Gakuen Alice or Alice Academy is a manga by Higuhi Tachibana which follows the story of Mikan, an 11 year old who runs away from home after her best friend Hotaru is enrolled in an exclusive school for geniuses. But it's no ordinary school for geniuses, as the students that enrol there have supernatural abilities. Mikan reaches the school and encounters a mysterious student there, and things take an unexpected turn when the member of staff following that student tells Mikan that she too has an ability - although unknown for now - and enrols her at the school.
The story is a great one and, from what I remember, doesn't drag during its 180 chapters and you can tell that the author was determined to make this work. It has an anime which is good but takes a friendlier/lighter approach to the story, probably due to the age group of the characters to make it more appealing to children. If you watch the anime first and enjoy it, you'll see a darker and mysterious tone in the manga. It is much better and gripping from the moment you read it, but if you haven't seen or read the other, this is your notice of the difference. There are a few times during the manga when you may feel emotional, and the ending screams for a continuation with a new plot, which hopefully happens but may not. We shall see.
Gakuen Alice takes a different approach to the school life aspect as the focus is on a younger group of students rather than the common high school group, and brings with it a nice mixture of personalities and older sibling-like characters. Add that to the different abilities present in the school and you have moments of fun, emotion, action and comedy. The anime does show these well, but it doesn't have many episodes and does take a lighter approach to the story (as mentioned earlier). There are some moments of romance too (only really shown in the manga), which to some people may be a bit gross due to the age group, but it does have its cute moments throughout the story, and turns out better near the end/at the end.
This is one where, if you want a main character(s) of a different age but still want a great story and plot to go with it, go for this manga.
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Summary:
A little girl goes after her friend who enrols in a school for geniuses, only for her to be enrolled in it too
Anything else: The romance is kawaii
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