Alice in Borderland is a hit Japanese thriller series currently streaming on Netflix, but what is the dark story based on: an anime or a manga?

Summary

• The Japanese thriller series Alice in Borderland originated as a manga before being adapted for television, and it has now completed the entire original story.
• Alice in Borderland also had an anime adaptation released in 2014, consisting of three episodes that were bundled with manga volumes.
• Despite the completion of the manga and the TV adaptation covering the main story, Alice in Borderland still has several side stories and spinoff manga series that have not been adapted to the screen.

The Japanese thriller series Alice in Borderland existed as something else before it was adapted for television, but many aren't totally clear on whether it had its beginnings in anime or another format. Alice in Borderland is a science fiction thriller that was first released in 2020 on Netflix. It currently has two seasons and has been confirmed for a third. At this point, Alice in Borderland has adapted all parts of the original written story, and now with Alice in Borderland season 3, all new content will be written from scratch. But what is the original Alice in Borderland story?

Alice in Borderland, in all its forms, tells the story of Ryohei, a young man who is obsessed with games and who, along with his two friends, is mysteriously sucked into a totally new world. The version of Tokyo that Ryohei ends up in is not the one he knows, but instead, is an abandoned city full of strange people and even stranger games. And if Ryohei and his pals want to survive in this new Tokyo, they must play to win. As Alice in Borderland's title suggests, it is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, and in turn, it sees Ryohei fall down "a rabbit hole" into an unlikely world.

Related

Alice In Borderland’s Sequel Is Perfect For Season 3 (But Netflix Probably Won’t Use It)

Despite all the questions about the plot for Alice in Borderland season 3, a sequel to the series already exists, but it probably will not be used.

Alice In Borderland Is Based On A Manga

Though many may recognize the Alice in Borderland franchise as an anime, it actually first began as a manga. Written by Haro Aso, the manga series Alice in Borderland was published in serialized parts from 2010 to 2016 in both Shogakukan's Shōnen Sunday S magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday. In 2021, it was announced that Alice in Borderland would be republished in English, and as such, the manga has been turned into a two-volume series. Before writing Alice in Borderland, Haro Aso worked on the manga series Hyde & Closer, which was first released in 2005.

It shouldn't be too surprising that Alice in Borderland originated as a manga before it became a big television hit. There are many manga series that are adapted to live-action television nowadays. One notable example is One Piece, which has an incredibly vast manga world that is slowly but surely being brought to life on TV. What is interesting about Alice in Borderland though is that, although it took six years for the entirety of the manga to be published to audiences, it has only taken two seasons of television to encapsulate the entire story. Now, the showrunners have many big decisions to make about where they are headed next.

An Alice In Borderland Anime Was Released Before The Netflix Show

In between Alice in Borderland being written as a manga and then being adapted into a live-action Netflix show, the story was in fact adapted into an anime. Alice in Borderland received three episodes of original video adaptation, otherwise known as OVA. Each episode was bundled with a volume of Alice in Borderland. For example, the first episode came with the 12th volume of the Alice in Borderland manga, the second with the 13th, and the third with the 14th. All three episodes were released in the year 2014 and were directed by Hideki Tachibana.

Hideki Tachibana is a Japanese writer and anime director who has worked on projects such as H20: Footprints in the Sand, Armed Girl's Machiavellism, and The Honor Student At Magic High School.

The OVA episodes were titled as follows: Three of Clubs, Five of Spades, and Seven of Hearts. Another notable detail about the Alice on Borderland anime is that its opening theme song was called "NEXTAGE" and was sung by Japanese pop idol group i☆Ris. What is interesting about the Alice in Borderland anime is that its three episodes were created two years before the manga was actually completed. With so little time, the anime clearly does not portray the full story of Alice in Borderland. It is also interesting that an adaptation attempt was not made again until 2020, where luckily, the story has been adapted to the fullest extent.

Alice In Borderland’s Manga Sequels Explained

Although Netflix's Alice in Borderland has brought each part of the manga to life, there are still portions of the franchise that haven't yet been adapted to the screen. Namely, Alice in Borderland has six side stories and two spinoff manga series. First, from 2015 to 2018, Aso published the story's first spinoff, Alice on Border Road. Then, from 2020 to 2021, he wrote Alice in Borderland: Retry. The six Alice in Borderland side stories are entitled "Four of Hearts," Four of Clubs," "Six of Diamonds," "Seven of Spades," "King of Spades," and "King of Diamonds." These spinoffs and sequels prove that Alice in Borderland is truly an ever-expanding franchise.