Welcome Back, Alice

Welcome Back, Alice (Japanese: おかえりアリス, Hepburn: Okaeri Arisu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shūzō Oshimi. It began serialization in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in April 2020.

Welcome Back, Alice
Cover art of the first volume
おかえりアリス
(Okaeri Arisu)
GenreRomance[1]
Manga
Written byShūzō Oshimi
Published byKodansha
English publisherKodansha USA
ImprintShōnen Magazine Comics
MagazineBessatsu Shōnen Magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runApril 8, 2020 – present
Volumes6

Plot

Welcome Back, Alice is about three friends, Yohei, Kei, and Yui, who are reunited in high school after Kei moves back to their town. What could have been a straightforward love triangle is complicated when Kei shows up looking and dressing like a girl.[1]

Characters
Yohei Kamehara (亀川 洋平, Kamekawa Yōhei)
A high school boy and the main character. Nicknamed "Yo".
Yui Mitani (三谷 結衣, Mitani Yui)
A girl who Yohei had a crush on as a child.
Kei Murota (室田 慧, Murota Kei)
The childhood friend of Yohei and Yui who comes back looking like a girl. Kei is very sexually blunt and forward. Kei says that they are no longer a boy, but does not state that they are or wish to be a woman.[2]

Production

Oshimi has stated that Welcome Back, Alice is about deconstructing male sexuality.[1] The manga deals with adolescent sexual awakening, love and frustration among all three main characters, and the non-binary gender identity of the character Kei.[2][3]

Publication

Welcome Back, Alice began serialization in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine on April 8, 2020.[4]

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 October 9, 2020[5]978-4-06-520593-8June 7, 2022[6]978-1-64-729104-4
2 June 30, 2021[7]978-4-06-522889-0June 28, 2022[8]978-1-64-729105-1
3 October 8, 2021[9]978-4-06-525135-5August 16, 2022[10]978-1-64-729106-8
4 April 8, 2022[11]978-4-06-527533-7January 17, 2023[12]978-1-64-729170-9
5 October 7, 2022[13]978-4-06-527533-7September 12, 2023[14]978-1-64-729228-7
6 April 7, 2023[15]978-4-06-531233-9——

Reception

Welcome Back, Alice has received both praise and criticism for its portrayal of gender non-conforming people.[2][3] Chris Cimi, in a review of the first volume, praised the manga for not treating Kei's apparent transition like something odd and bizarre and taking an upfront approach, while at the same time wishing that Oshimi had "committed harder" to explicitly describing Kei as transgender or non-binary. Cimi also describes Welcome Back, Alice as feeling like a side project compared to Oshimi's other manga.[2] Cimi also said that Oshimi's Inside Mari, despite its unrealistic premise, had a stronger impact.[2]

Rebecca Silverman, writing for Anime News Network, criticized Oshimi's Kei as an amalgam of negative stereotypes about LGBTQIA people. Specifically, she describes Kei as seeming to want nothing more than to use his gender and sexuality to tease and torment his childhood friends.[3] Jean-Karlo Lemus, also writing for ANN, stated that the manga deals with dark subjects, such as frustration and confusion, and their relationship with sexuality, as well as freedom from norms, and expressed interest in how the characters develop. He called Welcome Back, Alice a "masterful story".[3]

References
  1. "Welcome Back, Alice". Kodansha. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  2. Cimi, Chris (4 December 2020). "Okaeri Alice: Shuzo Oshimi Muses on Gender and Awakening". OTAQUEST. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  3. Silverman, Rebecca; Lemus, Jean-Karlo (21 May 2022). "The Spring 2022 Manga Guide - Welcome Back, Alice". Anime News Network. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  4. 性に翻弄される高校生たち描く、押見修造の新連載「おかえりアリス」別マガで. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. April 8, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  5. おかえりアリス（１） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  6. "Welcome Back, Alice 1". Penguin Random House. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  7. おかえりアリス（２） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  8. "Welcome Back, Alice 2". Penguin Random House. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  9. おかえりアリス（３） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  10. "Welcome Back, Alice 3". Penguin Random House. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  11. おかえりアリス（４） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  12. "Welcome Back, Alice 4". Penguin Random House. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  13. おかえりアリス（５） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  14. "Welcome Back, Alice 5". Penguin Random House. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  15. おかえりアリス（６） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
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