It's a show that worth watching.I currently have a completed set of the anime.Now i am buying the manga.Natsume rulez :)
Gakuen Arisu IchiBan!
Rating:9/10(deducted 1/10 is because of the anime being toooooo short)
Gakuen Alice tv Review
Story & Characters
Sakura Mikan is a simple outgoing middle school girl who has befriended the very quiet but very intelligent Imai Hotaru. Together, they make quite a good pair.
Sakura Mikan - Extremely energetic and admires her best friend. Proud to be Hotaru's friend and loves her dearly. There never was a time that she would separate from Hotaru. Loves to cry and tries her best to smile for Hotaru. A never-give-up easily person.
Imai Hotaru - Extremely quiet and no one seems to know what exactly she's thinking. She is a very good inventor and her favourite subject is "Nanotechnology". Her TOP 10 FAVOURITE person is herself, making Mikan pissed. Loves Mikan but doesn't show it.
Both were always hanging out together so imagine how shocked Mikan was to learn suddenly that Hotaru is leaving her to attend Alice Academy (Arisu Gakuen) , a place for people with "Alice" abilities. Though Hotaru promises to write, she managed to send only 1 postcard to Mikan. Enraged but concerned, Mikan decided to chase her friend down.
Note: Alice is a special ability. For example, reading people's minds, flying abilities, even start a fire, creating illusions etc.
When she reached the school, she wasn't allowed to go in. At that time, two mysterious men were lurking outside the school. They approached Mikan and told her that she could follow them to the "backdoor" of the school. Given that Mikan, a village girl, who wasn't exposed to city life, she ends up believing those two. In actual fact, they are child abducters.
Lucky for her, a teacher, Narumi came to her rescue. He tried to use his "Alice" on her but it didn't work!!
Narumi-sensei - His "Alice" or special ability is the "Human Pheromone", an ability that is able to touch the sensitive part of a human, thus knocking them unconscious.
Mikan was then told by Narumi that she has an alice and was invited to go to the school. Seeing how through this that she can meet up with Hotaru, she follows him.
This is when the fun begins....
The story's kinda cliche though. It has a "gifted school for special people" plotline. This, we have seen in live action media, movies, books, anime & games. But nevertheless, the whole "Alice" thing is FUN!, PLUS, the characters are adorable and it makes you want to continue watching. Furthermore, the creator knows no boundaries. Even someone farting, leaving a terrible foul smell can be considered an "Alice". I really love this series!!! But fansubbers stopped at episode 15!!! WHY?! Even the gallery here has limited pictures!
Oh man, this is definitely an underrated anime!!!
Rating:
Art
The Character Design is realtively simple, considering the characters are mostly kids and lesser adults. The characters semed to have the same hairstyle but what separates them is their hair colour and most importantly their personalities. Take Hotaru for example. She is the type who doesn't talk much and likes to mind her own business. So her eyes are drawn such a way that they bored. Like this [-.-]
And for Mikan, she's ultra happy and her big cheery eyes shows that. Like this =D.
Overall, the character design are designed to suit the different personalities of the characters which is a strong point
for animation beacuse life is inserted in them. Thus, making the characters look real despite the simplicity. Moreover,
since the characters have very defined personalities, it's extremely humorous to watch their personalities
clash
Furthermore, like typical anime, they have their comedical part and this series is not lacking in them. It does suit with the genre (comedy, school) and the concept (magic, special abilities) of the anime.
The artwork is alright. It looks like its been water-couloured. Very soft colours were used. The school building is simply amazing. To have come up with that picture is really creative. Not forgetting the Central City. The buildings were drawn with such detail, even the forest. The colours on the characters are bright making the anime all cheery and happy despite the fact thet there lies deep secret that follows through the series.
Rating:
Sound
The music is all right. The opening song, "Pika* Pika* no Taiyou" is upbeat and cute which really compliments the anime. Sung by the seiyuu of Mikan. She does a good job projecting her voice as a kid and even sang the song with that childish voice. Simply talented.
I am in love with the ending song, "Shiawase no Niji" sung by Hotaru and Mikan's seiyuu. It is very melodious and soft. It doesnt hurt the ears! Ahaha. This anime's genre is comedy yet there is something dark going on further in the series so the ending song really reflects the series. We have upbeat to melodious, what a great combination!
The seiyuus (Voice actors)
Mikan - Ueda Kana. She does a great job portraying Mikan's voice, who has a Kansai accent. It suits Mikan very well. It is not too pitchy so it is not irritating to hear.
Hotaru - Kugimiya Rie. She is very talented. She can do mature, childish and even girly. In Hotaru's case, she did a deep, raspy voice which really compliment her well.
Narumi - Ishida Akira. Well, well, they ultra-talented Ishida Akira. Basically, he's a man that can voice any characters!! A villain, a cold-hearted guy, a weird guy, a silly guy etc. Narumi has a very twisted personality so Ishida really did a job well done here.
Other popular seiyuus include Sakurai Takahiro, Kenichi Suzumura, Paku Romi. So power-packed! Definitely a must see anime ne?
Rating:
Presentation
Gakuen Alice is definitely a must-see anime. It is cute, funny and not to mention, ADORABLE! It definitely doesn't lack in humour. Its gags so far have been funny too! You won't get bored watching it and i must say, it makes you feel you want to see it again and again! And i am not kidding!
Although, for those who are picky about the kind of animes they watch or thinks that kiddy anime is not their kind, do give Gakuen Alice a try. If you're looking for a laugh or two, this anime is for you. (of course, not forgetting Kodocha)
Overall, Gakuen Alice is a really enjoyable anime (i really enjoyed it! It makes me laugh my heart out!!) plus, you will definitely fall in love with the adorable characters. Not to mention, Mr Bear and Piyo Piyo!! Give it a watch!! With that,
"Youkouso! Arisu Gakuen e!!"
=D
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.3333 (above average)
Reviewed by cagalli88, Mar 13, 2006
Comments
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aiBi Mar 13, 2006
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shoujoboy Mar 13, 2006
Overall well written review, the only criticism I would have at all is that you really didn't give reason for why gave story and characters an 8. There was a very detailed plot and character synopsis, but no personal feeling describing the scoring for that particular area. Even still pretty good and enthusiastic writing style, keep it up and expect to see much more from you in the future.
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pinknbloo Apr 16, 2006
I LOVE GAKUEN ALICE! everything is so nice abt. it!
merged: 04-16-2006 ~ 04:58pm
Dont need to say many words I JUST LUV IT! -
gembee Jun 04, 2006
i really, absolutely adore this anime... too bad the anime didn't have more episodes.
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krys07 Jun 09, 2006
i LOVE gakuen alice! especially natsume! XD too bad 'coz the anime is only up to episode 26...
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Ephemeral-Garden Nov 12, 2006
Yes! I agree. This is anime is quite underrated. But ah, those kids are jsut adorable don't you think? ^^
By the way, episode 16 has already been released, but the translation part wasn't so good... but anyways, Animax has already finished airing them, but I really wanna see more! >.< Owh and yea, great review. I really have to agree about the characters looking normal but what makes them all very different is their personality. That's really something. :)
Tsubasa-senpai rules!
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jeemawoo Jun 17, 2007
I LOVE GAKUEN ALICE! The ending is really random, but I heard that there was supposed to be a new season coming out of them in middle school, and then the next season would be them in the high school division. And then I read that Mikan will be "special" *cough cough. I'm not 100% sure though.
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cutiesmart02 Apr 11, 2009
I LOVE GAKUEN SEASON 2 AND GAKUEN ALICE SEASON 3 or alice academy season 3
well, it is true that the story of the nxt season will be mikan and the others are already middle school students.. but currently until now it was debating how does it happen ..! but take a look in this site : www.gakuenalice.synthasite.comi dont know if that will be the story , but we dont know , maybe it is .. just try and read it ,it is vry awesome
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rukasu04 Mute Member Feb 08, 2010
Nice review
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