Almost two years back, we have seen Arisu ( Kento Yamazaki) and his friends entering this mysterious and eerire room after which they were forced to pick between one out of two doors.
These two doors were basically labelled with either ‘live’ or ‘die’ and when you choose wrong, you will instantly get killed by a laser beam.
The series kept us on the toes with every character entering into this maze of choosing doors knowing any next step could be their last.
The Netflix series Alice in Borderland is actually adapted from a manga series of the same title which is about this character Arisu who apparently finds himself in this alternate version of Tokyo city where most humans vanished somehow.
Needless to say that the title is a smart and dark spin on the popular fantasy story Alice in Wonderland.
So Arisu has no idea about what happened, how he reached this alternative dimension or whatever except the fact that he had to participate in this mysterious game or competition to earn ‘visas’ so he could prevent himself from getting executed.
Along the way, he meets Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya) who became his partner on this survival game, figuring out what the heck is going on.
The first season of the show premiered in December 2020. And it has been so long that fans finally get to hear something about the next season.
So, with the teaser trailer out, and finally knowing the release date, let’s see what we know so far about Alice in Borderland Season 2.
Alice In Borderland Season 2 Teaser Trailer
The Netflix Tudum 2022 event was where Netflix dropped what they called a “super teaser trailer” for Alice in Borderland season 2.
The teaser was extremely short and doesn’t give too much to chew on. It basically begins with a lot of season 1 footage, sort of giving context as what last happened in the show with narratives that are to carry on season .
These were snippets of the game ‘Dead or Alive’ which was the very first game Arisu and his friends played in season 1.
Then, it shows some montages of all the new characters that were introduced in later part of season 1.
At the end, the teaser leaves with the big question that the audience wants to know: “ If we clear all the games, can we return?”
You can watch the Netflix’s Alice in Borderland Season 2 Super Teaser Trailer below :
Alice in Borderland Season 2 Cast
What’s highlight about the cast details about season 2 is there are some beloved characters in the first season who won’t be returning for the next season.
So, there are characters we already knew said goodbye in the season one, ie. Chota and Karube, for sure.
So many of the central players which were introduced at the beach are going to make their appearance again in season 2, and perhaps for longer lengths.
The primary cast members such as Kento Yamazaki playing Arisu and Tao Tsuchiya featuring Usagi are definitely coming back.
Then, we are also going to see Nijiro Murakami again playing the character Chishiya and pretty much the same for Akaya Miyoshi as Ann.
Apart from that, Dori Sakurada will be playing Niragi and also Aya Asahina will be returning to play Kuina again.
More cast members in season 2 will also feature Riisa Naka as Mira and Shao Aoyagi as Aguni as well.
All these cast details are revealed by none other than Netflix itself in an announcement video about Alice in Borderland season 2 filming being started.
The video was also primarily about the cast announcement, and here it is for you to watch :
Alice in Borderland Season 2 Plot
The first season of Alice in Borerland, as we mentioned about Arisu finding himself in this alternative reality, in the Tokyo city where most of the humans disappeared.
Then, he was thrown into this mysterious, eerie and dangerous game or comepetition of survival for which along with other people like Arisu, have to pick up door to move on with wrong door can kill you by lazers.
And then, there is so much happening between the characters surviving together in this messed-up game.
We get our conclusion with plenty of tear-jerking scenes, gruesome deaths and Arisu losing his best friends with so many regrets that haunt him throughout the story.
We also save everyone gathering up together in the beach house where the final game removed most of the participants.
Then, we get our big reveal as Mira to be the mastermind outed on the TV panels sharing the next phase of the games with face cards J, Q and K.
As for the season, we are definitely going to see Arisu, Kuina, Usagi and Chisiya trying to get all those face cards to win the game. They would also try to lure out the mastermind of the game and defeat her.
So, that means, at the end, there will be an epic clash between the mastermind, Mira the queen of Hearts and Arisu and his friends, at least the ones who survive to the end.
No doubt that season 2 will continue to be intense, thrilling and cryptic as much as the first season, hooking the audience to their seats to the very end.
More importantly, remain excited to see a lot of reveals that are going to either surprise you or shock you, just like in the pilot season.
Alice in Borderland Season 2 Release Date
Netflix, at the same Tudum 2022 event, also announced the release date of Alice in Borderland season 2.
The Alice in Borderland season 2 is going to premier on December 22, 2022 which means that fans are indeed getting a two years break between the two seasons.
The filming of the show did start in the middle of July as per the production company website because they put out a casting call for extras.
Further information coming from their website only says they won’t be wrapping up filming for season 2 until late December 2021.
They also shared that shooting locations for season 2 will be the Kanto area, Hyogo, Aichi, Osaka, Toyama, Wakayma etc.
Later in November 2021, the Netflix Festival Japan, or Tudum 2022 event, the season 2 of the show was revealed that is finally coming down in December 2022, a year late of its earlier scheduled release date.
Alice in Borderland News & More Details (So Far)
This show gained popularity after the recent success of Netflix series Squid Game which was a Korean thriller series with a similar plot.
Squid game fans or people who appreciated the series got their interest piqued in this Japanese show Alice in Borderland which more or less remained the underdog until the popuarity explosion.
In fact, the Tokyo-based Manager at Netflix, Michale Smith said this in his interview with Variety:
“We were thrilled to see that many members who discovered and watched Squid Game also started discovering Alice for the first time. It landed back in the top 10 series ranking in more than 50 countries around the world, more than nine months after its initial launch.”
The second season of this show was already in talks way before. The cast members in fact, also hinted about the season 2 of the show in a twitter video.
It came from the main protagonist Yamazaki who plays Arisu sharing how the world shown in the series is going to expand even further than what has been shown in the previous season, clearly stating potentially more seasons.
Michael Smith, the Netflix Tokyo Manager also just recently shared to RadioTimes at the Tokyo International Film Festival about the popularity of the show :
“Our service picked up on this connection and started recommending Alice to more members who hadn’t already seen the show … It landed back in the Top 10 series ranking in more than 50 countries around the world, more than nine months after its initial launch.”
Another thing is for sure that season two won’t be changing any locations that are already established in season 1.
The writer and director Shinsuke Sato shared to Still Watching Netflix about they have set the story in the set location to infuse curiosity and was purposeful, here’s his quote :
“Setting the story here has allowed a sense of curiosity and exoticism of Tokyo. From the beginning, I had the viewers from around the world in mind.On a business level, Alice in Borderland was created with the Japanese market in mind. But on a personal and emotional level, it became an opportunity to share Japan’s atmosphere, and its domestic feeling and ambience. I always hoped an international audience, who didn’t know Japan, would get excited or be deeply moved by it.”
The director basically explained that he always had kept the world audience in his mind while writing and directing the show.
However, he did admit that on a business level, the show was created with the Japanese market in mind.
Still, on the personal level, it was his way to show Japan’s domestic feeling, ambience and atmosphere to the world where he always hoped for an international audience to introduce Japan, and was moved by it.
About how long the show will run, the writer and director Sato might have given the hint of a three-season stretch of the show. He shared :
“There’s a long original manga comic that this is based off, this isn’t just exclusive to Alice in Borderland, but if it were a movie there is a very set three-act structure,We learn about it in film school, that if it’s a two-hour movie, it balances well as a three-act structure. Back in the day, I had the mindset that I had to have a three-act structure, so I was very intentional about dividing the three acts.”
However, there is no assurance with Sato’s style as being evolved over time, so the time will tell.
He talked about his writing process and how he re-write and threw until to a point where he is ultimately satisfied with the results. He shared :
“The more I wrote, the less I worried about the structure. But in order to get closer to that image, I had to make a lot of changes,” Sato continued. “I rewrote countless times. I would rewrite, then throw it away, then rewrite and throw it away, over and over again to get to the point of satisfaction.”
What we can be sure of in season 2 is the strong and driven character which you can relate to, because that’s what is so important for Sato.
He spoke about how he adds the layers of himself to the characters he creates in the direction process.
It is interesting to know how Sato uses shades and traits of his own personality and infuses them into his characters, even in the evil ones.
Here’s what he said regarding how he create characters and add layers of himself into including the negative aspects as well :
“It’s important to create a significant protagonist for any story, not only for movies but for any storytelling. But great protagonists aren’t just determined and set from the beginning. I think the character’s strengths are what make the protagonist great.As a director, there are sometimes layers of myself that get added to the characters I create. Sometimes my own characteristics are aspects I end up adding into the characters. Even with the most evil of characters, there are moments where you’re able to see shadows of the character’s past, and understand why they are that way due to their past experience.”
Featured Image Source: IMDb