(Originally written for Anime on DVD.com)

Alice, Kyo and their merry band of Lotis Masters head into the deepest parts of Mayura's heart to try and save her in the next to last volume of Alice 19th.

If you're a Frey fan, this is the book for you as his past is completely revealed throughout the second half of the book. His is a bit more touching that most and the artwork that accompanies it is rather haunting. Out of all the characters, he's grown to be a favorite of mine even though he does fall into the Yu Watase pattern of being the nice guy who won't wind up with the girl in the end, yet you find yourself rooting for him.

The trials that the Lotis Masters endure are nothing new to the genre. During the initial fight, when Chris is entangled in in vines and is reliving his past, I found myself wondering if Watase took the idea for this from a very similar arc in Inuyasha, where the cast go through exactly the same thing. There's a very similar scene in the Sailor Moon R movie as well among the senshi. Even though I felt sympathy for Chris, it was very predictable.

There are some light moments here and I appreciate the fact that Watase has utilized an international cast and shows off the differences among them. There's one great scene where Kyo suggests they recite Japanese proverbs and everyone but Alice yells, "We don't know any!" But other than that, this doesn't feel like this should be the next to last volume in the series. We end on a cliffhanger regarding Frey and Alice and Kyo only have one minor conflict with Mayura in this volume. It doesn't feel like this series is about to end, and it makes me worried that too much will be crammed into the last volume. ( )