Yuzuru Horikawa (堀川 ゆずる, Horikawa Yuzuru) is a major character in Alice in Borderland RETRY, who participates in the Nine of Hearts game, "Earth Invasion".
Appearance[]
Yuzuru is an old man with short blond hair wearing glasses. He is depicted in a formal white shirt and gray trousers.
Personality[]
Yuzuru is a short-tempered and emotional person, who easily gives in to panic. He used to be cynical and materialistic, as depicted in his flashbacks, however, he loves his daughter beyond measure and strives to give her the best life, even if it costs him his own.
History[]
Yuzuru's flashback of 8 years ago
Yuzuru's wife passed away when Himari was very young. He raised his daughter alone while working in an insurance company called "SAVELIFE insurance".
Eight years prior to the incident with the billboard, Yuzuru denied an insurance request to a woman whose husband was dying from stomach cancer, because of her not filling out the form correctly. Despite the woman's desperate state, Yuzuru smiled and advised her not to seek a legal dispute, but instead to review her life plans.
A few hours before getting transported to the Borderland, Yuzuru was spending an evening with his daughter in a restaurant, and Himari congratulated him on becoming an executive. He apologized for always focusing on his work and not spending enough time with her, but she expressed her gratitude for his parenthood. Their conversation was interrupted by a waiter, who broke a bottle on their table in frustration and explained that he was a son of the woman whose insurance claim Yuzuru denied eight years prior. According to the waiter, his father died of cancer half a year later, and his mother passed away recently from overworking, since she was trying to support their family. The man blamed Yuzuru for purposely ruining their lives and profiting from it, and demanded remembering his face.
Story[]
Hall 1[]
Yuzuru arrived in the Borderland after a large billboard fell onto him, his daughter, and a few more strangers, including Arisu who tried to warn them. They all end up on the verge of death with no recollection of the incident, and the "Earth Invasion" game begins. Yuzuru repeats multiple times that the situation they are in is just a bad dream. Seeing a corpse, he yells out in shock and disbelief, and then refuses to calm down, highlighting that a person was cut into pieces.
While listening to the game rules, Yuzuru feels terrified and calls everything a joke. As Round 1 begins, the players decide to ignore the "DEATH" card for the time being, so they exchange "LIFE" cards with each other, and Himari offers Yuzuru to pair up.
Hall 2[]
Kitou suggests discussing the game once again to make sense of it and comes up with the truth that shocks Yuzuru: the last hall will have only one shelter, which means the whole game is based on making decisions on who dies next. Hearing as Onoue suggests cooperation, Yuzuru gets annoyed since he does not wish to trust the others.
Yuzuru searching for a way for him and Himari to survive
Feeling Himari's fear, Yuzuru promises to protect her no matter the cost, determined to find a way for both of them to survive. He plans to keep exchanging "LIFE" cards with Himari and notices how Kitou and Onoue are at odds. He yells out that he does not care about the rest of the players and announces his and his daughter's separation from the group. However, Kitou quickly reminds him of the stalemate scenario which will happen if everyone exchanges "LIFE" cards equally while not having enough pods to enter. Since nobody owes anyone anything in this game, there is no fool-proof plan with a guaranteed "LIFE" card, because anyone can simply refuse to transfer one in return, which is something all the players quickly realize.
Taiga suggests drawing lots instead of standing and panicking, but Kitou insists on discussing whose life is worth saving, and whose can be sacrificed for the greater good. Having listened to the explanation, Yuzuru agrees and adds an example from his own field:
Yuzuru sharing examples from his line of work
"As the development of self-driving cars has been progressing, there have been many discussions regarding the victims or survivors the AI should prioritize in the case of an emergency. 40 million people were surveyed around the world with varying nationalities and religious beliefs on what people prioritize on various things such as the amount of victims, their ages, gender, health conditions and social status are being analyzed. They said that this is a game where those who you want to live, do. Then perhaps, in this world that holds just the six of us, we must decide which of our lives has the greatest priority."
— Yuzuru Horikawa about evaluating lives and choosing who to save
Himari insists that they are a family, which is why their lives have to be spared, and points out that her father contributes to society as an executive at a large insurance company. Yuzuru picks up on that note and addresses Kitou and Onoue, highlighting their worth as doctors. He looks at Taiga as a potential outcast, but Taiga takes out a knife and rebels. Yuzuru exclaims in shock seeing the weapon covered in blood.
Yuzuru getting stabbed by Taiga
Since Taiga threatens to kill everyone and steal their phones, Onoue decides to fight him, but Kitou suggests drawing lots instead. Yuzuru and Arisu notice Kitou's cheating, as he keeps an ace on top of the stack despite shuffling the cards, convincing Taiga that he is drawing a random one. Yuzuru's card ends up being the highest, the king of clubs, and Taiga draws an ace as planned by Kitou. Yuzuru does not reveal the scheme and does not attempt to save Taiga. He keeps silent as Kitou urges Taiga to accept the outcome and give up. Enraged, Taiga lashes at Himari, the person standing closest to him, intending to murder her with his knife and demanding a "LIFE", but Yuzuru jumps before her at the last moment and protects her with his body. Taiga's knife pierces through the right side of his chest, leaving everyone in utter shock. Himari screams as she sees her father mortally wounded.
Yuzuru is stabbed by Taiga, he falls on the ground, covered in blood, and Himari yells out his name. He has enough energy to exchange "LIFE" cards with his daughter, but he cannot walk, so she pulls him up and asks the others to help carry him to his shelter. Arisu volunteers, so he and Himari help Yuzuru get into one of the safe pods. Despite the severe injury, he survives the second alien invasion.
Hall 3[]
Yuzuru falling down making everyone worry
The remaining players enter the Hall 3, and the third begins. The hall contains a replica of Egyptian landmarks, and the temperature inside is as hot as people would imagine to feel in Egypt. Arisu carries Yuzuru, whose chest is covered in blood, but then Yuzuru falls down, and Kitou starts trying to stop the bleeding. However, both Kitou and Onoue quickly come to the conclusion that Yuzuru has very little time left. Realizing his condition, Yuzuru volunteers to be the dropout of this round and asks everyone to give him their "DEATH" cards, so that they do not have to kill each other later. He remembers his past and what happened right before they got transported to the Borderland, which makes him own up to his mistakes.
Yuzuru volunteers to be the dropout of the round
"Up until now I have rejected many customers of insurance claims. I only acted in the interest of my career and company profits without considering the customer's future at all. I thrusted a "DEATH" card to them, even though I could have given them a "LIFE"!"
— Yuzuru reflecting on his past
He repeats his request to receive all the "DEATH" cards from the other players, explaining that they would certainly regret using them on each other, and asks them to make sure Himari receives a "LIFE" card.
Yuzuru's request to receive "DEATH" cards repeats again, but only Onoue eventually fulfills it. Just as the time is about to run out, Yuzuru addresses Kitou and asks him not to deceive the others again, which is when Himari finds out that Taiga died due to Kitou's trick with cards. She realizes that her father is dying because of Kitou, but Yuzuru urges her to enter the shelter quickly before the round ends. The alien invasion begins, and Yuzuru's body is not shown, but it is implied that he met the same end as Taiga.
Hall 5-6 and the real world[]
Yuzuru appears alongside Taiga and Onoue in flashbacks as the rest of the players discuss or lament about the unnecessary deaths which could have been prevented. Himari remembers him as she slaps Kitou for his wish to give up, because Yuzuru's pointless death made Himari sure she does not want to see it happening again.
Back in the real world after the game is cleared, Yuzuru's body is briefly shown in the hospital where Himari sits next to him and cries.
Etymology[]
- Yuzuru's surname Horikawa means "moat, ditch, canal" (堀) (hori) and "river, stream" (川) (kawa).