Alice in Borderland Season 3

not much as s1 & s2 make

first of all, i've lost count on how many times usagi called arisu and almost lost her voice. Anyways, the story didn't give much justice to the cast—yes, they made it to the borderline again, because?? not enough reason or flashback. they didn't even put enough screen time for the characters to have any emotions or reactions for that. no flashback for them just a quick recap of what their future will be at the screen. I wanted to know why did they choose to go back to the bordeline. I have a theory but a theory is just a null basis if there's no proof or proven in the series. AND THERE'S NO KISSING SCENE!! LACK OF INTIMACY ON BOTH CHARACTERS! YOU'RE MARRIED WHY AREN'T YOU KISSING?! (kentao just came back and it made me hungry for their romance) JSISHSISUS I LOVE THE OG CAST APPEARED FOR CONSULTATION. YES! I'M GONNA MISS Y'ALL!!!

PS. WHY DO THEY NEED TO WESTERNISED EVERYTHING?!?!?!? be making everything about them....

PPS. lmao such a main character syndrome.

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The Season I Never Expected To Have

Alice in Borderland season 3 is a continuation of the adventure of Arisu and Usagi in the world of life and death. It is the season where the Joker card plays the role as the game master.

This season shows that living in the world is much more meaningful than death. Living may equal pain and sadness, but it also gives us life and happiness you can't experience in death. It also shows new opportunities and hope that death can't give you. That's why living is much better than death. Everyone does not have a chance to live a life because of circumstances that they have, and we people are lucky enough to live, so cherish your life and be kind to yourself.

Sacrifice is also shown in this drama. It may seem like a painful act, but it highlights the strength of human connection, how people are willing to give up something precious for the sake of others. This season reminds us that survival is not just about winning games, but about the choices we make and the values we hold onto.

I'm really not fond of this season. Too many unanswered questions and loopholes, but it's a good drama, just not as great as how season 1 and 2 were executed. But this season tells us what it truly means to live. Just like how Arisu was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his wife and child, it shows how deeply he loves them and how much meaning life gains when it is lived for others.

Death may seem like the easier choice, but living fills the void of darkness that death never can.

MY RATING | ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Acting & Cast: 9
Storyline & Writing: 6
Directing & Pacing: 8
Cinematography & Visuals: 10
Music/OST & Sound Design: 9
Overall: 8.4

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SPOILER
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NETFLIX WHY???!!

The ending of Season 2 was good.
Sure, in the books there’s a “spin-off” with the Joker.
But I don’t think it was necessary.

Here, we find them a few months/years after the end of Season 2. They’re living their lives together, and then suddenly she starts thinking about her father and his suicide again. She was already thinking about it in Season 1 and 2, but now she meets this other crazy guy in a wheelchair, who manages to convince her to commit suicide so quickly, even though she’s living with Arisu. From that point on, I found it weird. How can one person mess with your head that fast after just one meeting?!
Plus, her following him into the games yes, he manipulates her, but if you look at the story from another perspective, it’s both logical and illogical at the same time.

On Arisu’s side, he learns he’s going to be a father and then commits suicide with Ann’s help (I KNEW SHE WASN’T DEAD AHAHAHAHA). Anyway… Then we get some really good games, I can’t lie I loved the games, the new characters we discover, and the really sad deaths. There are a lot of them in a row. In that aspect, it’s just like Season 1 and 2!

Then comes the first reunion, which is really touching but too short. Then the accident happens (I really thought he was going to die), but then I remembered that no series would kill off a main character in the middle of the season lol.

Then we get the real reunion, which is genuinely very emotional. They see their “future,” realize they’re not holograms, and then comes the famous scene where he punches her really hard I loved it. HE PLAYS HIS CHARACTER SO WELL THAT I HATE HIM. Then comes the scene I call “Squid Game”: the extra player, the baby. Yeah… we all saw that coming!
And then more sad deaths, and even sadder ones!
Then the ending where Arisu “sacrifices” himself even though the guy knows he’s going to be a dad. I didn’t understand that choice at all. How can you make that decision? I mean, there were older players at the end who could have taken his place logically, but no nobody moves. They just watch a young guy “commit suicide” even though he’s about to become a father. Totally incomprehensible!
Then comes the scene where he pulls out a gun but can’t kill her, so when they fall into the water, he decides to hold her so they die together. Honestly, this guy is a massive piece of shit, let’s just say it. He had no balls!
Then the final ending where she’s alive, he’s alive too, they lived happily ever after and had lots of children.

In short: the games are perfect! But the story is incomprehensible!

The acting is very good, and the visual effects are great too.

You can very well stop at Season 2 for a logical ending! But if you want to see an alternative ending, go ahead and watch Season 3.

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Alice in Borderland Season 3 — When Expectation Outruns Execution

📝 Review (WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I’m Not Saving You from Emotional Damage)

So, Season 3… I came in hyped. Seasons 1 and 2 had me hooked, heart racing, snacks flying everywhere, and I thought, “Okay, they’ve got this. Let’s go.” Instead, it’s like they stretched a perfectly good noodle into something… sad. Tension? Meh. Mystery? Recycled. Emotional punches? Somewhere behind me while I’m mid-snack, wondering why I bothered.

Arisu and Usagi are back, doing their thing, but that spark? Fainter than my willpower after a late-night snack run. And then Matsuyama Ryuji (Kaku Kento) shows up with his intense, obsessive energy and I’m sitting there thinking, “Bro… she literally didn’t ask for this.” The returning cast tries, bless them, but the new faces are basically walking extras in a story that already knows its ending. It’s like watching a rerun with slightly different clothes.

The “Joker” stage had some potential for mind-bending chaos, but instead… philosophical babble and over-complication. I rolled my eyes so hard I think I pulled a muscle. Rules that no one seems to remember, tension that fizzles before it lands, and me clutching snacks like life support. Classic Borderland? Not quite.

Still… there are flashes of nostalgia, a heartbeat or two that makes you remember why you fell in love with this series. But mostly, it drags. Recycles tension. Makes you mourn the brilliance of Season 2.


💭 Bottom line: “Netflix, I love you, but this one… yeah. Misfire. Sometimes the perfect ending is the ending you already had. 6/10, nostalgia points only, and extra snacks for survival.”

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A Continuation That Forgets Why It Worked in the First Place

Not all stories need to continue beyond a certain point, and this is one of those cases where it really feels like it shouldn’t have. You can sense the lack of necessity in this extension, it exists because they could, not because they should.

One of the biggest hurdles for this genre is plot armor, and it’s painfully present here. When you already know who’s likely to survive, it’s hard to stay fully invested. Despite a strong cast and a few interesting ideas, the story doesn’t bring much freshness to justify its return. Most of the characters feel one-dimensional, with some barely developed enough to care about, while others who had potential are sidelined in favor of the leads.

The games themselves are fine, but the show often bends its own rules... Sometimes to protect key characters, sometimes just to force a dramatic “wow” moment that feels way too over the top. It breaks immersion and makes certain scenes feel more ridiculous than tense.

In the end, it’s hard to recommend. I would’ve preferred an entirely new set of characters and a deeper exploration of the concept rather than a recycled continuation. There’s still entertainment value here, but it lacks the spark and unpredictability that once made it exciting.

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My bad for thinking Netflix would give this show a proper ending

Let's talk about what made the first two seasons so engaging. First, the characters. Interesting, nuanced and layered. In s1 & 2, one moment you were rooting for a character, the next moment you were wishing them a painful death. You weren't fully aware of their mindsets and THAT'S what made them so enjoyable. That's what made them feel real. You couldn't underestimate any of them. But this season, the characters they introduced were so, so generic. Everyone had the same storyline. Sad backstory, dependent on either arisu or usagi to get through the games and whenever they didn't listen to those two, they died. I'm supposed to believe the same people who wrote chishiya and kuina came up with these characters? Don't make me laugh. And the games. The main reason why majority of fans love this show. God, they absolutely butchered the games this season. The stakes weren't high and they just weren't as thrillng as before. Netflix took all that was intriguing about this show, threw it out the window, gave us something that seems like it was written by chatgpt in 2 minutes and expected us to be satisfied with it. They saw a non American show get worldwide recognition and just had to get their greedy, money hungry, white hands on it. Fuck you Netflix.

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explanation of the ending

The second season was perfect in my opinion, a third wasn't needed but I still didn't dislike it. The ending was a bit vague so I'm here to explain it. The Borderlands are (as the Joker explained) places between life and death and if you survive there you will also live in real life but if you die well you will really die. You end up in the Borderlands because there are natural disasters like what happened in Tokyo. In the series we move to Los Angeles where we see a waitress with a sign that says Alice and we hear on TV that a natural disaster also happens in America so in short the ending meant that there would be an Alice in Borderlands American BUT, Netflix confirmed that there won't be one and honestly I prefer it not to be.

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A very unnecessary season

I loved this season but definitely is the weakest out of the three. There were a lot of things I liked about the season but definitely things I didn't as well.

I liked how amped up the games were compared to the other seasons, that being said I thought the finale game was a little boring to watch, otherwise I liked the new ones. I think these games were more challenging to figure out which was really cool to see. Arisu is always just such a fun character to watch. He's so intelligent and caring! The sets, cinematography, acting, and special affects I think really carried this season.

I think the thing this season is lacking is the emotional connection to the characters. Other than Arisu and Usagi I found it really hard to get attached to this season's characters. I think they waited too long for us to find out information/backstory on them for the audience to get attached to them or care if they make it or not. It's not that they were necessarily unlikeable, we just didn't know enough about them. I really like Rei and Nabu and some of the others, but we just didn't get to see them enough. Some of the character deaths felt like they should've been more impactful, but I just didn't care that much if they died like in previous seasons.

I wish we got to see Arisu & Usagi as husband and wife more. We didn't really get to see them together until episode four which is another complaint of mine. I did like that we got to see what both of them were doing during the time they were separated, but I wish we saw them together more. I also just thought it was weird they were still calling each other Arisu and Usagi for being together for the past five years and literally being married. You think they would use first names or nicknames at this point. You would also think they would live together. Usagi's relationship with Arisu just felt so off this season, like she didn't fully trust him. Why was she telling stuff to others that she couldn't tell her literal husband?! The whole reason she went into the game was just so dumb. Idk her character felt off to me this season.

As for the finale...the death of Jack/Joker/whatever you want to call him was so unsatisfying. They were building him up all throughout the season just to have a random character take him out. Speaking of that character, I just think he was such a pointless character. He came to ask Arisu if he wanted life or death when Arisu was obviously going to choose to live and save Usagi. His whole speech and role in the show seemed like time filler more than importance. I would've much preferred that time go to showing more of Arisu and Usagi after they got out rather than just the quick scene we got. I loved the cameos of all the characters from the first two seasons being in the finale! It was nice seeing them again because I definitely missed them this season. I think if they were all in it more, it would've made it more enjoyable.

Overall, I did like the season, but I do think this one has the least rewatch ability. I could see myself watching it once or twice more but not as many times as I've watched season one or two. Total props to all the actors though. They all killed it!! Especially Kento & Tao!

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A Weaker Comeback That Still Delivers Thrills

Season 3 of Alice in Borderland returns with new deadly games, the mysterious Joker card, and higher stakes—but it doesn't quite recapture the magic of the first two seasons.

The visual style, game setups, and action sequences remain top-notch and genuinely thrilling. Arisu remains the likable character he is.
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But, Usagi's motive to leave Arisu was so out of context that it makes it frustrating, yes we know that for her her father's disappearance/suicide? was always something she never fully recovered from. But I blame the direction, as it fails to encapsulate, being manipulated by a total stranger.
The ending feels flat as the answers feel still not answered, especially the joker arc. If they wanted to end in this vague sense it would have been better to end with season 2 which was a great ending.
It would have been better if they included one more episode diving deeper into the Watchman, the true nature of Borderland's existence, and the world of the dead—mysteries that were teased but never fully explored.

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