some cream anmitsu together, at which Yuu seems quite interested, asking her if anmitsu tastes good. Ume and Lapan then get the idea to use Yuu's desire to try the anmitsu to get him into a (very revealing) bathing suit and flaunt, stating that if he doesn't, he can't have any. This is the only time Yuu shows much emotion (namely embarrassment and desperation). Manga Alice on Deadlines is written and illustrated by Shiro Ihara. The manga was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen magazine, Gangan Wing. Square Enix released the manga's four tankōbon volumes between March 26, 2005 and May 27, 2006. It is licensed in North America by Yen Press, which released the manga's four tankōbon volumes between November 2007 and November 2008. Reception Jason Thompson's appendix to Manga: The Complete Guide criticises the manga for its "grotesque figures and flat artwork" which "make it more ugly than sexy, and the incoherent plot makes a disappointing stab at sentimentality at the end". ComicMix's Andrew Wheeler commends the first volume for being "quite funny, with art that’s easy to follow and lots of visual interest (mostly of the nubile female kind, though there is some monster-fighting)". However, he also criticises the manga for being "offensive to a whole lot of people. (Mostly humorless people, but I guess they count, too)". The second volume is criticised by Wheeler for being "very much not politically correct – it’s sophomoric and almost entirely focused on jokes about underwear." The third volume is criticised for having "lots and lots of self-referential fan service follows, with very little plot or purpose to connect it all." Wheeler's review of the fourth volume comments that "Alice on Deadlines ends just like a good shōjo series should, which is odd, because I would never have thought that was the audience for a story about a lecherous skeleton". Pop Culture Shock's Ken Haley comments that the manga's "art is kind of pretty, but that’s about it, as the non-stop pervy humor wears thin after about ten pages". Pop Culture Shock's Phil Guie criticises manga artist Shiro Ihara for running "out of scenarios for his main characters and decided to just end it all with lots of flashy, occasionally incomprehensible violence". Mania.com's Gary Thompson criticises the manga for its "vapid at best, incomprehensible at worst" plot and that "character relationships change at the drop of a hat". References External links