Rating: 3 out of 5 skull-piercing lasers.
Alice in Borderland has very little to do with Alice in Wonderland, playing cards, a character named Hatter… that’s really it. Hatter isn’t all that mad and Alice is a dude named Arizu. Arizu is a shiftless gamer, a disappointment to his father, and a cautionary tale of wasted potential even to his two best friends.
It begins with Arizu, Chöta, and Karube goofing off in Tokyo, making videos, and interfering with traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian. This attracts the attention of the local constabulary and the lads rabbit to a subway station bathroom where they squeeze into a stall and lock the door. The lights go out. They come back up. The boys exit the station and Oh Betsy everyone is gone.
We don’t know why, where they went, who drove, or how long they’re going to be gone. It’s best if you don’t ask too many questions. Alice in Borderland doesn’t like to explain itself, but it’s only the first season. Lost ran for 6 seasons and not one time did it ever think to tell its viewers what was going on.
Arizu and crew muck about in deserted Tokyo for a bit, enjoying the elbow room and free snacks before a digital billboard instructs them to head towards a mysterious game arena. Our heroes meet a few other people in the same predicament, and that’s where the action truly begins.
The first episodes revolve around these games. A group of people is instructed to solve a puzzle, lose they die, win they live and get a few days vacation. Arizu, with his extensive background in leisure, is a natural. I can almost hear the argument that must have inspired Haro Aso, creator of the manga on which the show is based. “You don’t know, DAD! Someday being good at video games may save my life!” SLAM.
I like the first half of the season. The show is violent and twisted throughout, but when the killing is centered around puzzle solving it’s more focused. Towards the end, Alice in Borderland takes a turn into post-apocalypse nation building and becomes a bit of a free-for-all.
Arizu (Kento Yamazaki) and Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), an orphaned mountain climber he meets along the way, carry the show. Their loyalty to each other is what keeps this alternate universe from spinning out of control. In constant danger, Tsuchiya is the more stoic of the two, leaving Yamazaki to sob and rage for the rest of us.
I’d give Alice in Borderland a shot. Its quality production, acting, and world building were enough to keep me engaged. It gets going fast so try the first one and see what you think, just don’t expect any disappearing cats or stoned caterpillars. And if you need incentive to keep going, the last few episodes, everyone is in a bathing suit. Because why the hell not. What did I tell you about asking questions.
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