Alice in Borderland Season 3 (2025, Netflix)
Five years after the meteorite strike, Arisu is interviewed by Professor Ryuji Matsuyama, a man obsessed with the mystery of life after death and determined to uncover the truth about the Borderland’s existence. Now married to Usagi, Arisu tries to live a peaceful life, but Usagi remains plagued by vivid dreams of her late father, hinting that the connection to the Borderland is far from severed.
Ryuji’s own curiosity drives him to a secret “game seminar,” where participants risk their lives in an Old Maid game whose winner experiences a near-death journey while the losers are killed by electrocution. Ryuji wins and meets Banda, a citizen of the Borderland, who brings him into that mysterious world.
Meanwhile, Ann—who retains her Borderland memories—warns Arisu of its return. Usagi, experiencing déjà vu of the Beach massacre, vanishes and is later found unconscious and pregnant, while Ryuji lies comatose in the same hospital. Banda appears before Arisu, warning that the memories and games will soon return, pulling Usagi into the cycle once again.
With little time left to save her, Ann gives Arisu a drug to stop his heart, sending his consciousness back into the Borderland, where he awakens in a temple—the site of the first new game. Arisu joins a ten-round trial called “Fortunes,” where each wrong answer triggers flaming traps, and through a mix of memory and intuition, he guides survivors to safety.
The group realizes they must face the Joker to truly escape and next enter the “Zombie Hunt,” a deadly test of trust where Arisu, revealed as a hidden zombie, secretly ensures a zombie victory to gain strategic control.
Meanwhile, Usagi and Ryuji play together in “Runaway Train,” navigating cars filled with nerve gas and limited oxygen. Usagi’s wrong guess nearly kills her, but using a fellow player’s expertise, she leads them to jump off the train to safety, spotting Arisu on a parallel track but unable to reach him. Ryuji confesses his guilt over a student’s death during a fatal near-death experiment, deepening his obsession with mortality.
As the semifinals begin, Usagi clears “Tokyo Bingo Tower,” while Arisu survives “Kick the Can,” losing three teammates in the process. Banda tasks Ryuji with killing Usagi in the final game to ensure Arisu stays in the Borderland.
The final round, “Future Sugoroku,” places Arisu, Usagi, and eight others—including Usagi’s unborn child, counted as the tenth player—inside a maze where dice rolls determine movement and survival points dictate who can proceed. Holograms of their potential futures—both blissful and tragic—manipulate their emotions as they choose paths. Some, like Sota, sacrifice themselves out of love, while others fall to fear or guilt.
When they finally locate the exit, they discover only seven can survive. Arisu chooses to stay behind, ensuring the rest, including Usagi, can escape. Ryuji, torn between obsession and conscience, cannot bring himself to kill Usagi.
Banda appears once more, revealing that he orchestrated the games to persuade Arisu to join the Borderland as a permanent citizen. Arisu refuses, even as the world collapses around them. Banda turns a gun on him but is abruptly killed by a game laser. A Watchman materializes, explaining that the Joker—the figure Arisu must ultimately face—is not a player but the embodiment of the in-between, the watcher of the liminal space between life and death. He warns of a coming catastrophe greater than the meteorite strike and offers Arisu a choice: remain in the Borderland or return to life.
Arisu chooses to live, his love for Usagi anchoring him to reality. He awakens in the hospital beside her as she regains consciousness, both scarred yet alive. Time passes, and the two await the birth of their child, their bond deepened by survival. Yet as Japan trembles under warnings of an impending massive earthquake, the lingering dread suggests that the cycle between life, death, and the Borderland may not be over.
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