Review by C.J. Bunce
Waiting for Season 3? With last year’s announcement that Netflix renewed for a third season its live-action series Alice in Borderland–a Top 10 international hit in more than 70 countries–you may be wondering how to bide your time. Luckily Netflix didn’t adapt all the original source material to the screen. Will they go back in Season 3 and flesh-out side characters, or will they abandon the manga and take the heroes of the series into an entirely new direction? Will the Joker drive the story?
In Volume 8, writer-artist Haro Aso stepped back to take a look at nearly 2,500 pages of storytelling (check out our review of the next and final volume here). Where is it all heading? Is this a game he has been playing with us? Is there something more to this ride than we’re picking up on?
When we reviewed the first season of Alice in Borderland here at borg back in 2020, there was no English edition of the original Japanese manga available. After the series aired, VIZ Media began issuing a volume-by-volume English translation, and we’ve reviewed Volume 1 here, Volume 2 here, Volume 3 here, Volume 4 here, Volume 5 here, Volume 6 here, and Volume 7 here. Each book is a massive 344-page paperback, and with Volume 8 they together collect the first 64 chapters. Alice in Borderland Volume 8 is available in print and digital now here at Amazon, or add it to your VIZ digital account here.
As a refresher, in the first volume readers met series protagonist Arisu and his friends entering the dark setting of Borderland. The next two volumes increased the pace of action and tension. Volume 4 focused on the hopelessness of the series’ leads chances. Volume 5 slowed the story down, shifting the nature of the threat and intensifying the story’s unique brand of villainy. Volume 6 was a more heady story, bringing in entirely new characters in a scene that later would be better tied into the TV series. In Volume 7 those new characters become more interesting, and readers got a better view of the murderous Jack of Hearts.
Volume 8 begins by summing up the past via a new character, a cameraman attempting to document the strange world he has found himself in. This volume does three things well. First, this book may have the best art of the series. It doesn’t come through with the characters in speaking scenes but in the incredibly detailed setting scenes. Sometimes they highlight chapter segues, other times they are spliced between games.
Second, for those here for the statistics and math puzzles, Aso has delivered his most difficult games yet. If you understand the intricacies of matrices, if numbers are second nature to you, this is the book to test you and your ability to survive in Borderland. It also presents a problem for anyone not familiar with scoring in mahjong–you’re going to be stumbling through a game to the death depending on your gambling skills and understanding of that game.
We see the King of Diamonds game involving Chishiyu and his old Beach pal, the King of Diamonds. This is one of the manga details that was handled similarly in the second season of the Netflix series. Lurking in the shadows is the woman Netflix series watchers will know as the Queen of Hearts. It’s the third great element that stands out in comparing the manga and the show–the casting of the Netflix series is superbly close to the characters Aso drew into his book. The Queen looks like the manga was an adaptation of the show.
A theme park game is one of those elements you could see Season 3 going back to should the writers decide to milk unused elements from the manga, but at this point it seems like the series needs to go into new directions to stay fresh and fun. We’re left seeing Chishiyu’s survival in question, and Arisu seeing the ghosts of his friends encouraging him onward, just as adapted for the show. It’s all great stuff, but after 54 chapters in 16 parts plus more than a few dozen side stories, we’re ready to see how Haro Aso wraps it all up. Note: As with prior volumes, the book is printed entirely in its original black and white artwork, typical of manga books, and it retains the creator’s original manga formatting.
Alice in Borderland Volume 1, Alice in Borderland Volume 2, and Alice in Borderland Volu,me 3 are excellent reads, and in Alice in Borderland Volume 4 readers may wonder if Haro can keep the action running for three more books. To check out the “expanded universe” of the story with more elements that go beyond the TV show, check out Alice in Borderland Volume 5, Alice in Borderland Volume 6, Alice in Borderland Volume 7, and a mix of what we saw in the show and what we didn’t in Alice in Borderland Volume 8 available in print and digital now here at Amazon, or add it to your VIZ digital account here. You can also pre-order Volume 9 here. Keep coming back to borg as we review the final volume!
