Alice in Borderland (TV series)

In the first season, Ryōhei Arisu and his two friends are suddenly transported to an alternate, desolate Tokyo, where they must play life-or-death games to survive. In the second season, Arisu and the rest of the players must fight against the face cards, citizens of Borderland, while they seek to find out if they will return to their world if they win. In the third and final season, Arisu is forced to return to the Borderland when Yuzuha Usagi enters again, convinced by Dr. Ryuji Matsuyama, a doctor obsessed with death, who is part of Sunato Banda's plan for Arisu. While trying to save Usagi by playing the life-and-death games again, Arisu seeks to defeat the Joker. ==Cast and characters==

Main • Kento Yamazaki as Ryōhei Arisu:A video game-obsessed man who "doesn't fit in with his family". He teams up with Usagi while in the Borderland and later develops romantic feelings for her. In season 3, he returns to the Borderland to search for Usagi and forms his own group of survivors. He survives the Joker Games and becomes a therapist upon returning to the real world.A young yet dangerous member of "the Beach". He is described as being "aggressive due to his complicated past" and is part of "the Militants". Before arriving in the Borderland, he was often bullied by other students at his high school. He makes a cameo in season 3, having become a better person after returning from the Borderland and revealing he now works hard for the sake of his child. • Keita Machida as Daikichi Karube (seasons 1–2):A bartender and close friend to Arisu and Chōta. Before being transported into the empty city, Karube was preparing to propose to a woman he worked with at a bar, who happened to be his boss's lover. • Mizuki Yoshida as Asahi Kujō:A member of "the Beach", a 'game dealer', and Momoka's best friend. • Kosuke Kubota as Joe:A member of the Beach and part of the car maintenance team, alongside Tatta • Ayaka Minami as Saiko:She is one of the Beach militants. • Kento Shibuya as Jun:He is one of the Beach militants. • Ken Aoki as Makoto:He is one of the Beach militants. • Ippei Osako as Sugi:He is one of the Beach militants. • Takashi Kitadai as Ken:He is one of the Beach militants. • Shohei Abe as Yu:He is one of the Beach militants. • Kazuma Sano as Yamane:A participant in the Four of Clubs game, "Distance" • Kazuma Yamane as Seizan:A participant in the Four of Clubs game "Distance" • Yûya Matsuura as Nitobe • Ode Nanako as Minami • Reiko Kataoka as Sayuri Segawa Season 2 • Tomohisa Yamashita as Ginji Kyuma:A band frontman and the King of Clubs, who is challenged by Arisu's group in the game "Osmosis". • Ryōhei Shima as Sogo Shitara:A former member of Kyuma's band and his teammate in the Osmosis game. • Alisa Urahama as Uta Kisaragi:A former member of Kyuma's band and his teammate in the Osmosis game. • Eishin Hayashida as Takumi Maki:A former member of Kyuma's band and his teammate in the Osmosis game. • Eita Okuno as Goken Kanzaki:A former member of Kyuma's band and his teammate in the Osmosis game. • Kai Inowaki as Enji Matsushita:A sly young man who is later revealed to be the Jack of Hearts in the prison game with Chishiya. • Aina Yamada as Urumi Akamaki:A sly, cunning woman who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Honami Satō as Kotoko Shiga:A woman who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Yuzuki Akiyama as Meisa Tokui:A woman who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Yūsaku Mori as Ippei Oki:A timid man who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Akane Sakanoue as Satomi Aoki:A woman who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Junichi Gamou as Hiroshi Tomita:A man who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Shiori Hashiba as Shinobu Furuta:A woman who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Yuenchi Kojima as Motohiko Kaneko:A man who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Seiichi Kohinata as Akifumi Seto:A man who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Ryûhei Watabe as Genki Kiriu:A man who participates in the Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya • Takumi Matsuzawa as Kaito Kameyama:A man who documents the games and their psychological effects on players, aiming to uncover the truth behind the Borderland. • Ayumi Tanida as Isao Shirabi:The King of Spades, whose game involves him shooting players on sight. Before arriving in the Borderland, he was a mercenary. • Chihiro Yamamoto as Risa:A highly athletic woman who is the Queen of Spades and the main opponent in the game "Checkmate". • Jun Hashimoto as Benzo Yashige:A man who participates in the King of Diamonds game with Chishiya. • Aimi Satsukawa as Hinako Daimon:A woman who participates in the King of Diamonds game with Chishiya. • Wakato Kanematsu as Takashi Asuma:A man who participates in the King of Diamonds game with Chishiya. • Miyu Yagyu as Nozomi:A woman who befriends Usagi and a child, Kota. • Ruse Ota as Kota • Jun Matsuo as Yuzuru • Daichi Yamaguchi as Kazuki Season 3 • Joey Iwanaga as Sōta Itsuki:Yuna's older brother; a player and former Borderland survivor who allies with Usagi's team in the Joker games. • Akana Ikeda as Yuna Itsuki:Sota's younger sister; a player and former Borderland survivor who allies with Usagi's team in the Joker games. • Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as Kazuya:A yakuza and former Borderland survivor who allies with Arisu's team in the Joker games. • Hyunri as Shion:A Borderland survivor who allies with Arisu's team in the Joker games. • Sakura Kiryu as Natsu:A Borderland survivor who allies with Arisu's team in the Joker games. • Ken Watanabe as the Watchman:The intermediator who oversees the Borderland • Yugo Mikawa as Masato:A Borderland survivor who allies with Arisu's team in the Joker games. • Motoki Ochiai as Ikeno • Rinako Isobe as Himari:A Borderland survivor and a friend of Juri who allies with Usagi's team in the Joker games. • Kanro Morita as Taro:A train enthusiast and Borderland survivor who allies with Usagi's team in the Joker games. • Nau Nanba as Juri:A Borderland survivor and a friend of Himari who allies with Usagi's team in the Joker games. • Kokoa Naka as Yano • Yûtaro Goto as Mano • Alice Ayano as Yukiko • Hiroto Takahashi as Ken • Kenzo Fukutsu as Sachiko's son ==Episodes==

Season 1 (2020) Season 2 (2022) Season 3 (2025) ==Production==

Development On July 16, 2019, Netflix announced that they were creating a live-action adaptation of the manga Alice in Borderland, with Yoshiki Watabe, Yasuko Kuramitsu, and Shinsuke Sato writing the scripts for each episode, and Sato directing in an attempt to make the show appear as "one very, very long film". Filming , Yûki Morinaga, and Kento Yamazaki at the Ashikaga Scramble City Studio, a large replica of the popular Shibuya Crossing Filming for the series began as early as August 2019, when Yamazaki was spotted during filming in Dōgenzaka, a district of Shibuya on August 8. A scene from the first episode featuring Yamazaki's character, Arisu, meeting his friends Chōta and Karube near Tokyo's busy Shibuya Crossing, was originally supposed to be filmed inside a Starbucks. However, due to the complexity of a glass-covered set, the scene took place in front of a sign outside Shibuya Station. The creator of the manga the series is based on, Haro Aso, was allowed to visit various sets. Filming took place in several cities and concluded in December 2019. Filming for the second season wrapped in March 2022. Visual effects During filming, scenes focusing on the empty city of Tokyo were primarily shot using special effects and green screens, with Sato explaining that with the help of his assistant director, he would run into the middle of the intersection of Shibuya Crossing with a small camera "to figure out which parts to actually build and which parts to CGI". Using the Ashikaga Scramble City Studio, scenes featuring Shibuya Crossing were filmed using mainly green screens, with "everything but the road and the ticket gate at the east entrance [being] produced with computer graphics". To keep the scenes "authentic", visual effects director Atsushi Doi recreated the shadows of the Tokyu Building where they would normally fall. A scene in episode 4, which showed an underpass being flooded with water, was created with the help of previsualizations, allowing the crew to "experiment with different elements before the actual shoot". Post-credit visual effects were added in with the help of Japan's Digital Frontier, who worked alongside teams from Singapore, the United States, and India in an international collaboration. Music The score for Alice in Borderland was composed entirely by Yutaka Yamada, who had previously worked with Sato on Bleach (2018) and Kingdom (2019). Produced by Kohei Chida, the music was performed by the FILMharmonic Orchestra of Prague. The song "Good Times", by Jan Erik Nilsson, was featured various times throughout the show. ==Marketing and release==

On September 18, 2020, Netflix released a teaser video revealing that Alice in Borderland would debut in 190 countries on the platform on December 10, 2020. On October 24, 2020, six set images were released to promote the series. Four days later, an official trailer was issued, along with a poster and a list of the main cast. On October 7, 2020, Haro Aso, the creator of the original manga the series is based on, announced plans to "celebrate" and promote the Netflix series by introducing a new manga, titled Alice in Borderland Retry on Weekly Shōnen Sunday. Launched on October 14 (#46, 2020 of Weekly Shōnen Sunday), the first volume of the manga tankobon was shipped out on December 11, one day after Alice in Borderland premiered. The manga series ended on January 20, 2021 (#8, 2021 of the magazine). The second and final volume of tankobon was released on February 18, 2021. The second season of Alice in Borderland premiered worldwide on December 22, 2022. On September 27, 2023, the series was renewed for a third season. In July 2025, Netflix announced that it would come out on September 25, 2025, and released a teaser trailer. In a January 2026 article, Netflix stated that the third season was the show's final. ==Reception==

Following its release, Alice in Borderland received mostly positive reviews from critics, who applauded its cinematography, editing, use of graphic violence, visuals, and the performances of Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya, but left mixed opinions on its advancement without special focus on character development and its story in general, particularly in the second half. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season of Alice in Borderland holds an approval rating of 91%, based on nine reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. Writing for Ready Steady Cut, Jonathon Wilson gave a generally positive review, lauding the series for skipping over "exposition and careful backstory-building" and "just getting straight to it". Wilson also compared the series positively to the Japanese film Battle Royale and the American horror film Saw. Ars Technica journalist Jennifer Ouellette called the show "emotionally intense" and compared its games to those found in the books Ready Player One and Lord of the Flies, and the 1997 film Cube. Salons Melanie McFarland compared the series to the CBS All Access miniseries The Stand, stating that Alice in Borderland "handles the mechanics of introducing its characters more effectively and it doesn't throw off the audience by leaning heavily on flashbacks [...] but unlike "The Stand," the "before" profiles aren't extensive to the point of dragging on the story's progress." From Yahoo! News, Lim Yian Lu highly praised the series for its "suspenseful plot", stating that it "will keep you entertained and yearning for more despite its grisly and gory scenes." Writing for the Anime News Network, Theron Martin gave the series a C+ and accorded mixed feedback to the show's production, score, general storyline, and acting, while stating that it gives a "modest amount of entertainment" for its runtime. After watching the first episode and praising it for its tone, soundtrack, and ability to "shift gears so fast", the crew at Decider recommended viewers to stream the show. ==Awards and nominations==