Are You Alice? #1

アー・ユー・アリス [Are You Alice?] #1

by Ai Ninomiya

Un giovane, che porta il nome di "Alice" vaga nella terra fantastica di "Wonderland", e partecipa al "Gioco per uccidere il Coniglio Bianco". In questo mondo assurdo, dove il non sense comanda, il ragazzo decide di opporsi agli ordini della Regina di Cuori e impugna una pistola per ribellarsi.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Mystery, Graphic Novels, Comics, Retellings, Young Adult

190 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 2009

About the author

Japanese name: 二宮 愛

Reviews

[Yuu Sasih]

This rating and review are for all of the published online volumes

Reading this because of my friend who suddenly love to write a fanfic about Alice in Wonderland, but not the Alice we're familiar with. She said this story was Alice's spin-off and it was so great I'll like it. So, out of curiousity, I browse it and read this manga online.

The result? Damn I'm officially turned on by The Cheshire Cat.

Yess, honey, trust Japanese people to turn some fantasy and mythical figure into bunch of cute and sexy men. And The Alice in here's not the little girl with blue dress and red ribbon we all knew. Alice here was a boy (a cute one) who forgot his own name and get lost in Wonderland with only the recollection of the name Cheshire Cat called him: Alice. Deciding that he can't lose the only thing he had, he finally made that name his, and would do anything to defend it.

Unlike the happy and funny mystery the original Alice tale, this manga explored and twisted into the more surrealistic and darker side of the story. The plot is so absurd you can't even start to wonder what's the main problem in this story. And every character appearance's just make the puzzle's become more massive by each chapter.

The art itself was splendid. I rarely stumbled into this kind of surrealistic art that I like. The last time I liking surrealistic art was when I read The King of Bandit Jing, and after that my longing for great, surrealistic art was deprived until I read Are You Alice? and I'm done with it.

So, no, dont even try to guess the plot when you red this story. Just enjoy where this beautiful story takes you with its twisted-sense of fairytale and amazing art.

Definitely 5 stars.

[Riina Y.T.]

A disillusioned young man in search of "something", who has thrown away his past and everything he’s known, stumbles into the weird and wacky world of Wonderland.



Upon arrival, he is given the name Alice by the Cheshire Cat.

(Goddess! The Kitty Boy is so cute! *swoon*)



Confused, Alice denies his name being "Alice," then slowly agreeing that his name was probably Alice, still very unsure whether he was stating the truth or not. Since he doesn’t remember his real name or where he came from, Alice plays along for the sake of figuring out where and what that place is he's found himself at.

After being attacked by Regrets and Pasts, some creepy shadowy figures that turn into "Alice", demanding their name back, our new Boy Alice is being rescued by the Mad Hatter (who is that absolutely smexy guy with a gun! Wohoot!).



The Hatter promises that he’ll protect Alice, because he works for the Queen of Hearts and his duty is to protect Alice from "enemies" especially the nasty, nasty Regrets. Hatter then escorts Alice to the Queen Of Hearts (who by the way is also one beautiful man).



The Queen of Hearts names Alice the 89th Alice of Wonderland , and in order not to lose his head, Alice has to agree to play a murderous game of "Kill the White Rabbit" and become the "real Alice".





And so the game & story begins...


***
Re-reading all volumes, since I totally missed that it continued (and is still unfinished) and I don't remember where I left off all those months ago :)

[Flavia]

6.5/10 quite nice for an introduction, confusing too, characters are gorgeous but is that enough?? hoping for other volumes to be more engaging

basically: Alice in Wonderland but they have guns (so far at least)

[Melanie Schneider]

Interessanter Start in ein etwas anderes Abenteuer. Es ist nicht ganz so bekloppt wie das Urspungsabenteuer, zumindest nicht auf so eine richtig verrückte Art. Sondern eher ziemlich düster und voller Geheimnisse, was mir sehr, sehr, sehr viel besser gefällt.

[S.Q. Eries]

In Summary

Are You Alice? is based off the Carroll classic, but this is definitely not Disney kiddie fare. Don’t let the main character’s modern styled clothes fool you, this journey through Wonderland is closer to a Victorian goth tale. Personally, I found the original Alice in Wonderland too confusing to enjoy, and Are You Alice? is similar in how it completely disorients readers, albeit with a more violent flavor. If that’s your cup of tea, then you might want to give this particular Alice’s journey a try.

The Review

With bad-boy bishounen Mr. Hatter and “Alice” sporting their snazzy suits, cigarette, and pistol on the front cover, Are You Alice? looks like it could be a cop, detective, or yakuza title. But this story is as far from urban contemporary as you can get. The “Alice” mentioned in the title is Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, and as bizarre as the setting of the original is, Ninomiya-sensei ratchets up the insanity of her particular Wonderland several notches.

At its core, Are You Alice? is a quest for identity. Unfortunately for our disillusioned main character, his journey takes him to the mad world of Wonderland where everyone is bound by role-specific rules, and the only role available to him is that of “Alice.” However, to secure that name, he must follow the ruthless Queen of Hearts’ orders and hunt down the White Rabbit. If he fails, he’ll wind up a “Regret,” a vindictive spirit ever yearning to be “Alice.”

Our main character is the 89th “Alice” candidate attempting to claim the position of Alice in Wonderland, and he’s the most unusual one yet. Judging from the Regrets that keep attacking him, the previous Alice candidates were ingenuous young girls while he’s a teen punk with a smart mouth. Those familiar with the classic story might find it odd have a male Alice, but Wonderland is supposed to be nonsensical anyway, and the creators take their liberties in portraying the Wonderland characters. The Queen of Hearts, who also happens to be a guy, is not so much a strident tyrant as he is a cool manipulator. The Cheshire cat is a mischievous bishounen with cat ears, and the White Rabbit’s a kid armed with a sword and bad attitude.

While Wonderland is the setting, it also possesses a kind of personality. All of its inhabitants, even the Queen, are bound by its inexorable rules. In addition, something is desperately wrong with Wonderland that prevents its inhabitants from turning to the past. “Alice” of course is the key to that mysterious problem, which means everyone he encounters is either desperate to protect him or, like the Regrets, out to get rid of him.

Just as Lewis Carroll told of a crazy journey down the rabbit hole, Are You Alice? also presents a bizarre tale, albeit with a lot more breast groping, gunfire, and blood splattering (ergo the older teen rating). Oftentimes, things that appear innocent turn out to have a sinister twist, and there are all sorts of unnerving scenes of sweet looking characters turning into or getting swallowed by the utterly malevolent. This contrast is even more jarring thanks to artist Katagiri’s skill at making the beautiful gorgeous and the grotesque absolutely creepy.

This manga includes an afterword by Ninomiya-sensei as an extra, and the title page and table of contents are printed in color.

[Brandon]

It's a cool reboot of the Alice In Wonderland story if a bit convoluted. A dude takes the name Alice and ends up in Wonderland, where everyone has a "role" in the "story" that dictates how they can act. Alice has to kill the White Rabbit to get the vague "freedom" he desires and everyone is secretive about their motivations and what's really happening in Wonderland. Art is nice, I like the Chesire Cat's design and personality most of all. Story has me confused and I'm not sure if that's intentional or not.

[Pastels Passions]

man have I been into alice and wonderland retellings. this one is interesting because it's gender-reversed.

[Sandra]

Ich hab keinen Plan, worum es geht - vermutlich ein Retelling von Alice im Wunderland, aber.... ja. Die Story ist total wirr, es wird nichts erklärt, die Kerle sehen zwar nett aus, aber auch austauschbar. Hat mich gar nicht gecatched.

(irgendwie hab ich gedacht, es wäre n Mafia-AU von Alice, wg. dem Cover, aber ist es leider nicht.)

[Fny]

It was truly weird. I usually like retellings or pastiches of Alice in Wonderland. But this wasn't my cup of tea I guess...

[Hannah]

Not sure if I'm a fan of this manga. I might have to get the next part to be sure. Since I'm a big fan of everything Alice in Wonderland related this manga made me curious for a while. Was not like I expected, but also not bad. Didn't get me hooked.

[niluki]

3.75⭐

[Angeline]

Quite disjointed at first, but by the end got me intrigued enough to read the next one.

[Rachel]

"Alice" escapes into Wonderland to forget about his real life, but once there he finds himself trapped in a game to kill the White Rabbit. From the very first page, the characters and their motives are shrouded in mystery. Alice seems to have few of his memories, so we are as ignorant as he is, and only learn things slowly. In this twisted version of Wonderland, he is literally chased by regrets, remnants of all the "Alice" candidates past who failed.

All the characters take a different form than the original story, but they remain true in their most basic sense; The Cheshire Cat is cryptic, and the Queen of Hearts is the all-powerful ruler. Everything is scaled in a more violent direction, so Alice ends up with the gun-happy Mad Hatter as his protector. The relationship between the two starts out rough, but there is clear evidence that they will become a good team.

The art is crisp with plenty of action that moves at an energetic pace. Many of the characters genders have been changed, so there are plenty of bishies for girls to admire. Mystery elements are laced into the images to keep us on our toes, and there is certainly a lot to look forward to.

Alice is lost, and has thrown away an unrevealed past, as have many of the others. Now, he desperately wants to find his way, and to find what is most important to him. A strong set of characters, coupled with an intriguing premise, will keep you wanting to know more.

[Jamie (Books and Ladders)]

Actual Rating: 3.5*

I think it's interesting to see the story stay (sorta) similar to the original text but some of it was more confusing than it needed to be. I wish that the confusing aspects of the original text had been smoothed out in this one so that some of the questions we have wouldn't be so confusing. I did like the genderbent Alice but I thought some of the depictions of "Alice" were awkward and didn't translate quite right since Alice in this case is a guy rather than a girl. I think there could have been more explanation at the beginning rather than trying to make us "guess" what was happening because it just led me to be confused and almost made me want to put down the manga. I am sorta glad I got through it but I am also kinda meh about it. I have the next volume so I will for sure be continuing that and then reevaluating from there to see if I will continue on with the series.

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[Danielle Bryanton]

This book is a wonderful spin on the classic tale of "Alice in Wonderland." It focuses on the main character, a young man with the first name Alice. He is taken into Wonderland by the Cheshire cat when strolling though a busy street. Then is soon introduced to the one and only Mad Hatter. This Wonderland is a bit different then the one you may know, this Wonderland is focused on murderess game of Kill the White Rabbit. The only problem is The White Rabbit is swift and not easily caught, adding to this is the current uprising against the famous Queen of Hearts. I have only read the first book in this series of six books so far, and this book is really just introducing you to the whole story-line. I love this series so far, its a break from the normal fantasy stories you'll find in your library. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the original "Alice in Wonderland" or simply anyone who is looking for a good story to get into. Trust me, you wont be able to put this book down.

[Jenna Mckay]

This story may not be the 'Alice in Wonderland' you're used to. This story is about a boy named Alice, who wanders into a mysterious land, and is led through wonderland by the Cheshire cat.After being taken to the queen by the mad Hatter in a delusional state, he is put into a game of 'Kill The White Rabbit'. Will Alice find and kill the White Rabbit? Is Alice swift enough to find his target? This book is the first of six ((So far)) and it was a pretty good read. I finished it pretty quickly. The only thing I didn't like was how it was kind of confusing at parts, with the author not giving much detail to the strange happenings. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a great tale and adventure.

[Kat R]

Absolutely fabulous. The way reality and the story are twined, around the madness of Lewis Carroll and the life of the girl Alice is fantastic. The complexity of the plot is well done and the characters are all as interesting and entertaining as the classic.

[Rae]

Absolutely amazing art. Very confusing at first, but it starts to make sense as things go along.

[Tif]

I haven't the slightest clue as to what was going on in this book, and the dialogue was awful and repetitive, but the boys were pretty.

[✧Hessa✧]

Quite interesting but I prefer the original mad hatter

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule]

Zum Inhalt:
Als ein desillusionierter junger Mann ins 'Wunderland' gerät, wird ihm kurzerhand der Name 'Alice' verpasst, und man verwickelt ihn in das Spiel 'Töte das weiße Kaninchen'. Er merkt schnell, in welche Welt fern jeglicher Vernunft er geraten ist, was ihn aber nicht daran hindert, selbst zur Waffe zu greifen.
Ein Junge im Wunderland - Spannung pur!

Cover:
Das Cover fand ich eigentlich ganz interessant. Erwartet hatte ich hier eigentlich einen actiongeladenen Manga, vielleicht ein bisschen in Richtung Mafia oder irgendwas was mit Kriminellen, dass ich hier aber eine Adaption für "Alice im Wunderland" in der Hand halten würde, dass hatte ich nicht gedacht. Kennt man die Figuren dann erst einmal, dann ist es durchaus ersichtlich, aber so, war es wirklich nur zu erraten. Trotzdem mag ich das Cover, weil es einfach neugierig macht. Besonders, weil man wissen möchte, warum der Blondschopf auf dem Cover eine Waffe auf einen richtet.

Eigener Eindruck:
Der scheinbar orientierungslose, lustlose und mit amnesiegeplagte X kann sich nicht mehr erinnern, wer er ist und wie er an den Ort gekommen ist, wo er ist. Bald trifft er auf Menschen, die ihm sagen, dass er im Wunderland ist und diese nennen ihn Alice. er nimmt sich diesem Namen an, da er sowieso nicht weiß, wer er ist und lässt sich von den anderen durch die Welt des Wunderlands führen, in dem es vor grauenhaften Schatten nur so wimmelt. Als der Hutmacher Alice eröffnet, dass er zur Waffe greifen muss, ist dieser zuerst entsetzt. Doch nach Übergriffen der Schatten und weiteren skurrilen Begegnungen im Wunderland, scheint ihm diese Aufforderung gar nicht mehr so abwegig. Doch was sind diese Schatten und was hat es mit der Jagd nach dem weißen Kaninchen auf sich?

Puh, ich muss ehrlich gestehen, dass ich diesen Manga wirklich sehr verwirrend und sehr skurril fand. Ich habe echt meine Zeit gebraucht, bis ich in dem Manga einen kleinen Sinn gefunden habe und somit einen roten Faden der Geschichte. Doch ehe man sich versieht, ist der rote Faden auch schon wieder weg. Es mangelt mir hier einfach an Details. Die Idee an sich ist ja nicht schlecht, aber die Umsetzung finde ich bisweilen sehr grottig. Hinzu kommt, dass alles in sehr sprunghafte Szenen verpackt wurde, weshalb man den Faden immer wieder verliert. Was ich an dem Manga jedoch mag ist der Zeichenstil. Er gefällt mir sehr gut und auch die Interpretation der Charaktere finde ich sehr ansprechend. Ich bin ehrlich. Ich bin von dem Manga hin und her gerissen. Einerseits begeistert mich der Stil, andererseits langweilt mich dieses ständige Sprunghafte. ich werde noch einen Band der Reihe lesen, danach werde ich mich entscheiden, ob ich den Manga abbreche oder weiter lese.

Fazit:
Dieser Manga ist definitiv Geschmackssache, deshalb werde ich keine Empfehlung für ihn aussprechen.

Idee: 5/5
Charaktere: 3/5
Logik: 3/5
Spannung: 3/5
Zeichenstil: 4/5

Gesamt: 3/5

Daten:
Taschenbuch: 196 Seiten
Verlag: TOKYOPOP; Auflage: 1 (10. März 2011)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3842001517
ISBN-13: 978-3842001510
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: 13 - 16 Jahre
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 12,5 x 1,5 x 18,8 cm

[Kara Bianca]

4.25 stars!

Summary:
Are You Alice? follows an alternate version of Wonderland, in which the new "Alice" is brought into a game between The Queen of Hearts and The White Rabbit to kill the latter and prove they are the "real" Alice.

Characters 4/5:
The characters in this were pretty bizarre. Alice is a boy, and many of the other characters are different genders than in the original story or present in the art ambiguously. Alice himself probably seems the least developed of the characters to me, with the surrounding crew (Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, Duchess etc) seeming much more developed and interesting to explore. Though perhaps in later volumes Alice will come into his own more.

Plot 4/5:
Again, the plot was quite interesting. I'm impressed with how much was packed into this short graphic novel. We're really setting up the rules of the world and the game, but in a way that had quite a few twists and turns and interesting things happening! It's quite a dark version of an already dark story and very fascinating!

Art Style 5/5:
The art style is fabulous! It definitely gives me RWBY vibes, which makes me very happy, and the kind of steampunk, fantastical style really works!

Setting and atmosphere 4/5:
The dark and eery vibe really lent to the story and helped develop this nuanced world. It definitely reads like my kind of graphic novel and I'd definitely be interested in picking up more!

[Lucifer "Argyle]

I thought the story was interesting, and the art was incredible and very detailed, but at the same time, the story was confusing. I feel like this one would've been more enjoyable, for me, as an anime or a video game, just because I feel like watching the story or playing the story would make it easier to follow and more enjoyable to consume. It's not that the story is bad, but it seems very hectic and a little complex. It follows a young man that doesn't have a name, really, and is looking for somewhere where he belongs. He somehow gets to Wonderland and all of the characters start calling him Alice, but in order to actually become Alice he has to kill the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat are humans, along with the Dormouse, and I'm assuming the caterpillar will show up and be human as well. I think that's part of why the story is so difficult (for me) to follow. I might try to read the next couple volumes, but if I don't enjoy them more than this one, I won't finish the series.

I really like that it's an original concept, though. It definitely turns the Alice story on its head.

[Catwithbooks]

Bist du Alice?
Ein junger Mann kommt ins Wunderland und sucht etwas. Nur was oder wen? Inmitten einer Menschenmenge trifft er auf Grinsekatze, die in verführt zu sagen das er Alice ist. Damit ist das Schicksal besiegelt. Denn Alice hat einen bestimmten Auftrag im Wunderland. Töte das weiße Kaninchen. Dass ist das was die Herzkönigin befielt.

Der Anfang war sehr holprig. Der Junge Alice ist auf einmal im Wunderland, man weiss noch gar nicht woher er kommt und ahnt vielleicht nur was er will, aber meist ist ja nie etwas so wie auf den ersten Blick. Hier und da gab es schon die ersten Figuren aus dem Wunderland und ihre Rollenverteilung ist interessant und man kann gespannt sein was noch dahinter stecken mag. Auch wenn das ein oder andere interessant ist, konnte mich der erste Band noch nicht so ganz packen, lag zum Teil wie oben genannt an dem Anfang. Mal sehen ob es mit Band zwei besser wird.

[~Cyanide Latte~]

To start at the beginning, a very dear friend has lent me their copies of the volumes of this series and highly recommends it, as far as various manga and series based on AiW go. It's difficult to really explain the premise going on here. Even if I could explain it beyond the initial summary given on the site, I doubt if I should. I can see why my friend said it's wisest to go into this as blind as possible, because 1: trying to coherently explain the premise is difficult to begin with, without info-dumping to the point of excessive spoilers, and 2: even assuming one could, I don't think the degree of impact on the reader would be quite the same as it is when you go in knowing as little as possible. The mystery of this series is what drives the plot, in a way, and keeps you invested. But for what that's worth, this is one hell of a solid first volume! I'm already wanting to start on the second.

[Noninuna]

Retelling and me, we're hit & miss. Mostly, I read Jane Austen's retelling and almost never fairytales' one. I was so desperate to read a retelling this month because of #owlsreadathon and I can't seem to get into Scarlet so I searched for a manga instead & found this one.

It's about a guy that seems lost while walking in a festival in the city centre when suddenly someone asked him, "Are you Alice?". Who is that someone? What is the real identity of the guy? For now, only one female character was introduced, all the others are male. The whole of volume one intrigued me and as far giving answers, more questions arise.

[Thomas Wickinghoff]

What the heck did I just read? Letting a man become Alice in Wonderland sounds like an interesting idea and there's so much cool stuff that one can do with the Wonderland as a setting, but this? All well-known characters were turned into J-POP stars with no distinct visuals whatsoever and so far it's also hard to put your finger on distinct character traits. The story is super confusing with no real beginning and a lot of weird jumping around - it often feels as if the panels were arranged randomly and don't really tell a story. Also: the artists left out lots of backgrounds. Even if the character drawings are quite nice - helloo, we're in Wonderland!? Give me some world-building other than the Queen of Hearts castle.

[Lizzie RoseShine]

For the first time, there's guy named Alice but either that's his real name or not because that named is given by Cheshire cat n mad hatter. Mad hatter job is to save Alice from the enemy. Alice jobs is to kill the white rabbit n had been ordered by the red queen. I feel bad for dutchess girl, she's the replacement of Alice, sacrifice herself n devoured by the monster. Cheshire cat don't save the dutchess because of that damn ruled, all he do is to guide Alice n headed somewhere else. The male Alice is 89th Alice candidate.My fav characters are mad hatter & Male Alice (89th).I hope to get to know them especially new characters in somewhere in other volume of manga.

[Monika Kilijańska]

Alicja, czyli młody przystojny mężczyzna w białym garniturze, to 89-ta Alicja w Krainie Czarów. Dziwne? Wcale nie. Alicją może być w zasadzie każdy, kogo nazwie Królik. To on znalazł nieświadomą swego „ja” Alicję, nadał jej imię, zapoznał z regułami gry. Ale ta Alicja nie jest taka jak wszystkie. I nie wiadomo, czy to dlatego, że jest mężczyzną (wszak i Królowa Kier nią jest), czy dlatego, że jest najbardziej podobną do pierwowzoru, Alicji nr 1, podróbką.

Więcej na: https://www.monime.pl/are-you-alice-m...

[Yami]

Empezando este manga de nuevo, lo empece hace años y lo retome este año, sin duda el arte es un plus que juega a favor en este manga.
Orientado en alice in the wonderland es como una trama sicologica y algo compleja pero q te hace profundizar en la historia y su enigma que es Are you alice? la historia tiene potencial