Sōta Itsuki (イツキ ソウタ, Itsuki Souta) is a supporting character in Season 3 of Alice in Borderland. He is part of Usagi's Team. He is portrayed by Joey Iwanaga.
Appearance[]
Itsuki is a tall muscular man in his thirties with short, dark hair styled upward. He wears a gray hooded jacket with a black inner layer and baggy black trousers.
History[]
Prior to his arrival at the Borderland, Itsuki worked as a firefighter. He is Yuna's older brother and the only close relative she has left, as their parents died in a car crash while they were all going to a family vacation. Same as the other participants of the Joker Tournament, Itsuki 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, Itsuki's earlier participation took place under different Citizens, resulting in a distinct set of challenges.
Story[]
Sohta and Yuna listening to the game rules of the "Runaway Train" game
The siblings first appear during the "Runaway Train" game. They arrive at a subway station and board a train. The game rules are explained, and the players pick up the equipment: gas masks and arm straps with five canisters of neutralizing agent for the poison gas.
The first door opens, and the announcement instructs the players to proceed to the first car. After they do so, another announcement prompts them to make their first choice, and everyone puts on their gas masks. The first round ends safely, but someone points out that they have just wasted a canister. Itsuki argues that they still have enough to clear the game, since there are four poisoned cars and four remaining canisters of neutralizing agent. The doors open, the space is ventilated, and the players are invited to proceed to the next car.
In the following car, Usagi decides to trust her instincts and not wear the mask, and Itsuki agrees to take the risk. Juri questions his judgment, and he becomes aggressive, but the situation quickly deescalates. The substance is released, and when the canary survives, the players relax. When the doors open again, they see a parallel train, and the participants in that group suddenly collapse, blood pouring from their mouths and eyes.
Itsuki chooses to put on a mask while some other players do not
In the next car, Taro assumes there is enough space on the roof to store a gas tank, so the car is likely poisoned. The players are divided in their judgment, and Itsuki joins those who choose to wear a mask. Those who decided not to wear one begin dying, and one of them collapses onto Yuna, but Itsuki pulls her away.
In the following car, Itsuki states that there are four cars left, two of them poisoned, and the players have two oxygen canisters left, which means they cannot make a mistake. Taro deduces that there is no space for a gas tank in car 5, so the players keep their masks off and survive. However, in car 6, Taro suddenly realizes that he had identified the type of train incorrectly, so the pantograph positions are different. Itsuki laughs and asks if they were simply lucky before. Usagi once again decides to trust her instincts, and the others agree, so Itsuki puts on his mask. Unfortunately for everyone, the substance released this time is not poison.
Realizing that they have made the wrong choice and sealed their fate, players panic until Usagi decides to jump onto another train. Itsuki hugs his sister and reassures her that they are going to make it, and the siblings successfully jump first alongside Usagi. After Ryuji jumps and ends up by the entrance, Itsuki helps pulling him up and asks if Yuna is okay.
Having survived the game, the group rests in an empty building, where Itsuki and Yuna find a new wheelchair for Ryuji.
The next day, Itsuki, Yuna, and the others arrive at the next game venue, where a semi-final game begins: "Tokyo Bingo Tower". While climbing up, Yuna is terrified, so Itsuki tries to calm her down and talk her through each step. After reaching a floor with a button, Itsuki crosses one of the lattice beams and presses it, while Yuna holds his rope. Seeing that Yuna is unable to climb due to her fear, Itsuki tries to calm her down again and encourages her not to look down, because they need to continue and clear the game. Then the siblings witness Taro falling, but they are too far away to help him.
Itsuki enters the final game, "Future Sugoroku", alongside Ryuji and Yuna. They enter the room while Usagi and Arisu are hugging, but Arisu suddenly punches Ryuji, startling everyone. Itsuki and Usagi help Ryuji up and put him back in his wheelchair.
Round 1
Itsuki looking at the first visions of the future
The game is announced, and Itsuki and the others equip collars and wristbands. As the rules are explained, Arisu asks Itsuki and Yuna to introduce themselves and then introduces the rest of his team. The starting room, C3, turns fully white, and four doors appear behind the players, with E3 (yellow) behind the siblings. The players realize that the dice on the white platform in front of them are connected to the doors.
They roll the dice, and the room turns black. The wall screens flicker with multiple videos that reveal the players' possible futures. Itsuki and Yuna see themselves laughing, and Itsuki points out that the future changes depending on which door they choose. To minimize point loss, Arisu splits everyone into two large groups. He instructs Itsuki and Yuna to team with Rei and go to D3, while Arisu, Usagi, Ryuji, Tetsu, Sachiko, and Nobu go to C2 and plan to regroup in D2. Itsuki then sees a vision of Yuna smiling and introducing her boyfriend Ken to him at a cafe, so he confirms that the red door is a good choice for them.
Round 2In D3, Itsuki, Rei, and Yuna end up rolling all 2s on the dice, so they are forced to split up. Rei chooses to go north to room D2, while Itsuki and Yuna head east to room E3. The siblings look at the vision of Yuna and Ken in a park, happily talking, while Itsuki walks past and notices them. Itsuki opens the door to E3 with his wristband, losing one point.
Round 3Arisu asks Itsuki and Yuna to hold in E3 so they can return to D3 next round and unlock Rei, since Rei will have to stay behind. Itsuki agrees at first but then sees Ken breaking up with Yuna in one of the visions. Yuna invites him to look at the opposite wall, which shows her and Ken announcing their engagement to Itsuki. Remembering their parents' death and watching the vision of Yuna's wedding, Itsuki decides to ignore Arisu's plan and choose the happy future for his sister. They go through the green door to E4.
Round 4
Itsuki looking at the happy future and making a decision to split from Arisu's plan
Arisu tells Rei that Itsuki and Yuna are heading to D3 to unlock her room, but Itsuki deceives him. He looks at the vision of pregnant Yuna and himself walking through the park and decides to proceed along the path that leads to her happiness.
"Arisu won't save us because saving us could mean losing Usagi and the baby she is carrying. For the sake of our parents, we have to move forward towards that future."
— Itsuki encouraging Yuna to go to E5
The siblings proceed from E4 to E5, which is a corner room, but it is not the exit and is a minus four room. Itsuki volunteers to lose the points, dropping to nine, and Yuna remains at 14.
Round 5Itsuki and Yuna are in E5, ignoring Arisu and watching a vision of the two of them talking with Ken. Rei tells Arisu that they have made their choice and decided to save themselves instead of helping her. E5 is a minus four point room, so Itsuki volunteers to pay the penalty, and his point count drops to 4, while Yuna's remains at 13. The siblings proceed to D5 off-screen and then choose the door that leads to C5 during Round 6.
Round 7Itsuki and Yuna are in C5, so they can either go to B5 or C4. Itsuki rolls the dice, and it results in two ones, so they are forced to split up. They panic and agree to meet up in B4. Giving each other one last look, they smile and nod, opening doors and walking through.
Round 8
Itsuki's last vision of Yuna's wedding
While in B5, Itsuki rolls the dice again and sees a vision of Yuna's child alongside her, him, and Ken. In C4, Yuna rolls the dice and realizes the door to B4 shows 0 and cannot be opened. Itsuki's total point count reaches zero, and it is GAME OVER for him. The room turns into one big vision of a church, where Itsuki sees Yuna in a wedding dress standing in front of Ken. The real-world Yuna keeps screaming through her wristband, and Itsuki informs her that he is in a minus two point room. He apologizes for breaking his promise, and she bursts into tears, begging him to open the door. Hysterical, she pleads with him not to leave her alone, while he looks at the vision of her smiling, then cries and asks her to be happy. The collar on Itsuki's neck begins to flash between blue and black and makes a rapid beeping noise before the light eventually turns red and the collar blows off, killing him.
Round 9-10Just after Arisu unlocks B4, Yuna spots her brother's lifeless body and rushes to the door. Heartbroken, she lies down beside him, crying and hugging him.
Itsuki's body remains in the same room while Yuna is sobbing beside him. After Yuna returns to the real world, she is seen talking to her boyfriend about introducing him to her brother at the cemetery.
Games Played[]
Gallery[]
.jpg "AIBS3 Ep3 S47 Unit 131 (Netflix).jpg (9.77 MB)")
Trivia[]
- The forename Souta/Sohta is commonly written as a combination of the kanji "颯" (sou) (sudden wind) and "太" (tai/dai) (big, thick).
- The surname Itsuki is commonly written as "五木" (five trees) or "樹" (tree). The exact kanji depend on the official spelling, which is not provided in the show, as the name is written in katakana.
- Itsuki's name can be localized as Sōta, Souta, or Sohta. The last one is the version used in the Netflix subtitles.
- In the original Japanese dub, "Sohta" is never used by either Yuna or the other players. The character introduces himself as "Itsuki", Arisu refers to him as "Itsuki-san", while Yuna calls him "big brother". However, the English dub and some other translations constantly refer to him as Sohta, which technically remains a mistranslation.
- In the promo materials for the season, the character was introduced as イツキ, and the actor's Instagram post has four hashtags related to the character and his sister:
#イツキ #Itsuki #ユナ #Yuna. - Official season breakdown by Netflix introduces the character as "Itsuki" when listing "Who is playing the final game with Arisu and Usagi?"[2]
- In the promo materials for the season, the character was introduced as イツキ, and the actor's Instagram post has four hashtags related to the character and his sister:
- Itsuki is a new character that did not appear in the original manga source.