Alice In Borderland Takes You Far, Far Away...
The Netflix original series is actually that - original - and it's a wild ride.
Today a departure from my usual fare of hockey, football, and general observations of the world, to bring you thoughts on the Netflix series “Alice in Borderland”, a Sci-Fi thriller produced in Japan.
If you read or know me even a little, you’ll understand that ordinary streaming fare won’t get my attention. You can have your formulaic, US produced, hard to tell one show from the next, garden variety dramas with familiar stars and the usual trappings.
My friends have stopped suggesting shows to me. They know I’m not gonna bite on whatever version of the same thing some Hollywood big dawg producer rolls out.
Some are good - some are quite good - but most are unimaginative and predictable. Most don’t require much of me. Most - I can check my brain after pushing play.
But this one is different. This one - you have to watch and pay attention. Starting with reading subtitles. I can’t watch something dubbed - it’s silly and accurate translations never quite get across. It’s work of course to read subtitles while watching a show, but it’s work I’m here for. Also, opening myself up to foreign catalogs gives me way more programming options and aren’t we all looking for that?
And while Netflix and other streaming services have helped kill my book-reading muscles - it’s ok and I don’t feel bad about that. I still read - just not books - not so much. Storytelling has evolved over millennia, from cave drawings, to the spoken tellings, to print and books, to now the large and small screen. I celebrate this and don’t bemoan it.
And with “Alice” - the storytelling is big, bold, and epic, leaning into Japanese anime themes and visuals. It’s colorful and grand, imaginative and full of wonder. The pacing is fast and tense, and storylines are thoughtful. Characters discover things about themselves, about the world, about humanity and the lack of it, as they play life-and-death games in a parallel Tokyo.
No - “Alice” isn’t for everyone - but if you’re tired of the usual fare - and maybe tried and liked “Squid Games” - come with me.
But don’t say I didn’t warn you…
