The show, “Alice in Borderland” is a Japanese live-action science-fiction thriller series directed by Shinsuke Sato and written by Yoshiki Watabe and Yasuko Kuramitsu, had first debuted on Netflix in December of 2020 and is a Netflix original show based on the Japanese manga written by Haro Aso.
In this show, the main character, Arisu, who is a jobless and game-obsessed young man, ends up in the same place, yet a different place. He and his friends were running from the cops around Tokyo, and while they were hiding in a restroom, the world suddenly went silent.
As they walked out, they realized everybody had disappeared, and they ended up in an alternate universe where they had to play games. Along the way, Arisu meets a young woman, Usagi, and the two of them navigate the games together.
Many critics believed that the series didn’t get the recognition that it deserved. When the series first premiered, they wondered why it hadn’t gotten the same amount of popularity as the show “Squid Game”, considering the two shows were close in storylines.
One critic stated, “I adored the first season and binged it all the way through. Sad how underrated it is, considering I don’t see many people talk about it. I think it deserves the same hype that “Squid Games” got.” Another stated, “I actually saw it before watching ‘Squid Games,’ and when ‘Squid Games’ blew up in popularity into being mainstream worldwide, I kind of wondered why AIB didn’t as well, since AIB has more complex and interesting games”.
Although many believed it should have gotten the same amount of love that Squid Games got, many didn’t. “You don’t need complicated games to make a show great. Squid Games does this better with relatable characters, engaging plot, and the simpler games, which can kill you, is the charm of it. I mean, who imagined that playing red light green light could get that horrifying?”
Constant criticisms were going back and forth on the topic, determining whether Alice in Borderland deserved the popularity that Squid Game got or not. Recently, the third season of the show came out and had many fans, both satisfied and disappointed.
I believe that this show should have gotten more love; however, fans were dragging the situation. The new season was definitely a step down from the previous seasons because the storylines felt random in a way, and they included mostly new people.
I personally liked season three; however, there were some clearly bad writing choices, and the season was far from perfect.
The previous two seasons had the same main characters and were more creative, in my opinion. Although it wasn’t as much of a hit as Squid Game, I think it still got the love it deserved, as it made the top 10 on Netflix every time a new season came out.
This show is definitely worth watching if you’re into action or thriller shows, or even Squid Games.