Alice to Zouroku

[Kraco]

"A group of young girls possesses a mysterious power which gives them the ability to materialize their thoughts. Detained and experimented upon, these youths are locked away in secret until one of them manages to escape. Her name is Sana — a girl with the power to ignore the very laws of physics. When this wilful powerhouse crosses paths with a stubborn old man named Zouroku, his carefully-ordered life will never be the same again!" -CR

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Seinen, Slice of Life, Supernatural
Links: AniDB | ANN



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Starting to watch this, one is immediately reminded of Elfen Lied and Brynhildr, but this is from a different author. Watching beyond the first minutes it's also made clear this isn't a fest of blood and dismemberment like those two titles, but far more softcore.

The setting of an adult man suddenly starting to take care of a little girl (in a wholesome manner, not in a pedo manner) has always interested me ever since Aishiteru ze Baby, which happened to be one of the earliest anime I watched. Thus it's nice this one follows such a path, not the usual love interest path that happened in Elfen Lied and Brynhildr.

The first episode was double length.

[MFauli]

Rather disappointing fir episode. I expected a more nuanced, subtle, serious story. Looks like this will be closer to your typical low key-madoka knock off. But there´s stil potential, so I keep watching.

Really irked me, though, how little all the people reacted to magic occurring all around them. Half the city destroyed and all they do is stare a bit. They should be in deadly panic.

[Kraco]

Half the city destroyed and all they do is stare a bit. They should be in deadly panic.

No, look closer. They all had their smartphones out and they were filming. That's a 100% accurate description of what would happen in RL. Besides, it wasn't half a city. It was only a couple of streets with a few holes and reckless car driving.

[Ryllharu]

People would (have gotten, or will) get killed to film something and throw it up on social media. Very accurate. When they are quickly panning through why the police lost all the photos and footage, most people are concerned their posts and videos of the scene are gone.

I'm not a fan of the character art style to be honest, but overall, I am liking this series.

[MFauli]

lol, come on you two. sure there would be some idiots filming with their smartphones. but the majority of people would be running away, screaming at the top of their lungs. and here, NOBODY was running away. Complete underreaction.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Really enjoyed this first (double-length) episode.
Having the old man as the main character is very refreshing and seems like it could have some good entertainment value.

I'll have to agree with the others about the bystanders. People definitely pull out their phones and film stupid crap when they should be running away or paying attention.

[neflight86]

Good first ep. I liked the "I'm not familiar with anime conventions, so I'm going to play it straight and tell you that superpower fights in public is dangerous and unwelcome IRL." main character.

[shinta|hikari]

I need more loli nekkidness to keep watching.

[Kraco]

Episode 5



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I wonder why, but occasional when I watch anime and see property damage, I begin to wonder who's going to pay for all of it. Like in this episode who are going to pay for the unknown amount of damage to the products inside all the destroyed or lost containers. If it was a ship outbound from Japan, the damage would easily be millions in dollars. Considering how Minnie C was deported so soon, it looks like she didn't get a huge bill as a souvenir with her. I guess the reimbursement money would be taken from the funds of the experimental facility that was now shut down.

Nevertheless, I'm happy Sana didn't end up back on an experimentation table. I wish Minnie C and her disgusting hairy hand power had suffered a bit more, after all she did. She's clearly psychotic and had no conscience whatsoever.

[Kraco]

Episode 9



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It seems like Ha-chan can't really control her power. It fires off when she merely utters the words of commanding someone. Pretty dangerous, and makes you think she could have controlled Ayu as well, or at least she fears she already has. The good witch, bad witch background story was quite nice, unexpectedly, and ended in a suitably grotesque manner.

Sana getting so shocked for such a long time due to what happened to Zouroku was depicted well. He really matters to her now.

[Ryllharu]

I'm really loving the hell out of the "witch" storyline here.

Sanae the best, obviously, but it is cute that Sana has an actual rival in power for once. Sana owns time and space, Ha-chan owns free will.

I didn't realize the one twin has hair down to her thighs! Overall, I really like the twins. They have that adorable anime-twinness where the two of them blur together and they find it hard to have distinct personalities, though these two definitely do...they just swap every so often.

[Kraco]

Episode 10



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Such a pinch. Sana isn't very good at solving problems, but she's trying hard. Maybe too hard. This feels like such a minor case, aside from the problems its causing to the outside world, but it makes sense how it looks like a major case for a little kid. It's also weirdly refreshing to have an evil character who so willingly admits she's evil.

[Kraco]

Episode 11


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I was wondering how realistic it would be if Sana could say anything at all that would comfort Ha-chan, but how it actually happened was quite good writing indeed. She didn't need to understand Ha-chan situation at all, she didn't need to understand what parents are like, she didn't even need to try to gouge anything out of her life with Zouroku's family. She just needed to tell what a strange creature she is and how it's anybody's guess if she's any more important than a pebble somebody tosses into the dark to hear if it hits the bottom any time soon or perhaps lands in water. How she trudged behind Ha-chan earlier complaining nothing's going to work was totally something a kid would do (and even some adults).

I'm looking forward to seeing how glad Sana is to receive her favourite food after all this.

[Kraco]

Episode 12 Final



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A good ending compared to Elfen Lied and other archetypes. Funnily enough the biggest mystery for me in this show was Zouroku, not Wonderland or other obvious things. I all the time kept thinking that old man must have some significant past to have such authority and such a solid mentality nothing could shake. Sana herself was naturally a jolly good character: She was depicted well as a practically alien lifeform trying to understand humans by being one, yet having no more maturity, wisdom, or logic than a kid.

Even the government seemed to be reasonable enough in this show, which is quite exceptional.

[MFauli]

This show started and ended with the same weaknesses. Lack of seriousness and lack of consequences. This show could have been really great if it had borrowed from Bokurano or Narutaru. It didn´t and so everything that happened was just shallow eyecandy like most anime with little girls these days.

Incidentially, it got a lot better during the last 3-4 episodes when the other girl was introduced and we saw a darker side of these powers.

Maybe the anime of this concluded season with the most wasted potential.