Alice the 101st Vol. 1 by Chigusa Kawai – Manga Review

Jul 14, 2010
Angela Eastman

: Alice the 101st, Manga by Chigusa Kawai - Cover Image © 2010 Digital Manga, Inc.

Digital Manga's Alice the 101st is a light, fun shojo about a boy playing the violin. Expressive character designs sometimes mesh with dull backgrounds.

Aristo Lang (called "Alice" by friends and family) has been accepted as the controversial 101st student at the Mondonville Music Academy in Digital Manga's musical shojo manga released under the DokiDoki imprint, Alice the 101st by Chigusa Kawai. Alice has no formal training and can't even read scores, and even the teachers don't understand his acceptance into the school. Then Alice begins to play a song that is special to him on his violin, and the way he and the teachers and students of the academy see each other changes.

Alice the 101st from Digital Manga Publishing

Being a shojo manga with a predominately male cast, there are some elements of Boy's Love in the Alice the 101st. This comes from the way Victor "flirts" with Alice, and how he pats Alice down to insure that he is, indeed, male. There are no gay characters in this manga, however – every BL moment is for comedy, or fangirl bait.

The big twist, that Alice is actually very good at the violin, isn't surprising whether or not the reader is well versed in shojo manga – obviously he had to had some sort of talent to get into the school, and manga rarely focuses on a totally useless character. But, he still has many struggles: Alice can't read music, can't play the piano, and is absolutely inept at all the basics. It's a legitimate worry that Alice might not make it, and thus the manga keeps interesting.

Alice's struggle to master the violin is a metaphor for his quest to know his father, a master violinist who died early. It would have been a sweet revelation, except the manga insists on thrusting it into the reader's face as Alice literally shouts the meaning behind his attendance at the school. It's as if Kawai doesn't trust her readers to figure anything out on their own

As of the end of volume one, enough is revealed about some of the characters of Alice the 101st to make them at least mildly interesting to the reader. Alice is flawed just enough to make readers involved in his mounting problems while still allowing him to be charming and fun to read about. Maximilien doesn't pique too much interest as a character until the end when readers see how truly absent-minded he is, switching from one thought to the next as he talks to Alice.

Then there is Claire, the "cello girl." Not much is revealed about her but the fierce personality that twinkles through is fascinating, and her presence will hopefully add more life to the manga in later volumes.

Other Alice the 101st characters are disappointingly one-dimensional. Alice's roommate Theo is a kind friend, but he shows no growth of his own over the volume and his self-deprecating attitude can get annoying. Kawai does a fine job of making Richard hatable, but his character doesn't develop beyond an arrogant jerk.

With Victor, it soon becomes apparent that he has no struggles of his own, revealing through his love for the viola that he's content to play the support. This is helpful for Alice's story and keeps the manga from getting too clogged with story lines. But, it keeps Vick from being a character readers really fret over and love.

Chigusa Kawai's Art in Her Manga, Alice the 101st

Manga pages are easy to follow. Panels slide from one to the other without too much blurring over, so there's no order confusion when reading.

Chigusa Kawai's character designs are rounded and soft, relaying these students' youthfulness and beauty. She doesn't draw the eyes too overly large as is usual in shojo manga, but they're still expressive. Occasionally a character appears shrunken down in super deformed mode, but these are placed well so that they add to comedic moments and don't detract from serious scenes.

Kawai's backgrounds don't reflect the personality of her character designs, however. Characters are often surrounded by bubbly screen tones or just white space. On the occasion that scenes are filled in they are simplistic and empty. While her character's look charming Kawai's backgrounds are totally forgettable.

Alice the 101st Manga Volume One by Chigusa Kawai, From Digital Manga Publishing

The premise of Alice the 101st is interesting, even if the way events in the manga play out aren't exactly unpredictable. Alice is turning out to be a joy to watch as he learns that he actually has to work hard, and Maximilien is looking to have a more interesting personality than just the somber genius. Kawai's character designs are cute and expressive, and while they don't distinguish her from other manga artists they still very lovely. Her backgrounds leave a lot to be desired, but as readers become involved in the personal growth of Alice they will likely forget the lack of artistic detail. Alice the 101st isn't the most engrossing read, but it will serve well as a light afternoon break.

Alice the 101st volume one gets a 3/5.