I love dystopian series, I love play-or-die games, and I love the promise that we kick off Alice in Borderland with. While many of the games are interesting and offer a lot of solid suspense - especially the physical or intellectual based ones, I feel like the psychological focal point that the series hones in on is actually its weakest and laziest written. The MC is constantly pitched as good at the heart games without really much to back it up on and has some forced character growth; it would have been more interesting to really showcase the weak-->strong progression in his mental fortitude but it feels abrupt and sudden instead. So many of the side characters had more compelling reasons for survival and growth- I genuinely did not want to follow the MC as we got further along. Ending arcs and more exploration in the actual world-building elements only cemented how I felt.

... Last updated on January 13th, 2022, 10:17pm

This series is addicting, cleaver, insightful, and heart wrenching. If you like movies like Saw, Shutter Island, and Hunger Games and you like manga like Gantz, battle royal, and series strong in philosophy and psychology, then this is for you.

It just didnt deliver for me, it started off pretty well and then from that point it just introduced characters and doesn't really develop them properly or make me emotionally invested in them, it did do a good job with side stories and showing perspective, but the mystery section of it wasn't even that interesting, nothing about it from then on was very captivating or interesting to read about, except the completing all cards gimmick which made me want to continue

I kept reading hoping there would be more to the story. Hoping that the mysteries would have some cool pay off later down the line, but unfortunately there is no such thing. What you see in the 1st volume is exactly what you'll get for the 17 other volumes. Imawa no Kuni no Alice is over-dramatic, shallow, pointlessly long and most of all extremely boring. Go read Lord of the Flies or Battle Royale instead of wasting your time on this juvenile trash.

As the title said, this manga starts out a bit generic, doesn't really hold any surprises early on and barely managed to hold my attention.
I'm happy to say that it gets better and develops some depth of it's unique own, even if it isn't a true masterpiece.
Definitely worth the read.

... Last updated on March 12th, 2017, 7:28am

It's quite good for the post apocolyptic theme and has a good conspiracy and mystery themes to it too.

Also pretty sure the 'main pairing doesn't include the main protagonist' is a wrong tag here ...maybe? Unless I'm reading it wrong, the MC has a love interest although it happens after the first 2 or 3 volumes.

I was attracted by the cool covers, like almost always, however the actual drawing pulls my enthusiasm down a bit. Then the story comes into line.

It bored me at first and the characters's first appearances failed to impress me but once you get past the beginning phrase, it's hella interesting. Always adoring survival an "play or die" type of manga, this one climbs up my list just from that reason. Nevertheless that's not all there is about the manga. The title is definitely eye-catching. A lot of works in all diverse areas with references to "Alice in Wonderland" have been made, but none with gripping thrilling killing game. I personally think the idea is outstanding. Another crazy game made up by a crazy mind with crazy people playing it. But hey, who doesn't like crazy? The exact factor to make things fun.

I went to check again. This is the mangaka who created Hyde & Closer? For real?!! Then this is surely a great improvement! A complete change of genre which, I have to say, shows much more depth and talent.

... Last updated on March 18th, 2013, 1:51pm

In stark contrast to Hyde & Closer, Imawa no Kuni no Alice is rather dark and grim, especially for a shonen manga. But in many ways, this is quite refreshing for Asou Haro, blending in his drawing style in the mix, as oppose to the usual shonen cliches that has been around.

Whether this will stick around for a while or not is up in the air, but for now, I'll just be patient to see where this series goes from here.