So, we’ve been bingeing for a while now, be it crackers, salmon skin or dory skin salted egg snacks or Tao Kae Noi seaweed snack. The year 2020 will be done in another week or so and I am working on completing “ahem!’ another bingeing marathon before ushering the new year.
Last week, I’ve completed Alice in Borderland on Netflix. It appears recommended by the clever algorithm (what? Not rom-com or Say Yes to The Dress?) and on the top 10 list in Malaysia. And I will go with the recommendations whenever my mind wants to go back to My List on Netflix.
Alice in Borderland, I was thinking it’s another attempt on Alice in Wonderland, the classic or Through the Looking Glass. But its Japanese cast no doubt caught my eyes to hit play and the rest is another history of bingeing.
Alice in Borderland has Tokyo as the background, minus the traffic. It is eery to see Shibuya crossing deserted, paper flying, the quietness and stillness. At first, I thought it is another zombie apocalypse binge, but this time it’s about survival through games. And to make it serious there’s a red laser shooting from the sky. You can survive by having enough visas or days won from the games and people are forced to participate to survive. The aim is to collect enough play cards.
Just as I thought Arisu is set to embark with newfound interest Yuzuha Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), they decided to find The Beach, where there’s a mad Hatter awaits. Sounds more like Alice in Wonderland now. If you are wondering what games they need to complete to survive, it’s nothing short of mental agility, problem-solving and bravery, and of course strength, but in some episodes, intelligence beats strength.
What I found interesting is the approach of each participant towards the games, which pretty much the baseline of the storytelling. Of course, there’s a higher power at play, and people will forever bid on others’ lives to make money, a kill or to be killed mentality.
My binge radar says it’s a 7 out of 10 plus two salmon skin with salted egg snacks. Yummy!
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