Jigoku no Alice

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An odd little series by Jiro Matsumoto, Alice in Hell is certainly off-center from other dystopian stories in that there's absolutely zero exposition or explanation as to why the world is like it is, and instead has a character focus on the small handful of people that keep the action moving as the plotline progresses. I've only read Freesia from Matsumoto's other works, and he seems to have a penchant for this exact formula. It's reminiscent of Blame! in a way, where the reader is immediately thrown into a pre-developed universe and just observes what happens around the protagonist for most of the story.

It's not ... for everybody and can make plot twists or character developments feel close to disingenuous, but Matsumoto is a seasoned mangaka, both by now and by the time this was in publication over a decade ago. With that in mind, it's clear that him not spoonfeeding ideas and themes isn't a result of laziness or incompetence, but because he expects his readers to pick up on what he's putting down, no matter how sly he does it. I do not believe I picked up on most of it from my first read, which isn't common in manga as a visual AND literary medium by default. Whether you're okay with this or not is extremely subjective to the point that deciding on recommending this to people is pretty fruitless.

However, I'm giving a recommended rating over a mixed or not recommended because the series is short and sweet. There are no pacing problems, and with only 43 chapters, it was almost impossible for it to overstay it's welcome even if it tried. And besides, if you're looking at reviews for this series, it's very likely you've read Freesia or other related seinen and are looking for stuff to scratch a similar itch. This *will* do that for you, but don't expect too much. This is a great refresher/break series to read between larger ones, but I imagine you'd be hard pressed to find *anybody* saying Alice in Hell is amongst their favorites.

8/10 for a thoughtful read, 6/10 for a casual one. You'll eventually find solace as a careful reader in the latter half of the series, which really starts to drive home the hanging themes and questions that the first half set up. As a casual read, there are some pretty fun and creative sniping moments, on top of small-scale war skirmishes here and there. It's easy to be very weirded out by the plot twist surrounding the protagonist Shuu if you weren't prepared for something like it, though, so keep in mind that it'll try to get a little heady on you eventually.

I’ve never wrote a review for any manga I’ve read before, but something about how i stumbled onto this and how I feel it deserves more eyes on it compelled me to write this.
I accidentally put Alice in hell in my reading catalog while trying to add Alice in borderlands. And when I started the read I was gripped by the unique rough art style and its seemingly clique main character. And I read it non stop for the entirety of the school day and that night.
I really don’t know why this honestly over brutal over sexualized manga gripped me the way it ... did. But it had been a while since I read a manga with such soul within its characters. Shuu the protagonist is flawed and kind of unlikeable, you just feel bad for him and just want to see how he will fuck it up even more.
But the real soul of this manga is the character of Alice, Alice represents this pain and suffering. A pure child that mirrors Shuus lack of a childhood. Alice and Shuus relationship just brings this unique quality to the story, feeling almost like the relationship of a post eclipse Casca and Guts.
The message of pain, loss, acceptance, and those who will always live in denial; brought me to reflect personal experiences that many people suffered as well. I honestly think that this is one of the best reads I’ve had even with it’s short time I had reading, I feel so connected to these characters which I find I miss a lot with the manga I’ve been reading lately.

Overall I think this should be on a lot of people’s lists if you are a fan of the seinin genre and I honestly hope one day this manga gets the reads and views it deserves.

I will put a spoiler warning here.

Jigoku no Alice presents the story of a young loner, who uses his sniper skills and his disfunctional humanoid doll "Alice" to survive in the ruins of a city within the desert.

The Story is overall good and I liked the setting and different locations, for example the different districts of the community and the city ruins of the beginning.
Different characters actually have some depth and backstories, keeping the story at a good pace and giving us an insight into the way the world looks for each character.

The art was not "good" in a common way. However, I appreciated ... the artstyle a lot as it seemed kind of scruffy and full of motion. It looked to me like someone from this world could have drawn it, which added a huge amount of charm to the story.

Here is what I did not like, and why the manga got a 6/10 from me. It's the ending. After all the progress and the time in the community, getting a sense of change from the protagonist, he reverts back to his loner life in the ruins by killing everyone that follows him there. basically we go full circle and it ends at the same spot it started, just for the reason of "not needing or wanting anybody". It heavily dumbed down my satisfaction of the manga.

To put it simply, I can recommend this work to someone who wants to apprewciate the art and/or likes a dystopian setting.