J-drama Review: Alice in Borderland III
- Very Average Joe
- Oct 12
- 3 min read
English Title: Alice in Borderland
Japanese Title: 今際の国のアリス [lit. Arisu’s country of dying/last moments]
Director(s): Sato Shinsuke
Screenwriter(s): Kuramitsu Yasuko & Sato Shinsuke
Studio: Robot Communications Inc.
Released: 2025
Season 3 Runtime: 6 episodes, 55m – 1h 17m each.
Starring: Yamazaki Kento, Tsuchiya Tao, Kaku Kento
Please note that I have not read the manga so the review is purely of the series. This review assumes one has seen Season 1 and Season 2.
Set a few years after the end of Season 2, Arisu Ryohei (Yamazaki Kento) and Usagi Yuzuha (Tsuchiya Tao) are married, having moved on since the meteorite incident.
Meanwhile, a Borderland citizen can somehow be in the world of the living to recruit new players. This is just as well for Matsuyama Ryuji (Kaku Kento) who is a professor researching near-death experiences and he is particularly interested in Borderland. He interviews people like Arisu and Usagi.
Under that pretext, he somehow gets Usagi to the point of death and both end up in Borderland. Whilst Usagi still understandably has trouble dealing with the death of her father, allowing herself to be in such a position is implausible given her character. Of course, Arisu then goes after her.
Even if the premise of a parallel world in which brutal games are played is not contrived, then returning in such a way definitely is. The reason Season 1 and Season 2 somewhat work is partly because it is moderately intriguing: at least one wants to find out for certain what this alternate/parallel world is and how the characters will get out if at all, and the characters are interesting and real enough to care about.
Obviously, there is no such mystery in Season 3 and, as already mentioned, Usagi’s initial behavior is nonsensical.
As if to compensate for the lack of mystery, this season is merely 6. Whilst this avoids dragging things out, there is not enough time to appreciate the new characters. The more compressed pace is, on balance, the better choice.
The structure is arguably crude, focusing on Arisu first. To be fair, Arisu is the main viewpoint character and since he is looking for Usagi, it makes sense to not follow Usagi initially.
The production is good. Based on first impressions at least, this is better than the first two seasons. The visual effects can be detected as such but not to the point of being a turn-off.
The cinematography in the first two seasons is solid and fitting, conventional when it needs to be and more dynamic during action sequences when it needs to be. However, one could argue that style is lacking, which is not necessarily a bad thing since it avoids trying too hard. Season 3 has a stronger sense of style without overdoing it with more close-ups and it is lit nicely. On balance, it looks sleek.
The climax of the series arguably drags a little, trying to reveal more of the mythology. Whilst this is not a bad thing in itself, this is something Season 2 should have done. The conclusion also briefly features a few of the surviving characters from Season 2, superficially showing how they’re doing. Overall, Season 3 is not necessary and, whilst well-produced, is more like an afterthought featuring games, plot elements and mythology that should have been done in the first two seasons.
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