Alice in Borderland
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Of course, before the finale gives us definitive answers, Mira takes us on a ride.
The Queen of Hearts game is deceptively simple.
Arisu must play three croquet rounds (the one with the mallets) with Mira.
He doesnt have to beat her; he just has to finish.
He loved Karube and Chota and has struggled to find the will to live without them.
Its Usagi that saves him.
She cuts her wrist and asks him to see her, to save her.
Remember what you said.
No matter what Mira says, I am most definitely here with you.
She spells out what shes learned in Borderland, what theyve learned together.
Arisu has been searching so desperately to understand if there is a reason to live.
Will there be something that makes it worth it?
But other people cant answer those questions for Arisu.
The answer is different for everyone, Usagi tells Arisu, unwilling to leave him behind.
A reason for living … it doesnt matter if you have one or not.
This whole time weve searched, weve been searching together.
That alone was enough.
The one who made me realize that was you.
The turn Arisus choice is shot so beautifully.
You think he is reaching for the pills Mira has offered, but he reaches for Usagis hand.
I want to hold your hand again.
I want to walk with you again.
I want to eat with you, he tells her, and Usagi agrees.
I want to say good morning to you again tomorrow, Arisu.
They essentially exchange marriage vows, and why not?
They have already made so many promises to one another.
In the end, finding someone else to face the games together has been enough.
Arisu finishes the game, and Mira has a good time.
She wins two out of three rounds as the sun sets on Borderland, but she dies by laser.
Life is like a game, she says in her weirdly supportive final words.
The surviving players have a choice: Choose to stay as a citizen in Borderland or dont.
Aguni, Heiya, Kuina, Chishiya, and even Niragi reject the offer of citizenship.
Arisu and Usagi do the same.
They want out of Borderland, no matter what.
Fireworks fill the sky.
Before Arisu wakes up, he dreams of Karube and Chota.
They are in Karubes bar together, laughing about nose hair.
Then, Arisu breaks down; he apologizes for their deaths.
They tease him lovingly.
I bet you think youre alive because youre special and a chosen one, right?
There wasnt a single game that you cleared by your own effort alone.
Its a rejection of Arisus efforts to take credit for the choices Chota and Karube made.
If you thanked us forever, it would never be enough, Chota adds.
Were back at Shibuya Crossing, before Borderland, when everything seemed simpler.
Arisu is with Chota and Karube, but we recognize other familiar faces too.
Ann, Chishiya, and Kuina stroll across the street.
Tatta sits nearby in a truck.
Niragi sits on a bench, stretching his neck.
Usagi stares off into the middle distance, waiting for someone or just thinking.
Aguni and Hatter are there, too, side by side.
Heiya sips boba with her high-school friends.
In this brief moment, its a stupid, normal, wonderful day.
Those fireworks the ones we kept hearing about repeatedly in Borderland are in the sky, and everyones looking.
But theyre not fireworks; we know that now.
Its a meteorite exploding over Tokyo, turning Shibuya City into a nightmare in the blink of an eye.
We catch back up with Arisu and the others as they recover in a hospital.
Karube and Chota died in the disaster, like everyone else we saw die in Borderland.
For the players and us viewers, what felt like weeks was mere minutes in the real world.
They were resuscitated by emergency responders in the real world with no knowledge of their time spent in Borderland.
The chief clue was in everyones obsession with finding and/or losing the motivation to live.
Borderland is real, in some sense.
Chishiya and Niragi bicker as hospital roommates.
Heiya is drawn to Agunis room.
Usagi and Arisu meet at a vending machine and find something familiar in one another.
For me, that is enough.
Expired Visas
Yes, this is how the manga ends, too.
I will note there isa sequelthat sees poor Arisu returning to Borderland again … and married to Usagi.
Yes, that Joker card suggests there could be more adventures in Borderland should Netflix choose to green-light them.
Apparently croquet is not widely known in Japan.
I appreciated this detail.
We see the doctors able to bring her back to life in the operating room.
Arisus brother visits him in the hospital and mentions that their father cried when Arisu was in the disaster.
Low bar, but progress, I guess?
Again, I want these dads to do even better.
Personally, I am glad these characters dont remember Borderland.
They already have enough trauma to deal with.
Hey, that boy Arisu and Usagi temporarily adopted made it!
Did anyone else getYour Namevibes from this ending?
This is one of the highest compliments I can bestow upon a story.
Presumably Borderland continues to exist populated with people stuck between life and death.
Mr. Yaba and Banda are still there, having chosen to be citizens.
Will they be face cards in the next cycle?
