The story focuses on two girls named Mikan and Hotaru. Mikan is a cute, energetic, good-natured, and clumsy girl who lives with her grandfather. Hotaru, on the other hand, is an intelligent, rational, and rather aloof girl. Mikan and Hotaru have grown up together in a small village out in the remote countryside, and Mikan considers Hotaru to be her best friend. One day, Hotaru is whisked away to a school for geniuses. Nine months go by, and Mikan only receives one piece of correspondence from Hotaru. Mikan ends up running away to Tokyo to try to find Hotaru.
When Mikan gets to Tokyo, she discovers that the school for geniuses that Hotaru attends is actually a place for people with special powers that are called "Alices." One of the teachers discovers that Mikan has an Alice that she is unaware of, and she ends up being admitted to the school. Natsume is the male protagonist of the series, who is a genius that ditches class regularly. He ends up developing a secret crush on Mikan.
There are five kinds of "Alices." The Latent Type have powers connected to ESP abilities. The Technical Type have abilities based on technology and research fields. The Somatic Type have their abilities appear in the form of a pheromone of physical activity. The students with Special Ability have Alices that don't easily fit into one of the other three types. The students with Dangerous Ability are so strong with their talents that they are considered a threat to the school. Mikan's main Alice is Nullification, although she also possesses the Stealing Alice. Hotaru belongs to the Technical Class. Natsume belongs to the Dangerous Ability class, and he possesses the Alice of Fire.
Gakuen Alice contains some cute elements, but it's not really an anime series being targeted to a younger audience. With this cuteness, I believe that the series would have a stronger appeal with a female audience. And with some of the themes that run through the series, I would personally recommend Gakuen Alice to anime viewers who are 13 or 14 years of age and older.
| Gakuen Alice | 26 | 2004-2005 | Takahiro Omori | Group TAC/Aniplex | Nozomi Entertainment |
