Very few mangas pull off the touching and funny at the same time, but watching Mikan grow from an immature slightly selfish little girl into a sacrificial loyal young woman does just that.
And the arc work shift of the characters growing is great. Most mangas just let their characters remain the same with simply a change in hairstyle at some points or the young characters of other mangas simply get taller and older all of the sudden.
But all the young characters grow older very slowly in Gakuen Alice. Its so gradual that by the end you become shock when you compare the first chapter and the last because you hardly even noticed the fact that they have all grown up.

There are several problems with it such as the repetitive nature of the story arcs, and slightly tiresome reoccurring themes. Also some of the Alice powers make absolutely no sense. But overall these complaints are inconsequential when compared with the positive attributes this manga has.