Nov 3, 2025
Oh boy, let me start off by saying that I’ve read a lot of manga/comics that have shallow themes of gender identity, the struggle/confusion about it and how it in turn can affect relationships. I was pleasantly surprised by Welcome Back, Alice as I found it to be a mature story with themes that gave me a lot of food for thought.
Positives:
• I found the (kinda) love triangle between Yo, Kei and Mitani intriguing because the relationship was quite messy and flip floppy, so it felt more real. The story has some sweet moments, but it also doesn’t shy away from embarrassing teenager behaviour
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that we'd all like to forget...
• There’s some interesting sequences about gender and love, particularly between Kei/Yo in the final two volumes and the painting scene with Kei/Ano.
• I don’t usually pay much attention to the afterword of manga, but I thought Alice’s one was particularly important for understanding the mangaka’s experience and struggles with his own gender identity as a teenager. It helped give context to some of the scenes in the story, at least for me.
• This manga is very much show, don’t tell. There’s very little or to no dialogue throughout the story, but you really get a sense of what the characters are feeling at that moment based on their body language. While I usually like slower paced manga, I thought the pacing here was well done. It’s fast because of the low amount of dialogue, but I feel like you get enough out of each scene.
• The artwork is very wispy and sketchy. I think the expressions are particularly well drawn here especially for the more intimate scenes.
Negatives:
• I wish we could’ve gotten a bit more of the main characters outside of their relationships. Besides the love triangle, you don’t really get a strong sense of what they’re like personality wise. I feel like they’re a bit undercooked, so I didn’t root for anyone in particular, not even the main character of the story, Yo.
• While I think the artwork is good overall, I felt there were a few too many panels that didn’t have a background. While this isn’t a deal breaker, could be better since the backgrounds that are there were nicely rendered.
• I would’ve liked to see more of Ano and her bond with Kei, since it feels like after the painting scene they become friends off screen and then she just kinda disappears for the rest of the story. I felt like she was introduced in the story way too late to get time for a fully developed arc.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I’d recommend Welcome Back, Alice to anyone who is looking for a manga that depicts real (almost too real) themes of gender identity, love, and lust that doesn’t shy away from the confusing and messy parts of being a teenager. I think the manga is great at what it sets out to do, as it definitely focuses more on the themes rather than the characters themselves. I’ve yet to read Shūzō Oshimi’s other manga, so I can’t compare Alice with his other work, but I’m excited to give his stuff a go!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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