Manga Review: Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, Volume 1, by QuinRose and Mamenosuke Fujimaru

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Seven Seas

Spoilers?: No.

Volumes: 7

Goodreads Synopsis:

The sequel to the New York Times bestselling manga Alice in the Country of Hearts

This all-new manga series reimagines Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland in a sly, sexy shoujo style that follows up QuinRose’s New York Times bestselling Alice in the Country of Hearts, but can be read independently. Each new volume is an oversized editions that feature impressive artwork and color pinups

His name is Boris, and despite his human form and piercings and tattoos, he is not your typical punk teenager. For he is the Cheshire Cat, complete with cat ears and a tail, and a penchant for riddles. Boris is in madly love with Alice, and Alice is vulnerable and lonely. But will she fall for the Cheshire Cat?

Available on Amazon.

Review:

I’m kind of unsure what to think about this spin-off.

First of all, I don’t like how the story was changed. In this version, Alice lives in the Amusement Park, and Alice meets Boris differently than she did in the original. Which, I guess, could work alright, but when the book started, it just made me feel confused and like I’d missed something. Like there was a different before this one that I did not read, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. It didn’t really help that there was very little back story.

Second, the art is different. Now, I understand that it’s a different artist, and that’s okay, and I’m sure it’s just going to take me a while to get used to. But at the moment, I don’t like this artist as much as I did the first. Mostly it’s okay, but the people look… wider than they should.

Next: the characters are a little out of character at times. Boris, for instance, is not nearly as adorable as he was in the original, or as he should be. I loved Boris in the original, but I feel like he’s going to have to work to earn those feelings back. I’m even a little unsure of how I feel about Alice. Something about her just seems… off to me. Not sure what, but something.

Although, the more I see Julius, the more I love him. His spin-off, which I think is only one volume?, is coming out soon, and I’m really starting to think that I’m going to have to bump it up on my list to read.

The story in this volume was okay. I mostly liked seeing the other characters, but some of them were a little off, and the art was different, and Boris was too pushy. I’m just not really feeling it at the moment, which is a bit of a disappointment, given how much I was looking forward to it. I’m planning on reading a bit more in the series and hoping it gets better.

There was also an excerpt of a different manga at the end of this book, which was probably just shameless advertising, but that’s alright. It was for A Certain Scientific Railgun, which did actually look a bit interesting.