cover is adorable.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read but it's taking a long time to finish up, and there's still two more books! Half of this one is a side story...

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing some growth from Peter, Ace is still terrible, Vivaldi remains the greatest. Alice and Boris are wonderful together.

Really enjoying the side story, as well.