Review: Alice in Borderland (Vol. 1)

"You may have killed more than me, but i'm smarter than you." ~ Chishiya (from Alice in Borderland by Haro Aso) ♠️♦️

Author: Haro Aso

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC

ISBN: 9781974728374

My rating: 5/5

Short summary

Eighteen-year-old Ryohei Arisu is sick of his life. School sucks, his love life is a joke, and his future feels like impending doom. As he struggles to exist in a world that can’t be bothered with him, Ryohei feels like everything would be better if he were anywhere else. When a strange fireworks show transports him and his friends to a parallel world, Ryohei thinks all his wishes have come true. But this new world isn’t an empty paradise, it’s a vicious game. And the only way to survive is to play.

The first game starts with a bang, but Ryohei manages to beat the clock and save his friends. It’s a short-lived victory, however, as they discover that winning only earns them a few days’ grace period. If they want to get home, they’re going to have to start playing a lot harder.

My reading experience

After seeing the Netflix adaptation (which I absolutely loved) I became very curious about the manga series. Thus after receiving the first volume, I started immediately reading it. And it didn't disappoint me.

In the first part Arisu and his friends enter the borderland universum and they have to play the Three of Clubs. This game differs a lot from the one in the Netflix series and I even liked it more. It was more complex and had more depth. Together with the players I was thinking about a solution to solve the game. And I was almost correct about it! I really loved the puzzling quiz questions in this game. The characters show a lot of bravery conquering this game.

The second part contains a tag game, the so called Five of Spades. This is a game full of action, but also requires some thinking. It begins very mysterious but turns into a very gruesome game quit fast - what I really enjoyed. It was thrilling and challenging, since Spade games are physical games. Arisu also meets some new interesting characters like Usagi and Chishiya. Both are leaving you wondering a lot about their pasts, but also about borderland.

In general, this was a manga packed full of action, thrilling, mystery and problem solving. The games are worked out very well and are quite challenging. Besides that, the artwork is amazing and really helps imaging the places and games. This is the first manga I have ever read and I really enjoyed it. Let's go to the next games!