The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Twisted Wonderland-The Manga

Series: 1, 2, 3, and 4

Original Concept: Yana Toboso Storyboard: Wakana Hazuki Art: Sumire

Genre: Young Adult, Manga, Disney, Retelling, Fantasy

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review:

When Yu is stranded in the world of Twisted Wonderland, he must brave the magical school filled with ghosts, uncooperative students, and monsters. He has no magic of his own but is granted permission to stay anyway. But when new friends land him in trouble, his place at the school is threatened. Now Yu’s future depends on uniting a fire-breathing monster cat and two argumentative first years.

Normally, I would give each book an individual review, but each of these were so short and an immediate continum of the previous books. So, this post is a review of all four books in the Twisted Wonderland series as one review.

I don’t usually like graphic novels, and I really struggle with manga. But I really enjoyed this series. I also don’t love Alice in Wonderland. Every time I give Alice and Wonderland a shot, I end up dozing off. I was able to stay awake and pay attention to this entire series!

What I really enjoyed was how this connected to other well-known villains in the Disney universe. I hope in the future more are made about the other schools!

I really enjoyed the characters, though sometimes they seemed a little flat, but entertaining, nonetheless. Many of them were bundles of chaos, which is always fun. The head mage was especially confusing to me, because he kept saying “Aren’t I a kind man?” which strongly implies to me that he isn’t, but he wasn’t a character we got a deep dive on.

As I mentioned above, I don’t really love Alice in Wonderland. However, this book wasn’t too much Alice in Wonderland. It was mixed with other magical things, and the Wonderland aspects were a nice addition and backdrop.

I will note that there were no female characters that were a part of the story. This isn’t the biggest deal, but it was definitely something I noticed.

Also, I don’t really understand the point of Yu. He came into this world from Japan and got stuck here on accident. He agrees to stay, until he can figure out a way back home. Of course, he does unite some of the characters in the first book, but for the rest of the series he is making some minor contributions and keeps to the background. There is also not a satisfying conclusion pertaining to his returning to Japan.

The character designs and art were wonderful. I especially liked the outfit designs!

I especially loved Riddle and Trey’s story. I think that could be expanded on in such fun, interesting ways! They definitely had a depth to their story, and I loved watching it unfold.

If you are looking for a quick Alice and Wonderland retelling, that includes other Disney aspects, chaotic characters, and wonderful character designs, Twisted Wonderland is the perfect series for you!