Risa (リサ, Risa) is a secondary antagonist in Alice in Borderland. She is a Citizen who serves as the Queen of Spades (スペードのクイーン, Supēdo no Kuīn) in the Borderland. She is portrayed by Chihiro Yamamoto.
Appearance[]
Risa is an incredibly fit young woman. She has light skin, silky black hair with bangs, which she wears in a ponytail, and brown eyes. She is dressed in a white sleeveless top and baggy black tracksuit bottoms.
Personality[]
Risa has a confident, strong-willed personality. She is a powerful leader who is not afraid of death and is not easily deterred or intimidated. Other players are easily convinced to join her, as they believe in her strength and her ability to win.
History[]
After her near-death experience, Risa was transported to the Borderland as a player, and after surviving all of the games of her cycle, she decided to stay in the Borderland as a Citizen, where she became the Queen of Spades, based on her specialty being in the Spades games.
Story[]
Queen of Spades introducing herself to the players
A group of players gathers to compete in the Queen of Spades game, including Arisu and Usagi, who decide to help a young boy named Kota to extend his visa. The voice of a lady comes from a TV screen, and she introduces herself as the Queen of Spades. Announcing that each team will have a King, she proclaims herself to be the King of her own red team and then picks Kota to be the King of the Challenger Team.
Players are instructed to put on the vests with a button at the back, and the game begins. Risa personally tags Fujiki, one of the blue players, electrocuting him, and nonchalantly states that she "should have pointed it out" in the rules. The shock prevents the player from moving, while Risa announces that he will be on her team the next round and leaves. Then she uses her fighting skills to push another player to the edge of the platform and, as he is unable to move, she easily presses the button on his back. By the end of Round 1, the Queen Team manages to claim 5 additional players, changing the numbers from 4 vs. 16 to 9 vs. 11.
Queen of Spades in action
During Round 2, Kenichi, one of the blue players, attempts to reclaim Fujiki, but Risa catches them, pushes Fujiki away, kicks Kenichi down the stairs to prevent him from tagging her pawn, and drags Fujiki away. Round 3 begins, and it is the Queen's turn again, so Risa kicks Kazuki, another blue player, and then slowly walks towards him, despite his begging her not to approach, throws him over her shoulder, and asks if he wants to live. After receiving an affirmative answer, she instructs him to play on her team and presses his button.
By Round 10, Risa has managed to convince the majority to join her cause, and players start refusing to be tagged back to the blue team. The three players who won the game last time and joined the Queen this time are certain that they can stay in the arena for as long as they want, helping the Queen and surviving, and they have slowly persuaded the others to do the same.
As the red players have gathered in one place, Risa comes to them and announces that there are only 3 blue players left, so victory is in sight, and everyone will survive. Fujiki starts applauding her, but she suddenly expresses her wish to separate Arisu and Usagi, ensuring the survival of only one of the duo, who happens to be Arisu, as he is her type. She joins the hunt personally and corners Arisu, but Usagi stops her and helps him escape.
Risa and Usagi fighting on a higher level platform
Risa kicking Usagi on the ground floor
Risa starts hitting Usagi with her fists, while Usagi is covering her face with her arms to minimize the impact. They keep moving around the platform, with Risa eventually defeating Usagi by kicking her towards the fence. When Usagi falls, Risa exclaims that she does not need her and leaves, jumping over the fence down to a lower floor. Usagi jumps after her, and Risa kicks her again, but Usagi proceeds with the hand-to-hand combat and eventually grabs Risa from behind. Risa is physically stronger, so she throws Usagi aside, forcing her to hit her back against a metal box, and leaves. However, Usagi does not stop there and chases after Risa once more. They end up on the edge of the platform, and Risa grabs Usagi by the neck with one hand, attempting to hit her with the other. Usagi crawls to the other side of the fence and ends up behind Risa, choking her in turn, but Risa manages to throw her aside once again. Seeing as Usagi's climbing skills helped her survive the fall, Risa is annoyed, so she jumps down to a lower platform and follows Usagi all the way down to the starting location, throwing her onto the floor in front of Kota. While Usagi is on the floor, Risa kicks her in the stomach and claims that nobody cares about saving the kid, since they have all joined the Queen when offered a chance to survive.
"Nobody wants to kill a child, but, when your own life is at stake, you care about your own survival. That's what humans are like."
— Risa explaining her game to Usagi
When Usagi assumes that Risa just has not met anyone she cared about deeply, Risa seems even more irritated:
"I hate hypocrites like you."
She kicks Usagi once again, causing her to roll away on impact and hit her head on the metal grating, claiming that Usagi will change her mind soon.
Round 15 is announced as the final one for the Queen Team. Risa and the remaining red players are set to tag blue players, and Risa makes it very clear that she wishes to have Arisu on her team by the end of the round. Answering Kazuki's question, she states that she does not need Usagi and is willing to teach her a lesson. Risa leads the pursuit herself, running and jumping over fences, while a few red players are following. They seem to have finally cornered Arisu, having him surrounded on the edge of the platform, and only 30 seconds are left until the end of the Queen's turn. Risa is sure he has nowhere to run, so she gives him a triumphant look, but he jumps onto a big metal chain and swings away. As the next turn starts, Risa sees Usagi running toward her team and dodges her attack, but Usagi manages to tag a few of her pawns.
Risa's final words
Round 16 is the final round for both the Challenger Team and the game overall. By the end, all players are tagged by the blue team, leaving the Queen of Spades as the only member of the red team, and the game is cleared. Risa walks towards the crowd and sarcastically congratulates Usagi on convincing everyone to rejoin them. In response to Usagi's claim that she is going back to the real world with her friends, Risa laughs, likely knowing what is going to happen upon the return. She insists that the Borderland offer a lot more freedom, which is why she likes the place a lot more. Arisu tries to get answers out of her, pointing out that she and the other Citizens were also players once before, but Risa walks past Arisu towards the edge of the platform and makes a mysterious promise that he will learn the truth after completing all the games.
"I want to be free until the end. Farewell."
— Risa's last words
The Queen of Spades jumps over the fence, spreading out her arms, and falls multiple floors down, with the laser shooting through her head mid-air.
Relationships[]
Arisu[]
Risa appears to know or be familiar with at least some of the players in the Borderland, as she is shown to be surprisingly fond of Arisu before they even have a chance to meet, and especially desires him to join her team, more so than the others. She claims that he is her type, so she might have developed a small one-sided crush on him.
Usagi[]
Risa sees Usagi as a rival due to her romantic relationship with Arisu, but she is more aggravated due to Usagi's "do-gooder" attitude and her will to save the kid, prioritizing his life over her own survival. Risa attempts to teach Usagi a lesson about sticking to her ideals in a place like the Borderland, which is why they engage in multiple fights. Risa's team is instructed to bring over only Arisu, separating him from Usagi.
Kota[]
Risa does not demonstrate any concern for Kota's life. She chooses him to be the King of the Challenger Team, which automatically guarantees his death if the Queen Team wins. During the game, Risa attempts to bring all blue players over to the red team, except Usagi, whom she personally dislikes, and Kota, who was chosen to be the King and cannot change teams mid-game.
Games Played[]
as a Citizen in the Current Immigration Period
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The forename Risa is commonly written as "梨沙" (pear, sand) or "理紗" (logic, silk). The exact kanji depend on the official spelling, which is not provided in the show, as the name is written in katakana.
- Risa is a character exclusive to the Netflix series, never appearing in the original manga.
- As a Citizen, Risa probably got to watch players on cameras, as she is shown to be interested in Arisu before they even properly meet in person.