Alice in the Country of Hearts - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

is a Japanese female-oriented

Otome game

An is a video game that is targeted towards a female market, where one of the main goals, besides the plot goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player character and one of several male characters. This genre is most established in Japan. The label includes both visual...

romance adventure visual novel

Visual novel

A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...

developed by Quin Rose

Quin Rose

is a Japanese games developer specialising in otome games for Windows. They have also made several games for Playstation 2. They have currently made nine games as of 2010, and have released several books as well as drama CDs and other various merchandise...

. The game is a re-imagining of Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...

's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...

. A manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

adaptation illustrated by Soumei Hoshino was serialized in Mag Garden

Mag Garden

is a Japanese publishing company that focuses on manga-related publications and is also involved in the development of anime and live-action adaptations. It was founded on June 5, 2001 by Yoshihiro Hosaka along with former manga artists of Enix...

's Monthly Comic Avarus between the October 2007 and October 2010 issues and has been licensed by Tokyopop

Tokyopop

Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...

in North America. A second manga by Mamenosuke Fujimaru began serialization in Ichijinsha

Ichijinsha

is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the name Studio DNA which main purpose was to edit shōnen manga. In January 1998, Studio DNA became a public company and...

's Comic Zero Sum with the June 2011 issue. An original video animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

adaptation was announced for release in November 2008, but was later delayed. An anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

film adaptation produced by Asahi Production was released in Japanese theaters in July 2011.

Plot

Alice Liddell is an insecure girl who is jealous of her sister's beauty and grace. During one of their outings, Alice's sister goes to get a deck of cards for a game while Alice falls asleep. When a white rabbit comes and encourages her to chase him, Alice assumes she is dreaming and tries to go back to napping until the rabbit turns into a man with white rabbit ears and carries her off. Peter White (the white rabbit) throws Alice into a hole that appears in her yard and jumps in after her. When they land in a strange, open area, Peter starts confessing his undying love for her. He tells her to drink some 'medicine' but when she refuses, he simply pours the liquid into his mouth and then kisses her, forcing her to drink it. It is later revealed that this liquid is some kind of way to prevent her from going home. Alice learns that she is in Wonderland and the only way she might be able to return to her world is to interact and spend time with the strange people in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...

, which slowly refills the medicine vial. However, Wonderland is going through violent times - everyone is reckless and uncaring as to who lives or dies, and with a civil war going on everyone in the strange world finds it hard to trust each other with an instinct to kill.

Characters

Most characters in Alice in the Country of Hearts are very loosely based on Lewis Carroll's originals, though there are also a few invented by QuinRose.

(anime film)

One of the very few characters who are similar in personality, physical appearance, and reactions to the original book. Alice reacts to everything a little bit more realistically than the original Alice, questioning her surroundings, however she is still dreamy and absent minded. Many of the other characters note that Alice unintentionally leads them on. Her views on life in general have made her a valuable part of wonderland life. The inhabitants fall in love with her because she values life, not like the people who live there. She often considers returning home, but is dissuaded by painful headaches induced by Nightmare whenever she tries to recall memories of her sisters Edith and Lorina or whether she considers if she has seen Peter before or not. In the manga, she chooses to reside in the neutral Clock Tower with Julius Monrey.

Other than having a pair of white rabbit ears, wearing a watch, and wearing a suit coat he has little in common with the White Rabbit

White Rabbit

The White Rabbit works for the Red Queen, but is also a secret member of the Underland Underground Resistance, and was sent by the Hatter to search for Alice...

upon which he is based. He is the first to meet Alice and claims to be desperately in love with her; his sociopathic tendencies mean that he will not hesitate to kill anyone he dislikes, especially if they get between him and Alice. Alice mentions hating him on several instances, but he is persistent in gaining her love. Peter is able to turn into an actual rabbit, which he does so in order to gain Alice's affections since she has a soft spot for his rabbit form, and works for the Queen of Hearts in Heart Castle as a Prime Minister. He is often caught rhyming as he speaks, however in the original version he is heard talking normally without rhyming. It appears he and Nightmare know why Alice was brought to his world and it appears he is somehow connected to her older sister.

Leader of the Hatters, he is charming, flirtatious, laid-back and loves black tea, Blood is nothing like the Mad Hatter

Mad Hatter

Hatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll...

, the character he represents. He rules the Hatter's Mansion area and is strongly hated by Mary Gowland for making his name known throughout the Land of Hearts. He is also involved in a civil war with the Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

The Queen of Hearts is a character from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by the writer and mathematician Lewis Carroll. She is a foul-tempered monarch, that Carroll himself pictured as "a blind fury", and who is quick to decree death sentences at the slightest offense...

. Alice notices right away that he looks exactly like her ex-boyfriend. Nightmare created his face to look identically like her ex-boyfriend, though his reasons for doing so unknown. In the beginning, Blood states he has no intention of loving Alice, and discusses trying to kill her. He even attempts to choke her at one point, and shoots at her during a ball held by Vivaldi. However, like many others, Blood develops a strong interest in her, and antagonizes Julius just so Alice will leave Julius to stay with Blood, though she never actually leaves the Clock Tower. It is even suggested later in the manga that Blood is in fact jealous and directs his negative feelings at Alice. In the games, he is a bit less violent toward Alice than in the manga. They share a kiss in the end of the manga. He and Vivaldi are siblings

Other than having a pair of brown hare ears, Elliot shares no likeness to the March Hare

March Hare

Haigha, the March Hare is a character most famous for appearing in the tea party scene in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.The main character, Alice, hypothesises,...

, upon which he is based. He first seems willing to help Alice, until he points his weapon at her and says he wants to "test his new gun". But later in the manga, Elliot comes across as a kind and sweet person with the willingness to kill people without hesitation. Elliot is dedicated to serving Blood, due to the fact that Blood helped Elliot escape prison for a terrible sin. Elliot had destroyed his friend's clock (the people of Wonderland have clocks instead of hearts, and when repaired the clocks become a new person), as his friend had wished. Because Wonderland needs replacements, the act of destroying a clock is taboo and he was thrown in jail. Elliot constantly states that he isn't a rabbit, instead claiming he is a dog, and claims to not like carrots. Despite this, he is shown to enjoy eating carrot dishes.

Twins based on the characters Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Tweedledum and Tweedledee are fictional characters in an English language nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom. The nursery rhyme has a Roud Folk Song Index number...

that besides being twins and finishing each others' sentences on occasion, they look and act nothing like their counterparts. Dee and Dum are the young gatekeepers to the Hatter Mansion. Due to their young age, they often slack off and love money and killing. They have a violent tendencies and actually tried to kill Alice upon first meeting her, thinking that slitting her throat would be a fun game. They don't think life is important, thinking that Alice, like everyone else, will have a replacement. In the second game Clover no Kuni no Alice, they are revealed to be able to transform into adult forms at will.

Boris is the counterpart of the Cheshire Cat

Cheshire Cat

The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...

; like the character he is based on, Boris loves riddles. He has functional cat ears and a tail, several piercings and tattoos, and dresses in short, exposing outfits with a pink boa and a collar with a chain. Boris works in the Amusement Park District for Mary Gowland. Though he is sly, devious character with a childish persona, he becomes close to Alice. He is friends with Dee and Dum, despite the fact that they work for opposing groups, and even goes to Hatter Mansion to have tea parties and interact with Elliot and Blood. Boris has on numerous occasions, snuck into the Castle of Hearts. When his luck ran out, Alice found him badly wounded and bloody, and after a reprimanding from Alice, Boris promised to change his careless and ruthless ways for Alice's sake. When Ace threatens to kill Alice, Boris only shoots at his feet saying, "I can't kill you because it would make Alice sad." He gets mad at Ace when he kills in front of Alice. Like many others in the Land of Hearts, he also falls in love with Alice.

Vivaldi is based upon The Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

. Like the character in Carroll's book, she regularly orders the beheading of servants for the smallest of mishaps. She tends to use the majestic plural and is demanding and dangerous. A beautiful and composed woman who shows little emotion, she does expose her feelings towards Blood when Peter and Ace inform her of his interest and advances to Alice. She loves cute things and has a secret room full of stuffed animals. Only a few select maids know of her collection. Vivaldi is secretly Blood's older sister and as the Queen of Hearts, she is the only person aside from Alice who is able to keep Peter in line.

Ace is an original character, though he is possibly based on the Knave of Hearts

Knave of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

The Knave of Hearts is a character from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.-Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:The Knave of Hearts is mentioned first in chapter 8, and chapters 11 and 12 deal with his trial for a tart robbery in which the King of Hearts presides as judge...

. He is the Knight of Heart Castle and considered the most skilled swordsman in Wonderland, but has a notoriously bad sense of direction and often forgets how to get to places. Though, seemingly harmless at first, he becomes more devious over time and demonstrates a tendency towards violence. His lost adventures are revealed to be assassinations of people that the Joker or the Clockmaker want him to kill; he helps Julius Monrey collect clocks from people who have died while killing those who get in his way. Ace is one of the first characters to admit that he has no romantic interest in Alice, though that changes shortly after he says it. Despite confessing to love Alice, she notes how he used her as a shield when Peter threatened to shoot him. He almost kills Alice because she is changing everyone in Wonderland, but mentions that if he killed her, he couldn't hear her heartbeat anymore, so he changes his mind. He is also revealed to be the warden of the prison in Wonderland.

Julius is an original character, though it is suggested that he represents Time (who has an argument with the Mad Hatter), from the original Alice in Wonderland book. He is in charge of the only neutral district, the Clock Tower Plaza; it is also shown that he controls the world's time. As the fixer of clocks, he is regarded as the mortician of Wonderland, since the fixed clocks will become the hearts of reborn Wonderland residents. Julius is initially the closest character to Alice; she trusts him and lives in his Clock Tower with him. While seemingly apathetic and anti-social, several characters mention how much he must like Alice because of his eagerness to help her get home and to give her a room to stay in. Later on, Julius shows jealousy towards the other men in Alice's life and tells her to leave, saying that she can go where ever she chooses as he thinks she feels obligated to stay. When Alice refuses to leave, Julius admits that he doesn't find her annoying. As his attachment to Alice grows, he becomes protective of her when other characters threaten to take her away. It is seen that Julius does not like roller coasters, crowds, and Blood Dupre.

Boss of the Amusement Park, Gowland is a possible parody of The Duchess

Duchess (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

The Duchess is a character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865. Carroll does not describe her physically in much detail, although her hideous appearance is strongly established in the popular imagination thanks to John Tenniel's illustrations and from context it...

as he is a marquis

Marquis

Marquis is a French and Scottish title of nobility. The English equivalent is Marquess, while in German, it is Markgraf.It may also refer to:Persons:...

and semi owner of Cheshire Cat

Cheshire Cat

. However he gets angry at Boris when he bleeds on his floor. Other than those times he enjoys the company of him and Alice. He is an older man with mood swings, but is generally a cheery and very social person. He has the power to pull out his violin, which turns into a kind of gun or rifle at his will, in various sizes, though he has no talent playing it. He invites Alice to come to the park any time she likes and visits her at the clock tower. Gowland is the archenemy of Blood Dupre, who told everyone Gowland's first name is Mary, making his name 'Merry Go Round', like the term merry-go-round. Dupre seems eager to pick fights with Mary, making fun of him and his name, throwing Gowland into a violent rage.

Nightmare is based on The Caterpillar

Caterpillar (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

The Caterpillar is a fictional character appearing in Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.-Appearance in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:...

in the original Alice in Wonderland, but is usually seen when Alice is sleeping. Later, he comes to the clock tower with a resident of Clover. He is the one who allowed Peter to bring Alice into Wonderland. He calls himself a 'Demon', claiming he is the embodiment of bad dreams. He interacts mostly with Alice, but also appears before Peter and Julius as well. It appears he along with Peter knows why Alice was sent to their world. He also claims to love her. He is sickly in the books and is seen coughing up blood, but hates doctors and injections. He wears an eyepatch for unmentioned reasons and seems to not have any weapon. In the second game Clover no Kuni, he revealed to be the head of the Clover Tower.

Pierce is the counterpart of the Dormouse

Dormouse

Dormice are rodents of the family Gliridae. Dormice are mostly found in Europe, although some live in Africa and Asia. They are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation...

and is the undertaker for the Hatters. He has functional mouse ears and a tail and suffers from insomnia as a result of constantly drinking coffee out of paranoia at the thought of being eaten by Boris. He used to work for the Hatter family, but ran away prior to the beginning of the series due to being terrorized by Boris and the twins. He adores Nightmare because he helps him sleep and is often worried about his health. Pierce is terrified of Boris who often tries to eat him and constantly makes him feel like his life is in danger. However, he likes Peter and Elliot because he doesn't feel threatened around rabbits. In an side chapter of the manga, he attempts to kiss Alice soon as he recognizes her as an outsider. Alice slaps him in the face in response and asks him "if he tries to kiss strangers often".

Gray is based on the Lizard

Bill the Lizard

Bill the Lizard is a fictional character appearing in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.- History :Introduced in chapter four, Bill is perceived by Alice to be someone who does all of the hard work for The White Rabbit and the denizens of the community...

in the original Alice in Wonderland. He works for Nightmare, though is often reduced to acting as a nanny of sorts in order to force Nightmare to do his work, and tends to be a workaholic, pushing his subordinates to do the same. In contrast, he is notably a poor cook and artist, despite his best efforts. By nature Gray is a kind man who cares for people and animals, but he is also a former assassin and a deadly combatant. As a result, he is unwillingly Ace's designated sparring partner as he is the only one who can match the Knight of Heart's skill. Gray often compares and sees himself as inferior to Julius, particularly in regards to his relationship to Alice.

An enigmatic character who the player must visit and play a card game with in order to change the season in the Alice in the country of hearts game. Two Jokers exist within the story—one is a polite and modest man while in contrast, his counterpart is foul-mouthed and condescending. He also claims Alice needs him. The jokers are in charge of the prison in wonderland. In Joker no Kuni, they are seen executing Alice's older sister, who symbolizes all the memories of Alice that took place before Wonderland.

Others

Most of the people of Wonderland are servants and guards. They are men and women who all look the same besides the uniforms they wear that represent their district location. They have no eyes and look and dress the same as the other servants in their district. Citizens of Wonderland think these people are unimportant and identical, but Alice is able to recognize their individual differences. In the manga, the faceless are not given names while in the games, there are instances where the faceless are noted to have their own names.

Besides servants, there are also normal citizens that have no roles in the 'game' of Wonderland. People without roles have no eyes and little to differentiate between them. Vivaldi, the Queen of Hearts, was once a girl without a role. Among the citizens there are some rebels, who try to destroy their friends' clocks so they cannot be replaced.

Visual novels

Heart no Kuni no Alice: Wonderful Wonder World is a female-oriented

Otome game

visual novel

Visual novel

A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...

developed by Quin Rose

Quin Rose

and released on February 14, 2007 playable on a Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

. The game is a re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's

Lewis Carroll

classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...

. Prototype

Prototype (company)

is a Japanese software company established on March 27, 2006 by Toshio Tabeta, a former producer of Interchannel. While still with Interchannel, Tabeta's team was responsible for mainly developing and publishing versions of visual novels originally published by Visual Art's for consumer platforms...

ported

Porting

In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...

the game to the PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

(PS2) on September 18, 2008, and the PlayStation Portable

PlayStation Portable

The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...

(PSP) on July 30, 2009.

Quin Rose released a sequel to Heart no Kuni no Alice titled Clover no Kuni no Alice: Wonderful Wonder World on December 25, 2007 playable on a Windows PC. Prototype ported the game to the PS2 on April 15, 2010 and the PSP on March 31, 2011. It follows the first game under the assumption that Alice did not fall in love with anyone, maintaining only friendships with the major characters. She remains in Wonderland as a result and the setting moves from the Country of Heart to the Country of Clover. Clover no Kuni no Alice replaces Julius Monrey and Mary Gowland with Pierce Villiers, the representation of the Dormouse

Dormouse (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

The Dormouse is a character in "A Mad Tea-Party", Chapter VII from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. He sat between the March Hare and the Hatter...

, and Gray Ringmarc, Nightmare's right-hand man who works more in the capacity of a nanny to his master. Heart and Clover were accompanied by a third game, the fan-disc Joker no Kuni no Alice: Wonderful Wonder World developed by Quin Rose and released on October 31, 2009 playable on a Windows PC. Joker no Kuni no Alice is a side-story to the first two games and reintroduces Julius Monrey and Mary Gowland.

Manga

A manga

Manga

adaptation illustrated by Soumei Hoshino was serialized in Mag Garden

Mag Garden

's Monthly Comic Avarus between the October 2007 and October 2010 issues. Six tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

volumes were published by Mag Garden between July 10, 2008 and December 15, 2010. The manga was licensed in North America by Tokyopop

Tokyopop

, who had published five volumes before the license reverted back to the owners. At New York Anime Festival

New York Anime Festival

The New York Anime Festival is an anime and manga convention held annually since 2007 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City...

2011, Yen Press

Yen Press

Yen Press is the manga and graphic novel imprint of Hachette Book Group. In addition to their regular book releases, Yen Press produces a monthly anthology called Yen Plus. The company's varied list demonstrates an interest in publishing a wide variety of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and other...

announced that it will re-release the manga. Alice in the Country of Hearts is also licensed in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing. A second manga adaptation illustrated by Mamenosuke Fujimaru and titled Joker no Kuni no Alice: Circus to Usotsuki Game began serialization in the June 2011 issue of Ichijinsha

Ichijinsha

's Comic Zero Sum.

Novels

Kodansha

, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...

published nine novels written by Yukiko Uozumi between February 2008 and March 2011. The first three novels are based on the original Heart no Kuni no Alice game, the next three are based on Clover no Kuni no Alice, and the last three are based on Joker no Kuni no Alice. Ichijinsha

Ichijinsha

published six light novel

Light novel

A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...

s written by three different authors, but all illustrated by Nana Fumizuki. The first novel is written by Momoko Komaki and was published in July 2008 based on the original Heart no Kuni no Alice game. Two novels are written by Midori Tateyama

Midori Tateyama

is a female Japanese game scriptwriter and novelist from Aichi, Japan.-Works:*Bakumatsu Renka Shinsen Gumi*Meine Liebe II*Memories Off 2nd*Nasare Hina no Asa-External links:*...

: the first is based on Heart no Kuni no Alice and was released in December 2008, and the second is based on Clover no Kuni no Alice and was published in June 2009. Three novels are written by Sana Shirakawa: two are based on Clover no Kuni no Alice and were released in February and March 2010, and the third is based on Joker no Kuni no Alice and was published in December 2010.

Anime

An original video animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

anime

Anime

adaptation was announced for release in November 2008, but QuinRose announced on its production blog that the release was delayed until further notice. An anime film adaptation titled Alice in the Country of Hearts: Wonderful Wonder World premiered in Japanese theaters on July 30, 2011. The film is produced by Asahi Production and directed by Hideaki Ōba.

Reception

The Heart no Kuni no Alice manga was ranked 27th on the Tohan charts between January 13–19, 2009. The third volume of the manga was ranked 25th on the Tohan charts between June 8—14, 2009. Japanator's God Len comments on the "lots of kissing and/or yaoi

Yaoi

In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...

-centric scenes because this one is made for a more female audience."

The first volume of Tokyopop's English translation of Alice in the Country of Hearts was part of the New York Times Manga Best Seller List for seven weeks before dropping off the charts, but re-entered a few weeks later for another two weeks on the chart; the volume peaked at No. 5. The first volume again re-entered the chart at No. 5 during the week of July 18–24, 2010. The second volume was on the charts for four weeks, peaking at No. 6, before falling out of the rankings. The third volume was eighth place in its first week, rose to seventh in its second week, but fell to tenth place in its third week, where it stayed for its fourth week.

Ed Sizemore enjoyed the "pretty-boy" artwork and enjoyed Alice's characterization, but felt that the rest of the cast's "psychotic" characterisation made it uncomfortable to read. Zack Davisson enjoyed the "suggestion that Alice is creating the fantasy world from her subconscious, and that the rules set are her own", and enjoyed the manga's treatment of the game's story. Carlo Santos thought that the manga could be read as a satire on reverse harems, but felt the first volume lacked plot. Reading the second volume, he felt the plot was still "aimless", but enjoyed the exploration of "non-canon" ideas about Wonderland, such as what happens to a Wonderland character after they die. Mizuki Ukitake (going by pseudonym) found the book to be very interesting with handsome characters, but she did not care much for Alice and how everyone automatically falls in love with her, nor for Blood's personality in the second volume. She thought the entire idea of the book is very interestingly thought out, and enjoyed the idea of what happens when characters die.

External links

Heart no Kuni no Alice official website at Quin Rose
Quin Rose
is a Japanese games developer specialising in otome games for Windows. They have also made several games for Playstation 2. They have currently made nine games as of 2010, and have released several books as well as drama CDs and other various merchandise...

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