Much like Watase's previous works, Alice 19th is a sh?jomanga, but unlike her previous works, which were strongly influenced by Chinese culture and history, Alice 19th has a distinctly Western feel to it.
As of 2007 Alice 19th has been released in English by Viz Media. There are seven volumes total in the series, which is published in the traditional right-to-left format with foot-noted sound effects.
The story follows Alice Seno, a fifteen-year-old girl forever shadowed by her older sister Mayura, who is good at everything she does. At school she is known as "Mayura's little sister" and is relentlessly tormented by the older girls who know that Alice is too meek to fight back.
Alice harbors a deep affection for Kyō Wakamiya, a handsome upperclassman who is on the archery team with Mayura. On the way to school one day, Alice rescues a white rabbit from the road despite the danger to herself, but she is rescued by Kyō and receives from the rabbit a bracelet with a single red stone. The rabbit she saves, however, is no ordinary rabbit. The rabbit reveals her true form to Alice and introduces herself as Nyozeka. Alice is told that she is destined to become a Lotis Master. The Lotis Masters use the power of words and communication to enter the Inner Heart of others. It is a powerful ability to be used carefully as Alice soon finds out.
Using the power of the Lotis Words, which reveal themselves to be in the form of runes, Alice accidentally makes her older sister disappear during a dispute over Kyou, whom Mayura had begun dating. Alice then must use the Lotis Words to try and bring her sister back from the dark. She is joined by Kyō who proves to have the Lotis powers as well, and by Frey, another Lotis master who has trained with the masters and arrives with the intention to marry Alice. Unfortunately, Mayura has been taken by the power of the Maram Words, the dark reflection of the Lotis Words. Their only hope lies in Alice and Kyō becoming the legendary Neo-Masters to discover the lost word binding both Maram and Lotis.
Characters
Main characters
Alice Seno
Fifteen-year-old Alice becomes a Lotis Master when she saves Nyozeka from the middle of the road, using the Lotis Word for courage. Like other Lotis masters, she begins her incantations with "Na Sadaru Lotis Raan". She and Kyo find the lost word which is "Naamasu Sadarumaara Lootisu Sotiraan". She likes Kyō but cannot muster the courage to tell that to him. She is very quiet and does not have many friends.
Despite the fact her sister has become a threat to her life, she still loves Mayura and feels guilty about hurting her, and she is convinced Mayura once will become the sister she was once before. Alice has no trust in herself which causes her to be to afraid to say what is on her mind.
Mayura Seno
Alice's older sister Mayura is beautiful and good at everything. She is on the archery team with Kyō and excels in school. Perhaps her only flaw is her allergy towards animals. She loves Kyō, but unlike Alice was able to tell him and worked hard to get him to date her. She tried to set Alice up with another boy. She vanishes when Alice accidentally wishes her away and hatred in her heart makes her an easy target for the Maram Words. She becomes a Maram Master and tries to kill Alice and separate her from Kyō once she has been dumped by him due to his feelings for Alice. Eventually it is revealed that the darkness is Mayura's heart stems not from Kyō rejecting her for Alice, but because she felt hurt that Alice would not confide to Mayura that she had feelings for Kyō as well.
Kyō Wakamiya
Kyō is a junior in the same school as Alice and Mayura. An orphan, he lives with his aunt and uncle and helps in their cafe making desserts. His father was an abusive drunk and Kyō fears that someday he will be like that too. He dated Mayura and later must deal with his feelings for Alice. Mayura puts a mudoru curse into him that feeds itself from his hatred he feels towards his father, and because of this Alice cannot say anything loving to him or the flames of hate will burn Kyō. The curse can be lifted if he overcomes his own hatred.
Nyozeka
The rabbit that Alice saves at the beginning of the series turns out to be the rabbit who is destined to find the neo-masters. She then becomes Alice's guide to the Lotis power. She has three forms: a white rabbit with an, a more anthropomorphic form dressed in ritual robes, and a plushie form for when Alice must go out in public with her.
Frey Weilhausen
A Lotis Master who studied with the great Masters. At first he hides from Kyō and Alice the truth of his training and the legend of the Neo-Masters. He is a persistent playboy who is likely to flirt with any girl who catches his eye. Yet under all this hides a more serious person who knows a lot more about the Lotis Words than he lets on. He is also obsessed with jam. Although he may seem happy and energetic, he has a hidden sorrow. He, like Kyō, has feelings for Alice. He first appears near the end of the first volume.
Chris Roland
Chris is a Lotis Master from Great Britain. He joins Alice and Kyō and helps them train with the intention of defeating the Maram Masters. He is quite serious, stern, and mature - except whenever desserts are concerned. Like the other characters, he has a dark secret.
Pai Mei-Lin
The stylish Mei-Lin comes from Shanghai, China. A Lotis Master like Chris, she intends to help Alice and Kyō to defeat the Maram. While she lived alone in Shanghai, she had plenty of female friends to keep her company and, with her great figure and flawless skin, worked as a model. Because of her strong personality, her only lament is being unable to find a boyfriend. Possessing a strong sense of justice, she is an expert in Tai Chi Quan ("supreme ultimate fist," a form of moving meditation).
Billy MacDowell
Hailing from the United States, Billy, like Chris, is a Lotis Master intending to help Alice and Kyō beat the Maram. A postman from a small quiet town, he loves a good fight and is also very kind and generous. He adores children and is sometimes shy. He has a fiancée back in the United States.
Family
In Alice 19th, some of the characters' families, such as Alice's parents and Kyō's uncle Yuki Rengedō and aunt Maki Rengedō, have important roles in the story. Alice and Kyō must repair their relations with their parents as part of their effort to redeem Mayura from the darkness, and Kyō's aunt and uncle must also deal with the darkness in their own hearts so that they may better understand Kyō.
Supporting characters
Tatsuya Matsujo
A male classmate of Alice's. Mayura notices that Alice was falling in love with Kyō, so she tries to bring Tatsuya and Alice together. Tatsuya notices that Alice is more interested in Kyō and becomes jealous, but when Alice uses the Lotis Words to purify his inner heart, he accepts that Alice isn't interested in dating him.
Oishi
A classmate of Alice who bullies her, she has a crush on Kyō. She almost blackmails Kyō to be her boyfriend by threatening tell his "dark secret;" however, Kyō refuses. Oishi then tells the entire school that Kyō once tried to kill a classmate from another. It is revealed Oishi suffers from a Maram monster in her that has been in her heart for a very long time. When Alice defeats the Maram monster, Oishi becomes a much nicer person who even begins to support Alice. She is once mentioned in the first chapter of Ceres: Celestial Legend.
Kazuki
A friend of Kyō, he has a secret crush on Mayura, and she tricks him into separating Alice and Kyō. He gets a Maram into his heart because of his anger towards Alice and Kyō; however, he is able to fight against the Maram and sacrifice himself for Kyō.
Eric
A Lotis Master and the chief at Frey Weilhausen's northern European Lotsuan chapter. He treats a Frey like a son, but he is sickly and becomes disillusioned with the Lotis Words, eventually revealing himself to be a powerful Maram Master.
Samuel
A blond teenage boy who is a Maram Master. He lets Mayura use his body so she can wander the outside world without allowing Alice and Kyō to enter her "inner heart." He tries to get Kyō on his side and uses his powers to exploit the darkness in the hearts of Kyō's aunt and uncle. It is revealed he was once part of a church choir and people admired his beautiful voice, but other members from the choir became jealous and put pieces of glass into his food which caused him to lose his voice.
Kayna
A female Maram Master who appears later on the manga. She shows a strong hatred towards youth and children. Eventually it becomes clear that her darkness was born due to her lover leaving her for a much more younger woman. Her fear is to become old. She has a love of plants, but she laments that she cannot keep them from wilting. She, along with Samuel, is purified by Kyō and Alice.
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