TV Pinoy | Celebrities | News | TV Guide

Alice Academy is a manga by Tachibana Higuchi, currently being serialized in the Hana to Yume shōjo manga magazine. It was adapted into an anime series, produced by Aniplex and Group TAC which spanned 26 episodes, originally premiered on NHK BS 2, between October 30, 2004 – May 14, 2005. The anime was then translated and dubbed into English by the anime television network, Animax, who has broadcast it in its respective networks within Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and other regions.

Story

Gakuen Alice or Alice Academy is the story of a 10-year old girl, Mikan Sakura, who is devastated when her best friend, Hotaru Imai, transfers to a special school for "genius" kids in Tokyo. After hearing horrible rumors of what happens in the Academy, Mikan runs away from home to seek out her dear friend, and finds that the school Hotaru transferred to, Alice Academy, is specifically for children who each have a special power called an "Alice". After a teacher at Alice Academy, Narumi, discovers that Mikan has a unique Alice, she is admitted into the school. The story is primarily about Mikan and her experiences at the academy, from the everyday bore of classes and exams to the unexpected clashes with the AAO, or Anti-Alice Organization. Despite her initial view of the so-called greatness of the school, Mikan slowly finds out that beneath the grand facade of the Academy lies a never ending stream of lies and deception. Also, in the school Mikan meets a boy named Natsume who she at the very start of the manga hates but eventually starts falling for. Along with the many other friends she comes to make such as Ruka Nogi, Tobita Yuu a.k.a. Iinchou, and many others, Mikan comes to love the Academy and its teachers despite the truth that is built upon half-truths and lies.

Setting

The Alice Academy is located somewhere in Tokyo ( in the Anime it is across from a huge gorilla billboard.) The size of the school grounds resembles the dimensions of a sprawling estate. The grounds are enough to contain three levels of school (elementary, junior high, senior high) which respectively accompanies with a Hostel, Main Building, as well as Central Town, where shops managed by Alice-bearing artisans sell goods resulting from their Alices.

In the anime, the Academy has its own monetary system, the Rabbit (Rt). One Rabbit equals 100 yen. However, in the manga, the Academy uses yen as their primary currency. There are four forests surrounding the estate, the most visited one in the manga being the Northern Woods where the infamous "Mr. Bear" resides.

Alices

In the story there are many types of Alices. The five main types of Alices are:

• Latent Ability- Alices that are super powers (flying, mind reader, illusion, etc)

• Technical - Alices that are based on technology and research fields (drawings, stuffed animals, invention)

• Somatic type- Alices based on the body of humans, animals, and other living things (animal pheromone, voice pheromone, dog ears);

• Special Ability Types - Alices that don't exactly fit in the three types of Alices above (nullification, shadow manipulation, doppelganging, time travel); and

• Dangerous Ability Types - Alices that may be one of the above but are considered dangerous. (Fire, Ice, Conjuring evil-spirits)

Every Alice is categorized as one of four shapes, that specify how much of it can be used and how often.

• Childhood Alice: The Alice slowly disappears as the child with it grows into an adult.

• Diffuse: The Alice is always available, but at a relatively low power level.

• Intermittent: The Alice can only be used for a short period at any time, but at a relatively high power level.

• Limitless: The Alice can be used as often and as much as desired, but each use impacts against the user's own life and can kill them if overused.

Although not based upon the Alice itself but rather the students achievements and behavior, each student has their own star-ranking.

• No-Star: Students who are below-average and what many would call an absolute idiot. E.g: Mikan in the beginning of the manga and anime.

• Single: Students who are pretty much average. Usually those who aren't exceptionally good with their studies or whose Alices are quite normal. E.g: Mikan later in the manga and anime, Kokoroyomi.

• Double: Students who are more of an over-achiever than Singles but aren't exceptionally brilliant at either their studies of use of their Alice. E.g: Sumire

• Triple: Students who usually are deemed as "over-achievers" and tend to excel at either their studies or use of Alice or both. E.g: Yuu, Hotaru and Ruka

• Special: Students who are considered the best of the best. Those who excel tremendously in their Alice and, if they care, their studies--to put in short, geniuses. Also known as the "Principle students." E.g: Natsume

Main Characters

Mikan Sakura Voiced by: Kana Ueda

Mikan is the protagonist of the story. She is an energetic, good-natured girl, but is very clumsy. She is an orphan who used to live with her grandfather in the country. ( if you had read the manga it will tell you her past) She has been friends with Hotaru since second grade so when Hotaru left to the Alice Academy she became really depressed and decided to leave her grandfather and her home to go after Hotaru. She was then accepted to Alice Academy by Narumi-sensei and could attend Alice Academy with Hotaru and other children with extraordinary powers. Her "Alice", is the power to nullify the Alice of others, which is the reason why the Academy administration keeps an eye on her. She has feelings for Natsume . When Natsume called her by her first name, she blushed and, as shown in the manga and anime, her heart was beating really fast. In the manga they kiss. Hotaru happened to know about it but she still keeps quiet.

Hotaru Imai  Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya

Hotaru Imai is Mikan's best friend. She is extremely intelligent and rational. During the story, though she may appear to be rather cold and indifferent on the surface, it is apparent that she genuinely cares for Mikan. Her Alice is that of Invention, and during her time at the country with Mikan and her grandfather, she created many strange but useful inventions, often made to look like animals. She knows that Natsume and Ruka have a crush on Mikan. She also knows who Mikan likes. Hotaru breaks the fourth wall by teaching the audience about her inventions. The other characters see her explaining her inventions to apparently no one.

Natsume Hyuuga Voiced by: Romi Paku

Natsume is a genius and ditches class frequently throughout the story. He is thoroughly unhappy with the school, and is suspicious of the intentions of adults. He is paired up as Mikan's "partner" by their mostly-absent class teacher, Narumi. He possesses the Alice of Fire, and is classified into the Dangerous ability type. He is generally moody and silent, but seems to have softened to Mikan and listens only to her problems. During the anime, there are hints that his family perished in a fire that burned down the village, which may have been due to Natsume's fire Alice. He has a lot of girl fans but it is hinted that he has feelings for Mikan, since Mikan, according to Ruka, was the first ever girl that Natsume called by her name. In the manga, he kisses Mikan 4 times.

Ruka Nogi Voiced by: Miwa Yasuda

 Ruka is Natsume's childhood friend and often referred by Mikan throughout the story as "Ruka-pyon". He is a gentle and generous person, characteristics that balance out Natsume's personality. His animal pheromone Alice allows him to get cozy with animals, a fact that he is embarrassed and often blackmailed over. Despite this, he often carries a rabbit with him. He knows Natsume (his best friend) has a crush on Mikan, and he also has a crush on her.

 Narumi Voiced by: Akira Ishida 

Narumi is the hNarumi Voiced by: Akira Ishida 
omeroom teacher of Mikan's class (class B). He teaches Japanese and often deals with Natsume when he gets in trouble or tries to break out. He has the human pheromone Alice; he can make older people do what he wants by attracting them, but children pass out. Mikan calls Narumi "father" because she misses her grandfather so much. Narumi is too young to be called "grandfather" so he asked Mikan to call him "father." Later in the manga, it is found that he harbored unrequited feelings for Mikan's mother. It is proven that he is not Mikan's father, but he made a promise to Mikan's mother that he will take care of Mikan during her stay in the Academy. He is of course, concerned about Mikan and Natsume.