Okaeri Alice

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Japanese: おかえりアリス

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Type: Manga

Volumes: 7

Chapters: 40

Status: Finished

Published: Apr 9, 2020 to Aug 9, 2023

Genres: Drama, Romance

Themes: Love Polygon, School

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Bessatsu Shounen Magazine

Authors: Oshimi, Shuuzou (Story & Art)

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Score: 7.07¹ (scored by 8,277 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #7880²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #816

Members: 22,169

Favorites: 344

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Sep 17, 2023

84DaysWithout

Mixed Feelings

Informative

Well-written

Okaeri Alice is thematically about how social constructs of gender limits us from freedom of expression. It is not necessarily a work aimed at queer audiences, but anyone who is conscious of performative roles based on gender and the pressure that may come from living up to those expectations. Okaeri Alice can be fairly problematic in the way that it executes this message, and it needed more time in the oven to fully realize its message, but is nonetheless a sincere attempt at solving a complex identity issue.

The protagonist Yoh is effectively the vehicle ... for Shuzo to deliberate on his themes regarding identity and repression. Yoh does not show genuine interest in what would be considered "masculine" activities. He just does things based on what is expected of him and what his peers decide is the correct way for a male teenager to conduct themselves. This largely leads him down a path of confusion as he increasingly becomes more aware of his leanings towards homosexuality, which clashes against what he believes to be the correct way of life based on his straight edge environment. The internal conflict that Yoh feels throughout the story is the emotional backbone of the entire manga as you’re meant to empathize with his growing discomfort that he feels within a body that he doesn’t think matches his figurative soul. I found his internal musings to be very moving throughout the story as his conflict feels genuine.

The catalyst for Yoh to find self actualization is Kei, a childhood friend who disappeared and later returned as a transgender. Kei is by far the most interesting character in the story as they work to liberate Yoh and defy the conventions of how people should behave based on appearances. Kei is, regardless of your leanings, incredibly beautiful which seems intended to challenge heteronormative ideas of how beauty should be perceived.

But interesting as this character is, they also lead into one of the more problematic issues of the manga - Kei’s method of freeing Yoh is to stimulate him to the point that he can no longer deny his true desires. This is matter of factly sexual assault and probably more damaging to Yoh than for him to navigate life “normally” under their existing limitations. To make matters worse there is another character, Mitani, who manipulates Yoh as way to affirm her own social standing. She leverages Yoh's (perceived) attraction to her to make herself feel better. So Yoh is in the middle of two forces that are pulling him in opposite directions, both damaging to his mental state. I don’t think Shuzo intends to promote sexual assault nor emotional abuse, but rather chooses the most visceral approach to make a reader question their own views regarding gender and sex. The problem is that it’s the least sensical of all possible solutions (though it does make for a lot of drama, and more intrigue). Some of this could be forgiven if characters outside of Yoh were more transparent, but we get to know so little about them as their perspective is never really shown. We are always with Yoh.

I love reading Oshimi Shuzo manga because it feels like he “gets” the adolescent perspective more than any other writer. He comes close to doing the same here, but needed more time to make this work match the quality of his others under the same subject matter.

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Nov 6, 2023

Reniachii

Mixed Feelings

If you have read Aku no hana before, you kind of know what to expect from this author. This time, Shuuzou Oshimi decided to explore the topic of gender dysphoria and gender as a whole in a natural way by using inexperienced and imperfect characters while truly capturing that awkward phase of early transition and how wrong can it go when you lack some kind of support group, specially one that knows about being transgender.

It has some erotic moments that are mostly forced or non consensual, filled with awkwardness and uncertainty. I understand how this is a complete "no-no" when reading content, specially because ... there are nudes drawings, but it's not in a way that it felt like "porn". Hell, these scenes don't last more than they should at all. These scenes always somehow detonate an important plot point one way or another and serve to develop "Alice" as a character and how much she's struggling to find her identity.

A lot of people have called this transphobic and gross for making the trans character engage in non consensual sex and that the manga doesn't know enough about trans people and while I understand where this comes from, I don't entirely agree with the latter. Oshimi's works constantly attempt to explore the human mind in a way that's understandable for the circumstances the characters are featured in. It's not like he randomly goes "ah yes, this person is trans so they will rape someone" but more of a "this *person* went through this, this and this. I don't find it weird that they're desensitized to the whole concept of consent because of all they went through. Their pursuit of trying to understand gender and themselves more makes them act this specific way, but not in an aggressive way, more like a rose that ends up hurting others due to the lack of carefulness in the way they've grown".

Would this manga be much better without the non consensual sex scenes? Yes.
Are they necessary to the plot the author had in mind? Sadly yes
Does the author fetishizes rape? No
Would I prefer if the exploration of gender went another way? Absolutely.

Okaeri Alice is not bad by any means and is able to communicate a meaningful story, but it definitely could of have been done in a much better way.
While I personally enjoy reading cathartic stories, I feel kind of guilty for enjoying Okaeri Alice and there's something in my head that makes me feel conflicted when I try to talk about how much I like it or how much I dislike it, hence why I'm giving this a "Mixed Feelings" recommendation because I truly don't feel like I *liked* it but also don't feel like I *disliked* it but it definitely wasn't neutral. It was an interesting read with an engaging story with gender being a main topic but.. no more than that.

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May 22, 2022

tonyfony

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (21/40 chp)

these character doesn't question their own action but rather question their own feeling. I do get why the protagonist approach things such surreal disturb way from witnessing a traumatic disgust sight of seeing his friend making out of his crush. Which cause him to have conflicting feeling toward the both of them. Having his feeling being held hostage from both of them. Overall it sound like a really good premise but how do they approach those conflicted feeling.

Because it just comes out as kei being a manipulative, sadistic, selfish heterophobe dude. Who only wants that man cooch. Also she doesn't even bother to question ...

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Nov 19, 2022

lolwatidk

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (33/40 chp)

So far, my feelings about "Okaeri Alice" are mixed. While I can't say I like how the manga begins, it eventually starts displaying some interesting ideas as it progresses.

Specifically, the first 20 chapters are hindered by clichés and uninteresting dialogue. They establish important details but overall fail to stand out, and end up feeling like a prolonged exposition. I do think this part could have been presented better.

Admittedly, I read the afterword of Volume 5 before reading the manga itself. I think it makes the beginning a lot more interpretive, but also highlights the lackluster writing. On one hand, it makes it clearer that Kei, ... who initially appears as some sort of an antagonist, is rather meant to be a source of conflict, which represents the author's own struggle with gender and sexuality. They act as a catalyst for the concepts that will appear later in the manga. On the other hand, when interpreting, I wouldn't want to rely this heavily on the author's words outside of the story. The may provide important context, but I'd rather have the story speak for itself. I can also see why people may think these chapters negatively portray a gender non-conforming characters, though I personally don't think the intention was to target any specific identity.

The pace is picked up significantly after chapter 20. The story diverges into two distinct plot lines, both of which delivering much more remarkable messages.

--- [Light Spoilers Ahead] ---

The portrayal of Yo's and Yui's relationship greatly subverts the typical romantic plot line. The manga depicts sex as something dark, rather than as a gesture of love, and shows how it can be used for manipulation and control. Although this portrayal of sex is often associated with non-consent, the manga displays something even stronger - a "forced" sense of consent, in which the characters use sex to prove themselves as a man or a women, and even as a form of revenge on another person, while the intimacy is completely gone.

Simultaneously, the story focuses on Kei and Ren, the hardships each of them faces with their body and identity, and the way in which they find comfort in each other. Chapter 28 is by far my favorite from this manga so far, and is nothing short of beautiful. It delivers an extremely powerful message about body positivity and self-acceptance. While there is still some awkwardness present, both characters share it, and they use the situation to convey a positive perception of one-another's body. This relationship is not explicitly sexual or romantic, yet it feels very intimate.

The concepts shown in this part of the mange are outlined even more by the harsh contrast between these two plot lines.

The manga definitely has a lot more dark themes to show, but I do hope that it also focuses on the more positive elements that were displayed in these chapters. Overall, "Okaeri Alice" is a mixed bag, but also highly intriguing. Right now, we can only wait and see how it continues.

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