Review by Ian Keogh

So we reach the end of Alice in Borderland, at least in this incarnation, and it’s been a long, winding and surprising journey, the latter not least for Haro Aso’s concept ending up as a TV drama. Volume 8 ended with three people trapped in a game of their own, one determined to kill Arisu and another wanting to ensure he doesn’t escape. Having previously decided he was no longer going to participate in games, Arisu is out of luck. Caught between despondent nihilism and equally despondent rationalism will Arisu keep to his decision?

It’s surely no spoiler to reveal Arisu survives those circumstances to participate in the final game alongside Usagi, which is a crowd-pleasing decision on Aso’s part. He also returns the flavour of Alice in Wonderland by involving a queen and a game of croquet.

What life means has become a topic that’s come to dominate Alice in Borderland. Aso’s investigated it via assorted characters whose views range from suicidal to desperately wanting to live. The theme is continued into breaks during the final game, where Aso speculates as to the developments resulting from state of the art science and beliefs when the series was written. It’s playing fair with an audience expecting answers as to what the series has been all about and how Arisu found himself in Borderland. The answer is simple, smart and effective, if rather pessimistic about humanity’s basic desire, yet, cleverly, it’s not the entire story, which audaciously continues beyond. Several games seen over the series have required truth, yet is it in short supply here?

Throughout this volume Aso messes with minds on a grand scale, diverging into questions of what reality can be. If that sounds wooly, you wouldn’t really expect a review to give away what Aso has been leading up to for nine volumes, would you? There is a real world basis for some convincing disclosures, which fit the tone of the series. However, even then Aso’s not finished, and he supplies a positive barrage of possibilities, but all fundamentally asking who we are, or more directly who Arisu is. It’s surprising, and all the more so for Aso having so successfully diverted attention away from the questions throughout Alice in Borderland.

Having delved so deep into the human psyche, the final chapter is vox pops counterpointing the seriousness, yet equally valid if considered. What life means is, after all, an individual matter.

Not everything Aso tries has succeeded throughout the series, but it’s always been driven by intelligence, and the finale really exemplifies that. It’s excellent.

This concludes the main series, but Aso subsequently produced the sequel Alice on Border Road.