Alice in Borderland Season 1 Episode 1 Recap

[00:00:30] Arisu Ryohei was playing video games very seriously, but his character still died in combat. His brother entered the room to scold him. Arisu had a job interview to attend earlier, but he had skipped out. His father became angry with his decision. His brother didn’t like him for being a parasite at home. He wished they could go back in time to when their mother was still alive. Ryohei decided to leave the house in order to avoid any conflicts with his brother. He went downstairs, and his father told him not to get in his brother’s way. Ryohei texted his buddies Chota Segawa and Daikichi Karube to find someplace to crash.

[00:03:00] Karube was busy having an affair with his manager’s woman when Ryohei texted him. The manager entered the bar and discovered the affair. Karube got in a fight with his manager left the bar. Meanwhile, Chota gave his mother an envelope full of money. He told her that it was the last time he was going to help her. Karube texted them that he had gotten fired from work while Chota skipped work in order to join them. The three of them decided to meet in front of the Shibuya station to have a drink. While they were looking for a bar that was open, Karube told Arisu that he shouldn’t hang out with them. Karube added that he should get his act together and live a normal life.

[00:08:00] Arisu and Chota laughed at Karube’s drama. They stared at the crowd crossing Shibuya station. Karube decided to celebrate Arisu’s independence by carrying him to the station. They got caught up in the moment and were left in the middle of the street as the traffic resumed. All of them ran for their lives and caused a vehicular accident. The police were looking for them, so they hid inside a bathroom stall at the station. They suppressed their laughter and spoke through text. Someone knocked on the stall door before the lights went out. They slowly walked out of the bathroom. There was no one outside; everything seemed abandoned.

[00:15:00] Karube went back to the bar to look for Emi, but she wasn’t there. Chota returned to his job, but the whole office was empty. Arisu ran around looking for any trace of life, but he found no one. They met back at the station and confirmed that there was no one around. The three of them checked their phones but they weren’t working. They just sat in the middle of Shibuya until nightfall. All three of them were looking for a plausible explanation as to what happened but none of them seemed realistic. Arisu suggested that only the three of them were left alive. He was relieved instead of frightened that they were the only ones left in Tokyo. Chota was thrilled at the thought that they no longer had any responsibility for their actions. Chota and Arisu celebrated their newfound freedom.

[00:23:00] The billboard TV at Shibuya suddenly turned on. It gave a reminder that the game would start in a few moments. It pointed them to the game arena. Arisu saw the red light on the horizon. They ran over in hopes of finding other people. Upon arriving at the GM Building, they saw another sign inviting them to enter the building. The three of them agreed to enter the building cautiously. They turned the corner and found a bunch of phones on a window sill. The sign stated only one phone per person. They each grabbed a phone which had facial recognition. A woman arrived and showed them the borderline behind them. She threw Chota’s ID and it got hit by a laser. She told them that once they crossed it they couldn’t go back. Arisu went over to check the lasers when another woman arrived.

[00:28:00] The three of them tried to warn the second woman about the borderline but it was too late as she crossed it already. The first woman gave the other woman a phone as the game began. The first game was “Dead or Alive”. They needed to choose the correct door to survive. The first woman boarded the elevator like she knows what she’s doing. The second woman followed and so did the three of them. They entered the room and the timer started. The first woman wanted to choose the door marked “Live”. Arisu and Karube checked the doors while Chota started filming. Chota thought everything was just a game without any real consequences. Arisu argued with the first woman’s choice as time was running out.

[00:32:00] Smoke started coming out of the floor. The second woman panicked and ran out of the “Live” door. She died instantly. With 10 seconds left, the first woman ran out the “Die” door. Arisu and Karube followed her lead. They pulled Chota out the first room before he died. The second room had a 1 minute and 50 seconds timer. They still couldn’t believe that the second woman really died. Arisu blamed the first woman for the second woman’s death. Karube tried arguing with her, but time was running out. Arisu volunteered to open the next door. He was about to open the “Die” door, but fear got the best of him. Karube mustered all the courage he had to open the “Live” door. They entered the next room with a timer of 1 minute and 40 seconds.

[00:35:00] Inside the third room, Karube tried to force the first woman to open the next door. He chose the “Live” door, but the woman didn’t want to open it. Karube asked Arisu to solve the game. Arisu was too afraid to think. Karube ended up punching Arisu out of frustration. Arisu remembered the car he had seen before they entered the building. He deduced that the correct door was “Die”. He couldn’t explain why because they didn’t have time. Arisu opened the door. Everyone entered the fourth room in the nick of time. They had 1 minute and 30 seconds to solve the room. Arisu explained how he solved the previous room. He drew a map and showed them his solution. Arisu chose the next door correctly with seconds to spare. Arisu followed his mini map into the fifth and sixth room.

[00:38:00] The three of them celebrated as they felt triumph upon solving each room. They entered the seventh room and Arisu looked worried. The room didn’t have a door that matched his map. Everyone was about to enter the “Die” door when Arisu realized he had made a mistake. He knew that he missed something and asked Chota to show him the video of the first room. The second woman entered a room that didn’t have a door. Arisu knew that there was another room, so they ran out the “Live” door. They had 10 seconds to solve the eight room. The first woman chose the “Live” door, but Arisu told them it was the “Die” door. He made the right decision and all four of them escaped. Chota got burned as they exited the seventh room, but overall, everyone was alright.

[00:42:00] Arisu read the congratulatory message from his phone. They cleared the game as they panted their way down the stairs into the alleyway behind the building. The second woman thanked them because she wouldn’t have survived without them. She saw a table with the three of clubs card. They received a new message regarding a three day visa. A man came lumbering towards them. The man called out that he was withdrawing from the game. He told them that the game never ends. A red laser came out of the sky; it hit the man on the head, instantly killing him. The first woman explained what the visas meant. She added that they needed to continue playing games in order to survive.

[00:45:00] Red lasers continue to shoot out of the sky all over Tokyo. Another woman looked down from a building. She looked like she’d been through hell as she, too, was holding her own card.