Netflix’s ‘Alice in Borderland’ Is the New Series Everyone Is Talking About—and It Looks Intense

A new year means a new variety of TV shows to watch on Netflix. Lucky for us, the streaming platform recently released a new original series that already has the internet talking.

Called Alice in Borderland, the Netflix original is a live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name by author Hara Aso. In short, it tells the story of a young gamer and his two pals who find themselves in a parallel Tokyo, where they must compete in a series of dangerous games to survive. Interested? Keep reading for everything we know.

The official synopsis reads: “Arisu—a listless, jobless and video-game-obsessed young man—suddenly finds himself in a strange, emptied-out version of Tokyo in which he and his friends must compete in dangerous games in order to survive. In this strange world, Arisu meets Usagi, a young woman who’s navigating the games alone. Together, they set out to unravel one mystery after another as they risk their lives and confront what it means to live.”

The series officially became available in the U.S. on the streaming platform on December 10, 2020. Oh, and if you don’t know Japanese, we recommend turning on the subtitles.

Directed by Shinsuke Sato, the series stars Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya as the lead roles of Ryohei Arisu and Yuzuha Usagi respectively. The show also features Japenese actors Nijiro Murakami, Yuki Morinaga, Keita Machida, Ayaka Miyoshi, Dori Sakurada, Aya Asahina, Shuntaro Yanagi, Yutaro Watanabe, Ayame Misaki, Mizuki Yoshida, Tsuyoshi Abe, Nobuaki Kaneko, Sho Aoyagi and Riisa Naka.

3. Is there a trailer? 

There sure it. And it looks intense. Not to mention, it gives off major Hunger Games meets Ready Player One vibes. Watch the full clip above. 

4. Will there be a season two? 

While it’s still too early to tell, it’s definitely possible and pretty likely considering season one only covered roughly 31 chapters of the manga, leaving another 33 chapters to go. Even if the platform does renew the series for a second season, it's likely we wouldn’t actually see it on the small screen until late 2021 or early 2022. However, as What’s on Netflix pointed out, many fans are speculating that a potential easter egg featured in the finale—where blimps in the sky are advertising for 2021—means the series will be returning at some point this year. 

We can only hope.