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A review by savvyliterate
Alice 19th, Vol. 2 by Yuu Watase
(Originally written for Anime on DVD.com)
A man named Frey, who is originally from Northern Europe, comes and claims Alice as his fiancé - and also her first kiss. (There's also a very funny second kiss that involves Kyo and Frey that just made me die laughing.) This causes Alice to be completely exaggerated as she's not interested in Frey at all. The interactions between them remind me of the Miroku/Sango encounters in the early Inuyasha volumes, especially whenever Miroku acts like a pervert.
Meanwhile, they all discover that not only is Frey a somewhat experienced Lotis Master, but Kyo is a Lotis Master as well. He's on the same level as Alice is and they seem to grow at approximately the same rate.
This book delves into the darkness that is in people's hearts, as well as a dark secret in Kyo's past. It takes the premise laid out in the first book and expands on it, explaining the history of the Lotus Master somewhat and also what exactly happened to Mayura. You can definitely tell that the series is aiming toward a Alice/Kyo vs. Mayura conflict as the group consisting of Alice, Kyo, Frey and Nyozuka encounter her on several occasions as they explore the darkness of several people's hearts. There's also small hints that Frey could eventually wind up liking Mayura as well.
This series has introduced several typical anime and Watase plot threads into the series. But these elements play out differently for me in this series and it's a large part due to the characters. I am completely enamored with the main cast and find all of them - Alice, Kyo, Frey and Nyozuka - very likeable and human. I keep liking Alice more and more. She is a mixture of Sakura from Card Captor Sakura and Kagome from Inuyasha with a dash of Miaka thrown in. In other words, she's human. And those human qualities shine through again on this volume. She makes mistakes and she learns from them. She's trying her best to be true to herself, but she stumbles and falls along the way. That's very human. You can see her struggling with daily life, dealing with the realistic grief that comes with having a missing family member and her own new duties. If a manga series deserves an anime, this one is it. I'm looking forward to volume 3.
A man named Frey, who is originally from Northern Europe, comes and claims Alice as his fiancé - and also her first kiss. (There's also a very funny second kiss that involves Kyo and Frey that just made me die laughing.) This causes Alice to be completely exaggerated as she's not interested in Frey at all. The interactions between them remind me of the Miroku/Sango encounters in the early Inuyasha volumes, especially whenever Miroku acts like a pervert.
Meanwhile, they all discover that not only is Frey a somewhat experienced Lotis Master, but Kyo is a Lotis Master as well. He's on the same level as Alice is and they seem to grow at approximately the same rate.
This book delves into the darkness that is in people's hearts, as well as a dark secret in Kyo's past. It takes the premise laid out in the first book and expands on it, explaining the history of the Lotus Master somewhat and also what exactly happened to Mayura. You can definitely tell that the series is aiming toward a Alice/Kyo vs. Mayura conflict as the group consisting of Alice, Kyo, Frey and Nyozuka encounter her on several occasions as they explore the darkness of several people's hearts. There's also small hints that Frey could eventually wind up liking Mayura as well.
This series has introduced several typical anime and Watase plot threads into the series. But these elements play out differently for me in this series and it's a large part due to the characters. I am completely enamored with the main cast and find all of them - Alice, Kyo, Frey and Nyozuka - very likeable and human. I keep liking Alice more and more. She is a mixture of Sakura from Card Captor Sakura and Kagome from Inuyasha with a dash of Miaka thrown in. In other words, she's human. And those human qualities shine through again on this volume. She makes mistakes and she learns from them. She's trying her best to be true to herself, but she stumbles and falls along the way. That's very human. You can see her struggling with daily life, dealing with the realistic grief that comes with having a missing family member and her own new duties. If a manga series deserves an anime, this one is it. I'm looking forward to volume 3.