Alice in Borderland

Arisu Ryohei is unemployed and spends most of his time playing video games. One day he meets up with two friends in the middle of Tokyo. After some mild hijinks they hide in a cubicle in a public lavatory... suddenly the lights go out and they can no longer hear the general hubbub of the busy city. They emerge to find the city empty. Not long afterwards signs lead them to a building, where they are joined by two girls. Here they are forced to play a deadly game, after which they are awarded a playing card. It emerges that they will be forced to take place in such games on a regular basis. Later we are introduced to Usagi, a skilled climber, who later joins up with Usagi. They gradually learn more about the games and what the cards signify while trying to discover if there is a way back to their previous lives.

I really enjoyed this series; little time is wasted with set-up; the viewers are thrown into the action along with our protagonists. We know as little about the world they are in as they do and only learn more as they do. Early games make it clear just how dangerous this world is; just because a character is introduced early does not guarantee their survival. The scenes within the games are very tense, and frequently quite gory; there is also a fair amount of fan-service as characters wear beachwear in later episodes for reasons explained in the series. The way the dynamic between the characters changes is interesting; especially after our surviving protagonists find a location with many more players. The cast, both main and secondary does a solid job making the fantastical situation believable. The effects are mostly good but a couple of times the CGI is a bit obvious. As the final episode ends many questions are answered but more are raised; these people's problems clearly aren't over... hopefully there will be at least one more season.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

At first you would think it is cheesy but then you would look deep into your own soul and say... yep that is me, that is my neighbors, that is my colleagues, that is just like my boss that is just like my veteran friend, the characters really do a good job portraying its weaknesses and that is a sigh of relief, way too many make believe movies out there and this one helps to bring it home where reality meets fantasy. Now the fantasy part.... I do not know where to F&^cking start... good luck in figuring it all out because it is a complete mystery! Good for them because that is the golden calf of this show!

Binge watched season 2.

Based on manga graphic novel, This survival thriller drama has returned with decent season 2 after 2 years.

S2 picks up where S1 left off.

Arisu and the gang continue to survive in a dystopian world consisting of death games and betrayal, and advances to next level of game.

I really enjoyed this season more.

It has Cleverly created thrilling games, good character development, quick transitions into flashback / back stories of character and present situation, Good pacing except for last episode, Easy cliffhangers, convenient plot development, Good choreographed action n combat scenes (specially in epi 7), Decent performances, Good editing, VFX n visuals.

But it took too much time to reach the Climax.

I'm happy with the ending.

They kept one window open for next season.

Over all, I enjoyed it.

Total binge-worthy.

To be fair, it's not that big of a feat, especially considering Netflix produced Death Note and Cowboy Bebop, iconic stories in their own right, and failed miserably with them.

But boy, they hit a home run with Alice in Borderland. The post-apocalyptic landscape of Japan looks incredible, the design and stage of each games are fantastic, and for the most part, the characters aren't all weirdos, *cough*, well a lot of them are but that's the charm, right?

Now you can probably find a ton of plot holes with how some of the games went, and you will totally see this in many other reviews. But, just the sheer volume of so many types of survival games to be adapted was a delight to see.

Not all games are equal in quality, but some really stands out, like most games that involves Chishiya and most of the games in season 1. All the games are absolutely brutal, whether it is a physical challenge, a mental challenge, or both. I was very surprised to see how some of the action scenes are done so well, like Usagi's parkour scenes, and probably the most memorable one that involves a katana.

As far as the story goes, you're watching this and reading this review because you have some interest at least with the survival games genre like Saw and Battle Royale. Alice in Borderland mixes Battle Royale with a decent amount of wit and a bit more set of relatable characters. I even thought some character progression to be delightfully done even if they're simple and straight-forward.

Alice in Borderland has gotten a lot of things right, and is probably the best anime/manga live adaptation right now. It certainly makes someone like me who has seen way too many terrible live adaptations of anime/manga interested to see if Netflix can hit another home run next time.

* I would love to talk about the ending but this will not be a spoiler review. But I do appreciate the adaptation for faithfully adapting the ending (which I enjoyed, but it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea). *

I'm quite impressed with how this show was able to instantly hook me from the first episode all the way to its last. This was such an entertaining watch and it kept on actively pulling something new out of the bag that I didn't see coming. The concept behind this show was what intrigued me and I was a bit curious to see how they were going to pull it off. Obviously the games they played were crucial to the story but what carries the series are its characters. These characters are what elevates this story and throughout the episodes, their journeys are as important as the plot itself.

With the plot, it was exciting to see how the environment slowly began to affect the characters. In season one, the whole goal was to find out what this place was and who was behind all of it but then in the second season that's where they expand on that. It focuses more on the harsh reality they are confronted with and whether or not they choose to live with it.

To me, this was a show I knew I was going to like and thank goodness I was right about that.