Netflix’s Squid Game became a near-overnight success after it hit the streaming platform in 2021, but another series tackles the death game trope with a brilliant intensity that should be just as interesting to viewers. While Squid Game quickly became the benchmark for modern death dramas, the brutal competitions, sharp social commentary, and emotionally grounded character arcs can be found on other shows, as well.
Despite its heightened premise, Squid Game maintained a sense of tension that Netflix viewers weren’t used to with some of the platform’s other originals. Focusing on desperation, debt, and human psychology rather than fixating on spectacle, Squid Game was able to elevate a genre that can often veer into melodrama if the creative team behind the series isn’t careful.
While death game stories are notoriously difficult to execute cleanly, the life-or-death stakes can be exactly what viewers need to see in order to ensure the story is hitting home. Squid Game avoided many of the common death game drama pitfalls, but it isn’t the only series on Netflix to achieve this balance. For viewers drawn to high-stakes psychological thrillers, there’s a series that surpasses Squid Game’s intensity entirely.
Alice In Borderland Delivers Action-Packed Death Games
Alice In Borderland, adapted from the popular manga by Haro Aso, follows a group of young adults who are transported to an abandoned version of Tokyo where they must participate in deadly games to extend their survival visas. With a high-stakes premise and an intense style, Alice In Borderland structures its games around different strengths rather than relying on brute force like Squid Game.
Alice In Borderland stands out from others in the death game genre because of its creativity, especially when it comes to the challenges. Each game is designed with clear rules and escalating consequences, allowing tension to build. The show’s central relationships are also a bigger focus than Squid Game, which allows the characters to struggle with guilt, loss, and where their own responsibility lies as they face harrowing circumstances.
Why Alice In Borderland Is Not As Popular As Squid Game
While Alice In Borderland is a phenomenal series, it never quite reached the same level of cultural saturation that Squid Game did throughout its run. The timing of Squid Game, which came out in 2021, may have something to do with its popularity. While Alice In Borderland was well-received, it came out in late 2020, when viewers may not have been looking for dark subject matter.
Another issue Alice In Borderland may have faced in finding its core audience is that it’s a dense series that requires a lot of work to understand the core mythology of the series. An Alice In Wonderland adaptation, Alice In Borderland layers its meaning beneath game mechanics, which can demand close attention from the audience to grasp exactly what the series is trying to convey.
Alice In Borderland Is One Of The Best Manga Adaptations On Netflix
As a manga adaptation, Alice In Borderland succeeds by fully respecting its source material while embracing the ways it’s able to shift as a TV series. Preserving the manga’s structure, Alice In Borderland translates its imaginative world and dynamic characters into grounded, cinematic set pieces. Netflix’s production scale allowed Alice In Borderland to immerse its viewers in the world of the story without rushing through it too quickly.
