Welcome Back, Alice

"Okaeri Alice" by Shuuzou Oshimi is truly a unique manga. You don't see comic books like that very often. It is more like an experience, telling a story about gender identity, sexual desires, self-acceptance, self-esteem, puberty. All of that presented in a respectful and realistic way, as one would expect from a manga by created by Oshimi-sensei. Realism of "Okaeri Alice" becomes even more impressing when the person reading it is familiar with psychology, so a lot of emotions, reactions or situations happening to the characters of this manga can be easily detected as fine examples of certain behaviors known in the field of clinicalpsychology. There are also afterword sections that add even more depth to elements presented in this manga. All of that is coated with beautiful art and great panelling, allowing readers to literally soak in the story. The farther we dwell into thoughts of certain characters, the more artistic the visuals become, making pretty much every scene filled with psychological content more memorable and impactful. I'm a fan of that kind of artistic methods, so I was delighted to see them in this manga. Also, we cannot forget about the absolutely stunning way of drawing expressive close-ups of characters' faces. Something well-known for Oshimi-sensei fans that will surely impress a lot of people for whom "Okaeri Alice" is the first manga created by this mangaka. The cast is not crowded. The story focuses on a several characters. Few of them are the main ones, receiving obviously the most attention and "screen time", although what I find as really nice about this manga's wriring is that the line separating "main characters" from "side characters" is thin enough to give justice to pretty much all of them. At least equally to the time they had in the manga itself. Even though I generally enjoyed reading "Okaeri Alice", there are two things worth of mentioning that I did not like in particular, and which have greatly affected my final score given to this manga. First of them is the length. While the story is complete and the main element of it were wrapped up pretty well, I couldn't stop thinking about how it would've been grand to see more chapters of this manga. They would surely allow to flesh out more the story itself, but more importantly - they could give more depth to few characters that were interesting, but felt to be treated more like plot devices than actual characters. Second thing is scenes containing lewdness and erotism. I'm not against seeing that kind of stuff. Also, we are talking about a seinen manga, so it shouldn't be a problem at all by default. However, many of them (mostly in the first chapters) felt forced in "Okaeri Alice", resembling more a typical fanservice from mediocre hentai manga than actually meaningful moments from a manga not focused strictly on showing spicy scenes. Sexuality and gender identity are surely sensitive topics requiring respectful approach and seriousness. While their core elements were presented in a rather respectful way, such additions felt pointless to me and out of place, unnecessarily reducing the seriousness of the story. Sure, later on there are no such elements, but was it necessary to include them in the first place? That's the question. If we add to them the length of the whole manga, we might think about whether it was really necessary to include that kind of scenes, instead of, let's say, more interactions between the characters. Nevertheless, "Okaeri Alice" is totally worth of reading. It's really a well-written story, with great looking art style and original concept. I definitely recommend it. Of course, it's not for everyone, due to themes present in the story. However, if someone is a fan of good stories, filled to the brim with psychology, social elements and realism, then "Okaeri Alice" might be something at least worth of checking out.

If you have read Aku no hana before, you kind of know what to expect from this author. This time, Shuuzou Oshimi decided to explore the topic of gender dysphoria and gender as a whole in a natural way by using inexperienced and imperfect characters while truly capturing that awkward phase of early transition and how wrong can it go when you lack some kind of support group, specially one that knows about being transgender. It has some erotic moments that are mostly forced or non consensual, filled with awkwardness and uncertainty. I understand how this is a complete "no-no" when reading content, specially becausethere are nudes drawings, but it's not in a way that it felt like "porn". Hell, these scenes don't last more than they should at all. These scenes always somehow detonate an important plot point one way or another and serve to develop "Alice" as a character and how much she's struggling to find her identity. A lot of people have called this transphobic and gross for making the trans character engage in non consensual sex and that the manga doesn't know enough about trans people and while I understand where this comes from, I don't entirely agree with the latter. Oshimi's works constantly attempt to explore the human mind in a way that's understandable for the circumstances the characters are featured in. It's not like he randomly goes "ah yes, this person is trans so they will rape someone" but more of a "this *person* went through this, this and this. I don't find it weird that they're desensitized to the whole concept of consent because of all they went through. Their pursuit of trying to understand gender and themselves more makes them act this specific way, but not in an aggressive way, more like a rose that ends up hurting others due to the lack of carefulness in the way they've grown". Would this manga be much better without the non consensual sex scenes? Yes. Are they necessary to the plot the author had in mind? Sadly yes Does the author fetishizes rape? No Would I prefer if the exploration of gender went another way? Absolutely. Okaeri Alice is not bad by any means and is able to communicate a meaningful story, but it definitely could of have been done in a much better way. While I personally enjoy reading cathartic stories, I feel kind of guilty for enjoying Okaeri Alice and there's something in my head that makes me feel conflicted when I try to talk about how much I like it or how much I dislike it, hence why I'm giving this a "Mixed Feelings" recommendation because I truly don't feel like I *liked* it but also don't feel like I *disliked* it but it definitely wasn't neutral. It was an interesting read with an engaging story with gender being a main topic but.. no more than that.

Gender. What a thing, ain't it? This was one of the most stressful things I've ever read, not only because of the intensity of the story, but every other element present. One of those you can't speak about without mentioning the art, and the direction of everything. By itself, it's a love triangle: The shy, introverted kid with the goal to speak to his long-lasting crush. The girl attracted to somebody else, but then, that somebody else, is a non-binary, trans girl that was male presenting when this girl liked them. And the triangle goes back to our shy kid. Easy on paper, extremely complex inexecution. This isn't the typical version of it, but more of the author using everything they've learned throughout the years for the manga medium, in a personal art piece. An examination on gender norms, on sex, sexuality, on love, and how complicated it can get beyond the average gender spectrum. It sounds self-indulgent from that, but it's just a great story in general. An intense, sexually charged story that constantly made me recoil at the page turn. Finished it in just one day, all due to an art style that doesn't entirely focus on the dialogue. It's a visual, expression filled, self-identity nightmare, that constantly bombards you with soul crushing panels. It's the ideas that it portrays, and the pain on each face that reacts to every idea. You don't just buy the story, you feel it, right beneath your skin. I don't have quarrels about gender, as portrayed here, but it isn't just a story for that audience, it lets the reader find empathy in what they read. By far, one of the greatest LGBTQ+ cast in media. The heart, soul, and boldness to represent the concepts blasts through the page, and destroys you on the inside. It shows the empathy on the situation, and it can also tell you all about how messed up highschoolers can be with love. The self loathing, the infidelity, the hormones, and the problems of identity, all with a touch of enough self awareness to fill the entire atmosphere with guilt over every single action taken. Hard balance, between gender, and true, gritty storytelling. It's got so much sex on it, far more than I was expecting in a story about highschoolers, but it's this author we're talking about. It's disturbing, heartwarming, and very direct with its message, which at the very ending, felt a little too straight to the point. I get that, with these themes, you really have to be honest and spell it out. I've seen my fair share of failures in media literacy. As a modern manga, the themes must be center stage, even if for me, that detracts from the experience. 8/10. What a solid series. With some beautiful messages about self identity. Yes, it does shove the themes down your throat at the end. Not the best, but it doesn't destroy everything that came before. It's just a little on the nose.

Oh boy, let me start off by saying that I’ve read a lot of manga/comics that have shallow themes of gender identity, the struggle/confusion about it and how it in turn can affect relationships. I was pleasantly surprised by Welcome Back, Alice as I found it to be a mature story with themes that gave me a lot of food for thought. Positives: • I found the (kinda) love triangle between Yo, Kei and Mitani intriguing because the relationship was quite messy and flip floppy, so it felt more real. The story has some sweet moments, but it also doesn’t shy away from embarrassing teenager behaviourthat we'd all like to forget... • There’s some interesting sequences about gender and love, particularly between Kei/Yo in the final two volumes and the painting scene with Kei/Ano. • I don’t usually pay much attention to the afterword of manga, but I thought Alice’s one was particularly important for understanding the mangaka’s experience and struggles with his own gender identity as a teenager. It helped give context to some of the scenes in the story, at least for me. • This manga is very much show, don’t tell. There’s very little or to no dialogue throughout the story, but you really get a sense of what the characters are feeling at that moment based on their body language. While I usually like slower paced manga, I thought the pacing here was well done. It’s fast because of the low amount of dialogue, but I feel like you get enough out of each scene. • The artwork is very wispy and sketchy. I think the expressions are particularly well drawn here especially for the more intimate scenes. Negatives: • I wish we could’ve gotten a bit more of the main characters outside of their relationships. Besides the love triangle, you don’t really get a strong sense of what they’re like personality wise. I feel like they’re a bit undercooked, so I didn’t root for anyone in particular, not even the main character of the story, Yo. • While I think the artwork is good overall, I felt there were a few too many panels that didn’t have a background. While this isn’t a deal breaker, could be better since the backgrounds that are there were nicely rendered. • I would’ve liked to see more of Ano and her bond with Kei, since it feels like after the painting scene they become friends off screen and then she just kinda disappears for the rest of the story. I felt like she was introduced in the story way too late to get time for a fully developed arc. Final Thoughts: Overall, I’d recommend Welcome Back, Alice to anyone who is looking for a manga that depicts real (almost too real) themes of gender identity, love, and lust that doesn’t shy away from the confusing and messy parts of being a teenager. I think the manga is great at what it sets out to do, as it definitely focuses more on the themes rather than the characters themselves. I’ve yet to read Shūzō Oshimi’s other manga, so I can’t compare Alice with his other work, but I’m excited to give his stuff a go!