Yes, dear readers, Shuzo Oshimi, the master of pervy, adolescent hormone-addled psychological horror, the man behind Flowers of Evil, Inside Mari and Happiness (the vampire manga) is at it again.
(Though, thankfully, this time, despite its title, he has not yet gone and warped Alice In Wonderland...yet...)
Long story short, the bespectacled Yo is crushing on Yui. Also in the mix is popular boy Kei. Given that this is an Oshimi manga, it should come as a surprise to no one that Kei teaches Yo how to masturbate (albeit thankfully not in graphic, depicted detail). Yo later witnesses Yui confessing her love to Kei, as well as a kiss. This triggers one of the few lust-induced nosebleeds I’ve seen in a manga that was not played for comedy. Then Kei suddenly moves away to Hokkaido soon after, without any warning. Years later, our protagonists are now in high school, although Yo and Yui’s relationship has become strained. He still wants to date her, though. On the day of first entry, a new girl appears in class who uses male honorifics and talks crudely, who hits on Yo. It is then revealed that this new girl is their old friend Kei, returned to their hometown apparently “done with being a guy”. There is also a scene where Kei kisses Yo in the (male) bathroom and Yo runs away.
The flirtatious Kei invites Yo over to her house (where she lives alone) in order to help her unpack. Yui is also invited to this little “reunion party”, though she does openly lament the loss of the male Kei that she kissed those few years ago. This does not turn out to be a deterrent to Kei kissing her again. Yo promptly breaks it up and Yui runs off after Kei now turns her attention to Yo and kisses him. The volume ends with Yo running out of the house after Yui.
Well, technically that’s a lie: the story of the volume ends there, but we are also treated to a brief autobiographical omake, wherein Oshimi tells us the story of his own sexual awakening and his own concepts of manliness and what it means to be a man.
I will admit, I had initially only picked up the title because not only were there slim pickings on my local B&N shelves, but also because it had "Alice" in the title. (My own hang-ups and masochistic self-sabotage after the Tim Burton live-action disaster being a subject for another time.)
I have said before that I support the rights of everyone to find love and to be who they are, and I stand by that. And at least this is a relatively-positive (by some definition of the word) exposure of the transgender/agender/genderfluid/something-or-other experience and lifestyle.
(Actually, as of Vol. 1, Kei only says that he is "done being a guy, but is not necessarily interested in being a girl", whatever the glittery hell that means. But I support his decisions and his rights to be so; but I just hope that it doesn't all come to a too-horrific end for any of them.)
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