silent courage ♣ the approved fanlisting for seno alice

and i will find that place where i can shine

A fanlisting is a group of people who like something; ie a group of people who like Wolves. All a fanlisting is is a list of fans to do with that particular person, item, or object; it joins together people with similar intrests.

alice 19th

Alice 19th (also known as Arisu 19th, the Japanese pronunciation of Alice), is a seven volume manga series by Yuu Watase. The manga is mainly shoujo, focusing in on relationships, but also follows themes of various parts of the human psyche, and the power of words in general. Even though it's more catagorised as being a drama and romance, there are, to me, definately elements of the 'mahou shoujo' genre with characters transforming, but it's more mature. The subject as a whole is completely intended for older readers, but it definately has reminents of all those younger girls in sparkly costumes.

The story begins by following Alice (hence the title), a first year freshman. Alice feels overshadowed by her older sister, Mayura, and believes herself to never have the courage to confess to her senpai, Kyou, that she likes him. On the way to school that morning she spots a rabbit sat in the middle of a road, about to be run over - Alice acts after hearing all the negative energy of the people around her, running out into the road and only being saved from being knocked down herself by, who else, but Kyou. Events eventually transpire to reveal that this rabbit, Nyozeka, is searching for a master of the Lotis Words. She recognises Rangu in Alice, the nineteenth lotis word meaning courage (again, the title). The journey thus begins for Alice, and, to most people's surprise, Kyou, as she first rejects the Lotis but then must learn to use it properly as she accidently banishes her sister into the darkness by all the pent up negativity in her heart being unleashed. It's a race against time for Kyou and Alice to master the Lotis, and, save Mayura and, save the world from being taken over by the dark Maram Words...

seno alice

Alice is the main heroine of the series, and the lead character with Kyou alongside her. Alice, to begin with, sees herself as not having many redeeming points. She's not that smart, she can't make friends easily (texting has taken over her life), she doesn't have much gift in any sport, and most of all she just wishes she could speak up and tell people what she was thinking. However, Alice has dormant courage within her, that she's never really realised. It's only upon saving Nyozeka and learning how to use the Lotis that this really becomes apparant - even though, despite that, her courage was there all along - it just need a little boost. She stands up to Oishi, she learns to speak for herself - she truthfully gets over her fears and comes into her own.

Alice is the youngest of two at fifteen, her older sister being Mayura. Her family seems rather disconnected, but, they eventually reconcile. She also has a crush on Kyou, which, to her dismay, Mayura is also chasing, so this ends up in a complicated mess, as can be predicted.

She also has the power of the Lotis, and is one of the two Lotis Masters of legend, who will come with the 'Lost Word' to rid humanity of the Maram Masters. Originally she can only transform with a ribbon and a mirror over her chest (much like the image in the layout), but upon accepting her destiny her oufit is upgraded to more sophisticated clothing.

why

Where do I start on how much I love Alice? Ever since the first few pages of the series, I simply connected with her. I could empathise and feel for her on so many different levels. Smiling away troubles to avoid confrontation? Check. Having to watch the one you like be taken away by someone else? Check. I just really felt for her, and connected with her straight away. I think this is really a key thing for any main character - that you can slip into their shoes so easily and really understand what they're going through.

I think, for Alice, the most wonderful thing during the series was watching her mature and gain more and more courage and strength of mind. It was wonderful to see her be able to do things such as stand up to her sister and face her fears, stand up to Davra, to even join the archery club, when before, she couldn’t even begun to utter a word to Kyo and talk to him at all. Watching her grow up was really pleasing for me as she discovered depths of courage within her that she never knew she had. The adversary she goes through makes her a better, brave, iron-willed girl who finally has a place where she can feels she can shine. In that sense, it feels like a journey with her as she battles to save her sister and the people she loves, and it’s gratifying at the end when events come full circle. I really do love that about her, about how you can clearly see how she grows up in the space of seven volumes.

Another factor that made me love her even more was the strength she had to reject Kyo after Mayura cursed him. It’s something amazing in the sense that she had to pull herself back from what she wanted, to crush her feelings until things could change. I really admire her for that.

She’s also really... human. At the start, she does throw Mayura into the darkness. But Alice isn’t completely perfect, which makes her human. Even if she’s a true Lotis Master, she’s not painted as god. She has weak points too, and has some bad memories to go with it of things she did in anger. She gets angry, and has to try and contain her emotions like everybody else in the real world. Her initial interactions with the talking Nyozeka are completely believable. When Nyozeka goes, she has the same reaction that I had; shock. She isn’t unbelievably pretty or stands out in her pursuits, but then the real strength to her is inside.

credits