Your Life Depends On A Card Game And It’s Pretty Bloody – Alice In Borderland

Just after Korea’s mega hit series Sweet Home on Netflix I dove into Alice In Borderland, a Japanese dystopian which made me think and cry while giving me all the bloody scenes apparently.

Hello, and welcome to my first drama review of 2021 and my first Japanese drama review on this blog. I have watched a handful of J-Dramas before but non really since we started this blog so I thought since this show has been quite popular internationally I’ll give my thoughts on this drama! Alice In Borderland is a new dystopian with a twist. I haven’t really seen any drama with a plot like this and I don’t know if I love it or think it’s totally messed up. This is a bit like The Hunger Games meets I am not sure maybe Alice In Wonderland but just everyone vanishes and only Alice stays?? Anyway let’s go.

I have to admit I went into this with my expectations really high and I wasn’t disappointed, I loved the acting and the story line. The premise was so interesting. It’s about these three guys in Tokyo and suddenly everyone disappears and they have to engage in horrible games to stay alive. It is so interesting to see what games they come up with and be warned some scenes are really bloody and violent. But damn it is good.

Kento Yamazaki as Arisu, my baby. Source: Tumblr

I loved the card game aspect of this show and what the different cards mean and so on. However, this drama is clearly cut into two parts with the first four eps following the same pattern and then starting from episode 5 everything just changes. The story dives much, much deeper. I was a bit thrown off by this, though I did really enjoy the whole story in the end. I just loved how the first four episodes were structured. Anyway, I got used to it really quickly. And might I say the female characters were the bomb in this drama? I love some kick-ass woman!

 Aya Asahina as Kuina. Source: Tenor

Furthermore, I really enjoyed that there wasn’t a huge focus on romance, it was all about friendship, loss, and survival and that was absolutely amazing to see. I really didn’t expect this drama to make me cry. But I really felt for these characters and they were so likable. The fact that we got some really good backstories for most of the characters? Amazing to do in such a short drama. I am really excited to see this coming back for a second season I really wonder where this will go.

All in all, this was a total hit for me and the best drama to start the year with!

Header Image Source: Netflix