Alice in Borderland Season 3

Underwhelming finale to a spectacular show

PROS: Good games (especially the last one), very good acting, higher budget, Usagi and Arisu are endgame, small reunion with other beloved characters.

CONS: This could've been an email. AIB could have ended in 2 seasons, without the Joker addition, and it would have been excellent. Heartbreaking, yes, but excellent. This unnecessary season undermined the series' legacy as a dystopian masterpiece. The alternative borderline between life and death (not the same level as the original) was not properly explored or explained, due to the pathetically small number of episodes. Usagi and Arisu ending up married with a child is the only positive outcome. It was great to see Ann and a small glimpse of other characters, but they were obviously added to please the audience with nostalgia boosts and not for any plot-significant reason. We didn't need to see Niragi again. The last scene hinting towards an American spinoff is even more unnecessary than the 3rd season altogether.

PLOT COMMENTARY: No sympathy for Ryuji, at least he managed to develop conscience at the end. Not only did he ruin one girl's life but he just had to destroy another woman in his path with no remorse or care for her personal wishes and life. Niragi should've died and I'm still mad he didn't.

Read More

Maintained the standard in many ways

AiB season 1 and 2 has always been my absolute favourite in this genre. Everything about the show was fabulous.Season 2 ending was perfect. And that's why when Netflix announced season 3,I became skeptical, will it be another cash grab nonsense story stretching like Squid Game?? Are they gonna ruin one of the majestic show ever??

Well today I got my answer....nope,the thrill is still there,the connection is still there. Arisu and Usagi still fighting strong together and got their very much deserving happy ending!And that surprise at the end.... Gotta give the show 10/10 only for that few minutes!!!!Was it as good as Season 1 and 2? No,definitely not!!! But was it bad.... NOPE!

What bothered me was some of the new characters. That Professor was weird,ngl. He creeped out many times and his character arc was not much convincing.And Banda as citizen wasn’t doing much... Just casually making plots to bring back Arisu. Also the new players... Well I am very much attached to the og's, Chishiya,Kuina,Ann,Aguni,Niragi,Tatta,Chota,Karube.... Cause their stories were told amazingly in the last two seasons,all of them left their marks. Aib is not Aib without them!Who knows,if there were more episodes,I could also connect myself more with the new ones too!!Some characters felt like just wasted potentials.

One thing AiB will always be remembered for is its games... And this season was thrilling too. Every game was mind bending. It was good to see Arisu taking charge in each game... Man was in so much trauma and depression in the last seasons,this time he proved again why he is a pro. But...I must say... I missed Chishiya!!!

Story writing was not as good as the previous ones,there were some hiccups here and there. But one thing really bothered me,is Aib also gonna have an American version like SG?? What was that in the last few minutes??Who asked for that? What is the need??

However,it was a good ending. I was thrilled,emotional,happy. AiB itself created the standard,so happy they remained true to it,didn't fully ruin the magic.This show deserves so much hype,I hope it gets what it deserves.It is probably the last time we're seeing them.... So it was the best farewell indeed!

Read More

good games but nothing make sense

-if you are here for the games you will be happy
-if you are here for the plot you might feel pissed
-if you are here for both you might have mixed reactions like me
i enjoyed the games, so Id give it around a 7.5 or 8, but the plot felt messy and a lot of things dont make sense. Banda and Ryuji’s behaviors, for example. The final episode pissed me off, i felt like they could have just won the games and gone home instead of adding so much extra drama which doesnt make sense anyway. they keep hinting at American versions when an Asian show get successful, first in Squid Game S3 and now in Alice in Borderland S3, which felt unnecessary and a turn off. And both even included a baby, which is overused for sympathy. It almost makes me wonder if both teams had a talk or a deal to both include those events
the good point is that at least this s3 is better than squid game s3

Read More

I really enjoyed it!

I was scared about season 3. I thought season 2 had a pretty clear ending and we didn’t need more, but obviously I wanted more. Season 3 was unnecessary but not bad at all.

Ok Yall big spoiler, but Wdym Usagi is pregnant and they’re married??? Like I was shocked.

Anyway, I never felt bored apart from maybe the first few minutes of the first episode, but we need those boring moments to understand new characters. The games were very good and I didn’t except to get attached to new characters so quickly.

I loved the siblings bond and I was devastated when sota died. I was also so sad when Tetsu died.

I don’t wanna say too much, but yeah I really enjoyed it!!!!!!! Oh and I love how it’s a good ending. I see lots of people don’t like the third season, and honestly I can kind of see why, but I loved it cuz I’m a little obsessed with Alice in borderland.

Read More

A near perfect ending ruined by the last 5 minutes

while I was initially hesitant that the show didn't stop at season 2. I decided to go ahead and watch season 3, and was pleasantly surprised at how good of a job they did. this was only ruined by the last 5 minutes where they did the same shit they did with squid games indicating a western spin off. it comes off as a useless inauthentic cash grab, and it seems like the Netflix writers create spin offs because they can't come up with new material. they should have ended with the scene where arisu was talking to all his patients and talking about the meaning of life because that's technically a loose interpretation of the actual ending of the manga but instead the whole thing was ruined by the last 5 minutes. regarding people being mad that usagi was emotionally cheating, I think it just showed she was a flawed character and not y'all's "picture perfect cookie cutter character" the story itself was great up until the literal last 5 minutes which is such a a disappointment. I also forgot to mention that I enjoyed it because of how open ended the manga was and I am not the biggest fan of open endings, yet they literally left it open ended at the end. they had it right in front of them to tie everything together and they still managed to fumble.

Read More

do the writers not know the lore to their own show?

i have mixed feelings regarding how netflix decided to end it but im going to ignore that for the most part because aib deserves to be remembered for more than that. this season's focus on usagi was beautiful and while i was at some points lost in like… why… just in general for everything… my confusion is with so many things.

- why usagi wanted to go back to borderland (i know it had to do with her dad but that reasoning still doesn't make sense to me)
- what ryuji's deal was with usagi i couldn't tell if he was interested in her or what he just was a such a complicated character that they didn't really delve into enough in my opinion
- what the point of the joker guy wanting to bring arisu back was (wanted smarter players, but his goal was to make arisu a citizen???

it just felt like the writers themselves forgot the lore of the show and was just writing whatever they felt like to create some sort of plot

all of that aside……i really enjoyed seeing usagi and arisu as the doting couple they deserve to be. and somehow we got a happy ending?????????????? in 2025??????? that's insane to me because them surviving borderland TWICE would've been unthinkable in s1 lmfao.

this season was really short and i think that's why it felt so empty at some points. and i agree w the person that said the scene where they were like swimming at the end felt dragged out cuz they were kinda losing me there. this season doesn't beat s1 or s2 in any means but i think they should be given credit for at least being able to maintain and deliver their point they were making unlike a certain similar show… aib at least gave us a solid conclusion and reason for what borderland is and what the message of the show is…

Read More

Fitting End to the Saga (Hopefully Netflix won't ruin it with more seasons)

AIB is my all time favorite show. I gave this season 9 only because S1 and S2 was that good. In S3 you get to witness how goated the gamer Arisu is. He went back to Borderlands without old memories(initially) and served everything I hoped he would - strategy, charisma and staying true to his personality (and fixed his posture too :) ). Showered Arisu aura farming left -right lol.
For 6 episodes, the show delivered what you would expect - they focused on the games ( AIB was always about the games) and the games were interesting with more mind twisters (they are joker games so definitely a combination of all suits in terms of difficulty). The last episode dealt more with the philosophical aspect of life vs death vs limbo (and I liked they kept the conversations moderate and not overly dramatic).
Initially I felt a bit let down with Usagi's portrayal but when I rewatched S2, it hit me - Usagi never got over her father's death and the stigma that came with it. In S2 beginning she wanted to stay back in Borderland and changed her mind in Queen of Spade game (after all the struggles they went through) - that character growth was lost when they went back to real world, thanks to the memory loss. Perhaps she felt uncomfortable in expressing those deeper, darker emotions to Arisu, who was literal sunshine bf/husband. She is also kind of closed off when it comes to emotions and grew up independent. Arisu might also have given her space and not pushed her (though that's still kind of a plothole). Thus when Ryuji offered her a chance to find answers, she took it (and Ryuji himself is a Joker level manipulator).
Ryuji falling for Usagi was both frustrating and interesting. Usagi does have that endearing tenacity which drives people to her. But I would have wanted him to remain true to his OG self and goal (there by making Banda's plans more meaningful).
Perhaps an additional episode could have covered certain questions - why Banda was so fascinated with Arisu when they never had any direct interactions in prior seasons. It could be that he heard about Arisu from other players who stayed and being the psycho he is, got obsessed with him. Banda had some wicked games but overall his presence was underwhelming compared to Mira (Queen of Hearts). My girl Ann deserved more screen time, tracing her journey discovering the secrets. My guess on why she could see Banda in real world is that she was in a limbo state even in Borderland when they finished all the games and hence she retained the memories.
Overall this season was a thrilling watch and a fitting end to the saga. I am so happy they ended the show with the OG crew showing up and talking about how they are living life to the fullest on their own terms and it's a full circle moment for each of their character arcs. I teared up when I saw Aguni with the hat (his ode to Hatter). While I am torn about none of them showing up in Joker games, I am happy that they are thriving in their own ways. (I did miss Chishiya's cool vibes and aura farming).

In. a nutshell, AIB asks and tries to answer the question "What makes your life worth living" - you may or may not find that answer and that's totally fine. Sometimes living just because you are living is what makes it worth it. Highly recommend this season and AIB as a whole.

Read More

A Return Nobody Asked For

This show just keeps getting worse with each season. Season 3 feels completely unnecessary, like it exists only because Netflix didn’t want to let go. The first game actually caught my attention and reminded me why I liked Alice in Borderland in the first place, but everything after that went downhill fast. By the time we reached the final game, it was so dull and dragged out that I literally fell asleep. That alone says a lot. What used to feel tense and creative now feels recycled and overcooked, like reheated leftovers from seasons 1 and 2.

One huge red flag for me was the return of characters who already died in previous seasons. That completely broke the internal logic of the show. Weren’t we clearly told that if you die in Borderland, you die in the real world too? Suddenly undoing that rule just feels lazy and confusing. Maybe the manga explains it better, but as someone who only watches the show, it felt like the writers were making things up as they went along. The emotional stakes were also weaker this time, especially with Arisu and Usagi. Their bond used to be the emotional core of the series, but here it felt sidelined and oddly unbalanced, which made it hard to care as much as I used to.

Visually and acting-wise, the season is still solid. The cast really tried their best, and some moments worked purely because of strong performances. Ryuji had potential, but like many new characters, he never fully got the space to shine. And don’t even get me started on the Joker, after all that teasing, it ended up being the weakest and most underwhelming part of the season. Overall, it’s not completely unwatchable, but compared to the first two seasons, it’s clearly pale and weak. If you’re already invested, you’ll probably watch it anyway. But if you’re new to the series? I’d strongly recommend stopping at season 2 and pretending season 3 never happened.

Read More

Unnecessary Sequel

If i thought watching S2 was the screenwriter dumbing me down with those ridiculous philosophycal crap, this S3 made me feel like being zombified by them.

1. The whole season being triggered by quack professor obsessed with the afterlife, a crackhead enough to take down 2 people for him to get the useless answer that, mindfckingly, he never got til the very end. Like whaaaaaat?

2. A woman with a good husband and happy life who’s so hung up with her lost father that she’s willing to venture into the world she fought so hard to leave just to see him again. Like whaaaaaaat? If he’s dead, you won’t find him in borderland cuz that’s the land between death and life, and it’s not possible that he’s been in between life and death cuz it takes at most 2 minutes of dead heartbeat to traverse between that life and death, and he’s been missing for months (or years). And if he’s alive somewhere in the wilderness, then he would definitely NOT be in borderland. There’s just no way for him to be in the borderland so where is the sense of having Usagi following the professor to go to the afterworld? The professor isnt even a therapist she mightbhave wanted to consult with, so how did he convince her to go with him? She’s that fcked over her father’s disappearance that she’s willing to throw away the good life she has now, the good life that she was convinced her father would want her to have back in season 2, which is the reason why she fought so hard to get back to. How could someone who had gone through that, realize the meaning of life and found happiness suddenly throw everything again to follow this quack professor she knew days before just for the unplausible possibility of finding her dad again in the borderland? Where is the logic and sense in that? That’s a total mindfck the writers did on us the audience there.

3. There is no explanation whatsoever as to how the borderland citizens (the gamemasters) could influence real life people to want to come the afterlife, up to the point of arranging the death games in the real world. Like how? Nothing explains this.

4. The dramatic scenes on this one is even cringier than season 2. Of course why not we just opt for the couple straining themselves trying to hold hands between two moving trains when you can simply just jump across and hug? That gap was a no brainer for Usagi the mountain climber, but nope, lets just try hold hands instead 😒🙄 what a drama trope. And how did this badass spiderman FL suddenly needs to rely on a crippled man to get through the games? Guess japanese shows also suffers from cdrama plague of dumbing/powering down FLs just so the next male character could shine. OMG such cringeful of tropes they threw in there.

5. I dont get the kind of attachment Usagi has on the crippled professor. He offers empty promises, telling Usagi she could find her father in the borderland but when she arrives, she wants to go right back. But when Arisu lays a punch on the bastard when they reunited, she spared no second to come to his defense, yelling that he got them back together cuz he helped her clear the games. What the heck now? Girl, he’s the one who separated you guys in the first place for his own selfish desires, he deserves more than that punch even after he ‘inadvertently’ helped you reunite 😒

6. All that trouble to lure Arisu to stay in borderland as citizen for the gamemaster’s entertainment, then in the end the master of borderland would just let him choose whether to live or to die, whichever he chose would still not make him stay in borderland. What kind of mindfck is thattttt?? So what the hell is the point of this whole shenanigans? 🤬🤬

All the above made me thought the hours i spent on this stupid show was such a waste. There is no point whatsoever of this season’s existence. I shouldve dropped this on season 1. Like for real. I’m gonna go with my first hunch for the next shows. Don’t get reeled in by curiosity, woman!

Read More