A group of friends is out walking when suddenly they find themselves alone in the city. It turns out they must take part in some deadly games to survive. What is going on? Where is everybody?
“Alice in Borderland” consists of eight episodes. This Japanese mystery thriller is based on a manga. The series reminds me of some movies I have watched that are based on a Japanese manga, such as “Liar Game” and “Gantz.” And yes, I also have to mention “Squid Game,”, a TV series I’m not a huge fan of. The director of the first three “Gantz” movies, Shinsuke Sato, is the director of “Alice in Borderland,” and you can feel his touch in this series. He is excellent at building up the mystery and the atmosphere.
I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down to watch “Alice in Borderland.” The first three episodes are pretty good when we don’t know what’s going on, and we feel that the central characters are almost alone in the world. They have to compete in some deadly games. If they survive the game, they get to take a couple of days off before they have to compete in another game, or else they will be killed.
The protagonist has two friends, and they meet other players, some of whom become friends with the protagonist. But can he trust them?
My problem with “Alice in Borderland” starts with the fact that I enjoyed the first three episodes because they felt more down-to-earth with a lot of mystery, like, for example, “Gantz.” I loved the mystery in the first movie. Some minor spoilers are coming.
But when the protagonist discovers that there are a lot of players in the city who have formed a small community, I started disliking the series. Especially with the two factions who are controlling the players, and there is friction between the leaders. We have experienced this so many times before, and I hated this direction. It’s so generic and boring.
I hated two of the characters who are so goofy. They are typical anime and manga characters who look and behave like idiots. I’m talking about the guy with the automatic rifle and the goofy-looking guy with face tattoos and his stupid sword. I could not stand these two childish characters. And the guy with the automatic rifle is a terrible actor. He overacts because of his lack of talent. You do not hate his character. You hate the actor because he should not be allowed to act. He is a fish actor who should be ashamed of himself.
“Alice in Borderland” is a series that has a great opening and mystery. But like other movies and series in this genre, when it opens up the universe too much, the quality drops big time, and we are left with a pretty generic story and a lot of uninteresting characters. The character depth is paper-thin. It’s the mystery and the games they have to participate in that hold your interest, not the half-goofy characters.