Alice in Borderland Season 2 TV Show Review: Playing Mind Games

Alice in Borderland Season 2 is another season of epic games and violence. There is less emphasis on the games this season and more emphasis on the overarching story as a whole. A lot of questions are answered and this season wraps the story up very nicely, with no cliffhangers, which I really appreciated. At the same time, there is still the possibility for more seasons to come, and I am excited to see where the story goes next.

While watching this season, I started to see more parallels between Alice in Borderland and Alice in Wonderland. I never read the Alice in Wonderland book, so my main point of comparison was with the Disney animated film. I thought it was so interesting to recognize that Arisu = Alice, Usagi = The White Rabbit, and Chishiya = Cheshire Cat. While season 1 focused more on the mystery and excitement of the games, season 2 really hones in on the symbolism of the cards and the deeper meaning behind the world they are existing in. I think the fact that this show is loosely based on Alice in Wonderland became much more evident this season, and it was a lot of fun to try and figure out how the two were similar and different.

I think a big highlight of season 2 for me was Chishiya. Chishiya is an addicting character to watch because he naturally oozes charisma, intelligence, and confidence. The best game of the season was the prison game, by far. I’m drawn more towards the games that require mental riddles rather than the games that are action-packed. In these types of games, it feels like a complicated murder mystery and Chishiya is the Sherlock Holmes that casually and expertly navigates his way through.

I was very satisfied by the ending of the season. I was really racking my brains to try to solve the mystery of the games and the ending surprised me nonetheless. There are some characters that were introduced this season that did not leave a lasting impression on me, but since this show is based on a manga, I can only imagine they play a bigger role later on in the story. I’m excited to see how the story continues to evolve, because the ending of this season felt like such a good wrap-up that I can’t even imagine what could be coming up next.