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クローバーの国のアリス~ハートの騎士~ [Clover no Kuni no Alice - Heart no Kishi]

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「-ほんと、優しいよな。だから、俺みたいなのにつけこまれるんだよ」 ハートの騎士(エース)と、アリスの恋。 恐ろしくも爽やかで、得体の知れない赤の騎士。迷い、迷わされ、行き着く先は・・・・・・? とっても危険で、とびきり甘い、不思議の国のラブストーリー。

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First published December 25, 2009

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Mamenosuke Fujimaru

64 books35 followers
FUJIMARU Mamenosuke
Name (in native language): 藤丸豆ノ介

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
Profile Image for Bibliothecat.
1,753 reviews77 followers
April 20, 2024


This is one of the more disappointing Alice in the Country of [...] spin offs. I rather like The Knight of Hearts Ace and I think they could have made an interesting story with him. Yet his is served as a meagre oneshot which doesn't even fill the entire volume (note that about a third of this book is a bonus chapter of Crimson Empire).

But not only is this volume short, it doesn't really deliver anything much of a plot. I can't really see what drives Ace and everything he does feels random, especially the violence towards Alice. The art is quite pretty, but otherwise I didn't feel like I gained anything from this - it was mostly a mixture of feeling bored, confused and disappointed.
Profile Image for M.C. Crocker.
Author 1 book5 followers
June 25, 2015
Being a bit of an Alice addict I decided to go in for another Country of Clover book and I am beginning to question this series as a whole. I certainly liked the Country of Hearts series and I thought it would be fun to see Alice with some of my chosen favorite characters but now I’m not so sure. Bloody Twins the first of the collection I read I enjoyed and yet gave it a not too strong of a rating and it seems like the rest of the books have fallen in comparison. I was excited to read Ace of Hearts because after Boris Ace was my next favorite.



On the whole I found the book the be amusing and I was ready to give it a good rating based on the amusement I was getting from the beginning of the story particularly when all curse words were bleeped out and I mean quite literally – “That *Bleep*ing furball got away again” I laughed out loud at these instances cause it was funny even if I prefer a writer to just go ahead and use the language if it is to be used. Yet the amusement could not continue sadly and the book had to go from fun and entertaining to very frustrating and annoying in 2.5 seconds. It took one small scene at the near end to ruin the book entirely. We had a happy moment where Alice is with Ace and she’s confessed to her love and they are just talking about it and it gets a little romantic and sensual all at once and then as they are talking you suddenly realize that Ace is starting to choke her remarking on how amazing it is how her heart suddenly races when nervous or scared. He then probes her about how much she loves him as he tightens his grip around her neck, she accepts his trying to kill her and asks him to make it quick he backs off and says that he would never kill her and she ends up wondering why he backed off and sticks with him and then later claiming that she loves him despite how ‘dangerous’ he can be. WTF!?



I have been making this complaint recently to my friends but what is up with the objectifying of women. I know it happens but it seems lately that I’ve been seeing a lot of it and to be honest it is rubbing me in a very wrong way. I am by no means a feminist but I respect myself as a woman and I believe in women being strong and beautiful and yet this sort of crap keeps getting thrown in my face and I can’t stand it! It is WRONG and giving people a bad idea of what relationships are about! What really grates me is that this book is geared toward young adults, particularly young adult girls! They are already struggling with understanding relationships and having self-respect they don’t need a book giving them the wrong message! GRR! Okay I will stop my ranting now and leave this book at a 1 page review… it would be less than one page if I could give it that. We’ll say I’ll give the 1 page for the decent stuff at the start but it isn’t worth picking up garbage just for that so I say avoid this book entirely.
Profile Image for Rabia.
33 reviews1 follower
April 2, 2013
It was a nice manga but...I was REALLY CONFUSED. The original manga that I read, Alice in the Country of Hearts, displayed that all the guys liked her but she ended up with Blood. However, in the spinoffs, she ends up with all these other guys. I mean like...which guy does she like?!

At first, in the original manga, I was like "Oh my god. Blood is so handsome, he is so getting Alice in the end." He did eventually.

Then, I read this manga, The Country of Clover, but in this spinoff, she ended up with one of the minor characters that liked her in the original manga. However, Ace is super handsome in this book so I was like "Oh whatever, Ace is amazingly hot as well. Blood must have gotten dumped or something."

But now, I just noticed that there happens to be ANOTHER spinoff where Alice now goes and likes the bloody twins. THAT manga is on my to-read list FOR SURE. I want to see how she can fall in love with two people who tried to kill her as soon as she entered the Country of Hearts. When I realized there was a spinoff on her and the bloody twins I was like "WHOA! Did both Ace and Blood get dumped? Is she really such a picky person? Can't she just be satisfied with Blood and Ace? Will the twins kill her in her sleep? Or will they mix something in her drink to make her like them???"

Moreover, in this manga, I realized that maybe...just maybe, Alice might not really like Ace. Maybe this time will pass and she will eventually cheat or dump him like all the other guys and move onto Julius. She always talks about Julius and maybe deep inside she really likes him but is afraid to realize it. After all, he is the person who repairs the clocks and even if he happens to be a handsome bishie like all the other guys, he is still going to have to continue his "role".

MY ONLY COMPLAIN
***Why can't they just make a whole story on how Alice returns and decides to choose Blood ONLY and live in one land??? If only the author made her romance a bit less complicated! There are like 9 guys that like her! She has her own harem. Even the Queen of Hearts likes her(not in that way...hopefully)!
Profile Image for Selena Pigoni.
1,941 reviews263 followers
January 19, 2014
I feel cheated out of $13.99...

First of all, the actual story with Ace is about 2/3 of the book. The rest of this book contains Crimson Empire, which I read and didn't like for various reasons. So, 14 bucks for a book that only contains 66% what I purchased it for... Damn you, QuinRose. See if I buy your books anymore if you keep this up. >_>

Now then, for the review on stuff I actually purchased this book for.

I was disappointed. I mean, while I'm not a huge fan of Ace and not a hardcore shipper of Alice x Ace, I do find his character amusing and I enjoy the story when he hangs around. The problem was he wasn't his usual laughable self. He was downright violent, even for the "Alice in the Country of..." series. Not only that, but he was violent towards Alice, which is just a no-no in my book.

I'm with the "Lizard" on this one. Alice, get away from Ace. He's not worth being dead for. -_-
Profile Image for The Book Dragon.
2,522 reviews38 followers
April 21, 2017
As the title suggests, this is an Alice X Ace story. I like the theory of being lost. Given how unpredictable life can be, let alone love, it's hard to make the big decisions. Do I admit my feelings? Do I run away? Is he lying? Is he really thinking about us?

Overall, I find Ace to be a confusing character. I can't tell what he's thinking, but as best I can tell he's a bit of a sadist. He hates his role (find out why in 'Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar's Game) and he wishes he had a choice. He likes when Alice's attention is fixated on him which leads to jealousy when Alice talks to other characters. (For this story those poor, unfortunate souls are Gray and Pierce)

Note: Alice in the Country of Clover is the sequel to Alice in the Country of Hearts; both of which are based off Otome dating games. A phenomenon called 'moving' takes place, which is why the name of the country changes, and results in a few new characters appearing but a few old characters disappearing. The first dating sim resulted in a manga (by the same title) that spawned many different spinoffs. This is one of those stories.

This spinoff has 1 volume. This volume ends on page 118 and the rest of the book is composed of short stories from a series called Crimson Empire.
Profile Image for Kate.
1,181 reviews86 followers
March 3, 2015
After completing the "original" Alice in the Country of Hearts, I was intrigued enough to continue reading all the other character arcs.

In this volume, the focus is on Alice's relationship with Ace. Ace has always been one of my favorite characters of the group. His lovable ability to get lost just about anywhere coupled with his at-times ruthless behavior has always been a fascinating juxtaposition of character traits for me. Unfortunately, I don't think this story lets him shine as much as I was hoping it would. The art, however, is quite beautiful, and blends well enough from the first series that I read that I don't know if I would have even noticed that it's a different artist (there is more than one artist that tackles the multitude of story arcs covered in the visual novel games).

If Ace's story wasn't the best use of my time, the short story at the "end" of the volume (which takes a full third of the book!), was a complete waste of my time. It's about another visual novel by QuinRose called Crimson Empire, which I'm simply not interested in.
Profile Image for Heather Harvey.
40 reviews
June 17, 2017
For this Alice story...

The Artwork: Good news! It's by the same person who did the Bloody Twins one shot and I love that artist. (It's Mamensouke Fujimaru by the way.) The art is so beautiful in my opinion and the artist can capture expressions well. I love the costumes/outfits in this one again. I love the detail that was brought into this one as well. I love the anime eyes and the wild hair. I just love this artist's work.

The Story: I do like it but I wish there was more. For some reason, they have put a lot of Crimson Empire basically taking 1/3 of this book. I am reading this for Alice not Crimson. *sigh*

The Characters: Now it's Ace's turn! He is not what I expected. I always thought he was...kind of a dork but here they portray him having a darker side. Also I like how he doesn't like his 'role' and he wants to get out of that. (If you read the book, you will understand.) I do like Ace. He's not my favorite but he is a likeable character with some violent tendencies.

The Romance: Um...in some panels...it's...why would you let him do that? *sighs* Other than that, it's not very fluffy or 'cute'. (Like some others I read.) It's...nice? I really don't know where the romance or how the love came to be.
Profile Image for Maverynthia.
Author 2 books9 followers
April 8, 2018
Ace is too much of the "dangerous rapey type" that I hate. Much of it is her telling him no/stop and him ignoring that. He even tries to strangle her.
The short story in the back is of the MC thinking she's pregnant and the man pretty much forcing her to have the baby because "he lurves her" despite the fact he's ran out on people before. However it turns out to be nothing so the MC is saved from that.
Profile Image for ~Cyanide Latte~.
1,828 reviews90 followers
November 4, 2023
Wasn't terrible but wasn't my favorite either. I'm not the biggest fan of Alice with Ace by any stretch, so this one wasn't exactly for me. Additionally, a lot of the book's page count was taken up by unrelated side stories, which I had no interest in reading. I have a copy of this volume, but I think I'm going to gift it to my friend who's an Ace fan.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
481 reviews38 followers
March 17, 2024
Not much to say: just a short little "what-if" Alice x Ace story, in which Ace's scary "yandere" personality is weirdly attractive to Alice. Well. What can you expect in a manga series based off a dating sim? I personally am not a fan of Ace as a love interest, but he's definitely a fascinating character in this rigid, violent world of Wonderland....
Profile Image for Meme.
110 reviews
May 21, 2017
A bit disappointed that about a third of the book isn't the main story but parts of a different story altogether.
Profile Image for Miss Susan.
2,768 reviews65 followers
September 20, 2015
WELL. that was one hecked up pairing. just hecked the heck up.

ace/alice: some truly hecked up ish

i picked this up because i wanted to see where they were going with ace's whole 'rebel against assigned roles!' thing but alas, somehow quinrose managed to do an entire ace-centric volume without actually elaborating on his conflict any beyond what we got in alice in the country of hearts

maybe it's because this is only half a volume since literally the entire back half was a preview for some manga called crimson empire which like: ???? honestly i didn't even bother reading it because i was annoyed to see the space wasted when this volume failed so badly at delivering any real story

2 stars
Profile Image for Elaine.
1,074 reviews17 followers
July 16, 2013
My least favorite in the series so far, which is really disappointing because I usually love Ace and I was hoping to get to know him better in this volume. This was shorter than most of the others that I've read, and it suffers from a severe lack of plot (which is saying something for a series that usually uses a gunfight or swordplay to segue from one scene to another). It really felt like the author said, "Well, we've got this series and Alice needs to fall in love with each of the guys, so I guess it's time to do Ace." I mean, his newfound affection for Alice kind of came out of nowhere, and she decides she's in love with him, too. Ridiculous! At least give us a good story to BELIEVE that Alice would suddenly be involved with the most abusive character in the series.
Profile Image for Lauren Kennedy.
11 reviews3 followers
August 12, 2013
This volume was extremely disappointing. Ace is my favorite character and I was hoping to get some development since there was a lot of things that can be explored about his personality (his double identity). But what I ended up getting was a lack of plot and a lack of relationship development between Ace and Alice. There is no clear indicator that Ace's feelings have changed from manipulating Alice to being in love with her, which makes his confession to her seem fake.

Perhaps this story would have been better if it wasn't cut short to make room for the lengthy "Circumstances to Serve A Noble" one-shot at the end. The fact that this was even included when CTSAN already has it's own series also irritated me. If I wanted to read CTSAN, I would have bought it.
Profile Image for Filia Martin.
103 reviews14 followers
August 14, 2014
After reading several of these 'what-if' books now, I'm getting a bit sick of the introduction pages, lol. Anyway, as for this book..
I can't say I loved this book. I didn't. I liked it, but didn't love it.
This time around, I just wasn't feeling this pairing was authentic. She just says she likes Ace out of nowhere, and even then it hints at something else at the end. And Ace didn't seem to be acting normally here, which I didn't like. He wasn't exactly nice to Alice most of the time, and while they kept saying he was 'cheery', he sure didn't act it.
I found the short stories included with the book to be more interesting and convincing, and those aren't even related to 'Alice'. They could have expanded upon the seriously lacking story in these pages. :(.
Profile Image for Jess.
11 reviews7 followers
January 30, 2015
After reading several of the Country of Clover stories, my overall opinion is a solid "meh". I was excited for Ace's story because, come on, he's an interesting guy. However, I don't feel like I know anything more about him. Also, his relationship with Alice seems implausible. There was no real explanation as to how one of the most indifferent characters in the story suddenly decided he loved Alice, nor how Alice just as quickly came to love someone so psychotic. The plot just felt messy and didn't leave me with anything very memorable. Overall, the sub stories haven't been terrible, but they're definitely a disappointment in comparison to Country of Hearts.
Profile Image for Adriana.
3,538 reviews42 followers
January 31, 2014
Real ratting: 3.5 Stars

I really liked Ace in the HEARTS series, but this brooding version of him doesn’t really mesh with the character he used to be. His relationship with Alice makes no sense, but the way they interact fits this world.
The way the other characters are brought into the story really saved the story. All the funny parts that I’ve come to expect from this series come from side characters in this volume.
Profile Image for Nic.
1,749 reviews75 followers
September 12, 2020
I like the actual story better than I expected, given that Ace can be kind of frightening to (i.e. not a good romantic partner for) Alice. But then roughly a third of the book turned out to be previews for other Quinrose manga. Not why I got the book, people!

My NFNT review is up!
Profile Image for Jessie Radford.
347 reviews1 follower
August 25, 2013
Interesting I know each new edition gives Alice a new love interest. I was surprised to see Ace's out already. He definitely makes an interesting love interest with his constant confusion and ever rampant violent sociopath behavior. It was a good read. Can't wait for some of my more favorite characters to make their appearance.
Profile Image for Kyogou.
54 reviews4 followers
September 20, 2015
I wasn't as keen on this one as I was expecting to be. The story was short, and didn't seem as well put together as some of the other ones. The art is still wonderful, but I feel a lot of story got lost. I did enjoy the little thoughts about the roleholders wanting to do different things than what they were assigned, and Ace was the only one really going against his.
Profile Image for Shelly.
2 reviews
July 11, 2013
ART WORK AMAZING STORY LINE ADORABLE, but due to this one shot, i felt like the story was rushed and is too short.... I really enjoyed the manga and i was actually warming up to the characters, but i wished that it was longer and it explained their relationship more.
Profile Image for Angel.
24 reviews2 followers
August 2, 2013
Love this book it's sort of Alice in Wonderland meets The Sopranos. It's Quirky, Funny and a little crazy (in a good way) all at the same time. I love this series because the Queen is actually quite nice in this series.
Profile Image for Marci.
19 reviews
July 19, 2013
Cute story but It felt a tad rushed and a bit short. I would still recommend this as a read because I like seeing Alice interactions with her current love interest (Blood and Boris are my top two ^_^!).
Profile Image for DJL.
393 reviews
April 8, 2016
While I've been enjoying the Alice in the Country of Hearts/Clover series, this one was just okay for me. I guess that's due to not feeling as much for Ace than other characters. Readers can understand his situation, but there's nothing really to build on there.
Profile Image for Raven.
956 reviews1 follower
December 21, 2014
I love the art and the story ideas.

Didn't like that it was only half the book and the other half was a preview of another story that I had no care for. Also why are the guys so abusive.

Still great art still kept me entertained hopefully there will be more for me to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews

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