Alice in Borderland’s and Yamazaki and Man Tsuchiya discuss the season

Netflix returns to the mysterious and deadly border with the third season of its successful Japanese science fiction series, Alice in BorderlandBeginning on the platform on September 25.

The series, a live adaptation of the popular manga of Haro Aso of the same name, is of some distance the most watched Japanese title of Netflix of all time, marking more than 200 million hours of viewing in four weeks after the beginnings of its second season in December 2022, according to the figures provided by The Streamer. Alice in Borderland He also landed on the 10 best coveted Netflix lists in more than 90 countries, proving that the spectacle has found an audience beyond Japan and has exploited the apparently insatiable global demand for manga-adapted content as well as programs built around “Death Games”.

In a sign revealing the importance of the show for Netflix Japan, the streamer organized launch events for Alice in BorderlandThe third season in Tokyo at the beginning of the month, which included a pop-up boutique filled with Merch and interactive games as well as a sumptuous event similar to a first (although no sequence was projected) where participants could listen to a Q&A live with the cast of season three. The guests included the usual mixture of fans and journalists, as well as influencers such as Kawaiii Coco and, at random, the superstar to fight Kenny Omega. After a brief conversation with The Hollywood ReporterOmega, who has close ties to Japan and speaks Japanese fluently, revealed that Alice in Borderland was his favorite show.

Fans will be delighted to know that going back to Helm and co-writing season three of Alice in Borderland Is Shinsuke Sato. The two tracks of the show are also back, Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya, who play Arisu and Usagi respectively, but several new Cast members who were presented during the launch event of Tokyo. Filling out the cast are Hayato ISOMURA, Ayaka Miyoshi, Katsuya Maiguma, Koji Ohkura, Risa Sudou, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Tina Tamashiro, Kotaro Daigo, Hyunri, Sakura Kiryu, Yugo Mikawa, Joey Iwanaga, Akana Ikeda and Kento Kaku.

According to the line line, season three of Alice in Borderland Picks up the action after Usagi and Arisu manage to “escape” to Tokyo parallel to wake up in a hospital, then slowly discover that they were survivors of a strike of devastating meteors on Shibuya. Above all, they have no memory of Borderland or games. The logline reads as follows: “After Usagi was removed and left unconscious by a mysterious scholar obsessed with the beyond, Arisu returns to the perilous” border “to save it. Combining with new players, they have to face the “Joker” scene still united in a desperate offer to find a path of original.

Before the launch event of Tokyo, THR Sitting with Yamazaki and Tsuchiya to discuss the growing world popularity of the show, returning for a radically different season from Alice in Borderland And how they treated intense trauma which is such a theme of the series.

Let’s start with a question about the global answer to Alice in Borderland. It has become a bit of a phenomenon, and outside of Japan looks at it. What do you think of the global success of the show?

Kento Yamazaki: I was surprised at the beginning, but I am of course delighted that world fans have adopted this show. It is also true that even from the first season, we had this resolution to create something for the world public. So I’m so happy that [this passion] continued until season three.

Tao Tsuchiya: I have no words about how it’s in motion [that the show is popular globally]. I think of BorderYou can somehow see [the themes] In your own company, or school, or even our world as an actor. Survival is one of our lives and I think that in this way the show is universal, and I think that is why the global public responded.

The spectacle itself is quite traumatic, there are a lot of deep trauma for all the characters, and many heavy themes such as suicide, death, depression and many other problems. Was it quite draining for you as a player to be in this emotional space for a show like this?

Kento: Yes absolutely! [The material] Take an impact on you and there have been a lot of challenges, but we just did our best to overcome all of this, which led us to have, and me in particular, having a feeling of confidence with the work of being able to move the world public. And being able to continue until season three makes me justify. I’m so happy to have been able to spend [the dark moments] When I really had trouble.

TAO: There was the challenge or the difficulty of what you just mentioned. These heavier themes, [well]When you put yourself in a very dark place for a long time, in a very stoic way, it can also affect your physical health. So what we actively did on the set was laughing, there were a lot of laughter on the set. I was just talking to Kento, the crew [the whole time]And I think it did the job itself not only something that was brutal but something that also makes you feel a feeling of love.

Regarding the return to Alice in Borderland. You both live with this project for more than 5 years, how does that seem to you to come back? And impatiently, would you be eager to make a fourth season or a spin-off perhaps?

Kento: I myself am a fan of the show, and being able to do season three is also accompanied by a little pressure because it is so loved by the world public. But we have such an incredible team that I was filled with joy on the set. And of course, if it will continue in one way or another, I will be very impatient to be part of this.

Tao: When season two ended, I felt like it was a great way to finish the story, so I was a little surprised when they presented me to season three! Thinking in advance, obviously in this season, which you have not yet seen, [Usagi is] pregnant, so there will be a child in the future, and she would like to see this child come back [to the normal world]Not just the two main characters. The story should be family, I think it could be really interesting.