Imawa no Kuni no Alice Season 2 (2022)

Worse than Season One, But Still Had Some Fun Parts

I loved AiB S1, rewatching it to completion three or four times, which I absolutely never do with shows. However, this season was muddled, the games weren't as interesting, I was bored a lot, and there were so many things that didn't make sense even within the rules of the universe. How the fuck are these people still alive for hours after getting stabbed or shot multiple times in their stomachs while others are shot once and killed instantly? Does anyone even mention their visas this season? There was no reason the military face card guy could have killed that many people, he had a massive fucking blimp following him the entire time, how did that sneak up on anyone? How was that even a game?

On top of that, Usagi and Arisu are (purposefully) the most bland, self-insert characters ever, which made me not really care what happened to them (though I was screaming at my screen when they meet at the vending machine and don't recognize each other, but this was more because of my hatred of the amnesia trope. That being said, 40% of it was still rooting for them to remember). Ann and Kuina had more chemistry and were way more interesting. Make season 3 only if it's them (and dare I suggest........ lesbian.......... ......)

Chisiya's games were interesting but the end of the number average one seemed like such a copout. And I can't ever care about Chisiya as a character because he shows zero emotion. I sympathized more with insane rapist incel Nigari than him.

A lot of character's acting is just really mediocre, if not straight up bad. Namely Usagi and Arisu, which was a problem even in season one, but it stood out to me even more now.

Ending has me so feeling so many different emotions. I can't tell if I love it or hate it. Meteor thing is cool, but I think I feel so ambivalent because it's not executed well, or maybe I wish more was explained about how the Borderlands function in parallel/relation to the real world. The game with Mira was executed so blandly, for a finale it should have been much more complex and grandiose. I DO like the concept of it seeming like a croquet game but being a psychological test. What I mean by complexity is it felt like Arisu believed her way too easily to the point where it was fucking ridiculous. Why would he believe her when she lied multiple times ten minutes ago, and he knows the point of the game is to psychologically break him? It's so unbelievable.

Read More

Chishiya’s show

When I first watched season one I immediately rated it a nine. However a few weeks before the release of S2 I decided to give it a rewatch and honestly I would probably rate it a six now. It had many flaws that I didn't really care about in my first watch but when I rewatched it, it was almost painfully bad at times.
After rewatching S1 and reading some of the comments here on MDL about S2 my expectations were low.
That being said, this time, probably once again, I didn't really think it through when I rated it a nine, because I had fun and that is the most important thing in my mind. That doesn't mean that it deserves it or that I won't criticize it in what will follow, so here we go:

What I liked:
- Production quality: Everyone knows what a good production quality means and you can see it here. It is expensive and it shows.

- The games: If you ask me they were much better than in S1. First of all, the characters that appeared in the games were extremely interesting. Besides that, the games were much more suspenseful, difficult and not as predictable comparing with S1. Lastly they were much more violent.

- Chishiya: Okay, I will be honest. This guy should have been the main character and he is caring this show on his smart brain cells. He is so fun to watch and Murakami Nijiro's performance is on point. He is intelligent, flawed and has the best lines in the entire series. He is just a pleasure to watch and I believe that without him the series would be half as memorable.

- Manga feeling: First things first, I haven't actually read the manga, but the series does give you a manga-feeling. The action scenes, the way the characters act and look and some specific scenes are like they came out from manga pages, something that is probably one of the biggest advantages this drama has.

- New characters: Even though our old fav characters like Kuina and An are still there and they have kept their awesomeness, new interesting characters appeared like Kyuuma or Akane.

- Easy to watch: Look, some of the episodes were very long (with the longest being 1h and 20m), but generally the series was very easy to watch. Yes, there were some draggy scenes and some boring moments, but I didn’t feel the urge to see how long it is left from the episodes.

- The ending: As probably all sane people that were planning to watch season two, I was very concerned -and I mean very- about the ending. Will it be nonsensical? Will I want to break my screen?
The ending surpassed all of my expectations and it was the perfect way for the final episode to end. It was so mind-blowingly good that I had to rate the show a nine. It was also unexpected -at least comparing to what I had in mind-.


Things I found mediocre:
- Philosophical aspect: In this season there were many philosophical questions regarding the meaning of life, justice, the ''price'' of humans etc. Even though I liked that they added these existential questions, sometimes it felt a bit forced especially since it wasn't that evident in the first season.

- Main leads: I know, I will get killed for saying this, but the main leads were just boring to watch. They were so uninteresting comparing to the rest of the characters and their plot armour was so huge that even with a nuclear disaster they would survive.

- Nonsensical stuff: I know it is based on a manga and to be honest I didn't really care because I had fun watching, but the amount of disbelief I had to live through was just unimaginable. I think that they could have handled it a bit better to make it more suspenseful and ''realistic'' before the grand finale.

What I disliked:
- Acting of the two mains (and some other characters):
I had a huge problem with the acting of the two main leads, especially with Yamazaki Kento. He was overacting most of the times and no matter how much I tried to feel for his character his expressions were so ridiculous that I had the urge to laugh than actually care about him. Tsuchiya Tao also wasn't that great and her way of talking in some scenes felt like she was pressuring herself to sound in a specific way.
Let me be clear about something here. I know that in many Jdramas actors tend to overact, but there is a difference between good overacting and bad overacting.
Even though this is based on a manga (so I can get the need to overact) the only character that was overacting badly was Yamazaki Kento (and another character that barely appeared). Acting is acting and to be able to succeed in this type of acting you must know how to pull it off in moderation, something that our main lead obviously did not know.
They both had their good moments though (thankfully) and most of the times their acting was bearable.

- "Romance": Once again it is ruining the show and it is just not there, I am sorry. I saw no chemistry between the mains even though it was obvious that their affection was building from season one.

- Emotional moments: this series is about death games and people will die, they will get hurt (physically or emotionally) and they will question their existense and values. Even though there were some scenes that made me emotional (which I won't mention because of spoilers) the majority of them didn't work. They even used sad music as background and managed to make it feel bland. The fact that some of these scenes lasted longer than what they should have, reduced the emotional impact to zero. Funny thing is that I felt so much more when it came to some new characters comparing to what I felt for the main leads.


All in all, I had fun watching this season and -even though this is an unpopular opinion- I believe it was much better than season one especially when it came to characters, pacing and games.

Read More

“save best for last”

A common idiom to put it simply, but never wrong. Alice in borderland was one of the best series to end this year and definitely worth the wait and hype!

i loved the plot, acting, casting, the fact every episode was better than the last, the games being more and more intense & the explanation of the last episode.

i hated niragi character, but that was about it, a selfish individual with no sense of morale and just wanted to go back to his reality.

The series portrays the key themes of perception and morality from a philosophical point of view.
the characters questioning the existence of the game world, whether it was real or not, the scepticism of the last episode especially, one may argue idealism plays a part too, it says there is no mind independent external world and its just ideas (game world).
Characters are faced with complex situations in which they learn to be virtuous individuals, they also would decide whether they should save the majority at the expense of the minority (tyranny of majority).
In the prison game, they tested the virtue of generosity and those who were selfless won; in the queen of hearts game, saving a child from dying and nineteen people over one person, most games were about teamwork, as shown in the last game, those who truly cared would help to the end and chishiya sacrificing himself to save usagi posed virtuous values.

Read More

More than Satisfying!

Things I loved this season:

* Unpopular opinion maybe : but Arisu and Usagi's romance was soooo cuteee. I looked forward for their interactions the most. In the last episode, where they lie on the ground and tell each other what they wished to do together was the only emotional scene that moved me this season.

* Everyone's acting was spot on. No flaw whatsoever. The audience could feel what each character goes through perfectly.

* Loved some of the gamemasters (yamapi as king of clubs was unexpected but his character was oddly touching). Also, loved the Queen of Hearts and King of Diamonds. Disliked the other two (king and queen of spades)

* Loved Chishiya this season. The games in which he was in were the only ones I enjoyed. He also had good character development towards the end.

* The action scenes were well done . Especially in Episode 7. That episode is sure to keep you on your toes. The CGI was also top notch and realistic.

* Near perfect ending. Everything made sense. I'm fine with them not remembering each other but wanted everyone of them to meet. It could have given more closure. But, this ending was beautiful too. Kuina is my favourite character in the whole series and seeing her father accepting her was so ?


Things I disliked:

* The games were not as interesting as the first season - they hyped it up to be tougher than the number cards but they were meh. Most (almost all) were predictable.

* Therefore, Arisu didn't use too much wit in the games (there was no need to imo, most games didn't need any kind of strategy - he basically didn't play any diamond games here). My main love for aib 1 was Arisu's intellect.

* I know it's necessary for the whole purpose of returning back to the real world, but there was too many emotional scenes that bored me. The dialogues in these scenes didn't make me feel anything (I just wanted them to end quickly)

* I still can't believe that asshole Niragi survived. Also, arrow girl and even Ann survived (which is nice). It seemed a bit unrealistic but still it made sense because they were in the Borderlands and had a strong will to survive. (I'm just mad that while these ppl survived, Chota and Karube still died)

Overall: 9/10 (the pros outweighed the cons and I was way too attached to the characters ?)

Read More

far from any expectation

I was really looking forward to the second season. the first was great and imaginative.
but now that i've tormented myself through the last episode, what remains is pure disappointment about all the missed opportunities. Arisu and Usagi were cool in season one, but by season two they've become a whining, nagging couple. I couldn't stand them both and had to fast forward.
The secondary characters had so much potential and were interesting.
Chishiya, Kuina and An deserve better. Chishiya, my darling, I was hoping they had bigger plans for you. but his past was as boring as his end. who wrote that?
the ending didn't make any sense. nothing has been clarified for me... the alien variant would have been really better.
sorry for such harsh words, but the only glimpse was the sexy naked guy in the first game. I am infinitely sorry that more was not done with the possibilities. the cliffhanger was there, as was the potential of the characters. unfortunately the authors were unimaginative. too bad, because I would have given the first season an 8.5.
If I had known that beforehand, I would have kept my hands off the series and saved myself this huge disappointment.

Read More

At the end of the cliff I find who I truly am

It could not have been any more perfect ending to this beautiful drama. The second installment of the drama begins from where the first left off . Our players searching for the whole truth while competing in the card games. The games this time a lot harder and have a lot of bloodshed (gore) like the first installment. This time our players face against the king and queen cards. And while clearing those games they find out who they truly are and what meaning do their lives holds.

This second installment of the drama has many characters getting a good screen time like Usagi, Chishiya and Kuina. I also loved the ending. It seemed quite believable and not forced.

Seeing as dramas like these are getting quite the warm welcome from the fans. It got quite a big raise in the budget of the drama. Which increased the quality of the drama. I loved this drama as it was something different from what the Korean or Japanese productions produce.

Read More

binge watched 12/22

ill try to keep this as brief as possible but that might be hard to do but anyways. im glad i rewatched the first season right before i started watched the second as it picks up right after the ending of s1. i would say as an "overall" perspective this season passed my expectations by A LOT and it was very much more action and violent packed than the 1st season was. im glad they decided to add more time in the episodes, and it made things feel not so rushed and i thought the passing was normal even until the end. starting with characters, arisu and usagi remained the best characters no questions asked all throughout the show, the actors worked very well and were able to portray their own characters amazing as always. we got some new supporting characters (and returned as well) and i always love how they always show some backstory to them (and even included of some already existing characters) to already get a sense of how the character is and such. the games also felt more intense and longer this season (don't think that was a bad thing). i found them all to be interesting and whenever there would be a "twist" it was always a "woahh didn't think of that" moment lmao. im so glad we got to see some more romance between arisu and usagi (their kiss scene!!) and even until the ending i knew they were always meant to be by each other's side. one thing i did not enjoy was how niragi came back (and still decided to betray the crew twice..). onto the last episode: that was such a crazy rollercoster of emotions and i have a lot to say about it so.. picking up from when arisu and usagi went into the last game, i never really trusted mira (duh!) and the overall episode felt a bit slow but actually liked that. when arisu started to ask mira questions about what the world they were in really was and mira's first response on them being controlled by virtual reality kind of gagged me and was like what?? even the second time she gave an "answer" just showed how unserious she was LMAOO but when she said chota and karube 'died" before the fireworks went off in the beginning i was like HUHH? and she started talking about trauma and suddenly they were in a room together and mira was his therapist?? i know i should not have trusted her but she really does sound convincing and i started to believe her but the whole "this was a figment of your imagination" ending just didnt do it for me and im so glad that wasn't the case because i was lowkey going to throw some hands at the writer.. now onto the REAL ending. im so glad the rest of the crew was alive and chose to "decline" their stay at the other world but the explosion happening in the "real world" was so crazy and i would have never guessed it! the way all the characters were there all the same place at the same time just made so much sense and clicked like WOW. i can see why people weren't that pleased with the ending but i would rather them not suffer again with all the trauma they had in the "other world " and i would love to just assume they all became friends coincidentally afterwards. some things im still confused about (like who actually created the games, why bomb that specific place, who killed mira) anyways, the cinematography was amazing as always and i would rate a 9/10

Read More

A Masterpiece

This series is the best thing that Netflix had ever made. It is Worth Watching. The Games are on another Level. Everyone has done so well. They put a lot of effort & hard work & The series is Insane. It is the best thing that I have ever watched. It really gives goosebumps.

The Story is Insane & the Plot is Huge.These Games are really deadly & it is difficult to survive. These games of survival are made so fine. The show is very unexpected. Difficulty level is very high as compared to last season because These games are based on the Face Cards which are the real deal.

All actors had portrayed each character well. I love the Cast, Story & everything about this Series. This Series is beyond your imagination. This Show has everything in it. It tells us about the importance of life. The Players played these games of life and death only to survive. They must win all the games in order to survive.

Read More

Once again a Complete edge of the seat Experience

A Well made Sequel that promises an amazing experience to the viewers. The expectations were high and it was definitely worth the wait. The story starts from the point they ended in S01 and stright from the start it's keep getting better and better and which includes even more deadly games.?

Apart from S01, here they mainly focused on character relationships. Even for someone who didn't really get attached to the characters in S01 may change their minds after watching S02 for sure because it was wonderfully written. It also more logical when it comes to its ending. Never expected something like that.

Just like season one, Everything is brutal about the games without any mercy, Overall it's a perfect finale for an amazing experience. Completely Satisfied with the ending and everyone must watch.

Faar faar faaar better than that overrated Squid Game. I think a lot of people haven't watched this yet that's why they are praising Squid game like the best thing in the globe.? I still feel this drama deserves more recognition than Squid Game.

Read More

A masterpiece takes time to be made. Alice in borderland 2 certainly proved it.

After 2+ long years of waiting, it’s finally here! I was not disappointed with season 1 but was infact hyped with higher expectations for season 2. They took their time to make this season and certainly did not disappoint at all.

The overall concept of AIB never fails to blow my mind. After such a hard season 1, I couldn’t imagine how they’d continue season 2 but oh well- they obviously kept the best for last. I love how none of the parts seemed “useless” or “boring”. Each and every thing was connected which made it even more exciting to watch. We were introduced to some new bombass characters and they were definitely keeping the tension high.
An easy 10/10 for the plot.

Do I even have to write about the cast? We all know how perfect every character fits. But I must give it to Dori. I’ve seen him in countless dramas and he always has a very unique role. Him as Niragi is completely different from how I’d seen him in other dramas. He’s a truly versatile actor. Like I mentioned, the cast was no doubt, AMAZING; special mentioning for everyone who played the villain cause they are absolute legends.

To define this season in one word, it’s exciting. I don’t want it to end. It’s so much fun. It’s so worth the hype and talk. I can’t bare people calling it “overhyped”.

Alice in borderland 2, unarguably an 11/10.

Read More