Spoilers for Alice in Borderland Seasons 1-3
Alice in Borderland stormed onto Netflix in 2020, adapting the manga of the same name by Haro Aso and thrusting viewers into a world of ruthless games and lovable characters. People around the world watched eagerly as Arisu and Usagi navigated the various games, players and surprises of Borderland without any clear way to escape, other than to keep going through it. With the release of Season 3 earlier this year, and the future of the series still brimming with potential, fans are still itching for more. So, why not return to the source material?
The manga spans 65 chapters, with a sequel series, Alice in Borderland Retry, being the basis for the third season. Whether you’re looking for more backstory on some key characters, new games, or just itching to see the world of the Borderlands in a new light, here are 8 differences between the manga and the Netflix adaptation of Alice in Borderland.
1. Side Stories
Several of the popular games in the series were originally side stories in the manga. Side stories are small independently contained stories within the world of Alice in Borderland, focusing on characters who are not in the main cast. Especially after Arisu swears off participating in any games after Tatta’s death in the King of Clubs match, these stories take centre stage to keep the world developing. The “Runaway” game and the stadium game “Boiling Death” are two such games that made it out of the side stories and into the series adaptation. The Jack of Hearts game with Chishiya is also originally a side story, albeit without Chishiya’s involvement. Akane, a character whose first appearance is in one of these side stories, also appears in the show.
2. Aged-Up Characters
Fans of the show may be surprised to learn that our main trio of misfits, Arisu, Karube and Chota, are actually all highschoolers (with the exception of Karube who dropped out of school early on and only recently became reacquainted with Chota and Arisu after a chance encounter). Instead of being chastised about job interviews, Arisu is told to study to get into a good college. Chota goofs on in class in lieu of his office job and Karube still works at the bar, albeit with no potential fiancée in sight. Usagi is also a high schooler in the manga, along with Akane who is the high school aged character that wasn’t aged up in the show.
3. Core Group
After the destruction of the beach at the end of Sason 1, Arisu, Usagi, Tatta, Chishiya, Ann and Kuina are all separated by the King of Spades’ rampage, but in the manga it’s hard to say that this core group ever really existed. Chishiya and Kuina have no clear bond and he is willing to sacrifice her to succeed in his plan of stealing the cards from Aguni. After the destruction of the beach, a small group of beach survivors (including Kuina, Ann, Tatta, Usagi and Arisu) all spend time together relaxing, but once the King of Spades arrives, this group is reduced to just our main four characters, and Ann is rarely seen again. After Tatta’s death, Arisu quits the games for good and Usagi chooses to stay by his side while Kuina leaves them to pursue the games on her own.
4. Arisu’s Intelligence
Arisu, played by Kento Yamazaki in the show, is portrayed as an unadulterated genius. Where he lacks book smarts and ambition in the real world, his gaming obsession and knowledge of obscure facts prove especially useful in Borderland, such as in the first game where Arisu’s knowledge of the dimensions of a car he saw in passing allows him to uncover the layout of an entire building, leading to him clearing the game. Arisu is a master at solving puzzles and empathetic which allows him to survive in the games, but in the manga he is not the same genius.
Arisu is proven to be crafty and useful in games, but he is aided by his peers just as much as he helps them. A lot of his impressive feats in the show are actually done by other people in the manga. Karube is the one who suggests that all the players should work together in “Tag”, taking a major risk but showcasing his bravery and care for the other players in the game. Ann is the one who solves the four of diamonds “Lightbulb Game” completely on her own, while Arisu mostly just waits around and Niragi of all people is the one who devises the strategy for the King of Clubs game after Arisu comes up with a few potential ideas.
5. Game Prizes
An interesting (albeit underutilized) element from the manga that was left out of the adaptation is the addition of game prizes! On a rare occasion, the completion of certain games will result in a prize. Chishiya, after clearing his first ever game, a modified version of Blackjack, wins a loaded pistol, which he later uses as a distraction in the “Tag” game in order to save Karube’s life. In a more twisted example, Arisu is awarded a meal of fresh mutton after completing the seven of hearts “Hide and Seek” game.
6. Yuuji Marihu and Ann
The always calm and collected Ann is a staple of the main series. She is the one who uncovers the reversed grip fingerprints on the knife in the ten of hearts “Witch Hunt” game, and she valiantly goes off into the wilderness to search for clues about the strange world she has now occupied after all the number cards have been collected. However, she has a much smaller part to play in the manga. In fact, her character seems to be split in between two different people: Ann (the one we are familiar with in the show) and Yuuji Mahiru, a beach executive that survived the Witch Hunt massacre and goes on to explore the Borderlands’ wilderness. He is the one who stumbles across the documentarian (who appears in the show late in Season 2) as well as finding the secret room in the subway where the dealers used to have their games.
7. Back Story (for everyone)
The manga is a treasure trove for expanded backstories on most of the main characters. We get to see more of Arisu’s relationship with his father and brother, Shibuki-san’s first game, Tatta’s failure to become a stand up comic, and even a better glimpse into life as a dealer and the early days of the current citizens of the Borderlands. In addition to this, there are a couple characters in the manga that were not adapted into the series, such as the aforementioned Yuuji Mahiru, Doudou Hayato, a middle schooler who ends up teaming up with Akane and Aguni to take down the King of Spades and Yamane Kaito, a Yakuza member who finds himself unlucky enough to be stuck in the four of clubs “Runaway” game.
8. Saori Shibuki
Saori Shibuki showed up for the first three episodes of Alice in Borderland Season 1, before being forgotten entirely after her death in the seven of hearts “Hide & Seek” game, but in the manga, her character is a bit different. Shibuki meets the group in their first game (a game of fortunes and flaming arrows not seen in the show) and explains to them the way the Borderlands works. She spends quality time with the entire group, fishing, sharing meals and volunteering to stay behind with an injured Chota when the others go out to play another game. Her actions seem less manipulative and more well-intentioned, up until the moments before the next game, when tensions are high and Shibuki and Chota only have one day left on their visa.
The hearts game is devastating and results in the friends almost immediately turning on each other. Shibuki and Karube fight, Arisu runs away once he gets the wolf, declaring that they are “no longer friends” and the group hunts him relentlessly, with the exception of Chota who is once again able to bring the group together. Even when Arisu comes to his senses and tries to give up the wolf, an unrestrained Shibuki chooses not to approach him and allow him to live his life rather than killing him to save herself. For the rest of the manga’s run, when Arisu thinks fondly of the friends he lost in that game, Shibuki-san is included in those memories.
Seasons 1-3 of Alice in Borderland are streaming on Netflix.
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Jaidah-Leigh Wyatt (she/her/elle) is a Canadian-Jamaican writer/filmmaker, currently based in Toronto. A writer first and foremost, she enjoys bringing her words to life through various mediums, whether that be film, photography, interactive or audio based projects — making her a mixed media artist as well. Above all else, she adores the weird, uncanny, macabre, anything horror-related (specifically psychological horror) and the absurd.