Alice in Borderland is a quirky, violent, fast-paced survivalist adventure, that always ends on a cliffhanger. This is a captivating series that will appeal to any gamer and dystopia fans.

I love love love love this series. Its gripping, exciting, full drama and intrigue. I am obsessed with the world of the Borderlands, how did they get there?Who is in charge?

Another great read that was thrilling and exciting from start to finish! As someone who enjoyed the anime, it was interesting to read this while seeing the differences between the two. The manga holds on its own, and definitely provides us with more detail. An enjoyable series that I will be continuing to check out.

Haro Aso's work never dissapoints and Alice in Boderland is no exception. The series does a great job of establishing high stakes for the main cast, making it a gripping read from start to finish. I'd highly recommend this series to anyone that loves thriller or survival stories.

This was a really entertaining continuation of this series. The only thing that really detracted from the reading experience was the translation - at times there were obvious mistakes (words added into sentences that didn't make sense, incorrect verb tenses, etc.) that really took me out of the story. Overall, though, the story was a fast read and kept me wanting more. Will definitely be reading the entire series!

Great follow up to the first volume. Heart pumping and tense! Looking forward to seeing where the story goes next. Hoping nothing to heart breaking happens.

Awesome! Like the first volume there is a perfect balance between action and story development. Nice art too!

I’ve enjoyed Alice in Borderland much more this time around. While this omnibus is mired in tragedy and pain, it gives the reader a reason to root for Arisu as he tries to leave the game.

After surviving the deadly games last volume, Arisu and friends struggle to find one to extend Segawa and Shibuki’s visas. Here, we get the details on Shibuki’s game before meeting with the gang, which is a Hearts category. We get to see the troubling psychological horror that befalls these types of games, and then realize the group are facing one next.

I did say that I wish for the group to have more adventures together, but due to circumstances that won’t happen anymore. This changes Arisu’s personality and drive to survive in a way that is heartbreaking but empowering. The reintroduction of Yuzuha and eventual alliance makes for a great dynamic for the series going forward too. As the omnibus ends, we get to the Beach arc, with some grisly but engrossing adventures to come.

Alice in Borderland is a visceral piece of art, and fans of the show should definitely read this right now.

I'm really impressed with this story and how much quicker it moves in the manga than the show. The show moves at a slower pace but the actors really engage you in the story, while the manga is full of dialogue and action back to back. Both are perfect for their mediums and I'm excited to see what volume 3 brings. Given how fast the manga is going, it looks like volume 3 might surpass the events of the final episode of season 1, which I'd be really excited to read about.

ARC From Netgalley.


Spoilers ahead.


The first Volume of this manga completely blew me out of the water with its intense action and psychological suspense, so I knew I had to continue the series whenever I could. Volume 2 is tragic and dark, but continues the story well and makes me long for Vol 3 just as much.
Highlights: (Summary, so spoilers coming)
- Arisu, Karube, Chota, Shibuki continue to live and work together towards the goal of surviving. When two of them have one day left on their Visas, they decide to take do a game. Unfortunately, this one is a quite brutal kind of version of hide and seek (called Wolves and Sheep) where only one can survive. My jaw dropped and I had to stop reading for a little bit when Arisu was the only one left standing. Before sacrificing himself, Karube told Arisu to find the beach and there would be answers there.
- The survivor's guilt drops Arisu into a very deep depression, and he is rescued by Usagi (we met her in the first Volume). They become very close and promise to help each other survive.
- Using a map, they search for "the beach" and find a huge beach resort. Confusingly so, people there seem to be living their best lives. They are working together to collect a full deck of the playing cards so that they will be allowed to leave the game. The Beach runs on 3 rules: One, always wear swimwear; Two, all cards belong to the Beach; and Three, traitors get killed.
- On The Beach, their are 2 factions: one led by Hatter (#1) and the other led by Aguni (#2). They do not get along at all. Arisu and Usagi side with Hatter, but he is murdered, shifting everyone in the ranks, pushing Aguni to #1.
- There are lots of people who don't want to see Aguni (a huge hulking brute who values violence over intelligence), so a rebellion is started, Arisu joining. They plan, during the transfer of power ceremony, to steal the cards the Beach has collected so far. One of their supposed members, Chishiya, rats them out to Aguni.
- The end is very harsh.... Arisu is beat up and tied up, one day left on his Visa. and just down the hall, Usagi is being.... abused...

Despite the harsh end, I really want to continue to read it. Have to know what happens next!
Strong recommend. This is an amazing manga series.

Alice in Borderland Volume Two is a two-in-one omnibus edition that combines Volumes Three and Four of the manga together into one volume.

Alice in Borderland Volume Two
Written by: Haro Aso
Publisher: Shogakukan
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: June 21, 2022

Most the first half of the volume focuses on the main characters and their reactions after the last game they had played in the previous volume. Early on, the focus is on Chota and Saori spending time together. Saori seems to have given up and is trying to convince Chota that they’re different from the other two and should have some fun before they die. Let’s just say that Chota and Saori become intimate, and that they try to keep this fact a secret from the others.

Meanwhile, Ryohei is trying to find an automobile that actually works. In one vehicle, he finds a CB radio and struggles to make it work. He eventually picks up a signal, with a message from someone saying they know the answer and that those who seek gather at the beach. Ryohei believes this could be an important clue for getting out of Borderland. Arisu, meanwhile, is off on his own and feeling moody. At this point to the reader, it’s becoming clear that the three friends are growing more distant from each other.

After this, the four of them end up in their next game, which is a game of “hide and seek.” They have to put collars on their necks before starting, otherwise they will be disposed of. It turns out this is a brutal game. There’s a 10 minute time limit, and the person who is the “wolf” at the end of the game is the only one who will survive. The three “sheep” will be killed when their collars are detonated.

This section of the manga puts these four characters through the emotional wringer, and at least the three friends (Arisu, Chota, and Ryohei) are able to patch things up and to make peace before the end of the game. Unfortunately for Arisu, he was the wolf, and he couldn’t find a way where they could all make it out alive before time ran out. Before the other three perish, though, Ryohei tells Arisu about the beach and how he thinks it’s a clue to escape.

Not surprisingly, Arisu becomes emotionally scarred after this incident. However, after reuniting with another player named Yuzuha Usagi, Arisu decides he wants to keep on going and follow through on the potential clue that Ryohei gave to him. During this volume, we get for both Arisu and Yuzuha of events that happened before they ended up in Borderland, and the reader realizes that they both had tough childhoods. I have to say that the art at this point in the volume perfectly captures Arisu’s mental anguish, and I also thought that the art style used for Yuzuha’s backstory worked well to illustrate both her and her father and what they went through.

The second half of this volume sees Arisu and Yuzuha trying to find the beach. And when they do find it, it’s not at all what they expected. While, technically, the people there have the potential answer on how to escape, it turns out that it’s a situation where everyone is gathering the cards to help one person escape at a time. Not only is it a system that’s more beneficial to the people at the top of the list, it’s also a system that breeds contempt. There are ultimately two factions at the beach, and they are competing to be the one on top. After realizing there’s no way for both Arisu and Yuzuha to escape together, Arisu decides he wants to prioritize Yuzuha while trying to find a way to beat the established system. Let’s just say that, because of their age, Arisu and Yuzuha become too trusting and find themselves being used in the power struggle between the two factions.

Over the course of Alice in Borderland Volume Two, Arisu goes through a lot of change as a character, due in large part to all of the heartache and disappointment that he experiences throughout it. While he kind of experiences a mental breakdown after the death of his friends, Yuzuha is able to help him enough to at least get him to a point where he wants to live and keep on going. And when you realize that she’s ultimately the one who helped him to keep going, it’s no wonder why Arisu prioritizes Yuzuha over himself. But with what happens to these two characters at the end of this volume, I’m genuinely concerned for Arisu and his mental well-being. This volume also ends on a note where the reader wants to go on to the third volume in order to find out what’s going to happen next to these characters.

If you read and enjoyed Alice in Borderland Volume 1, I think you’ll appreciate how the story and the character of Arisu progresses in this volume.

Good continuation to the series; the art style is very hit or miss, as are the characters. Would be a good fit for those who like darker/Hunger Games-esq style manga.

4.5/5 Stars

This volume is a roller coaster of almost non-stop twists and emotions. Arisu's friend group begins to feel disjointed, no longer united by the same desires or feelings. While Arisu is enjoying the bliss of being alive for the first time, Karube is busy trying to find a way out of the Borderland, while Shibuki is manipulating the scared Chota. The last part was something that really rubbed me the wrong way, as Shibuki is a grown adult woman, while Chota is still in high school. It was disgusting how the two spent their "last night" together, and how Shibuki began to talk for him the next day in a way that only caused a deeper rift in the three boys' friendship. She might be an accurate depiction of a flawed human being, but as the only adult out of high school in the group, she seriously failed at acting like one.

The game they all finally joined was a final test of their bond as friends. As the reader, I was as confused as Arisu at first--what kind of leaves only the wolf alive by looking at them when obviously no one wants to die? The sheep would simply try to hunt down the wolf, rather than the other way around. However, the Borderland's rules are absolute, and the present fractures in their friendship nearly split completely apart as they begin to turn on one another. It isn't until Chota speaks up through his fear, saying he doesn't care who wins or loses anymore. Betraying his friends until now hurt him too much. This causes Arisu to recall how Chota was always kinder than anyone else in the past--some development Chota gets that was sorely needed.

In a twisted way, Arisu becomes the lucky one since he was the last person to be chosen as wolf. Even though everyone comes to their senses after remembering how important they really are to each other, it becomes too late for him to take back his earlier choice. Arisu is unable to pay back his friends for always saving him, whether it be in his life before the Borderland or in its games, as they choose to sacrifice themselves so that he can live. An emotional two-page spread of Arisu's agonized crying is shown as it sets in that the rules made perfect sense in the end: the sheep hid from the wolf so that he could live, rather than killing him.

From here on out, we follow Arisu's struggle to regain his desire to stay alive with the deaths of his friends on his back. Torn between wanting to find out who runs the Borderland's games and losing his will to fight now that his friends are gone, he spends a long time in a hopeless daze. It isn't until Usagi finds him that he finally admits to wanting to live, thought the survivor's guilt still tears at him for doing so. Seeing the two work together as Usagi teaches him how to survive, as well as getting a glimpse of the backstory involving the father she admired, was a mixture of both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Even before Arisu admits that Usagi is the hope keeping him alive, it's obvious through the two's experiences that Usagi thinks the same of Arisu even if neither of them put it into words. I really loved the respect these two have for each other.

The Beach was the most interesting addition to the story this volume. We find out about why the cards left behind at each game are being collected, a possible (if nearly hopeless) way for a single person to leave the Borderlands, and introduces the two clashing factions that run The Beach. A quick run-through of more games are shown to prove the intelligence or physical prowess of several characters in each faction while Arisu once again battles with his choices. The place he led Usagi turned out to be a cult-like, near-anarchy gathering of people who chase after temporary pleasure with reckless abandon. At least he meets a few people who are still worth teaming up with, such as Kuina--another character that quickly became my favorite.

The art improved greatly from the beginning of volume one to now. Arisu's eyes are much more full of emotion and the shading used for serious expressions is wonderful. Aso has the tense atmosphere and emotional scenes down pat with his bold lines, as well as his selective use of large ink splatters and thick, chaotic brush strokes (such as during the end of the wolf game).

I knocked down half a star because I could have done without the very last few pages that involve Usagi's dangerous situation.

Looking forward to the next volume after the betrayal and horrible situation Arisu got himself into at the end!

When volume one came out, I said it fulfilled my every shonen/seinen nerd, and volume two did not disappoint. We have more story development and world-building, while still getting bits of games. This is an easy "yes" to continuing the series.

The second volume of the Alice in Borderland saga brings more games , mystery, and heart break, as Arisu ventures deeper into Borderland. This volume focuses more on the characters themselves and their relationships. There is also a bit more world building when a new set of characters are introduced.

If you enjoyed the first volume I would definitely recommend you pick this volume up.

*Thanks to NeGallley and Viz Media for allowing me to view a e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Glad I see Vol. 2 of Alice in Borderland is almost out.
Thank you Viz Media and NetGalley for the digital review copy.