Search
Personal Tools
Toolbox
Alice Academy
From Virtual Japan
Alice Academy (Gakuen Arisu) is a manga, or Japanese comic book, that was created by Tachibana Higuchi. Higuchi is a mangaka, or manga artist, who is most known for her Alice Academy manga. The series began in 2003 and currently consists of thirteen volumes. It was turned into an anime series and was released from 2004 until 2005.
Synopsis
Mikan Sakura is a normal ten year old girl, who gets devastated when her best friend Hotaru Imai is transferred to Alice Academy, a special school in Tokyo that only accepts genius children. Mikan decides that she will follow Hotaru, and runs away to Alice Academy. She has heard rumors of terrible things that happen at the academy, and wants to save her best friend. She disvoers, though, that Alice Academy is not what it seems. It is an academy for students who each have a unique gift, known as an Alice.
Once she arrives, a teacher pulls her aside and reveals that she, too, has an Alice. The teacher is Narumi, and she tells Mikan that her Alice is the ability to stop the power of another’s Alice. Because of this, the school board decides that they want to keep an eye on her, and they admit her into the school. Mikan quickly discovers that Alice Academy is not as enjoyable as it looks. Instead, it is a place filled with lies and half-truths. A place where deception is around every corner.
The series follows Mikan as she lives life at Alice Academy. It focuses on everything from tests to other students to boys. Namely her relationship with Natsume. Natsume is a student at the school that, at first, Mikan hates. She eventually comes to care deeply for him, and they kiss in the manga version.
Characters
- Mikan Sakura – Mikan is the main character in the series. She is a clumsy girl who is an orphan. She runs after Hotaru when she goes away to Alice Academy. It is then discovered that she has the ability to cancel out another person’s Alice, which is a very unusual Alice to have.
- Hotaru Imai – Hotaru is an intelligent girl that is Mikan’s one and only friend in the beginning. She has the Alice of Invention, which means that she can create things very easily. She comes off as cold to Mikan but does truly care for her.
- Natsume Hyuuga – Natsume, despite being very intelligent, often skips class. He can not stand the school and has a very dangerous Alice: the fire Alice. He is often quiet, but does seem to care for Mikan, and listens and tries to help whenever he can.
- Narumi – Narumi is the teacher the first discovers Mikan’s ability. His Alice ability is the pheromone Alice, which allows him to control older adults. Mikan looks at Narumi as a parental figure, and calls him father. It becomes discovered, later, that Narumi was a friend of Mikan’s mother, and has promised to care for her during her time at Alice Academy.