Wait. That wasn't supposed to happen. When the final episode of the second season dropped, most of us assumed the game was over. Arisu and Usagi were back in the "real" world—or at least a version of Tokyo that didn't involve getting shot at by lasers from the sky. Then the camera panned. It zoomed in on that eerie Joker card sitting on a hospital table. Netflix basically shattered the collective peace of the fandom in thirty seconds. Now, Alice in the Borderland Season 3 is officially happening, and honestly, it changes everything we thought we knew about the afterlife, the Borderlands, and what it actually means to "clear" the game.
Netflix confirmed the renewal back in late 2023 with a cryptic teaser featuring that same playing card. Since then, the hype has been simmering. It’s a bit of a shock because the show has technically already covered the entirety of Haro Aso’s original manga. Usually, when a live-action adaptation runs out of source material, fans start getting nervous. Remember Game of Thrones? Yeah. But there’s a massive caveat here that most people are overlooking: the Joker. In the manga, the Joker is a transitionary figure, a ferryman of sorts. In the show, he feels like a final boss.
The Joker Card and the Departure from the Manga
If you’ve read the books, you know the Joker isn't some malicious entity. He’s more like a neutral bureaucrat of the Borderlands. He shows up briefly to usher Arisu back to the living world. He's a shadow. A whisper. But the way the live-action series framed that final shot suggests something much more sinister. The Joker card didn't just represent a return to reality; it looked like a threat.
Is the "real world" just another layer of the game? That’s the big question for Alice in the Borderland Season 3. Some fans speculate that the hospital setting is just the start of the "Joker Stage." If you think about it, the Face Cards were the hardest games yet. What could a Joker game possibly look like? It wouldn't be a physical arena. It would be psychological. It would be a game played in the mind, making you doubt whether you ever left the Borderlands at all.
Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya are confirmed to return as Arisu and Usagi. That’s a relief. It would be weird to continue without them, though the Borderlands are big enough to support an anthology. Director Shinsuke Sato is also back at the helm. He’s the one responsible for that gritty, high-octane visual style that made the first two seasons so addictive. He has a knack for making empty Shibuya look terrifying.
Why the Season 2 Ending Was a Total Fake-Out
Everyone remembers the meteorite. The big reveal was that the "Borderland" is essentially a collective near-death experience for the victims of the meteor strike in Shibuya. If you won the games, you chose to stay or go. If you died in the games, you died in the real world. Arisu chose to go back. He woke up in a hospital bed with no memory of the games, but a lingering sense of connection to Usagi. It was beautiful. It was clean. It was... apparently a lie.
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Actually, calling it a lie might be too harsh. It’s more of a "to be continued." The existence of Alice in the Borderland Season 3 suggests that the "permanent residents" of the Borderland—the ones who chose to stay behind as citizens—might still have a role to play. Or maybe the Joker is simply refusing to let Arisu go.
Think about the structure of a deck of cards. You have your numbered cards, your face cards, and then the wildcard. The Joker is the one who can be anything. In some games, the Joker is the highest value; in others, it's worthless. This season will likely explore the "wildcard" nature of existence. Honestly, I'm expecting something along the lines of Inception meets Battle Royale. If they can't trust their memories, they can't trust their survival.
What Source Material Is Left?
Technically, none. Well, almost none. Haro Aso wrote a spin-off called Alice in Borderroad, but that features different characters and a different setting. There is also a direct sequel manga titled Alice in the Borderland: Retry.
In Retry, Arisu is older. He’s a psychology student. He gets into another accident and ends up back in the Borderlands for one specific game: the Nine of Hearts. It’s a short story, but it provides a perfect blueprint for how a third season could work. Arisu doesn't need to be trapped there forever; he just needs one reason to go back. In the manga, he has a pregnant wife (Usagi) waiting for him. The stakes are personal, not global.
Netflix might combine elements of Retry with an entirely original narrative. That’s a risky move. Original scripts for established IPs are hit or miss. But given how much care has gone into the production design so far, they’ve earned a bit of trust. They have to expand the lore. We still don't really know who or what created the Borderlands. Was it a divine force? An alien experiment? A glitch in the simulation?
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The Mystery of the Citizens
Let’s talk about the people who stayed. At the end of Season 2, we saw some characters—who shall remain nameless for spoiler reasons—choose to become citizens of the Borderland. This means they will be the next generation of Game Masters. They will be the ones designing the traps and the psychological torture for the next "batch" of victims.
If Alice in the Borderland Season 3 features these characters as the new villains, it would be heartbreaking. Imagine Arisu having to play a game designed by someone he once trusted. The emotional weight of that would be significantly higher than just fighting a random guy like the King of Spades.
Expect a Darker Tone (If That’s Even Possible)
The first season was about discovery. The second was about endurance. The third? It’s probably going to be about the cost of living. If the Joker is indeed the "God" of this world, then Arisu isn't just playing for his life anymore. He’s playing for his soul.
Production for the new episodes has been shrouded in secrecy. We know they've been filming in Japan through 2024 and 2025. The scale is reportedly bigger. More practical effects. More elaborate set pieces. They know the bar is high. You can't follow up the "Solitary Confinement" game or the "Queen of Hearts" croquet match with something mediocre. People want to see the limits of human cruelty and cooperation.
There’s also the question of the missing cards. We saw the deck "cleared," but the Joker remained. In some card games, there are actually two Jokers—the Red Joker and the Black Joker. Could we be looking at a dual-threat situation?
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Practical Things to Keep in Mind While Waiting
Don't expect a release before late 2025 or even early 2026. These shows take forever in post-production because of the sheer amount of CGI required to "empty" Tokyo. Plus, the action choreography is incredibly dense.
- Rewatch Season 1 and 2: Look specifically at the background details in the final hospital scene. There are hints about the Joker's influence everywhere.
- Read Alice in the Borderland: Retry: It’s only a few chapters. It’ll give you a sense of Arisu’s headspace as an adult.
- Check out the director’s other work: Shinsuke Sato did the Kingdom live-action and Gantz. He knows how to handle "death games."
The wait is painful, but the payoff for Alice in the Borderland Season 3 could be the most ambitious survival drama we've seen since Squid Game. Netflix is doubling down on Japanese content for a reason. This show is the flagship.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of Arisu and Usagi while waiting for the new season, start by exploring the Alice in the Borderland: Retry manga. It’s the only direct sequel written by the original creator and offers a glimpse into how Arisu functions when the stakes change from "survival" to "protection."
Keep an eye on official Netflix TUDUM updates for the first teaser trailer, which is rumored to drop in late 2025. Pay close attention to the card motifs in the promotional art—if more than one Joker card appears, the "Two Joker" theory might just be confirmed. Finally, watch the final ten minutes of Season 2 again, but focus entirely on the peripheral characters in the hospital. Some of those faces might be familiar, and their presence in the "real world" could be the key to understanding the next stage of the game.