Alice in the Country of Hearts 4
Posted: December 5, 2010 Filed under: Alice in the Country of Hearts 1 Comment »QuinRose / Soumei Hoshino – Tokyopop – 2010 – 6+ volumes
Every volume gets me a little deeper into things here, and I am genuinely curious as to just what on earth is going on. People seem to switch moods at the drop of a hat sometimes, and formerly harmless characters are now out for blood. In the context of the series, there is no problem with this, but as of right now it feels like there’s still not a good way for me to get a handle on things.
This volume focuses on Boris and Julius, though plenty of others stick their noses in. Julius and Alice have a relatively serious conversation at the beginning of the volume, but Alice spends a lot of time with Boris, who reveals himself to be one of the most normal residents of the mysterious Country.
And… yeah, they do things. Go to the amusement park. Find out about a big party coming up. Have a serious talk about mortality with another character. The last chapter is kind of interesting, since weather conditions begin changing, and we find out about the Country of Joker.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed things didn’t move forward just a bit more here. I love the depth of the world, and I also love learning a little bit more about all the eccentric characters, but now that the novelty is beginning to wear off, I’m looking for either a little more explanation about why things are happening… or some sort of plot progression, which this series is not really equipped to do. I still like it an awful lot. I just hope that the next volume has something a little more meaty. The Ball For Everyone Including Enemies should be interesting, since it sounds like the type of thing everyone attends and debauches themselves. That should be a lot of fun with these characters.
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