Gakuen Alice (Kodocha, Part II?)

If Nanoha A's is made out of pure, earnest, sincerity, then Gakuen Alice is made out of pure, earnest, sincere goofiness (and a dash of darkness).  This supernatural school comedy takes place at the Alice Academy where kids with special abilities are gathered.  Sometimes, this show's energy and sheer randomness makes me think it's channeling Kodocha.  (Sob.  Kodocha season II, I'm still waiting for you.  Weep.  I'll wait forever . . .  But until then, have some Gakuen Alice!)

Mikan, our heroine, doesn't know anything about this special ability school stuff.  She just knows that her aloof best friend Hotaru suddenly left without warning and then sent her only one postcard from her new school.  Being the headstrong, thoughtless, dedicated twit that she is, Mikan takes off to give Hotaru a piece of her mind, and finds out that only people with special abilities (Alices) are allowed on campus.

Luckily, it turns out Mikan has one.  She just has to figure out what it is.  And then figure out how to fit in with all the weirdos.  And make friends.  And get back at that terrible boy who calls her names based on the kind of panties she was wearing when they first met.  Chaos ensues.

I like this one because there's the goofy, and then there's the dark, and they intertwine the whole time. 

• There's a trouble-making, broody,  bratty boy who picks on Mikan, but his perpetual bad mood and penchant for driving people away might be because the school is making him use his particularly dangerous Alice to do their dirty work. 
• Yay!  Mikan has an Alice, so she can stay with her best friend Hotaru!  Oh, and she's also trapped in the school since it's a little like a roach motel for Alices. 
• It may be much safer to stay at the Academy (Alices are worth a premium on the human trafficking market), but Alices and their families are given no real choice in the matter of where to attend school once they find out they're Alice-users. 
• Some Alices are very powerful, but the users die young.
  
• One teacher is on Mikan's side, and another one gives her the lowest rank possible and won't let all the letters she faithfully writes to her grandfather go through the mail. 
• Fun and school hijinks abound, but there's this little plot to destroy the school organized by disgruntled former students and kidnapping and some scenes that would highly offend PETA. 

Then there's the axe-wielding stuffed teddy bear and the giant chick.  Did I mention Ruka's rabbit?  (Ruka has an Alice that lets him befriend all animals.)  Cute and creepy are holding hands a lot in this show.

The Alices are often hilarious and impractical.  Some kids have normal ones like teleportation and telepathy.  Others can make it rain in a small area or create a cloud of gold sparkles or make people laugh at their awful puns.  Some can transfer pain or control fire or invent ridiculous, amazing robots.

I got a huge kick out of this show's hyper humor, and I got sucked in to the touching bits.  In the end, I was slightly disappointed by the anime because a lot of the darkness was just waved away in a manner that seemed inconsistent with the whole show.  That may have been because they had to end it with one season, and it's not like there weren't really affecting moments in the final conflict, so I'm still pleased with the show as a whole.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading the manga to see where things diverge and what happens next.  Please, keep publishing this one, Tokyopop!  It's crazy fun!  And a big thanks to Right Stuf/Nozomi for bringing it over here.  It's a hoot.  :)


Have you seen Gakuen Alice?  Or Kodocha?  Any thoughts?  Can you recommend any other crazy comedies for younger audiences?