Line #58 Manga/WelcomeBackAlice


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/166iq50x0dq91.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Clockwise from top left: Kei Murota, Yo Kamehara, Yui Mitani, Ren Ano.]]
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4	Yohei “Yo” Kamehara is a shy boy. So shy, he can’t tell his friend and junior high crush, Yui Mitani, that he likes her. Yo’s popular, handsome friend Kei pushes him to embrace his sexual feelings and teaches him about masturbation. Later, Yo is shocked when he sees Mitani kissing Kei, but Kei soon moves to Hokkaido and Yo stops talking to both friends.
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6	In high school, Yo is determined to make up for lost time and ask Mitani out. The first day of class, however, Kei shows back up, with long blonde hair and wearing a girl’s uniform. Kei is as sexually forward as ever, and the three friends are soon caught up in an adolescent swamp of love, lust, and confused feelings.
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8	''Welcome Back, Alice'' (''Okaeri Alice'') is a psychological coming-of-age manga series serialized in ''[[Magazine/ShonenMagazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine]]'' from 2020 to 2023 and created by Creator/ShuzoOshimi, author of ''Manga/TheFlowersOfEvil'' and ''Manga/InsideMari''.
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10	!!''Welcome Back, Alice'' contains examples of:
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12	* AliceAllusion: Kei, with their long blond hair, is a living Alice reference.
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14	* AllMenArePerverts: Yo certainly is, as was Kei in junior high; however, Yo is extremely afraid of expressing his sexuality, while Kei was possibly a bit too forward about it. Other minor male characters qualify, like Yo's friends and the upperclassman who harasses Kei at a convenience store.
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16	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Yo makes one to Mitani in chapter 11.
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18	* AmbiguouslyBi: Yo is clearly attracted to Mitani and has escalating sexual interactions with Kei but it’s sometimes questionably consensual and Kei is rather gender-ambiguous.
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20	* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Kei and Ren both probably qualify, [[spoiler: as well as possibly Yo, who feels so frustrated by the pressures of masculinity that he attacks his penis with a knife]].
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22	* ApologisesALot: Yo stammers out a “sorry” every time he runs into the slightest conflict with someone else.
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24	* BitchInSheepsClothing: As is typical for Oshimi, Mitani eventually reveals herself to be this. At first she wants a chaste, "just friends" dating life with Yo (to his frustration), [[spoiler: but as his relationship with Kei becomes more intimate, Mitani feels threatened and starts to force Yo into having sex with her]].
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26	* CannotSpitItOut: Applies to some extent to all main characters – especially Yo, to an almost comical degree. Any time the conversation turns towards sex or romance [[EmotionallyTongueTied he starts stammering every sentence]]. This leads to a lot of communication problems, although in some cases characters can drag the info out of him.
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28	* CharacterDevelopment: In high school Kei initially comes off as strange and unsettlingly sexual towards their old friends. As the story goes on more about their motivations is revealed, and they emerge as possibly the most level-headed and rational main character.
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30	* ComingOfAgeStory: Every character is struggling mightily to navigate adolescence, and end up hurting each other in their attempts to get a handle on how they feel about gender and sexuality.
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32	* CreepyCrossdresser: Kei initially comes off as this, acting mysterious and sexually aggressive towards Yo and Mitani.
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34	* DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale: Yo mentions [[spoiler:his handjob from Kei]] wasn’t consensual, but Mitani is just disgusted that he did something sexual with someone who’s biologically male.
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36	* DysfunctionJunction: Every main character has serious problems; gender and their sex drive are particular issues.
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38	* EverybodyWantsTheHermaphrodite: Kei’s androgynous appearance gets them admiration and attention from boys and girls. Discussed by one of Yo's classmates, who smugly says that any guy would want Kei because they have the appearance of an attractive feminine girl but understands a guy's perspective and has none of the "problems" of biological women.
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40	* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Yo tries to cut his penis off]] after coming to the conclusion that sex hurts everyone who participates in it.
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42	* IntimateHaircut: [[spoiler:Yo cuts Kei's hair short in chapter 37, as they decide to become a couple.]]
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44	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Yohei is almost always called simply Yo.
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46	* PsychoticLoveTriangle: The manga eventually starts to head in this direction, with all four main characters having complicated and conflicting feelings towards each other.
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48	* RelationshipUpgrade: Yo and Mitani start dating in chapter 11. [[spoiler:It gets rather complicated after that]].
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50	* SanitySlippage: Mitani and Yo start suffering this as they find themselves frustrated in their attempts to find fulfillment in relationships and deal with gender norms.
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52	* SexIsEvil: More often than not, sex in this story is terrifying more than it’s gratifying or unitive. To large extent, characters are ruled by their libidos and can’t help hurting others thoughtlessly.
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54	* SmugSmiler: In the earlier part of the manga, Kei’s constant smiles in the face of their friends’ evident discomfort come off as inconsiderate if not creepy.
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56	* SociallyAwkwardHero: Yo is definitely awkward, although he gets along fine with his more normal friends at school. Any hint of conflict or sex, though, and he turns into a blushing, stammering, apologizing mess.
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58	* TransTribulations: Several main characters struggle because their internal feelings about how they should act and look conflicting with society's view of how men and women should behave.
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60	* WhichRestroomDilemma: Averted by Kei; they go in the boys' bathroom and hike up their skirt at the urinal without any sense of shame.
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62	* WholesomeCrossdresser: In the early chapters Kei zigzags in and out of this trope; uncomfortably sexual one day but supportive and friendly the next, and eventually starts to solidly land here.

Context Manga / WelcomeBackAlice