Alice in the Country of Hearts, Vol 4

Alice in the Country of Hearts, Vol. 04 - QuinRose, Soumei Hoshino

I think this series is getting much better as it goes on - not only is there up to a 50% chance of actually seeing eyes on the characters' faces (an improvement over the 20% that I noticed in the first couple volumes), but there's more interesting stuff going on now, too. It used to be just people fighting over Alice over and over and over again, but now the characters are evolving and there're little sub-plots actually cropping up here and there. It's nice when things aren't so aimless.

 

I'm still just reading it for the characters, though - there are so many of them I adore. Julius, Blood, and Ace particularly - they're so awesome. I love Boris and Elliot and Vivaldi too, though. And I want to kill Peter painfully. Ugh, I hate him so much I can't even describe it.

 

A side note: the endpapers and chapter-opening pages all have better quality artwork, with more details and highlighting and smoother lines, and all the characters have eyes. Hasn't anyone noticed that those are the best drawings? Would it be so hard to increase the quality of the regular panels? I don't think so - I've seen several manga artists who draw regular panels better than Heart no Kuni no Alice does its endpapers. (Not that the manga is drawing itself, but you get the point. It's annoying. If the artwork was better, I think I'd absolutely love this manga......Well, and maybe if Alice was a better character. I still haven't forgiven her for pulling on Elliot's ears, or accusing Julius of suffocating her when he was only trying to make her feel better in his own adorable, awkward way. Sometimes that girl really gets on my nerves.)

 

I don't blame Ace for wanting to kill her.....although I don't really want her to die, I just can't get over how irritating she can be. It's really a bad contrast, because sometimes I like her......

 

(show spoiler)

 

This was a good volume, anyway. Looking forward to the next one!