The two seasons of Alice in Borderland, a tale (based on a manga comic) of Tokyo turned into a grim emptied-out amphitheater for deathly puzzle games (a la The Hunger Games or Squid Game), have been an under-the-radar revelation. Starring Arisu, a disaffected young man whose video game passions turn out to be highly useful for survival, the series alternates incredible sci-fi battle or puzzle sequences and downtime character building. Around Arisu, an eclectic cast of battlers gradually assembles, their back stories detailed in wonderful visual scenes, all of them seeking to win all the games denoted by a pack of cards (with higher ranked cards denoting more difficult contests). The storyline betrays its manga origins—occasional cartoonish dialogue, occasional sentimentality, switches in pacing—but oddly enough, this orientation merely amplifies the show’s myriad pleasures. I was blown away by Season 1 and can report that Season 2 darkens and deepens and magnifies the spectacle and the emotional impact. Alice in Borderland is a cinematic hoot in every episode and deserves to be elevated above its current semi-cult status.
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