While I’ll accept my colleague Jesse Lab’s argument that Alita: Battle Angel is the best live-action anime adaptation, I’d argue that Alice in Borderland deserves to be mentioned in the same breath, which is why recent hints of a possible season 3 are very exciting. Earlier this week, X user adbrex_, a street advertising specialist according to his bio, posted an image of a mysterious ad in Shibuya Station that hints at a return for the series.
The ad consists of nothing more than an array of playing cards set against a black background with the Netflix logo:
渋谷駅で見つけたNetflixの広告。珍しくB0ポスター出していると思ったら、内容が謎すぎる。
今際の国のアリスの告知…？
この広告の正体ご存知の方、求む！ pic.twitter.com/265V8BT9Gs— 加藤誠也 街中広告マニア (@adbrex_) September 18, 2023
Fans have drawn the Alice in Borderland connection from that because of the central role that playing cards have in the series in terms of indicating the difficulty of the games the participants are forced to play. Internet sleuths have gone further than that, however, and matched the number of each card with the name of their suit to spell out ‘Alice Three’. Plus, Shibuya Station is the place where protagonist Arisu and his friends first found themselves sucked into the Borderland, so there’s an intriguing ARG element to it as well.
While season 2 of Alice in Borderland put a lovely bow on the series by explaining the mysteries and wrapping things up, its final scene did leave a hint towards more. Likewise, the manga on which it is based has a couple of expansions. Alice on Border Road is a spin-off that follows a different set of characters trekking from Kyoto to Tokyo in the same desolated world. Later, a direct sequel, Alice in Borderland: Retry began, which sees Arisu once again in the Borderland and struggling to escape.
The second season of Alice in Borderland debuted on Netflix in December 2022 and, so far, the streamer hasn’t made any official announcements of a season 3. We’ll keep an eye out, though, so check back for more.
