Is there a Squid Recreation-formed gap in your coronary heart now that the sequence finale has dropped on Netflix? Should you’re something like us, you binged all of season 3 in days and now you’ve acquired a dystopian drama itch you may’t appear to scratch.
Nicely, that’s the place Watch With Us is available in. We’re recommending one other Netflix present that may assist ease the ache of Squid Recreation ending — Alice in Borderland.
This Japanese drama sequence additionally options lethal video games and an exploration of the darkish facet of human nature. Right here’s why you need to take a look at this superior Netflix present now.
The Premise Is Tremendous Artistic
Alice in Borderland begins off in the true world, presenting us with our lead characters as slackers and players residing strange lives. However all of a sudden, they’re dropped into Borderland — an empty model of Tokyo the place they’re pressured to compete in lethal, card-themed video games for survival. Not like Squid Recreation, the rationale for these video games has not but been revealed, and the protagonists don’t know if escape is even attainable. The stakes are amped method up because the characters acclimate to a very new world.
However it’s quickly revealed that the Borderland isn’t as empty as they thought — there are different players trapped there, and a few of them will resort to determined (and violent) measures to discover a method out (if there even is one).
The Protagonists Are Relatable
Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya in ‘Alice in Borderland’ Netflix
Ryōhei Arisu, the lead character, is a video-game-obsessed slacker who has no expertise in preventing or heroics. Actor Kento Yamazaki portrays him with a relatable power, and his rise from loser to chief could be very engrossing to look at. Although Arisu is taken into account a no person in the true world, the sport world permits his compassion and sort coronary heart to rise to the floor as he tries to assist the opposite players who’re trapped within the Borderland.
The opposite lead character is Yuzuha Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), a mountain climber and loner who’s way more outfitted for the survival-based challenges of the video games. Grieving the lack of her father, Usagi is initially reluctant to kind connections with different players, however the rising romance between her and Arisu types the guts of the sequence.
Alice in Borderland successfully makes use of flashbacks to deepen the tales of those characters, permitting the viewers to really feel related to them and exhibiting how their lives in the true world inform their actions within the recreation world. Followers of the original manga series by Haro Aso have famous that the sequence has offered much more backstory for the characters, making them really feel extra fleshed out and grounded than they had been within the authentic.
The World-Constructing Is Superior

A labyrinth scene from ‘Alice in Borderland’ Netflix
Regardless of its considerably low price range in season 1, Alice in Borderland makes use of a strong mixture of sensible stunts and results with CGI to create its immersive world. The usage of CGI to create an empty, alternate-reality Tokyo, all of a sudden devoid of individuals, is eerie and weird. Massive visual effects work was finished to erase crowds and automobiles from Shibuya and different iconic Tokyo areas, making a surreal, haunting panorama. Results like blood splatter, hearth, and destruction are stylized but visceral, preserving the tone intense with out feeling cartoonish.
Season 2 had an elevated price range, which allowed the group to amp up the consequences and make the world of the Borderland really feel much more terrifying and harmful.
Past the visuals in Alice in Borderland, the universe of the mysterious Borderland feels limitless — with its many societies and factions among the many trapped recreation individuals. It’s a well-built world that feels thoughtfully constructed and makes you need to study extra.
There’s Extra to Come on Netflix — And It’s Utterly Unknown

Kento Yamazaki in Alice in Borderland Netflix
Alice in Borderland was renewed for a third season final 12 months. For the reason that second season ended the way in which the unique manga wrapped up, season 3 shall be a completely new chapter for each manga readers and TV viewers alike. Which means this season shall be spoiler-proof!
Squid Recreation followers craving a brand new present can watch the primary two seasons of Alice in Borderland on Netflix earlier than season 3 drops this September.