I first encountered Gakuen Alice as an anime. The anime itself was cute, refreshing and sweet which had me yearning for more. I didn't end up reading the manga until a few years later, which I'm pretty glad I did. The manga was a huge contrast to the anime, it was more dark and had a lot of mature themes within that you couldn't be sure you were reading the same story. The story divulged more into each main character's story, revealing secrets and hidden back story about the school and the people that run it. The mature elements for a supposedly children's manga really made the series such an original one itself, implementing multiple elements and to create a masterpiece of a manga, one that anyone could enjoy really amazes me.
The art itself was plausible, nothing was out of the ordinary. The way it was drawn really helped with the flow of the story rather than stuttering and hindering the story.
Character development within the story is a huge factor as well and well executed as well, you witness characters changing good to bad, apathetic to empathetic and children growing up faster than they really should.
I thoroughly enjoyed this manga which had me wanting for more, I genuinely expected the longer version of the sweet shoujo anime I saw a few years ago, only to be introduced to more of a intricate written story which surpassed my original expectations, the only criticism I have is the rushed and loose ending it had. Overall, it was a fantastic read which had the perfect balance of love, family, hope, power and most importantly, friendship.
