Now On Netflix: Season Two Of ALICE IN BORDERLAND Delivers Deadlier Games, Love And Hope For Human Triumph
One of the most exciting shows currently streaming on Netflix that isn’t Squid Game just happens to be the show that did it first: Alice In Borderland. Season two, directed by Shinsuke Sato, is currently running with actors Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya leading the way once more along with a row of both new and returning characters, and some thrilling new challenges to pepper things up a bit, including Face Card challenges which up the ante even more than before.
How much? Welp, it all begins following the aftermath of the final beach showdown in season one which you can read about here. From the start, Arisu (Yamazaki) and Usagi (Tsuchiya) are rejoined by Kuina (Aya Asahina) and Chishiya (Nijiro Murakami) at Shibuya crossing in the still-desolate Tokyo where the first of the Face Cards, the King Of Spades, makes its violent arrival in the form of a fast-moving and tactically-skilled mercenary (Ayumi Tanida).
Following a blistering car chase moments after reuniting with Beach survivors Tatta (Yutaro Watanabe) and Ann (Ayaka Miyoshi), Arisu and a few of his friends – reluctantly joined later on with sniper and beach inferno survivor, the visibly scarred Niragi (Dori Sakurada) – are forced to splinter off amid all the gunfire, and with game space limitations for the King Of Spades spanning citywide, and game visas still a factor, it’s up to all survivors, including Arisu and his remaining group, to strategize. That means playing the Face Card games head-on, all ranging from a King Of Clubs game of 5-versus-5 in a container yard hosted by nudist and former rock band leader, Kyuma (Tomohisa Yamashita), to a Queen of Spades game of tag called Checkmate, set in a power station and hosted by Lisa (Chihiro Yamamoto), a lithe freerunner with her sights set on Arisu.
Other games find the quiet and observant Chishiya in more concentrated matches of chance and wit, including a Jack Of Hearts prison game where players are compelled to lie to others to find the “Jack” while managing the game symbols on their explosive collars when called to enter them in their cells or risk being stuck in prison, and a King Of Diamonds game containing five players strapped to chairs while forced to choose the right number between 0 and 100 measuring closest to the game’s number of choice when multiplied by 0.8, or risk getting doused with sulfuric acid.
The season also takes on its share of side quests between some of the usual obligatory flashbacks that lend either context or nuance to the show’s characterization. After stumbling upon a mobile home containing its owner’s documentary footage, Usagi finds herself wandering the desolate city and finding a pair of survivors on her own following a clash with the King Of Spades separating her from Arisu, who gets a surprise visit from an old frienemy thanks to an archer and amputee named Heiya (Yuri Tsunematsu). Meanwhile, Kuina’s search for Chishiya and Ann lands her on familiar territory, coming to grips with her beleaguered past, all before reuniting with Ann following her own journey to the city limits for signs of an exit.
Like most shows, season two of Alice In Borderland is filled with lots of exposition which tends to make the show feel like it’s dragging at times. The good news is that the show makes up for most of the lag with substantive storytelling and character development, and splendid action and stunt sequences directed by Yuji Shimomura and coordinated by Takashi Tanimoto. The Osmosis game in episodes two and three offers plenty to take in as well, albeit carefully with Yamashita in the buff. Just shy of flashing the man’s full-frontal goody-bits and nearly turning this show into a production of the Wachowskis’, angling the cinematography and frequenting as many commercial shots of Yamashita’s chiseled physique provides viewers an adequate presentation of Kyuma as the story progresses in the first two episodes.
Both Usagi and Kuina get their moments to shine as well in this game and others going forward. There’s a Face Card game in mid-season episode that segues from some prior filler with Arisu, panning to Kuina laying the smackdown in a martial arts brawl against an army of many. I’m not all that informed of Asahina’s athleticism – slender figure notwithstanding – although this, along with her latest feature role in the boxing drama Red Shoes tells me she’s keen on physically demanding roles that have her using her fists and feet to take on insurmountable odds, and after her season one performance, I am here for it. The same goes to Tsuchiya who may remember from her standout supporting role in the live-action second and third Rurouni Kenshin films and aptly carried the tradition well into Alice In Borderland, squaring off impressively during Osmosis, as well as in Checkmate against Lisa, performed with poise and cunning by Yamamoto who trained alongside Tsuchiya to prep for her role.
Things finally culminate as Arisu and his friends, including newfound ally Aguni (Sho Aoyagi) make one last stand against the King Of Spades in an exhilarating battle of bullets, blades, and sheer will, just before Arisu and Usagi must face off with Queen of Hearts, Mira (Riisa Naka). It helps to know not to let some of these beloved characters grow too much on you, as some of them may perish, leaving you to wonder in the show’s progression just where the boundary lies between what’s real and what isn’t. The show’s screenplay certainly takes some liberties in its creativity, driving solely off of its inspiration from Haro Aso’s hit manga and bearing little negative effect in keeping its promise to audiences, and in doing so, has no compunction with keeping you guessing in the finale right down to the last shot, even when it feels like all the cards have been shown.
Between this and the imminent love story that unfolds between our two main characters, Alice In Borderland crafts a brutal exposition on the suddenness and causality of life in all its simplistic woes, in an epic snapshot at the cusp of an afterlife in which humanity is offered a rare second chance. There’s a point earlier on where Usagi gets discouraged with going home, even as Arisu strives to find answers about how they ended up in a version of their world which became so devastated, and how to get home. It’s from this impasse and the traumatic events of season one that Arisu learns grows just a little more as things come full circle in this second season.
Taking elements from Lewis Caroll’s literary childhood classic and combining it with aspects from the works of Richard Connell and Phillip K. Dick, Alice In Borderland reaches its emotive crescendo with a beautiful message and a touching sense of closure to a story otherwise full of visual opulence, action and splendor. The omnious ending throws things up in the air some, although regardless if it means a series continuation, this sort of conclusion only makes Sato someone to continue observing in 2023. He’s already got plans with a third feature installment of his Kingdom saga with Yamazaki, and a feature adaptation of My Hero Academia for Netflix in the works, so if you’re not familiar with any of his past projects, Alice In Borderland is as good a place to start as any.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!