When Squid Game was released, Netflix wanted to make more seasons, but creator Hwang Dong-hyuk was less convinced, especially after the stressful process of making Season 1 resulted in him losing “eight or nine” teeth. He later told the BBC that the main motivator for making Seasons 2 and 3 was mainly financial, as he didn’t make much from the overwhelming success of Season 1. That shows in the story, which drags its protagonist back into the games for a second time with even higher stakes, and more redundant story beats.
That familiar story is being told again with Alice in Borderland, the Japanese live-action manga adaptation that did the “deadly games” thing even before Squid Game. Its latest season begs a comparison with the final seasons of Squid Game, but each time the Japanese series veers a little too close to copying the hit Korean show, it makes a bigger and bolder choice — for better or for worse.
