Netflix Dark Sci-Fi Dystopia Series Is An Intense Battle For Survival

If we took Squid Game and overlapped some of its segments with Hunger Games and Ready Player One, we’d find Alice in Borderland at the center. It has bits and parts of all three but doesn’t really imitate any of them. Instead, Alice in Borderland is entirely its own thing; it follows Arisu (the Japanese phonetic equivalent of Alice), a video game-obsessed young man with a knack for problem-solving and a deep understanding of games, as he’s completing a series of dangerous games in order to survive.

At the beginning of the series, Arisu and his friends are transported to a deserted and parallel version of Tokyo, where they have to complete deadly games based on playing cards, with each card representing a different type of challenge and level of difficulty. We won’t dive any further into the series’ plot to avoid spoiling it for those who haven’t seen it, but if you liked any of the previously mentioned TV series and movies, you’ll definitely love Alice in Borderland.

The first season was released in 2020 and introduces us to the protagonist while setting up the main premise of the series. Season 2 dives further into the mysterious world the protagonist has been trapped in and actually provides a rather satisfying ending. The Alice in Borderland narrative itself is based on the same-name manga and explores the themes of survival, friendship, human instinct, and perseverance in facing insurmountable odds and life-and-death situations.

Given that the audience’s thirst for this kind of content still hasn’t waned, Alice in Borderland enjoys massive success, not just with audiences but with critics as well. The series was praised for its suspenseful plot, great character development, and visual effects, with many favorably comparing the series to other releases from the survival game genre. Featuring an intense and gripping storyline complemented by fantastic performances from the cast, it certainly helped both critical and audience reception and its rising popularity on Netflix.

However, some fans of Alice in Borderland are completely against Netflix’s idea of making a third season of the show. Namely, the first two seasons already adapted the entire manga, which means that the upcoming season doesn’t actually have any source material to adhere to, leaving the fate of the series in the hands of Netflix’s creatives—considering just how many series they managed to ruin, the fan concerns are completely justified.

Additionally, Arisu’s character has already been fully developed in both the manga and the series, so there’s really no point in pushing the series further unless you aim to perform yet another fan-disappointing cash grab. We’re not saying that Season 3 of Alice in Borderland is going to be bad; we understand Netflix’s decision completely.

But why potentially ruin something that already had a good run? We’re letting you be the judge, dear reader; if you’re interested, Alice in Borderland is currently streaming on Netflix.