Episode 1 Season 3 is the first episode of the third season of Alice in Borderland and the seventeenth episode of the series overall.
Synopsis[]
Back in the real world with no memories of the Borderlands, Arisu and Usagi encounter Ryuji, a professor with a fixation on near-death experiences.
Plot[]
After returning from the Borderlands, Arisu has no memories of what happened there. He is questioned by a team of afterlife researchers, including Ryuji, who tries to confirm whether Arisu remembers the mysterious world described by other survivors. Arisu recalls only fragments, such as a red light, a public restroom, and fireworks, but when pressed further, he remembers a journey to a distant land. After the interview, he leaves with Ryuji and meets Usagi, who is waiting for him outside.
The next day, Ann visits Arisu at work and reveals that they once survived another world together. Her vague recollections convince Arisu that something deeper is hidden beneath his missing memories. Later, Usagi calls him in tears and disappears without explanation. At the police station, officers suggest she might be having an affair with Ryuji, as the two were last seen together at a hotel. Determined to find her, Arisu goes to the university, only to learn that Ryuji is also missing. His office is filled with research on the afterlife, including a recorded interview with Usagi.
Meanwhile, Ryuji receives information about a secret organization disguised as a support group but rumored to hold dangerous "seminars". He meets an informant and secures an invitation, intrigued by their talk of people playing deadly "games". At the seminar venue, Ryuji is forced to participate in a real-world game called "Old Maid", where losing costs participants their lives. Everyone except Ryuji, he wins the game and meets Banda as a reward.
After Usagi and Ryuji are found in a coma, the police suspect a murder-suicide linked to the organization. Arisu believes Usagi was abducted and learns that Ryuji had been attending strange seminars. Banda approaches Arisu and tempts him to return to the "beautiful world", leaving behind a Joker card. Desperate to save Usagi, who is pregnant and has a weak pulse, Arisu turns to Ann for help. She explains that the human heart can stop for two minutes before death, then injects him with a drug.
Arisu first assumes the plan failed but then he looks around and realizes that everyone is gone, he is in an empty city once again. Following the instructions on a noticeboard, he heads to a game venue, a summer festival near a shrine, and crosses its threshold, unknowingly becoming the final participant as the next deadly challenge is about to begin.
Cast[]
- Kento Yamazaki as Arisu
- Tao Tsuchiya as Usagi
- Kento Kaku as Ryuji
- Ayaka Miyoshi as Ann
- Hayato Isomura as Banda
- Katsuya Maiguma as Yaba
- Koji Ohkura as Tetsu
- Risa Sudou as Sachiko
- Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as Kazuya
- Kotaro Daigo as Nobu
- Hyunri as Shion
- Sakura Kiryu as Natsu
- Yugo Mikawa as Masato
- Yusuke Hirayama as Shigenori
- Haro Aso as Unnamed Character
- Masatoshi Kihara as "Old Maid" Game Master
- Ryo Kato as Unnamed "Old Maid" Player
- Jin Hisa as Unnamed "Old Maid" Player
- Rina Saito as Unnamed "Old Maid" Player
- Yukino Takahashi as Unnamed "Old Maid" Player
- Ken Hatta as Unnamed "Old Maid" Player
- Yoshiki Urayama as Unnamed "Old Maid" Player
- Hinako Saeki as Woman at Restaurant
- Shota Taniguchi as Researcher 1
- Ippei Sasaki as Researcher 2
- Shigehiro Yamaguchi as B-Pump Manager
- Yuji Yoshimasu
- Mai Nobuhara
- Kokoa Naka as Yano[1]
- Erina Takata as University Staff[2]
- Kenzo Fukutsu
- Shinichi Shirahata as Counselor[3]
- Nazuna Nishiyama
- Ryo Hiraoka
- Hiroaki Fukui
- Sentaro Kusakabe as Detective[4]
- Miru Nagase
- Yuki Kitamura
- Hiroko Shinkai
- Meiry Mochizuki
- Tomoya Nagano as Person inside the monitor[5]
- Yusuke Umenaka
- Saku Uzaki
- Risa Honma as Misa
- Sana Ogino as Unnamed "Sacred Fortunes" Player
- Yukino
- Masaki Kurusu
- Sawako Michi as Unnamed "Sacred Fortunes" Player
- Ryohei Mikami as Unnamed "Sacred Fortunes" Player[6]
- Takamasa Ogawa
- Tokuhisa Yamashita as Unnamed "Sacred Fortunes" Player