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DRAMA REVIEW: “ALICE IN BORDERLAND”
Written by: Yuki
Alice in Borderland is an 8-episode live-action Netflix series adapted from the Japanese suspense manga of the same name released in 2010 by Haro Aso. The live-action is directed by Shinsuke Sato and was premiered worldwide in December of 2020.
Arisu (Yamazaki Kento), a gamer and a NEET with two of his best friends Karube (Machida Keita) and Chota (Yuki Morigana), met at Shibuya station. After causing a traffic accident, they were chased by the police and had to hide in a public lavatory. Suddenly, the electricity went off, and everything was silent. Shibuya became a different place and everyone evaporated. In the new world, Arisu and his friends had to participate in dangerous games to live. A variety of games took place continuously, each based on the mark and the number on a playing card. The Club refers to a team battle, Diamond refers to a battle of wits, Spades needs stamina and strength, while Hearts plays with people's minds with the difficulty level based on the number from 1 to 10. Jack, King, and Queen cards remain a conundrum and will be shown in the second season.
A typical survival show, Alice in Borderland is enticing and an entertaining series. I am curious about how they edited out all of the people in Shibuya, Tokyo. They transformed a noisy and crowded city into a desolate and deserted one. The cinematography and CGI were spectacular, as expected from one of the most invested Japanese series on Netflix. The series changed a few things in the manga. For example, the first game was different, both were a game of chance, but the manga was more fun and tense. The protagonist's personalities and psychological developments were well exploited. After the Seven of Hearts game in episode 3, Arisu had no motivation to live, but then he met Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), who helped him become stronger and mature. The series spent a lot of time building up the past details and explaining why the character became human. However, it was not balanced; some characters' pasts were well developed; some were not. We have no idea why Arisu became a NEET or what happened to his mother. Last Boss (Yanagi Shuntaro) was one of the well-built characters. In his old life, he was a failure, stayed at home blogging about a utopian world. Once he got lost in Borderland, he learned what it means to live. Kuina (Aya Asahina) and Last Boss owned the most epic fighting scene of the series. In my opinion, the side character outshined the protagonist a little bit.
Alice in Borderland was not perfect, and it has some absurdity. Shibuki (Misakichi Ayame)'s game was cut from the series and only mentioned through conversations between her and Arisu's group. Episode 3 could be better if they managed to make her game into the live-action because it played a big part in explaining her decision and psychological developments. I was confused because they made it look like she was in love with Chota, so she sacrificed her life, which is incorrect. Arisu was built to be intelligent, but the way he deduced is too short and not convincing. In the final episode, Arisu's reasoning to find the "witch" was mostly personal speculation. Meanwhile, Ann (Ayaka Miyoshi), who used her knowledge to find out who the "witch" was unfortunately knocked out and her character became a backup ally for some morality about friendship and Arisu's "oh I know it because I can see it in your eye" deductive. Some scenes need a lot of emotion, but some casts could not deliver it and created a shortfall in emotion. Alice in Borderland was a good live-action, there was no overacting that we tend to see in many Japanese live-action series, amazing filming and CGI, well-drafted games, and intense. We would not learn anything new from the show, an old message about friendship and life. It's a typical survival show, but it is worth a watch.
__________________________________________________
Story: 7/10
Characters: 9/10
Cinematography: 10/10
Music: 6/10
Cast: 8/10
CGI: 10/10
8.3/10
__________________________________________________
PROOFREAD BY: @fleur de lune
GRAPHICS BY: @yerm
Written by: Yuki
Alice in Borderland is an 8-episode live-action Netflix series adapted from the Japanese suspense manga of the same name released in 2010 by Haro Aso. The live-action is directed by Shinsuke Sato and was premiered worldwide in December of 2020.
Arisu (Yamazaki Kento), a gamer and a NEET with two of his best friends Karube (Machida Keita) and Chota (Yuki Morigana), met at Shibuya station. After causing a traffic accident, they were chased by the police and had to hide in a public lavatory. Suddenly, the electricity went off, and everything was silent. Shibuya became a different place and everyone evaporated. In the new world, Arisu and his friends had to participate in dangerous games to live. A variety of games took place continuously, each based on the mark and the number on a playing card. The Club refers to a team battle, Diamond refers to a battle of wits, Spades needs stamina and strength, while Hearts plays with people's minds with the difficulty level based on the number from 1 to 10. Jack, King, and Queen cards remain a conundrum and will be shown in the second season.
A typical survival show, Alice in Borderland is enticing and an entertaining series. I am curious about how they edited out all of the people in Shibuya, Tokyo. They transformed a noisy and crowded city into a desolate and deserted one. The cinematography and CGI were spectacular, as expected from one of the most invested Japanese series on Netflix. The series changed a few things in the manga. For example, the first game was different, both were a game of chance, but the manga was more fun and tense. The protagonist's personalities and psychological developments were well exploited. After the Seven of Hearts game in episode 3, Arisu had no motivation to live, but then he met Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), who helped him become stronger and mature. The series spent a lot of time building up the past details and explaining why the character became human. However, it was not balanced; some characters' pasts were well developed; some were not. We have no idea why Arisu became a NEET or what happened to his mother. Last Boss (Yanagi Shuntaro) was one of the well-built characters. In his old life, he was a failure, stayed at home blogging about a utopian world. Once he got lost in Borderland, he learned what it means to live. Kuina (Aya Asahina) and Last Boss owned the most epic fighting scene of the series. In my opinion, the side character outshined the protagonist a little bit.
Alice in Borderland was not perfect, and it has some absurdity. Shibuki (Misakichi Ayame)'s game was cut from the series and only mentioned through conversations between her and Arisu's group. Episode 3 could be better if they managed to make her game into the live-action because it played a big part in explaining her decision and psychological developments. I was confused because they made it look like she was in love with Chota, so she sacrificed her life, which is incorrect. Arisu was built to be intelligent, but the way he deduced is too short and not convincing. In the final episode, Arisu's reasoning to find the "witch" was mostly personal speculation. Meanwhile, Ann (Ayaka Miyoshi), who used her knowledge to find out who the "witch" was unfortunately knocked out and her character became a backup ally for some morality about friendship and Arisu's "oh I know it because I can see it in your eye" deductive. Some scenes need a lot of emotion, but some casts could not deliver it and created a shortfall in emotion. Alice in Borderland was a good live-action, there was no overacting that we tend to see in many Japanese live-action series, amazing filming and CGI, well-drafted games, and intense. We would not learn anything new from the show, an old message about friendship and life. It's a typical survival show, but it is worth a watch.
__________________________________________________
Story: 7/10
Characters: 9/10
Cinematography: 10/10
Music: 6/10
Cast: 8/10
CGI: 10/10
8.3/10
__________________________________________________
PROOFREAD BY: @fleur de lune
GRAPHICS BY: @yerm
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ooh, this drama has been on my to-watch list for a while. At first glance, the synopsis sounds quite similar to what I remember of Gantz, which was my favourite semi-horror film throughout high school. Almost all of my favourite Japanese dramas these days are psychological crime dramas, so I'll likely check this one out after I finish the shows that I'm currently watching.