Nobuaki Hida (ヒダ ノブアキ, Hida Nobuaki), known as Nobu (ノブ, Nobu), is a supporting character in Season 3 of Alice in Borderland. He is part of Arisu's Team. He is portrayed by Kotaro Daigo.
Appearance[]
Nobu is a timid young man with medium-length, straight dark hair parted in the center. He is dressed in a light blue zip-up track jacket with dark navy trim over a striped T-shirt, and loose grey cargo trousers with large side pockets. Compared to Arisu and Tetsu, Nobu is quite short.
History[]
Prior to his arrival at the Borderland, Nobu was unemployed. He once tried to take his own life by slitting his wrists and had a near-death experience, which is when he saw Banda and received a Joker card from him. Same as the other participants of the Joker Tournament, Nobu had played the games before, making his Sojourn in Season 3 a return to the Borderland rather than his first visit. However, the games he experienced in the past were not the same ones faced by Arisu and his group. Since Borderland games are created and overseen by individual Citizens, their scale, rules, and format vary depending on who hosts them. Therefore, Nobu's earlier participation took place under different Citizens, resulting in a distinct set of challenges.
Story[]
As Arisu walks into the shrine's territory, he sees 20 other participants, including Nobu.
Nobu during the "Sacred Fortunes" game
Nobu remains mostly an observer during the first half of the "Sacred Fortunes" game and is one of the few people to guess the correct answer to the first question. Then he decides to draw the sixth slip and gets a math question: "The Roman numeral I is one, V is five, and X is ten. What does L equal?" He does not know and gives a quick random answer, "100", which sends 50 flaming arrows into the arena as punishment. He apologizes and runs away.
A few more questions cause the same damage. After Arisu draws the last fortune and answers incorrectly, Nobu screams in panic with no idea what to do next. Arisu starts looking for an escape route and asks everyone for the unlucky directions they had on their slips. Eventually, the players figure out the safe zone of the venue and rush towards the exit, which ends up blocked by lasers. Nobu finds a well, but it is full of dirt. While everyone panics, Kazuya and Masato help Arisu lift up a stone to unlock the way into an underground tunnel. Then they all jump down and reach a notice congratulating them on clearing the game. Another noticeboard they bump into when they are out instructs them to proceed 17 km northeast, because the next game starts the next day at sundown. Walking slightly further, they see multiple blimps holding a massive Joker card.
Nobu talking about his past
Having found a shelter, the group relaxes. Nobu finds a lot of food and clean clothes for everyone. Looking at their own Joker cards, everyone realizes that they received them from the same man while having a near-death experience. Nobu admits that after he survived the attempt to end his life, nothing changed for the better until Banda gave him the card.
On the way to the next game venue, Tetsu and Sachiko argue about Arisu's decision to enter the Borderland to save his wife. Nobu wonders what the chances are for him to find her, and Masato calculates that they are 5%, while Tetsu is sure there are none. By sundown, the players reach the National Institute of Virus Research and enter the game venue, where they see eight more participants. They listen to the rules, and the "Zombie Hunt" game begins.
Nobu teams up with Arisu for the first few rounds of mini-games and loses at least one of them. He carefully asks whether there is a zombie on their team, and Arisu explains that exposing oneself as a zombie comes with the risk of getting a Shotgun card. After Arisu brings over two women with Zombie cards, the players start arguing about how to deal with them, and Rei introduces her plan to survive without the need to kill anyone.
Nobu and the others spread out and explain Rei's strategy to different participants. By Round 11, some players decide to start killing the zombies instead, and Nobu is present when Kazuya comes back with blood on his face.
Nobu forced to use a Shotgun card
After Masato is revealed to be a zombie, Ikeno orders the group to find the person who infected him and decides to assign the killing task to Nobu. Nobu is terrified, and Tetsu stands up for him, calling him a child. Arisu joins Nobu's defense and insists that nobody has to be forced to murder anyone, but Ikeno keeps pushing and threatens to shoot Masato instead. Nobu is left with no choice, so he joins a mini-game with a zombie player who was beaten up by Kazuya previously. Trembling and apologizing, Nobu reveals a Shotgun card, and the opponent is eliminated.
On the way back, Nobu encounters another player who defeats him with a Zombie card, so he decides to hide. By the time Arisu finds him, Ikeno has already ordered a search for him and for the other participants who are hiding their zombie status. Arisu initiates a mini-game and convinces Nobu to follow a new plan for survival.
Nobu turning Kazuya into a zombie
Nobu finds Sachiko, Shion, and Natsu to inform them of the plan and helps them turn each other into zombies. Then he searches for Tetsu but gets stopped by Kazuya, who is following the order to find him. Kazuya punches him in the stomach, and Nobu falls down, but by the time Kazuya calls for the others, Nobu is gone. Nobu finally locates Tetsu, but Kazuya interferes again. Arisu comes to the rescue, securing Tetsu for a mini-game, so Nobu jumps at Kazuya to play against him. After the Zombie card is dealt, Kazuya screams in frustration, but Nobu explains that he is saving him.
The game ends, and the zombies survive. Nobu and the others leave the venue and see another noticeboard with directions to a new game two days later. They find a safe place and get some rest. Kazuya advises Nobu not to blame himself for what happened, and Nobu pretends that he does not feel anything because it is just a game.
Nobu and Rei before the train crashes
Nobu and the other members of Arisu's team participate in the "Runaway Train". Their train approaches the end of the line, and an announcement instructs the players to stop it. Nobu rushes to the last car alongside Rei, but they have no idea what to do. Then Kazuya yells that something has to be done urgently, and Arisu decides to pull a lever. It turns out to be an accelerator, so he pulls another one, but it is too late, and the train crashes, leaving everyone with injuries of varying severity.
Nobu and Kazuya carry Arisu through the tunnel, as he is mortally wounded and unconscious. When the others ask Tetsu to stitch up Arisu's wounds, Nobu shakes him by the shoulders and begs him to do it quickly because Arisu is dying. Tetsu agrees and tries to patch the wound.
When Arisu wakes up the next morning, everyone rushes towards him to see how he is feeling. Learning that the next game starts soon, Arisu asks his teammates to go without him, but Nobu and the others refuse to leave him behind because he has saved them more than once in previous games.
The next game they join, a semi-final challenge, is called "Kick the Can". After Round 1 begins, Nobu and Tetsu run together and discover that some of the staircases are blocked with furniture, and there is no way up through that passage. Nobu tries to open a nearby door, but it ends up locked as well. Some of the players attempt to return the can but fail and blow up, so Nobu states that there are only nine cans left.
Nobu helping Sachiko clear the game
During Round 3, Kazuya fights the other players to ensure that some of his team members grab the can, so Nobu, Tetsu, and Arisu escape. Nobu brings the can to the main room and gets jumped by multiple opponents. While lying on the floor, he sees Sachiko and sends the can rolling towards her, making her the first to clear the game.
The next round ends with a failure, and Nobu watches Shion explode. He helps Rei retrieve the fifth can and then Tetsu return the sixth one, so they both clear the game and join Sachiko in the elevator. Then Nobu himself puts the seventh can into the base with Arisu's help and becomes another survivor of the game. He is shocked when he sees Natsu and Kazuya die.
Devastated and exhausted, the remaining five players, including Rei, walk towards Shibuya Crossing, where the final game, "Future Sugoroku", is about to unfold. Nobu jokingly asks the others to remember him if he does not make it out alive, and Tetsu asks him for the same favor, so Nobu claims that Tetsu is impossible to forget. They find a staircase and get up one by one, only to realize that they are in the real-world Shibuya, with the commercial screens moving and people walking.
Nobu walking through the door and looking at the CGI images of Shibuya
Nobu is with Arisu, Sachiko, Tetsu, and Rei when they walk into the game venue and end up in the real-world Shibuya. They quickly realize that all those around them are screens depicting pre-recorded images. Rei assumes it is CGI, and Nobu repeats after her in disbelief. Each of them sees themselves walking across the street. Then they walk through a door that closes behind them without a trace and end up in Ikebukuro during the evening. Nobu and the others watch Arisu reunite with Usagi. Then Ryuji, Itsuki, and Yuna enter the room from the other side, and Arisu punches Ryuji, blaming him for dragging Usagi back into the Borderland, so Nobu and Tetsu have to hold him back.
The screens turn off, revealing a dark-gray room, and three more players join them. One of the walls turns white, displaying the game name, and the players are instructed to equip collars and wristbands.
Round 1
Map of the venue for better visual representation of the players' movements
The game rules are explained, and Arisu introduces Nobu and the rest of his team. The starting room, C3, turns fully white, and four doors appear behind the players, with D3 (the red one) behind Nobu and Tetsu. The players realize that the dice on the white platform in front of them are connected to the doors. They roll the dice, the room turns black, and the screens on the walls start flickering with multiple videos of each player's future. While the players discuss which door is best to go through, Nobu says that he does not mind the yellow one because he sees himself happily playing tennis with a friend. However, Arisu insists on minimizing point loss and splitting into two big groups to reunite next turn, so he instructs Itsuki and Yuna to be on a team with Rei and go through the red door to D3, while Arisu, Usagi, Ryuji, Tetsu, Sachiko, and Nobu go through the blue door to C2 and regroup later in D2.
Round 2C2 ends up being a minus one point room, and Usagi pays the penalty. The players roll the dice again, and more visions appear on the walls. Nobu sees himself at an interview to become a teacher, with a recruiter asking what he would do if there was bullying at school. He wonders whether this future can truly come to pass. Another wall shows a vision of Nobu rejecting opportunities and signing a contract. Arisu suggests that Nobu, Tetsu, Ryuji, and Sachiko go through the blue door to C1.
Round 3
Nobu watching a vision of his future
In C1, Sachiko hears Arisu's voice through the wristband and informs him that they all (she, Nobu, Tetsu, and Ryuji) can go to D1. Nobu looks at the vision of his future where someone teaches and encourages him to sell bottles of water for an extortionate price as a way to become an entrepreneur. Another wall shows Nobu trying to do it in real life and failing, but he is not allowed to return the unsold bottles and quit due to his contract, so he is forced to either sell them or lose a lot of money.
Following a disagreement with Ryuji, the group splits up, and Nobu goes to B1 with Tetsu. It turns out to be a one-point penalty room, and Nobu volunteers to lose one point, placing both him and Tetsu at 14 points total.
Round 4
Nobu getting humiliated in his vision
In B1, there are only two dice. Tetsu rolls them, and the results are 9 (B2, green) and 1 (A1, yellow). The room turns black, and the visions appear on the walls. Nobu says that they need to go through the yellow door to get to a corner room in order to check if the exit is there. However, only one person can pass through, so Tetsu insists on sticking together and going to B2 instead. Nobu sees a vision on the yellow-door wall showing multiple friends congratulating him on getting a job and becomes fascinated by the possibility. Tetsu pats him on the shoulder to bring him back to reality and walks to open the green door, but Nobu keeps looking at the happy future. After the green door is unlocked, Nobu first follows Tetsu, ignoring his friends' cheering behind, but then sees a vision of himself getting drunk and humiliated at a party, so he apologizes at the last moment and runs through A1, splitting from Tetsu. In A1, Nobu receives a minus six point penalty, and his total point count drops to 7.
Round 5In A1, Nobu sees the vision of himself running to the hospital because his mother has suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and will need around-the-clock care if she recovers. He sits down and cries, blaming himself, and remembers how he neglected his mother after slitting his wrists and told her to leave despite her attempts to understand what he had been going through. He remembers how she asked him to keep living no matter what and decides to fulfill her wish, so he rolls the dice. The vision of his mother in a hospital is on the wall that leads to A2. He checks the other wall, which displays a vision of him introducing himself to the class and revealing that his mother, who was also a teacher, inspired him to become one. The successful vision leads to B1, and Nobu moves there, intending to find Tetsu. The room has a one-point penalty, so Nobu's total point count drops to 4. Sachiko, who is in C1 with Usagi, calls for Nobu through the wristband and asks if he is okay, and Nobu confirms that he has split from Tetsu and that A1 was not the exit. Sachiko tells him to stay in the same room and promises to meet up the next round.
Round 7
Nobu and Sachiko trying to reach Tetsu through their wristbands
Nobu remains in B1 during Round 6, for which he loses a point, leaving three points on his wristband. Then Sachiko and Usagi reunite with him as they walk through the door from C1. Nobu insists that they need to find Tetsu, feeling guilty for leaving him behind, so Usagi calls for him through the wristband, and then Sachiko starts shouting Tetsu's name in worry. Nobu joins her, but none of them can reach him.
Round 9By Round 9, Nobu, Sachiko, and Usagi reach B3, where they meet up with Ryuji. Arisu plans to join them later in B4. Nobu points out that he still does not know where Tetsu is and tries calling for him again. When Tetsu does not respond, Nobu blames himself. Since Nobu does not use his points to open doors or pay the penalty, his total count remains at 3.
Round 10Nobu is instructed to go further away from the exit, back to C3, and meet up with Rei, who is in C4, because the starting room has no point deduction, and it is a risk-free option for him since he has only three points left on his wristband. He looks at the vision of his mother in the hospital and agrees.
Learning from Usagi that Tetsu is dead, Nobu pronounces his name in shock, realizing that he left him behind to die.
Round 11Nobu is in C3 with only two points left, and Rei instructs him to meet her in C4, so he walks there.
Round 12-13Rei and Nobu move to C5 off-screen.
Round 14In C5, Nobu sees a vision of himself bowing his head to the floor and deeply apologizing, while an older woman scolds him and screams that his apologies will not solve anything.
All the players reunite in A5, and the announcement states that they have all reached the exit room successfully. The collars and wristbands are automatically released and can be removed. However, one last roll is required to leave the venue, and Arisu rolls only seven, while there are eight of them in the room. He volunteers to stay behind, the rest leave the venue, and the doors lock.
Nobu with his mother in the real world
The Borderland collapse, and a huge wave washes the players off the platform. They grab onto the metal frame and manage to survive with Arisu's help, hiding inside the game venue. After Arisu saves Usagi, everyone returns to the real world.
Later, Nobu is seen walking along Shibuya with his mother, having successfully completed his studies and thanking her for it. He plans to enter college and study architecture.[1]
Games Played[]
Gallery[]
.jpg "AIBS3 EP2 S13 Unit 017 (Netflix).jpg (9.19 MB)")
Trivia[]
- The forename Nobuaki is often written as "信明" (faith, bright) or "伸晃" (extend, bright). The exact kanji depend on the official spelling, which is not provided in the show, as the name is written in katakana.
- The surname Hida is commonly written as "飛" (hi) (fly) and "田" (ta/da) (rice field). The exact kanji depend on the official spelling, which is not provided in the show, as the name is written in katakana.
- Nobu is a new character that did not appear in the original manga source.
References[]
- ↑ The information about his college major is presented in the Netflix TUDUM article named "Alice in Borderland Season 3 Ending: Who Is the Joker?"