English ‘Alice in Borderland’ Spin-Off More Likely Than Season 4 as Directer Sato Lands New Project at Netflix

After their experience in Borderland in the first two seasons, both Arisu and Usagi lost their memories of what happened. Despite losing their memories, the pair still reunite as a couple, and at the start of Season 3, they are happily married, living in Tokyo, and soon discover they are expecting a baby.

Enticed by the idea of seeing her dead father one last time, Usagi is convinced to return to Borderland by Ryuji, who has developed a drug that can place a person into a drug-induced coma. Soon, Arisu follows the pair into Borderland, and upon arriving, he and Usagi regain their memories from their former time at Borderland.

Separated into teams, which forces Usagi to form an alliance with Ryuji, and the latter to develop feelings for her, both of them and Arisu survive their respective games before reuniting for the last game. Unbeknownst to Arisu and Usagi, it was Banda who enticed Ryuji into bringing them back to Borderland by promising to tell him the secrets of the world. It was Banda’s hope that if he could get Usagi killed, then Arisu would choose to stay in Borderland as a citizen.

Picture: One of several deadly games seen in Alice in Borderland season 3 – Netflix

The task of the final game was easy in concept: Starting in the center of a grid of 16 rooms, find the exit within 15 rounds. However, a psychological edge to the game led many players astray as the wall of each door would display a potential future for that player, for better or for worse. Also, not only were players allocated points that could be used to open doors, and if the points ran out, they would die, but access to the rooms was determined by dice rolls, and the higher the dice roll, the more people could enter that room; if not, they would be forced to find an alternate route. Not to mention, with Usagi carrying an unborn child, her baby counted as an additional player, thus she could not enter any room that required a maximum of one occupant.

Picture: Tao Tsuchiya as Usagi (left) and Kento Yamazaki as Arisu (right)

After several deaths, but eventually finding the exit to the game, a fateful dice roll meant someone would have to stay behind to sacrifice themselves. Much to the sheer horror of Usagi, it’s Arisu who decides to sacrifice himself to save the lives of the others. As he waited for the inevitable, to his shock, he was not killed; instead, he was informed that he had won, as his sacrifice had made him worthy. 

Unfortunately for those outside the door, the world begins to crumble around them as a monstrous amount of water rushes into Shibuya, sweeping Usagi away. Arisu is able to break out of his safe containment and dives into the water to save his wife; however, in his frantic search, he is confronted by Banda, who gives him an ultimatum: become a citizen or die. By choosing the latter, Banda is ready to take Arisu’s life, but before he has the chance to kill him, his citizenship from Borderland is revoked, and a laser from the sky kills him.

Time is frozen as a mysterious hat-wearing figure descends from the sky, who offers Arisu one last game. The game is simple: Arisu must pick between two cards, and if he chooses the Joker card, he loses. After selecting the Joker card, Arisu successfully deduces that the other card was also a Joker and accuses his opponent of cheating. Revealed to be telling the truth, the mysterious stranger ponders on the fate of Arisu, and deduces that as fate gave him two joker cards, he gives Arisu a choice: return to the world of the living, where his life is uncertain and he will inevitably die, or find peace in the world of death. Naturally, Arisu chooses to live, and time unfreezes.

After successfully saving Usagi from a deadly whirlpool, she and Arisu are able to leave Borderland and return to the living world’s Tokyo, but not before she finally gets closure with her father, succeeding in her wish to see him one last time. As for Ryuji, he chooses a different fate, opting to die and willingly goes to the world of death. Several other players also return from Borderland, and we get to see them move on with their lives. 

Picture: Kento Kaku as Ryuji Matsuama in Alice in Borderland season 3 – Netflix

However, this is the calm before a brand new storm. Earthquakes are occurring worldwide, including in Tokyo, where Arisu’s office building is located. In Los Angeles, two patrons at a bar are approached by a waitress with the name tag “Alice.” This heavily suggests that if there is a continuation of the story, we’ll be heading to Los Angeles soon.

Picture: The waitress with the “Alice” name tag in Alice in Borderland season 3 – Netflix

Will Arisu return in an English adaptation?

After surviving Borderland twice, many dangerous games, and outliving even more dangerous players, Arisu is the most experienced and best-equipped person to survive a third round of deadly games. However, we would argue that he has survived more than his fair share of death-defying experiences and deserves to move on with his life with his wife, Usagi, and his unborn child.

Naturally, having Arisu’s actor, Kento Yamazaki, return for an English adaptation would help bridge the gap between fans of the Japanese series and the English adaptation. The fact that Yamazaki has openly expressed his interest in reprising the role of Arisu means there’s always a chance he could return.

An actor from the Japanese series we would definitely expect to return is Ken Watanabe, with whom Western audiences are already familiar due to his roles in numerous Hollywood movies.

Picture: Ken Watanabe in Inception (left), Alice in Borderland (centre) and The Last Samurai (right)

Would you like to see more Alice in Borderland on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!