TEXT CONTAINS SPOILERS

In a year when the virus is gloriously fought at home, Netflix is a popular pastime. The content of this movie platform is very different, and you can find, for example, the great “Queen’s Gambit” or the shabby “Haunted Manor in Bly” (the second part of the series “Haunted House on the Hill”). And in this way, you can also find “Alice in Borderland”.

The series is based on the manga “Imawa no Kuni no Alice“, and by definition its a survival thriller. The names of the creators of the series and the actors do not tell me anything and they did not influence the choice to watch the series. It was the title that seemed interesting and, above all, the storyline presented.

At first glance, the series resembles the motifs from “Saw”. In addition, you can feel the atmosphere of something like “The Hunger Games”, with a few references to “Alice in Wonderland” and real escape room experience. All this in a highly technological envelope. It is hardly a coincidence that the series was released in the release year of Cuberbug 2077 (known as Cyberpunk).

Main characters, after a forced visit to the Tokyo toilet, are transferred to an alternative version of depopulated Tokyo. It gets interesting because you don’t know what, how or why. Virtual reality? Chips delivered in the vaccine? Firework Virus? Voluntary experiment? Who is responsible for it? How do you get out of this situation? And why is time different from real reality?

As it quickly turns out, the heroes must start fighting for survival, solving deadly puzzles. They can die during the game, and after solving the puzzle, they still only get a pass for a few days, after which they have to play again. Everything still looks interesting, and the puzzles can be curious. To make it more diverse, teams of players change, so the heroes soon meet other people who are also forced to play regularly. Everything looks interesting and engaging.

Actors in “Alice in Borderland” are pleasant to watch, not deterred by a wooden game. Music, special effects are also definitely fine. The episodes are not without special effects, and blood and other parts of the body appear on the screen from time to time. The heroes themselves have their own stories that allow you to get to know them a little better and understand some of their behaviors.

But somewhere in the middle of the season, it begins to get more and more dumb. You get the impression that the whole thing makes no sense. The heroes solve the puzzles better or worse, but why would someone invest so much money to creatively eliminate more people? On reflection, it seems that the series is a strong position for another absurd science fiction.

The moment when the collected cards become meaningful is in my opinion the moment when the show loses its mystery. Interesting puzzles and heroes’ stories are running low. A large organization encountered by the protagonists, resembles a wild gymnasium.

The principle of operation of the organization, although twisted, makes sense. But it seems that despite such an important purpose that its leader has, the whole thing could fall apart for idiotic reasons. The members of the organization suddenly cannot communicate, and the case takes an unexpected development. In later episodes there are less and less puzzles, and more and more tacky school-romantic plot. Eventually, after a good start towards the end of the season, you can lose interest. The technological mystery begins to fade away, and the partial explanation of the ‘game masters’ plot (RPG had their fingers here too) seems pointless.

The whole thing can be watched, but it is better to treat the series as one of the less priority items on the list of available options.

Netflix.com data:
Based on: the original graphic novel “Imawa no Kuni no Alice” by Haro Aso, published by Shogakukan Inc.
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Cast: Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya, Nijiro Murakami, Yuki Morinaga, Keita Machida, Ayaka Miyoshi, Dori Sakurada, Aya Asahina, Shuntaro Yanagi, Yutaro Watanabe, Ayame Misaki, Mizuki Yoshida, Tsuyoshi Abe, Nobuaka Aoyagi, Kaneko, Shisao Nobuaka Kaneko
Written by: Yoshiki Watabe, Yasuko Kuramitsu and Shinsuke Sato
Music: Yutaka Yamada
Cinematographer: Taro Kawazu
Scenography: Iwao Saito
Stunt scene director: Yuji Shimomura
VFX Managers: Makoto Kamiya, Atsushi Doi
Executive producer: Kaata Sakamoto
Producer: Akira Morii
Label: ROBOT
Release date: premiere on Netflix in 2020
URL: https://www.netflix.com/aliceinborderland