ALICE IN BORDERLAND Season 2 is on Netflix and the Japanese genre-hybrid continues the style from season 1. In other words, it is very bloody and violent, but somehow also full of hope and life. Read our full Alice in Borderland season 2 review here!
ALICE IN BORDERLAND Season 2 is out on Netflix with eight new episodes. The amazing (and very popular) genre-blending series from Japan opens with a bang. Or rather, lots of bangs. The opening sequence is extremely violent and bloody.
In fact, anyone who has had any school shooting (or other mass shooting) close, might want to skip it. We do see someone walking around gunning people down. Not exactly new for this Japanese Netflix series, but still a very brutal and direct way to open season 2.
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Continue reading our Alice in Borderland season 2 review below. Find the eight new episodes on Netflix from December 22, 2022.
We continue from season 1 – but no recap!
Season 2 of Alice in Borderland does not open with a recap. Season 1 premiered on Netflix in December of 2020, so it’s been a good two years. Basically, you’ve probably watched a lot of series in the meantime – I know I certainly have – so you might need a recap.
However, despite Alice in Borderland season 2 not having a recap at the beginning, episode 1 of this second season does have a few flashbacks. In fact, the opening scene mirrors the very first episode of the series.
We get a few reminders of how the characters ended up in their current predicament. And also, a few of the ground rules are repeated. Unfortunately, since season 2 also means the “next level” (or “next stage”) of the game, they’re all trapped in, none of the old rules seem to apply at first.
Actually, this is pretty smart in lieu of a recap; To remind us of the rules from season 1, but focus on the lack of rules in season 2. Well, we get to this after the very brutal opening sequence which is the result of them being in the King of Spades game.
It’s bleak, but still full of hope
In season 1, the characters (or players in this crazy game) all focused on getting all the playing cards to win and return home. Things didn’t quite work out as they had planned, and now they’re at the next stage of this deadly game. Not really where they wanted to be.
It does look quite bleak and all the main characters continue to think of home and the friends or family they’ve already lost. Either back home or during this crazy game, they’re all trapped in.
And yet, there is a strange sense of hope. People stick together and realize both their own value and talent. Whenever a new game begins (the first real game happens in episode 2), everyone needs to play to their strength. It’s the only way to win, which we all learned during season 1 – as did the players.
Anyone who didn’t learn this never managed to survive. However, part of surviving is having a team to help you. This is why the main character Arisu continues to try and help people he meets along the way. He cannot look the other way, which is pure hope in this terrible world they’re all trapped in.
Watch Alice in Borderland season 2 on Netflix now!
You can read more about the creator and origin of Alice in Borderland in our season 1 review so we won’t get into that here. However, I do want to mention that we meet new characters in season 2, which episode 2 spends some time on. The episode shows us a new group of friends (bandmates) who are trapped in this world together.
Just like Arisu and his friends. No doubt there will be lots of talk about Kyuma (Tomohisa Yamashita). Kyuma is the leader of the band (the new group of friends, we meet during the first game of season 2) and is a proud nudist.
Basically, he’s naked from the moment we meet him. A great little detail that shouldn’t matter in a world of life and death, and I even found myself almost (almost!) forgetting that the dude was naked constantly.
If you enjoyed season 1, then Alice in Borderland season 2 is an absolute must-watch. And yes, you really should watch season 1 first!
All 8 episodes in season 2 of Alice in Borderland will be on Netflix globally from December 22, 2022.
Details
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Cast: Kento Yamazaki, Tao Tsuchiya, Nijiro Murakami, Riisa Naka, Tomohisa Yamashita
Plot
The games are deadlier, this world more wild and cruel; but will Arisu ever make it back to the real world — and will it be worth everything he’s lost?
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