Imawa no Kuni no Alice 2 (2022)

Just Perfect!

Waiting 2 years was hard, but it was worth it. This series holds your attention from start to finish.
I just didn't put a 10 on the story because there are a lot of things I don't have an answer for yet. How did the older players get there? How was the catastrophe that led them there? And how was the hierarchy among them chosen? Doesn't anyone who left Borderland remember anything? What does Joker mean? Does the Joker represent everything that happened or does it mean that what we are seeing is the end game after all and they are not aware of it? There are so many questions... hahah

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This was even better than Season 1. I loved the games, I was on the edge of my seat at all times, and episode 7 and 8 made me cry (naturally). The games were even crazier and scarier lowkey than in the first season. But I gotta say ... it was interesting to see the Face Cards, I don't even know who was my favorite because they were all so different yet so intriguing. I am quite satisfied with the ending and even though a third season would be cool in terms of returning to the world and seeing more games and nice cinematography, the ending of this season in particular made sense and gave me closure :)

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I'm stunned, it's incredible

This season really managed to wrap it all up for us, to explain everything.

I would've given the story 10/10 if they hadn't gone for the "and it was all a dream" ending, like I used to do when I was 10-
And I also don't really get that one scene, after they said no to a permanent residency, when Arisu is sitting in the bar with Karube and Chota. That scene added nothing but confusion.

But the way they introduced new characters, as well as how they went back to old ones, such as when we followed Ann through the forest, and Chisuyu through the different games.
I do however want to know the reason behind everyones heart stopping. Everyone who survived had a cardiac arrest, so I assume there is a connection there somewhere.

Many people have speculated on a third season due to the joker card in the ending scene, and that might just be fully possible if you take people who said yes to a permanent residency into consideration. The two men who said yes to stay is nowhere to be seen in the ending scenes in the hospital or when the meteor hits, and we get no explanation as to where they are, despite them having survived all the games.

But to wrap it all up, the show is amazingly written, and lived up to its hype. It has all the plot twists needed to keep you watching, even tho it got a little too much when they were having tea with the queen of hearts and I got tempted to skip ahead. But how they go from game to game, how they get split up and then reunite again, how Niragi doesn't die of infection and sepsis from his burns (?how?), and how every gamemaster dies with honor, and a purpose.
It's amazing

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Mystery solved!

We were all waiting for this day to understand what and why happened.


Games were great like the first season but overall story was a little bit weak in my opinion. The story at the end of the season was not satisfactory when we look at the both seasons. It was like writers didnt know how to connect and finished the story and wrote the first thing came to their mind. Also the romance scenes between Usagi and Arisu was long that I skipped... First season was better i guess.

The things I enjoyed watching this season were the games and Chishiya.

The ending - JOKER part - felt like there might be another season but we will see.

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REVIEW

Everything was perfect in the season 2. The games were interesting, and very scary! I enjoyed more watching this season than the first one. Everything was very catchy! I could rewatch it a second time! The acting was great, the decorations were well realized, everything was entertaining. Maybe the soundtrack in my opinion wasn’t impactful or special but it’s just my opinion and it wasn’t even bad or disturbing. Also the ending was very good, it wasn’t rushed! I hope they make a season 3, but also i don’t if a season 3 will be necessary cause maybe it will be like pushing the series too far for nothing and the result will be bad.

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..LET THE REMAINING CARDS PLAY~!!..

..as the new season aired, nothing to expect but getting hyped on each games to be played - the rules, the start, to lose and to win, and to clear the game..
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..with new casts, with new actions, with new strategies, new bondings are always much awaited..
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..well, always the last episode get the clear vision of how these games happened and yet the ending is just a so-so (though I already read the ending without watching this whole season first) - saying, "that's it?!"..
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..but still overall, I love the entire series - the games, the actions, the effects, the people behind these are so genius making this series possible..
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..a must watch for those curious if this is worth it..
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..you want challenge? you want to crack your brain? listen to your heart? trust the people?..
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..then enter to this world..

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Good!

I feel it wasn't as good as the first season however it was also very good! the last game had confused me and I had really thought that they were in a mental hospital the whole time. The ending where Arisu was hanging out with his friends made me happy.. until the planet was hit, I guess his two best friends were supposed to die in the end which was sad but overall it was a happy ending once Arisu and Usagi got together. I wish that all the survivors would remember each other though. Especially Heiya and Aguni. I think the thing that suprised me the most was Kyumi? I for real thought he had pants on but he was butt naked the whole time he was on film, I do think it was nice that Kyumi had great sportsmanship though.

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Episode 8

That very last scène, all I needed...

I loved season 2 as much as I loved season one, if not even more. The thrill, plot twists, suspense, hurt and healing were all I needed.

Did i wish, that they would've regained their memory at the end? Yes. Do I believe they should've regained their memory? No! It's probably for the best this way. However, that very last scène...

That's a hint right? Season three, right? Did I see that correctly? Am I delusional? Season three? Truly hope so..

Also, what happened? A meteorite hit, everybody who died in the game, also died in real life because of the meteorite. Everybody who got hurt during the games, was hurt on the same spots because of the meteorite. But what truly happend in that 1 minute of unconsciousness? Who or what did that to them. There are so many possible situations, I can't.

Also Ann!! Wohoooo, she made it!

That last game tho... They had me fooled big time. I forgot it was a ♥ game....

I cried.

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An abomination of an adaptation.

The following review has spoilers on both the manga and both seasons of the JDrama:

As expected, there is the same cringe-awful acting. However, not without high production quality, great set designs, and even clearly articulated game rules.
In Season 1 they actually expanded on the source material and gave the bone some more meat.
In Season 2 they fucked up with the two best games in the entire series ??

King of Clubs
Niragi becomes even more one-dimensional than he is in the manga. Instead of being the MVP of the game, his original 1st phase plan is changed to Arisu's plan instead. Despite his demeanor, his specialty is actually diamonds (intelligence). Here, he's just some dumbass rapist overstaying his welcome. The whole reason why he and Chishiya battled in the beach game is because they're meant to be parallels to each other, but here it's like comparing Einstein to Andrew Tate. Even his conflict against Arisu & assault on Usagi is dumbed down with little to no impact.
Kuina on other hand got it even worse, her opponent clowned on her completely. This is meant to be her peak in the entire series and she gets jack shit. Instead of being beat the fuck up, she gets a simple tackle. Instead of doing a hardcore counter kick where both her and her opponent take each other out for a distraction - she just easily gets swatted away. She is even presented as the one who failed to end the game early and thus eventually leading to Usagi's scuffle and Tatta having to sacrifice himself instead. Heck, instead of being the one to declare that she'll do anything she can to get the final 2500 point item, that speech is passed onto Usagi instead. She doesn't help at all and just waits pathetically for death. Character over lmfao. Epic trans rep Netflix!
Additionally, Arisu's final thank you speech falls flat and he doesn't even make up with Usagi in this game (he just hangs her up to dry until things boil over). Furthermore, the final 10 minutes were literally animanga logic timing, entire important events happening in the span of a single minute. You as a viewer can see the timer at the bottom and these characters have entire 5 minute dialogues and apparently only 2 minutes have passed.

Jack of Hearts
They condensed so fucking much lmfao. Half the characters are just disposable nobodies. Buildup & insight for Banda and Yaba are non-existent. Chishiya is for some reason incorporated into this game when he isn't in here in the manga (which tbh is welcomed as his actor is amazing). But it still feels like he's hamfisted in there because he's a fan favorite. The tough guy at the beginning is a 0-dimensional meathead and his victim doesn't get any agency in the slightest, the intimidation & conflict was even worse than your stereotypical animanga comically evil class of school kids. All the well-crafted backstabbing is dumbed down. Even the Jack himself gets character assassinated with little to no substance. But by far the most egregious is the "equality" speech from Yaba being cut almost entirely, thus falling flat on its face and ruining the keikakudoori moment.

Episode 7 Compilation of off-screened games:
- King of Hearts - ppl are for some reason running around in a tight maze away from unknown creature (lame as shit for a hearts game wtf)
- Queen of Clubs - orb throwing game on a tight platform (how is this any shape or form a team game, 90% of it is physical fitness AGAINST other groups of people.
- Jack of Clubs - a bunch of people climbing numerous amounts of rope (once again, what the fuck does this have to do with teamwork, 90% of this is physical and it even shows us ppl kicking each other off)
- Jack of Diamonds - unremarkable Mahjong game with Chishiya OMITTED
- Jack of Spades - martial arts battle royale with Kuina iirc...yeah that's it
- Queen of Spades - 2 team tag game in a massive parkour arena, barebones writing and minimal substance aside from set design. Only exists to give Arisu & Usagi another game together.
- Queen of Diamonds - Unclear; only the aftermath is shown where a huge number of injured people are seen running out of a car park.

Remaining 4 episodes of season 2:
- Camera guy motivation cheapened and insight into dealers erased
- Doudou does not exist - good choice.
- Heiya's incredible backstory is a lot less substantial, visceral, and cathartic.
For some reason ended up powering through half a magazine close-range m16 rounds for several hours while crawling across cement and rubble instead...ok.
- Chishiya is not present in Jack of Diamonds
- Yuji Mahiru's story is assimilated entirely into Ann but any of that profoundness and nuance is lost to some random ass pretentious landscape shots of some mountains. Actual nothingburger of a character, both in manga and adaptation.
- King of Diamonds: They made the loan shark woman a complete dumbass for some reason, why did they characterize her like it's her first game or something. Aside from her college-level math skills - why in the fuck would this person join the king of intelligence game? And her fun little segment with Chishiya where they help each other is completely removed as well. We just completely off-screen how Chishiya won 2 rounds because they made her a dumbass. Also lmao, Chishiya omitted the 69 comment.
- Kuzuryu's character is also a lot less nuanced with both his and Chishiya's motivations, backstories, and character introspection made ambiguous and up to your interpretation.
This wasn't the producers expecting their fans to have reading comprehension skills in order to come to their own conclusions, this was them making it broad and muted so that it would sound philosophical & deep and the fans would just simply nod their heads to it.
- King of Spades - Wow, while they only slightly alluded to his "mercy kill/ending agony" motivation unlike in the manga where it's made blatantly clear, I actually like how he was handled here. Amazing fight choreography and an actual great culmination of character drama & climax. Mf actually soloed the entire cast and was killed off climatically by Arisu & Aguni. Good shit.
- Queen of Hearts - fucking near-perfect, so masterfully done. Actually got goosebumps even though I knew everything that was coming.

- Ending - R.I.P LMFAOOOOOO FINAL CHAPTER'S MESSAGING COMPLETELY OMITTED, THE BEST PART OF THE MANGA ERASED AND FELL TO NETFLIX CURSE ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
FUCKING "JOKER" CARD SEQUEL BAIT INSTEAD????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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Joker

First off the acting was good from both Yamazaki Kento and Tsuchiya Tao. I loved their relationship in the series and it felt natural. Also I loved how creative the games this season were. The first episode starts with a thrilling car chase sequence and I loved it. I also loved the character of Tatta. He dies a very meaningful death. That's the best thing about this series. No character is treated like a cannon fodder. Even characters like Niragi and Aguni. Also we even got to see Chishiya in action more than I thought I would. Loved his backstory. Kuzuryu's backstory and the game he created was very interesting. I would have loved to see an extension to it. But there are few issues I have with this season. We only got to see glimpses of the backstory of some characters. The other issues I have are with the last two episodes. First my thoughts on episode seven :- I loved them but why the hell do many characters besides Arisu gain plot Armor. Also the series expects you to believe that a character which was previously killed can be brought back. They did it once with Niragi and thrice with Aguni. As for episode eight. It was confusing. Apparently in episode 1 of season 1 Tokyo was hit by a meteorite in which Arisu, Chota and Karube were caught up along with other major characters; those who survived till the end in the Borderlands survived in the real world. But all of them forgot about it. So Karube and Chota died but Arisu survived. We also got to see the shot of the Joker card in the end. Don't know what that was about but maybe a tease for a potential season 3. I still loved the second season of Alice in Borderland though. I think it ended on a satisfying note. But if they make a season 3 and make it as good as this season I'll watch it.

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