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Alice in Borderland... extremely dumb name...extremely fun show

sn00zer

sn00zer

Member
Feb 28, 2018
6,060
alice-in-borderland-season-2-netflix-renewal-status-release-date-arisu.jpg


Well this kinda came out of nowhere.

Best to know as little as possible going in, but if you like fun, violent, "here's some very specific rules you must follow or you die" kind of plots you're going to have fun. It's blood spray violent, not Saw-level gore and very akin to Battle Royale.

It's a bit silly, has some very good stakes in each episode, and way way better than it has any right to be.

Some googling it looks like it's based on a manga so it has some weird based on a manga vibes, but it's much better than any other adaptation I've seen.

Currently on Netflix.
 
J75

J75

Member
Sep 29, 2018
6,599
It was entertaining, like a cross between Liar Game and Battle Royale.
I appreciate these Japanese Netflix live action adaptations, hope they keep them coming.
 
OP
OP
sn00zer

sn00zer

Member
Feb 28, 2018
6,060
J75 said:
It was entertaining, like a cross between Liar Game and Battle Royale.
I appreciate these Japanese Netflix live action adaptations, hope they keep them coming.
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I was genuinely shocked it was as good as it was. It has so many elements that easily could have steered it in the wrong direction, silly costumes, DRAMA!, Lots of exposition, but really just had fun the entire time. Also legit had me tear up in some eps.
 

Deleted member 14400

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,454
This and a few other recent releases on Netflix have convinced me to keep my subscription. Was starting to grow tired of their catalogue and recent cancellations of shows I actually watched and anticipated.
 
Wood Man

Wood Man

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,449
I watched the whole thing and I liked it. Looking forward to a second season.

Ending of episode 3 was nuts.
 
GK86

GK86

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,751
This popped up on my feed and I was immediately intrigued. Saw the first episode and it was good.
 
Hellsing321

Hellsing321

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,810
I just started watching it and I'm loving it. Hits all the right notes for a death game/battle royale show.
 
Terrell

Terrell

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,624
Canada
Yeah, the name is kinda odd, but considering how many cursory visual and character name and personality elements it borrows from Lewis Carrol's Alice stories, it almost makes sense.
 
Moleculoman

Moleculoman

Member
Nov 17, 2017
104
sn00zer said:
alice-in-borderland-season-2-netflix-renewal-status-release-date-arisu.jpg


Well this kinda came out of nowhere.

Best to know as little as possible going in, but if you like fun, violent, "here's some very specific rules you must follow or you die" kind of plots you're going to have fun. It's blood spray violent, not Saw-level gore and very akin to Battle Royale.

It's a bit silly, has some very good stakes in each episode, and way way better than it has any right to be.

Some googling it looks like it's based on a manga so it has some weird based on a manga vibes, but it's much better than any other adaptation I've seen.

Currently on Netflix.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Finished the series last week and loved it. Reminds me a lot of Gantz.
 
Qvoth

Qvoth

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,883
finished watching it few days ago
i like that it's not too over the top
will check out the manga
 
Arthands

Arthands

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
8,039
Watched it couple of weeks back too.

Some people said 'Sweet Home' is good too but I quit that one after 1 episode.
 
Beefsquid

Beefsquid

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,168
USA
Extremely fun show. It's definitely a Manga adaptation. There are some anime ass character designs in this. But I really enjoyed it.
 

Deleted member 8257

Oct 26, 2017
24,586
Arthands said:
Watched it couple of weeks back too.

Some people said 'Sweet Home' is good too but I quit that one after 1 episode.
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I quit Sweet Home after just the opening intro. I can't with nihilistic shows anymore.
You immediately figure out within two minutes "oh so everyone dies and the main guy will die as well. Ok"
I didn't see myself having energy to invest in the show and its presumably a good cast of characters right there so I stopped.
 
bounchfx

bounchfx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,654
Muricas
I remember seeing the name and preview image on netflix, thought it looked stupid but let the trailer play anyway. Thought to myself OK.. maybe I'll give it a shot, looks like it might be fun.

loved it. can't wait for s2! It definitely felt like an anime even though it was live action. a lot of the way they posed and held the poses, exclamations, etc. Very fun.
 
Shadownet

Shadownet

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,277
The name Alice in Borderland referring to Arisu could be translated to "Alice" and Borderland is the realm they're currently in, at least that's what everyone called it.

We have an official OT. Join us!
 
Nooblet

Nooblet

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,622
I started watching it, in 3rd episode at the moment and it just seems like your usual live action anime remake where actors try to act like anime characters. Not really grabbing me.
 
Cth

Cth

The Fallen
Oct 29, 2017
1,808
Binged it all last weekend, reminded me of Gantz meets Escape Room meets Battle Royale.
 
Biestmann

Biestmann

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,412
I gave it a 5.5/10 in the spoiler thread. Show got a good premise, but is riddled with incredibly poor writing and surprisingly dull death games. Can't really recommend it.
Binged it with the girlfriend, and walked away immensely disappointed. The show has an intriguing premise, but just has too many problems for me to recommend it to anyone.

The Beach arc feels like it drags on and at the same time isn't long enough to have you care about all of these supporting characters it tries so hard to make you care about, but you just don't. You get all of that dialogue between characters in the final game that implies that they knew each other so well, when we see them exchange as much as an eye blink before then. The pay-off just doesn't work, in fact it makes you realize how little time is spent establishing characters outside of Arisu and Usagi. Mira, the game master, is virtually nonexistent, and I wouldn't blame anyone for not recognizing her or even remembering her name when the reveal happens at the end.

Furthermore, what we are told and what we see just does not match up a lot of times. The Beach itself is shown to be a massive area lit up the wazoo - the only place in all of Tokyo to be - yet Arisu and Usagi spend days searching for the place before somehow keeping up with cars on foot which leads them there. At the start of the final game, mister "I am smart" goes to the camera room of the resort yet does not think of accessing the recordings to reveal the witch's identity on the spot. My girlfriend went into such a frenzy over this that I went to check the manga, and curiously enough, that scene does not seem to exist in it. So they added it for the show, but couldn't think of adding just a single throwaway line explaining why no recordings exist.

Usagi is constantly pushed aside for Arisu at the Beach despite appearing as equally accomplished, and doesn't get enough time to shine in her own right. The show makes it feel like women play second fiddle all the time, down to an almost rape scene that just feels like a tired trope at this point. Kuina then expresses her regret over Arisu's supposed fate, but does not even mention Usagi who at that point is about to be raped by several men.

Some of these things and others I haven't mentioned would be forgivable if it weren't for the fact that the games themselves often just aren't all that interesting. The underground tunnel game especially was egregiously unexciting, and in most cases it doesn't feel like we as the audience have a real shot of figuring out the solution to the problems faced by the protagonist. Kakegurui, a show based on crazy-ass gambling, for example, has games that make you feel like you can figure out the solution, even if in the end you don't. But in the case of this show, there mostly is no realistic way for us to do so, and then twilight zone Conan Arisu figures out the solution within 5 minutes of being freed, somehow having deep insight into the relationship of characters he has interacted with for a few minutes.

5.5/10
 
Mr. Snuffleupagus

Mr. Snuffleupagus

Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
13,153
Your Imagination
Nooblet said:
I started watching it, in 3rd episode at the moment and it just seems like your usual live action anime remake where actors try to act like anime characters. Not really grabbing me.
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That's just East Asian stylistic acting - you'll see this in Japan with unrealistic "N-nan-de??? shocking music cue" type of dramatism. This is a left-over from pre-TV years when everything was either silent movies and theatre and the emotions had to be presented on faces rather than actual realistic voices and dialogue, and from when radio dramas were prominent and you had to be eccentric otherwise the radio-plays were boring as hell. Think Orson Welles doing War of the Worlds.

This is contrasted with the post-Vietnam War Neo-realism of western shows like The Wire, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Chernobyl. Actors on these shows try to portray a hyper-realistic but condensed version of the characters they're portraying, in effect trying to make them into real people with real responses. The "style" in western media comes from the plot, pacing and setting rather than the actors. Sigourney Weaver, for example, famously created her entire own backstory to her character in 1979's Alien in the liner notes of the script. These were details that only she knew, not even Ridley Scott, because it would help her have more realistic responses to the developments in the movie and in dialogue with other actors. Most actors in Hollywood worth their salt these days will "discover" their character and add their own backstory and realistic narrative to "find" who that character is - something the large majority of Japanese actors don't do. More oftem than not, this is labelled in western media as "bad acting". David Bowie talked about this very struggle as a western actor in the BTS of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.

There are exceptions of course. Takeshi Kitano is a good example of someone who actually broke the mold and often uses a more neo-realistic style in his movies.
 
ash32121

ash32121

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,563
It's one of the manga that somehow actually the craziness behind the death game pretty well. Mind you the explanation still really really fucking dumb but hey, at least they explain that shit and you can believe that shit.
 
Euphoria

Euphoria

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,507
Earth
Added it to my queue last night and intend to start it tonight.

Now leaving the thread so I don't spoil anything lol.
 
Seductivpancakes

Seductivpancakes

user requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,790
Brooklyn
There's no thread for Sweet Home and I just wanted to chime in and say, it was a very disappointing show, and I sat through the whole season. So much potential with good effects. I guess I'll give Alice in Borderland a shot.
 
Einherjer

Einherjer

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,924
Germany
Yukari said:
Read Manga.
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Not really necessary it's a very faithful adaption they almost did it chapter by chapter, you could even continue the manga from the point the show stops without any issues.

Arthands said:
Watched it couple of weeks back too.

Some people said 'Sweet Home' is good too but I quit that one after 1 episode.
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Having watched it and read the webtoon/manhwa it's a pretty bad adaption, they changed way too much for no reason at all and it's pretty confusing because a lot of information from the source material is just missing.
Characters are far worse then in the webtoon especially the protagonist, they all seem like completely different people (i actually liked the firefighter lady they added though), it all goes to shit in the last 3 episodes which diverge greatly from the source material.
I personally recommend reading the webtoon instead it's just so much better.
 
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RoninRay

RoninRay

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,593
Einherjer said:
Not really necessary it's a very faithful adaption they almost did it chapter by chapter, you could even continue the manga from the point the show stops without any issues.



Having watched it and read the webtoon/manhwa it's a pretty bad adaption, they changed way too much for no reason at all and it's pretty confusing because a lot of information from the source material is just missing.
Characters are far worse then in the webtoon especially the protagonist, they all seem like completely different people (i actually liked the firefighter lady they added though), it all goes to shit in the last 3 episodes which diverge greatly from the source material.
I personally recommend reading the webtoon instead it's just so much better.
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I haven't read the sweet home webtoon but I did read that the authors wanted the show to be different and asked for them not to follow the source material. They wanted to see different perspectives on there work. I can't confirm that it's a fact but I did read it.
 
GK86

GK86

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,751
I'm two episodes away from finishing S1 and my SO and I both love this show.
 

Deleted member 8257

Oct 26, 2017
24,586
I watched ep1. I dont know if I really like the utter randomness of the puzzles. Like, I dunno. If they escape it doesn't quite feel earned. Should I keep watching?
 
GK86

GK86

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,751
Just finished it. What a ride. I loved every moment of the show.

The ending when the
face cards are being into place
was so badass

Can't wait for S2.
 
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