おかえりアリス 7 [Okaeri Alice 7]

おかえりアリス [Okaeri Alice] #7

by Shuzo Oshimi, 押見修造

『惡の華』『ハピネス』に続く、押見修造待望の最新作!!

性と向き合い、身体を取り払い、まざりあう2人のすべて。キミとならいける、遥かなる“向こう側”へ――。セイシュン群像劇、完結!

Genres: Manga, LGBT, Romance, Queer, Comics, Drama, Graphic Novels

168 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2023

About the author

Shuzo Oshimi (押見修造, Oshimi Shūzō) is a Japanese manga creator.
Drawn in a realistic art style, his comics tend to be psychological dramas exploring the difficulties in human relationships and often touching on disturbing situations and perversions.
Oshimi debuted in 2001 with the manga series Avant-Garde Yumeko, appeared in Kodansha's 'Monthly Shōnen Magazine.' Most of his works since then have been published by Kodansha and Futabasha.
Among his first successes the single volume manga Sweet Poolside (2004), later adapted into a live-action film, and the series Drifting Net Café (2008–2011), also adapted for TV.
Oshimi reached international acclaims with The Flowers of Evil (2009–2014) and Inside Mari (2012–2016), both adapted into successful anime. Other notable works are Blood on the Tracks (2017–2023) and Welcome Back, Alice (2020-2023) .

Reviews

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple ending to a simple story about a pure love.

If only everyone could be as simple as Yohei and Kei.

Oshimi is a true master at conveying emotion.

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐☆☆ — “Good, interesting… but something’s missing”

This manga had so much potential and genuinely delivers some bold, messy, personal themes. I really liked how the author explores gender, identity, and self-hate through different characters — Yohei trapped in masculinity, Kei/Alice running from labels, Ano drowning in body dysmorphia, Mitani offering the kind of love the author probably wishes they could accept. It’s unique, uncomfortable, and definitely memorable.

But the execution feels uneven. The pacing jumps around, the emotional payoffs don’t fully land, and by the time we reach the ending… it’s just another manga ending that leaves you hanging. Not bad, just incomplete. The story is interesting, but it doesn’t quite hit the depth it’s reaching for.

Overall: a creative, thought-provoking read, but the ending and structure hold it back from being truly great. Perfect if you like character-driven chaos, but don’t expect a satisfying conclusion.

[Meliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this series tonight.

Cue ramble (CW)
Really loved it, relate to the author and to Kei & Yo deeply. I've never liked who I am nor have I known who I am, I've always just wanted to quit. Since I was about 9 years old I can vividly remember attempting suicide because I hated who I was becoming and hated myself. These attempts continued long into my teenage years with my last attempt being at 18. My girlfriend at the time broke up with me because of it. During these attempts it was often not believing that I would ever be able to lead a happy life being who I was. Even though I had been performing as a male perfectly fine, I had a good relationship, friends, I was doing well in school & was enjoying my hobbies. It didn't matter. It felt like I was being chained down and prevented from living the life I was supposed to live. For the last couple years especially I have been putting it off, and believing that it was just a symptom of how depressed I have always been. Ever since recently when I quit masculinity, at least in my close circles, I have felt happier and I have felt like me . I can't recall a time in my life where I've felt like this otherwise. I loved Welcome Back, Alice, and Shuzo Oshimi's own afterwords and the character's he built are beautiful descriptions & representations of a struggle I so closely relate to.

End Ramble

Welcome Back, Alice is a brilliant depiction of dysphoria and of a general hatred to the assigned sex that Yo, Kei and Ren hold. It explores what it feels like to want to "quit" boyhood/girlhood and escape to whatever makes the characters happy. As Oshimi explains in the afterword, perhaps it isn't about escaping or quitting to a specific place but rather its about committing to the steps to quit. Welcome Back, Alice is so engaging because it is a true exploration of these feelings and what it means, intertwining lust and love between it. Yo attempts to escape his dysphoria by falling deeper and deeper into a pit of lust before finally crashing. The ending is great, I well and truly enjoyed the series. Will probably reread in a years time.

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm stumped. It's already over. It's been, though, for quite a while now... and yet here I am... still waiting to reach the summit for that mouthwatering, if not nasty, climax—the panels that will scream Oshimi signature. Did I miss something? Did I miss a point? Or was it just so anti-climactic? What was the point? Or is it simply a journey to come back home?

Welcome home, Kei and Youhei. It's a long overdue greetings when you're already here resting on the sofa. It's been a while... and it's been dead and quiet here. Nevertheless, thanks, Oshimi. I was just waiting for the fireworks here. I guess it's wet, so it did not work out.

I did enjoy the series in totality, though. Who is Alice, anyway? I think it was the embodiment of Kei (even his physical look says it all); It's him... coming out of the rabbit hole and finally facing the harsh reality... himself. And wanting to be locked again in the safe arms of his soulmate... the other half of his soul... of his own self. If I were to be asked, it does scream Oshimi to me; not his works, but rather, his own life.

Thus, Okaeri Alice.

Note: THE COVER IS GORGEOUS

[the vampire damien · Rating 5 out of 5]

the exploration of sexuality, gender, identity and relationships in this series is done in the way i've never seen before. it was so raw, organic and sometimes uncomfortable. i wanted to stop reading but i couldn't stop reading at the same time. the lack of labels makes the story and characters very open for different readings and interpretations. i loved it to bits. i think it's fucking brilliant. instantly my new favorite manga.

[leti · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

Final mid af... Me pones cosas muy fuertes en todo el manga y no eres capaz de decir claramente nada de la identidad de los personajes...? Encima deja dos personajes claves colgados (sin resolver) y malgasta 2 capítulos enteros con dibujitos abstractos que no dicen NADA ni aportan nada a la trama. Tan listo para hacer un guión medianamente bueno (y diálogos) y luego no es capaz de acabar el manga.

Yohei nb, Ren nb lesbian y Kei mujer trans a tomar por el culo la acabo yo el manga por Oshimi.

[sofka]

let's all be nonbinary

[Estrella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es increíble todo lo que este autor es capaz de transmitirte a través del dibujo y con pocos diálogos, el epílogo del final de cada tomo han sido muy intensos, el autor trata de explicarnos sus problemas como hombre, con la identidad de género, con su deseo. Me ha parecido muy intenso y doloroso la verdad.
No es mi manga favorito del autor, algunos tomos, no lo sé, no me convencieron, e incluso este tomo final, me habría gustado algo más claro, entiendo que en el propio epílogo el autor manifiesta sus dudas durante la creación de esta historia, pero me habría gustado algo más de claridad en cuanto al recorrido de los personajes, después de la escena tan simbólica entre Kei y Yohei, no sabemos nada más de como les va, y ya no digamos sobre Mitani o Ano. Esa parte me ha dejado muy fría la verdad.

[giada · Rating 3 out of 5]

i wish the author all the clarity theyre looking for but maybe they should be talking to other nonbinary people or anyone that has questioned their own gender before

all in all i found the ending a bit anticlimactic given the lengths the rest of the manga goes to the rest of the time but still i enjoyed the hopeful message

[Irene ➰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ~ review of the entire series TC

[Camille Crak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce n'est pas mon titre favoris de l'auteur mais j'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé malgré tout. Je reste toujours très sensible à ce qu'il propose 🥰

[Johan Wilbur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dice Shuzo Oshimi en los epilogos de esta obra, que escribió Welcome Back, Alice, con la intención de descubrir como huir de su deseo por el sexo y entender mejor la propia repulsión que le provoca él mismo. Que no se gusta como hombre, pero que no puede, en definitiva, dejar de serlo.

Es una declaración de intenciones y creo que, en esencia, puede ser de lo que va la obra, vale.

¿Y de qué va, Okaeri Alice?

Pues Yohei es un chaval que tiene un par de amigos en la primaria, Mitani, la chica que le gusta y Kei, su mejor amigo. Tras descubrir a Kei besandose con Mitani y con su correspondiente cabreo a cuestas, se cabrea con Kei y, al día siguiente, Kei se marcha del país. Hay una elipsis de tres años y Kei vuelve al instituto transformado en una mujer.

Y ese es el comienzo, tienes a Kei (que, como mujer, es bastante lanzada, todo hay que decirlo) picando a Yohei en el tema sexual cada dos por tres y haciendole sentir incomodo y a Mitani, aún colgada de Kei, frustrada porque ahora el chico que le gustaba es una mujer, que decide liarse con Yohei como para castigar a Kei, digamos.

Y Yohei, pues bueno, ahí líandose con uno y con otro, en un brete constante con los dos. Hiriendo y siendo "victima" a la vez de su propio deseo. Dividido entre lo que se supone que debe ser (Mitani) y su deseo real, su amigo Kei.

Sin destripar nada, es interesante en muchos puntos. El dibujo y las expresiones de los personajes, como siempre, son excelentes y, sobre todo, lo veo original porque Kei tampoco se convierte en mujer porque desee serlo, no es tan sencillo. Es más bien (él mismo lo dice un par de veces) que no encaja como tal y no quiere ser un hombre y ve en vestirse de mujer una salida que, a lo largo de la obra, ves que tampoco es realmente lo que quiere.

Y bueno, si hablo del final destripo, así que ahí dejo el resumen del argumento.

Son siete tomitos que se leen en diez minutos cada uno si quieres, como pasaba con Rastros de Sangre, pero que, al menos para mí, dejan un poso mucho más profundo en su mensaje. También tiene unos epilogos escritos (como en Rastros de Sangre también) que hace que entiendas que, en fin, la vida del autor, no ha debido ser un camino de rosas precisamente.

A destacar: Una vez más, algo recurrente en Oshimi, que el último tomo me lo quitas y no pasa ni media. No aporta mucho y bueno, eso, que no es que sobre, pero que si no está pues vale.

[J. Fyodorovna · Rating 4 out of 5]

No es una historia general sobre identidad sexual sino una historia personal donde el autor reflexiona sobre la atracción sexual y su propia identidad. Hay momentos que pueden resultar violentos, están en un contexto muy concreto y hace referencia a situaciones que ha vivido.
Me parece valiente poder hacer historias así.

[Ander · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Reseña de la serie completa]

En cuestiones de identidad de género, al menos en el manga, Japón es desde hace varias décadas un país muy avanzado en lo que respecta a la representación de personajes trans (hombres, mujeres y personas no binarias), si bien caen con cierta frecuencia en ser objeto de violencia verbal, física o sexual. Siendo así, y pese a la oscura sensibilidad mostrada por Shūzō Oshimi en obras anteriores, era inevitable temerse lo peor de un autor (��une autore en transición?) cuyas obras destacan por la turbiedad y el desconcierto al centrarse en una obra que explorara estos temas de lleno.

Agradablemente equivocado estaba yo. Welcome Back, Alice cuenta cómo, en el colegio, el pobre Yohei estaba enamorado de su amiga Yui y tenía en Kei a su mejor amigo, del que se vio separado cuando este se mudó. Años después, en el instituto, la joven ha empezado a aceptar los avances de Yohei, pero a él se le rompen los esquemas cuando su compañero Kei regresa al pueblo con una expresión de género femenina (si bien niega adscribirse a una etiqueta concreta, en un principio) y una clara atracción por el que era su mejor amigo. Arrancando como un falso romance de enredo de instituto, el manga aprovecha para superponer al despertar sexual de sus personajes una reflexión sobre la masculinidad del protagonista, las dos caras del consentimiento y la identidad de género en (re)construcción con una sensibilidad inesperada.

Desde un principio, cabe destacar como un tesoro de esta serie los breves epílogos autobiográficos donde Oshimi se desnuda sobre cómo vivió (y vive) estas mismas cuestiones y sus muchas preguntas aún sin resolver. Sus reflexiones sobre el trato a su propio cuerpo, de su relación con el sexo, con la masturbación, y la vergüenza, el dolor y la culpa que ha venido asociando a su experiencia. Un enfoque físico, psicológico, y hasta fisiológico que, de algún modo, ya había explorado en otras obras, como en el vampirismo de Happiness o la retorcida relación materno-filial en Rastros de sangre, pero no de forma tan descarnada y dolorosamente sincera.

Así, Welcome Back, Alice se revela como su obra con un final más feliz, esperanzado, en contraposición al complejo autodesprecio que su autor revela en confesión. Una exploración ambigua de las emociones que también se experimenta a través de su variedad de recursos gráficos, los cuales se tornan existenciales, deconstructivos y esencialistas en los últimos volúmenes, para otorgar una sorprendente y satisfactoria resolución. Queda, pues, otro manga de Shūzō Oshimi único que sigue revelándolo como autor/e imprescindible del manga contemporáneo.

[Mae · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don’t even fkn know anymore

[AsianMerr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Man…this series sucked. There was a clear message that could’ve been told but with the way Oshimi writes it was obvious the way the message would be delivered would fall flat and man did it. The annoying part is that there are moments that could’ve been amazing but his need to make a shock messes it up 95% of the time. But yeah what was this ending, they fused? When they were kids. They just remember it and do it again? So confusing, why did they just remember, also a time skip in the last chapter, WHO THE HELL IS ALICE!?!?!

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I am he as you are he, as you are me and we are all together,” “I Am the Walrus”--The Beatles (goo goo ga joo)

In the seventh and final volume of Welcome Home, Alice by mangaka Shuzo Oshimi, the “Alice” is Kei, a boy who no longer wants to be a boy, with all that entails sexually and socially--all those societal expectations and pressure to be a certain way--but doesn’t want to be a girl, either, since either side of that supposed binary entails being pigeonholed in certain ways, as he sees it.

Oshimi himself includes a running afterword in each volume of the series to say that this fictional story exists as a fictional exploration of his own struggles with gender and sexuality. Sex, masculinity, have always been sources of failure for Oshimi. Then he read a book, Masahiro Morioka's Confessions of a Frigid Man, that began Oshimi's journey through "the hell of sexuality" and Alice is conceived. Maybe we can view Morioka as something like the Kei character, the person who nudged Yohei into introspection. But I tend to think these two are like twins or one and the same character, fused, symbolic representations of Oshimi’s struggle.

Or maybe all four main characters are representations of his struggle. I think “Alice” (down that rabbit hole) or Kei (the boy who no longer wants to be a boy) and Yui Mitani (the girl who wants Yo to be a boy so she can be a girl), and Ren, (the girl who no longer wants to be a girl) all represent aspects of questioning gender and sexual stereotypes pushed on people, and especially young people “coming of age.” In the end, Yo, Kei and Ren all choose to in a sense eschew traditional notions of gender. So, (and this is a real question) might end game of this manga, what Yo and Kei seek, be seen as a form of gender fluidity, as in a shifting gender orientation? Or is it just not wanting to feel forced to follow some assumed societal expectation of what it means to be a boy or girl? Or are Kei and Yo just non-binary? So many categories to choose from that will get this whole manga censored or burned in the only-two-genders censorship fire: agender, bigender, genderqueer, genderfluid, transgender.

At any rate, Yo (our mc pushed to self harm in his anguish) and Kei choose to “stop and get out off” the societal gender train and go another way. The way that Oshimi represents this is in one sense mundane: 1) Yo cuts Kei’s long [girlish] hair, and then in another sense the process is spiritual, symbolic: 2) Yo is depicted as spiritually--soul mates!--uniting with Kei. The very first image of the volume has them as united, visually, physically, two parts of the same whole. And the volume explores what this means for them.

Initially it looks like this spiritual process is about doing away with the body altogether, a kind of renunciation or or asceticism. Well, they do have sex, at one point, but it almost seems they come ot some asexual position. As an ex-Calvinist taught that the body was sinful and bad, this worried me. But maybe we are meant to see this process as symbolic, as mainly renouncing toxic masculinity, which is good. But we don’t ever really see what this entails, how they meet women (or men) differently after their fusing fantasy. Let me just say that for those of you are happy with your sexuality, who do not see sex as hell, those perhaps looking for something “sex positive,” this will not work for you, but to help those who struggle with gender binaries or want to know about their limitations for some people, it is still a powerful personal project that Oshimi shares. Things get sort of ethereal and magical and vague there in the end, after all the anguish and pain, but it's good.

[Sai Fighter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for the whole series:



This is such a wild read. This series absolutely has to be paired with the author's notes that appear at the end of each volume. It puts a lot of stuff into context.

The "romance" in the series is so back seat to literally everything else going on in the manga. This isn't about a love triangle between childhood friends, this is about Oshimi's own struggle with what it means to be a man. Kei and Yui are not people, they are the two paths of masculinity that Yohei has to choose from. Kei is the ambiguous agender/gender queer departure from strict social expectations that are required to be masculine in the world. Kei represents freedom, an escape from gender all together. This is desirable but not an easy choice to make. Yui is the path of traditional masculine gender identity and masculine sexuality. Things that happen to Yui and Yohei are basically direct translations of Oshimi's own sexual trauma around masculinity. And this struggle between the two paths is represented by a love triangle, which i think its pretty powerful and brilliant.

Then there is Yohei themselves, who is struggling with gender and body dysphoria. Kei and Yui also seem to represent Yohei's struggle between his sexuality and his gender desires. There is a REALLY intense scene during the final volume that just blows my mind and feels like the perfect physical manifestation of this struggle for Yohei. It was honestly amazing.

With that out of the way, this series is going to make you uncomfortable. This manga has sexual assault and dubious consent. I would not say it is full blown rape but its uncomfortable for sure and its suppose to be. There is also self harm in the form of self mutilation. Even with all of this, the manga really made me think about my own gender experience, and while I don't really identify with Oshimi's struggle, this was still such a good read. I literally binged it in like 2 days. Recommend if you can handle it.

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final agredolç, un pèl precipitat i ambigu d'una sèrie que fa una reflexió interessantíssima sobre la identitat i els estereotips de gènere. Veníem d'un volum apoteòsic, amb un crescendo espectacular i la resolució de tot plegat en aquest darrer volum és anticlímax total. Tot i així, he de reconèixer que per a mi és la millor sèrie que llegit de l'autor (em falten Rastros de sangre, vol. 1, Cibercafé a la deriva, vol. 1 i Inside Mari, Vol. 1, que editarà d'aquí poc Milky Way), la que deixa més empremta i sap transmetre millor l'angoixa, la frustració i el patiment de tot l'elenc de personatges que no encaixen en els rígids motlles que els imposa la societat japonesa. En els epílegs l'autor explica el seu dilema amb el gènere i el sexe al llarg dels anys i crec que és un exercici de valentia considerable, tenint en compte que la sèrie es publicava en una revista Shonen, però m'alegro que aquest contingut hagi pogut arribar a un públic no tan acostumat a aquest tipus de reflexions.

[Denunikke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author: Mangaka Shuzo Oshimi

Manga series: Welcome Back, Alice

Genres:
Manga — the illustational art from of the fictional work of japanese comic books
Shounen(B) — Tarket audience young males
Crossdressing — The act of dressing in different clothes
Drama — fiction or semi-ficiton intended to be more serious than humorous in tone Psychological — is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of its characters
Romance — primary focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending
School Life — students and their daily Lives
Slice of Life — centering around normal people and the real drama that arises from everyday life

Story and Plot: 5/5, unique and true to the artists (Made me read it almost in one setting 😭)

Characters and Dynamics: 5/5, could feel very single characters strengths and weaknesses staying somewhat realistic

Art and Visuals: 5/5, nothing superficial showing how the human body is especially for teens and conveying meanings through symbolism and SHOWING DON'T TELLING

Themes and Emotional Impact: 5/5, touched me deeply with how much we want to be PEOPLE instead of just our sex and gender. We are human beings. Not bound too strictly to our appearance.

5/5 ⭐'s

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be clear here, the 2 star rating is for the ENTIRE series and not just this one volume. I only read "Okaeri Alice" because I saw Tatsuki Fujimoto singing its praises. That man needs to be on a watchlist.

I felt that the exploration of gender dysphoria was done well. Wish the author dove into this a bit more... Those comments at the end of the volumes were quite strange. I don't know what the Japanese are on, but I personally don't care to hear the story of how the author discovered masturbation. Dude was on some freak shit.

Yohei's constant back and forth between Kei, who is clearly the best pick, and Mitani, who quite obviously is using him to spite Kei, was stupid. This "Who will he pick?" thing went on for entirely too long and just made no sense.

The scene where Yohei took a box cutter to his penis was..... something. I'm gonna be honest here... there is no shot in hell that you could stay conscious long enough to hacksaw your dick off. I refuse to believe it.

Ending was questionable as hell. Random timeskip after Yohei's hospitalization to a world where they all fell out of touch with each other is daft, but then Kei randomly reappears?? Come on....

[Zombieslayer⚡Alienhunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

review of the series overall!
- Z

Oshimi's Happiness is the 2020's answer to Tokyo Ghoul; slick, action-packed, emotional, upsetting. I read it in 2022/2023 and it was the first manga series i read beginning to end in a very long time. i adored it. i would be thrilled to see an anime adaptation, it would transfer beautifully.

this year i've read a few more of Oshimi's works. started The Flowers Of Evil (certain volumes of it are unpublished on amazon so it's a tad hard to get a hold of. Still planning to finish it but it's harder to keep up with) and i'm about 5 volumes into Blood On The Tracks. that one is just... a whole other review, lol.
But Welcome Back, Alice is surprisingly easy to come by, and it just finished up it's English translation publishing schedule this year. i decided to give it a shot and was pulled in immediately.

talking gender dysphoria, queerness, otherness, friendship, dating, the horrors of adolescence in general, this manga is so much more than what i was expecting.

it follows 4 teens who don't yet understand who they are, and they learn that together.

i know that's a very broad statement but it's really that simple, and complex.

[Violeta Schlange · Rating 4 out of 5]

押見先生の作品もう読むことがあるにもかかわらず、このマンガを読んだびっくりした。悪の花"のようにお帰りアリスも大人になるの悲しみにすいて話すけど違う意味がある。

Entré a ésta obra pensando que trataría un tópico relacionado a la transexualidad, pero no pude estar más equivocada. El manga en sí busca abordar la sexualidad, pero no desde el punto de vista erótico y saturado al que nos tienen acostumbrados los medios, sino desde una perspectiva más realista y profunda.

Sin embargo no fue hasta que leí la nota del autor que todo cobró un poco de sentido así que la idea principal no está bien plasmada y en los primeros tomos se sentía incluso que había caído por completo en los cliches que pretendía criticar.

El último tomo ha sido por mucho el más interesante, tengo que admitir que me encantan los finales de éste autor porque se sienten tan realistas y al mismo tiempo oníricos y poéticos.
Y finalmente lo que más aplaudo a la obra es lo mucho que me ha hecho pensar.

[Derv]

Schwierig. Volume 1 war, wie ich finde, ein recht schwieriges Buch. Und damit meine ich, es war schwierig das Buch durchzuhalten. Doch je länger die Reise geht, je länger man liest, desto nachvollziehbar wird der ganze mentale Terror in diesem Werk. Und sobald der Autor loslässt seine eigene Geschichte nur in abstrakter Form zu erzählen und einfach mal loslässt, fallen viele Steine genau so, dass plötzlich das meiste Sinn ergibt.

Das erforschen von Emotionen, Sexualität und Geschlecht. Sehr rough, sehr dreckig, aber auch offen und ehrlich auf eine Art und Weise, von der man möglicherweise gar nichts wissen wollte.
Dass dabei die Charaktere, gerade Anfangs, allesamt sehr schlecht wegkommen und sogar häufig als schädliche Stereotypen kritisiert wurden, ist schade. Nicht, dass ich nicht zustimme. Nicht, dass ich hier nicht auch son paar Dinge gerne anders gesehen hätte.
Doch ähnlich wie schon in Inside Mari, ist das hier fast eine Therapiesitzung.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

So who is Alice, anyway? Whatever. The bottom line is that love conquers all, but sex without love sucks... I think. So what if he is a boy? It's what's inside that counts. That makes sense, doesn't it?

Upon hearing that Yohei is injured, Kei, Yui and then Ren too want to make sure he is ok. On the hospital bed Yohei declares that he wants nothing more than to be free with Kei. Yui feels like she is being left behind. Kei tries to bring her into the group (threesome?), but she refuses. No girls allowed, I guess.

The symbolism that follows is beyond my understanding, but it's some sort of melding lovey-dovey thing. Basically, crap, but I can't deduct stars for that. Thanks to Kei, Yohei is cleansed. Even Yui and Ren heal eventually and they all remain, I guess.

[Sahaj Madaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE most metaphysical, deep, and moving story that Oshimi has written. He goes completely out of his comfort zone with Welcome Back Alice in a state of vulnerability that is extremely admirable which is only exemplified with the beautifully written forewords throughout the manga. Welcome Back Alice doesn’t just destroy toxic gender norms but the binding concept of gender itself and looks at it more of a philosophical sense rather than in a LGBTQ type of way.

I believe Oshimi highlights struggles that every man relates to but no man wants to think about let alone talk about. This book is the foundation for who Oshimi is as a writer and details in it explains why he makes his stories, characters, and themes the way he does. Welcome Back Alice is a transcendental masterpiece. 1000000/10

[Roman Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was quite an ending. Really felt a lot of emotions, while not as masterful as Blood On The Tracks, or bittersweet as happiness this was still a roller coaster of an experience. Shuzo Oshimi has done it once again. While I don’t think it’s as good as his other works this one feels the most personal, based on the afterwards of each volume. While this series may be shocking and hard to read at times, I couldn’t help but keep going until I reached the tender, yet cruel end. I don’t know why this manga left such an impact on me, but I guess it’s a testament to Oshimi’s talent as a writer and artist.

[Des Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am philosophically frustrated. On one hand, I loved the spiritual nature of this volume. The author hit a place I never expected, and brought things full circle to the demiurge of the universe. On the other, there was so much more to explore and extrapolate with these characters. It feels like the author got cold feet looking at his shadow and decided to walk away. The afterword is triumphant, but incomplete. I really wish we went deeper, this could have been a subversive masterpiece of gender study.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

La série elle-même est très importante. Elle aborde beaucoup de sujets difficiles dont il est rarement question. C'est souvent malaisant mais je crois que c'est proche de la réalité des gens qui sont dans cette situation. Je sais que ça n'arrivera jamais mais personnellement je verrais cette série au deuxième cycle du secondaire comme lecture obligatoire ou du moins suggérée.

Ceci dit, j'ai moins apprécié ce dernier tome que les autres. Il était plus abstrait, parfois on dirait qu'il était un peu pressé de terminer, ce qui est dommage.

[Johnny il.cacciatore.di.libri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voto che riguarda i 7 volumi complessivamente! Storia molto bella che tratta la tematica dell’etichettamento e dell’orientamento di genere in stile Oshimi. Ho molto apprezzato anche gli approfondimenti dell’autore che, mettendosi a nudo ed aprendosi con i fan, dimostra grande maturità. Inoltre, le tavole solo sempre magnifiche e danno dimostrazione di tutto il talento di questo grandissimo autore sia in campo grafico che narrativo!