Alice & Zoroku

Lore & Background

The story centers on Sana, an orphan girl with the ability to teleport and create anything she can imagine, who escapes a secret research facility where she was studied as a test subject. She meets an old florist named Zoroku Kashimura in Shinjuku, who takes her in and eventually adopts her as his granddaughter. The series follows their life together, including dangerous encounters with the research facility and Sana's adjustment to the outside world.

The manga began serialization in Monthly Comic Ryū in October 2012 and was collected in thirteen tankōbon volumes. It moved to online-only serialization when Comic Ryū changed formats on June 19, 2018. The anime adaptation by J.C.Staff aired 12 episodes, with an extended 44-minute first episode, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll with an English dub by Funimation.

Reader's Guide

Alice & Zoroku is significant for its exploration of supernatural abilities within a family drama, winning the Japan Media Arts Festival's New Face Award in 2013, which brought it early recognition. The series blends action and everyday life as the protagonist Sana, known as the 'Red Queen,' learns to navigate the world outside the research facility under the care of the grumpy but kind Zoroku. The manga's move to online-only serialization in 2018 reflects changes in the publishing industry. The anime adaptation, though a single 12-episode season, helped expand the series' audience internationally through streaming and an English dub. The work is noted for its character-driven storytelling, featuring a cast of individuals with unique powers, such as the Hinagiri twins and Miriam C. Tachibana, whose motivations range from friendship to personal loss. Its legacy lies in its award-winning start and its adaptation into a complete anime series.

Did You Know?

• The anime's first episode was an extended 44-minute episode.
• The series moved to online-only serialization on June 19, 2018.
• The English dub of the anime was produced by Funimation.

The Hidden World of Dreams of Alice

In the universe of Alice & Zoroku, a secret layer of reality exists beneath ordinary society: a population of humans possessing supernatural abilities, concealed from the general public. The only institution permitted to study these individuals is a clandestine research facility, which the series refers to as "Dreams of Alice." The narrative's emotional core begins when Sana, a young orphan held as an experimental test subject at that facility, manages a narrow escape. Despite her childlike appearance and demeanor, Sana wields staggering power—she can teleport and materialize virtually anything she can picture in her mind—earning her the ominous nickname "Red Queen." After her flight, she stumbles into the bustling city of Shinjuku, where fate places her in the path of Zoroku Kashimura, a weathered old man who, moved by her story, opens his home to her. What follows is a story of two very different people learning to build a family while constantly evading the very institution that made her a target.

The Kashimura Household

Zoroku Kashimura is introduced as a grumpy, world-weary old man with a mysterious past who earns his living as a florist. When he encounters the escaped Sana in Shinjuku, his compassion overrides his gruff exterior, and he gradually adopts her as his granddaughter. This act of kindness anchors the series' warmest thread: a small, improvised family finding its footing. Sanae Kashimura, Zoroku's biological granddaughter, has already lost both parents and lives under his care. She steps into a natural older-sister role for Sana, helping the younger girl navigate the bewildering routines of ordinary life—school, friendships, and the small social codes that Sana, raised in a laboratory, has never encountered. Together, the three form a household defined by mutual protection. Yet their domesticity is perpetually threatened, as the research facility never stops hunting for Sana, turning even a quiet afternoon into a potential chase. The contrast between Sana's godlike creative power and her genuine desire for a normal childhood gives the family dynamic its emotional weight.

The Facility and Its Hunters

The research facility that studies Dreams of Alice is led by director Kōichi Kitō, and it deploys a roster of agents to recapture Sana. The Hinagiri twins, Asahi and Yonaga, carry particular emotional weight because they were once Sana's friends inside the facility before turning into her pursuers. Asahi can materialize any object linked to a chain, while Yonaga conjures a bow and arrow. Another key operative is Minnie C. Tachibana, a former United States Marine Corps second lieutenant whose husband was killed in action during an Iraq deployment. Her power lets her summon a pair of enormous arms that mirror her late husband's; by shrinking them she can multiply their number or render them invisible. Her stated motivation for working with the facility is to find a way to resurrect him. Shizuku Ichijō, a Naicho agent and Naito's assistant, commands a storeroom of 666 weapons and items, including thirteen grimoires. Cleo, a calm and bright Dream of Alice, creates whatever he can draw. Even a troubled elementary student named Hatori Shikishima, whose power lets her reshape her environment and her parents to her will, enters the conflict, watched closely by her soccer-playing best friend Ayumu Miho.

Publication, Adaptation, and Recognition

Tetsuya Imai's manga launched in the December 2012 issue of Tokuma Shoten's seinen magazine Monthly Comic Ryū, with that issue hitting shelves on October 19, 2012. The series ran for thirteen collected tankōbon volumes before Comic Ryū shifted to an online-only format in June 2018. Early in its run, the manga earned the Japan Media Arts Festival's New Face Award in 2013, a recognition that underscored Imai's fresh approach to the supernatural-action genre. In English, Seven Seas Entertainment holds the licensing rights. The anime adaptation, produced by J.C.Staff, premiered on April 2, 2017, with a notably extended forty-four-minute first episode, and concluded on June 25, 2017 after twelve episodes. Katsushi Sakurabi directed, Fumihiko Takayama handled the script, Kazunori Iwakura drew the character designs, and To-Mas Soundsight Fluorescent Forest composed the score. The opening theme, "Wonder Drive," is performed by Oresama. Crunchyroll simulcast the series, while Funimation produced the English dub, bringing the cast—including Hitomi Ōwada as Sana and Akio Otsuka as Zoroku—to international audiences.