The long-awaited season two of Netflix’s Japanese psychological thriller series Alice In Borderland, based on Haro Aso’s manga, brings the audience back together for another round of exceeded expectations. 

The new season builds off the previous one with the characters still finding themselves in a largely-abandoned Tokyo, where each person has to play wickedly manipulative deadly games designed to pit players against each other in order to gather all 52 cards in a deck.

Season 2 does not open with a recap; instead, it picks up right where the last season left off, quickly thrusting the main character, Arisu, and his friends into a deadly “game of bullets.” Since the players clear all the numbered card games in season one, the remaining players find themselves playing for the Face Cards, where each of the games involve playing alongside one of the cards themselves. 

The new season also has more violence with more gruesome scenes being added throughout the show. 

The death games are also more elaborate this time around, spanning multiple episodes but still not feeling dragged out. The viewers get to see both physical and mind games, adding a  psychological element to the show. 

As each character from the main group gets separated, we learn more about themselves and their motives for staying alive. 

Alice in Borderland is one of the rare occasions where the live-action remake actually does the anime justice and the second season only exemplifies that. 

The only thing that makes this season faulty is that the final episode leaves us with more questions than answers. The ending itself seems rushed and the final game is a lot less dramatic than fans had anticipated. The show leaves many ties unsolved, giving fans hope for a season three.