AriLumani

No, no. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it's original but it's still AiB. Although I too wished they adapted the sequel manga I still find this great. P.S. I've never read the manga prior to watching the show as my older brother told me about it years ago. I did finally watch it in 2021 after watching Squid Game and I loved it. I am aware of the OVA but nobody talks about it and it only lasts till the game where Arisu's friends die and ends with him encountering Usagi. Only 3 episodes where made. At first I thought they would adapt the sequel series but when I learned that it would be set 5 years instead of 8 that wasn't the case. But, again that's not a bad thing.

I doubt. Despite the final scene having a waitress named Alice, I don't think it's sequel bait.

Reminder that this new season is not based on any pre-existing source material by the original author. So it's entirely original. But, I don't view it as a bad thing as the games feel like they could exist in the manga and the original characters aren't bad either. I remember legit crying for the older brother upon seeing a future of her sister getting married and having a happy life even without him before he died and props to Ken Watanabe for playing Joker. He might be completely different from his manga counterpart but he is still a looming and impactful presence. Although I still find it weird they didn't just adapt the sequel manga which is set 8 years after the original. Also this season is nothing like Squid Game Season 3. It has an entirely different message and the protagonist actually lives. However the endings are kind of similar but I doubt Netflix has any intention of making an american spin-off even though Ken Watanabe does speak fluent english. Nonetheless I still enjoyed this season.