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TV centen's Alice in Borderland Netflix to manga comparison (1 Viewer)

centen

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@roses_are_rosie in case you're interested!

I'm reading the official translated versions, so I only have the first four volumes, because the last five aren't translated into English yet. (I mean, they've only had a decade, but apparently you need a major Netflix show first.) I'll spoiler anything that might be considered a big deal, but otherwise, just kind of bullet pointing out the noticeable changes based on the fact that I've seen the Netflix show in full four times, and that I'm reading the manga fresh.

Volume 1 covers episodes 1 & 2 in the show. I'm through the first half now, and here's what's noticeably different.
  • The show aged Arisu, Chota, and Karube up slightly. In the manga, they are supposed to be senior year in high school, but I can see how that's kind of nonsensical at least from an international view to have one of them working full-time in a bar (which is the same in the manga).
  • The Three of Clubs is completely different in the manga vs. the show. Spoilered below.
  • Shibuki is a teeny bit more knowledgeable about Borderland in the manga, but it's not a big deal to me, because in the manga, you need someone to explain to the characters what the rules are. In the show, you can show them. So she explains that the arenas can be in any number of places, there are lots of players, etc.
  • The visa is simplified a teeny bit in the show. In the manga, you literally get a printed off visa (which you don't have to take). It gives you a number of points equal to the difficulty of the game (Three of Clubs = three points), has a running total of the points, and confirms how many days your visa was extended for. In the show, the games just give you the difficulty-to-day extension (so same Three of Clubs = three days, but no point element to it). I'll keep an eye out and comment again if it turns out that the points matter, but right now, this simplification makes sense to me.
Netflix Version
In the show, the Three of Clubs consists of five characters: Arisu, Chota, and Karube plus two women (Shibuki + a high school? student) that they just meet at the game. Shibuki explains that you have to play or you die, and she throws an object outside the arena where they all see it get lasered immediately. In the game itself, they have to navigate a series of doors to find the exit to the building. Each door has a "life" or "death" poster, but that just is a way to mark the doors. If you select the wrong door, you die. If you refuse to decide or take too long to decide, your current room is set on fire. Each room gets less and less time to make a decision. They lose the high school student when she freaks tf out in the first room and blindly chooses a door. They get lucky on another door, but ultimately, they succeed at picking the correct path by Arisu being able to roughly figure out the size of the rooms and therefore, what must be an outside wall (death) vs. an inside wall (next room). The Netflix version showcases that Karube is the more aggressive of the trio, but also the braver, and Arisu is able to think under pressure.

Manga Version
In the manga, they get lured to a festival by the smells, and don't even understand that they have wandered into an arena until Shibuki shows up to play too. The game requires that you draw a fortune, and all players must draw a fortune before the time runs out, which is indicated by the festival lanterns getting extinguished. Arisu and Chota basically act like idiots who don't understand what's required, even when Shibuki does the same "you can't exit the arena" demonstration. Karube draws his fortune first (so still showcasing that he's the boldest), which marks him as a "leader." Nothing happens.

Then Chota draws a fortune, and it poses a question. The rules update to require that the person who draws the question answers the question aloud. Chota basically flippantly guesses at the answer, and he's wrong by 3 (not understandable, he has a math question; he could take his time and get to the correct answer). So three flaming arrows come out of the sky to shoot at the players. Shibuki understands the rules now, and goes to draw her fortune. She and Karube try to work out the correct answer, while Arisu and Chota have mental breakdowns. Shibuki is wrong by 420 (understandable, her question is "Milk is produced from the nutrients in a cow's blood stream. How many liters of blood does it take to produce one liter of milk?" She guesses 30.) Chota gets shot by one of the arrows, getting a similar injury to the Netflix game, and Karube showcases his bravery by saving Chota.

Then Arisu finally gets around to drawing. He is asked to state the entire Earth's population as of 2010, rounded up to the nearest 100 million. Shibuki provides a couple of educated guesses to help him out. He decides to just roll with one of them, but ultimately, he notices that it doesn't really matter. The fortunes have a question, but they also have all these other fortune cookie-like details (e.g. your lucky direction is..., your love life will...). When the arrows come, he notices that the arrows for him, Chota, and Shibuki all come from the directions on their unlucky fortunes. As Karube is the only one who got the good fortune, there must be something in that direction that will help them navigate the game. They run south, and discover a bunker, which protects them from the 100 million arrows.

My Verdict
I think the Netflix show did a lot better at putting the time pressure on them. Even though the manga has the time element to it too, it basically doesn't come up. The real issue is being surrounded by everything being on fire and suffocating in the heat. I also personally preferred that Netflix has that Chota is a bit unserious, but he doesn't come across like a complete moron.

Otherwise, I think the games basically executed on what the main objectives were: introduce Shibuki, show that Karube is the bravest of the bunch, show that Arisu is very observant, and show that Chota is kind of flippant, though Netflix reduced that to have him in just the "ladida" space rather than in the "are you sure the lights are on?" space.


I'm planning to finish the rest of volume 1 and volumes 2-4 over the next couple of weeks. :pikahappy:
 
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Volume 1 second half comparison to episode 2!
  • Shibuki becomes friendly with everyone in the trio in the manga, not just Chota. I'm neither here nor there on which approach is "better," but it's interesting to give her character more space to become part of the group.
    • An example: when Karube and Arisu go to participate in the Five of Spades, Shibuki and Chota escort them to the arena and wait for them nearby.
  • Five of Spades is the same game (tag), but the manga is more explicit that the tagger will kill the participants ("A serial killer is on the loose.") I don't think that really matters either way, since the games are already pretty clear that the penalty for losing is death.
    • I've also noticed that the manga does the order of information as game name -> difficulty -> rules, while the show does difficulty -> game name -> rules. It's a small thing, but I think I kind of prefer the difficulty being front and center? It feels like the kind of arrogance that the game makers would have done, revealing that it was a spades game before anything else, like putting their name on it first.
  • In the manga, Usagi is running around in a school girl's uniform. She changes into athletic wear in the arena lobby, which serves no purpose other than fanservice. I'm glad Netflix cut that out; someone as smart as Usagi wouldn't wear a skirt and heels into an arena.

  • There are five more players in the Netflix version, like the two friends who die together were really memorable to me.
    • Arisu and Karube don't meet Tatta or Aguni in the manga at this point.
    • In the show, Aguni is the one who gets Karube to take on the tagger, but in the manga, Karube willingly does it with a couple of unnamed players because he and Arisu get separated, and he's mentally beating himself up that he left Arisu to die.
    • Finally, Chishiya is the one who gives them the tip about the radio, rather than them finding it after one of Aguni's grunts leaves it behind.
  • Karube is the one who thinks up that they should yell out the tagger's position.
  • There is only one tagger in the manga. He maintains control over all the players by having multiple guns so he never needs to reload. The takedown in the show Aguni and Karube pull off would have been a suicide mission.
  • At the end, Karube takes on the tagger alone so that Arisu can enter the room. Chishiya comes to save Karube from the tagger. So it's slightly different, but the same general teamwork.

On the whole so far, I feel like the show accurately captures the spirit of the manga, even if not every individual detail. I have to finish my book club book next, so it'll probably be a couple days before I have another posting.
 

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@roses_are_rosie in case you're interested!

I'm reading the official translated versions, so I only have the first four volumes, because the last five aren't translated into English yet. (I mean, they've only had a decade, but apparently you need a major Netflix show first.) I'll spoiler anything that might be considered a big deal, but otherwise, just kind of bullet pointing out the noticeable changes based on the fact that I've seen the Netflix show in full four times, and that I'm reading the manga fresh.

Volume 1 covers episodes 1 & 2 in the show. I'm through the first half now, and here's what's noticeably different.
  • The show aged Arisu, Chota, and Karube up slightly. In the manga, they are supposed to be senior year in high school, but I can see how that's kind of nonsensical at least from an international view to have one of them working full-time in a bar (which is the same in the manga).
  • The Three of Clubs is completely different in the manga vs. the show. Spoilered below.
  • Shibuki is a teeny bit more knowledgeable about Borderland in the manga, but it's not a big deal to me, because in the manga, you need someone to explain to the characters what the rules are. In the show, you can show them. So she explains that the arenas can be in any number of places, there are lots of players, etc.
  • The visa is simplified a teeny bit in the show. In the manga, you literally get a printed off visa (which you don't have to take). It gives you a number of points equal to the difficulty of the game (Three of Clubs = three points), has a running total of the points, and confirms how many days your visa was extended for. In the show, the games just give you the difficulty-to-day extension (so same Three of Clubs = three days, but no point element to it). I'll keep an eye out and comment again if it turns out that the points matter, but right now, this simplification makes sense to me.
Netflix Version
In the show, the Three of Clubs consists of five characters: Arisu, Chota, and Karube plus two women (Shibuki + a high school? student) that they just meet at the game. Shibuki explains that you have to play or you die, and she throws an object outside the arena where they all see it get lasered immediately. In the game itself, they have to navigate a series of doors to find the exit to the building. Each door has a "life" or "death" poster, but that just is a way to mark the doors. If you select the wrong door, you die. If you refuse to decide or take too long to decide, your current room is set on fire. Each room gets less and less time to make a decision. They lose the high school student when she freaks tf out in the first room and blindly chooses a door. They get lucky on another door, but ultimately, they succeed at picking the correct path by Arisu being able to roughly figure out the size of the rooms and therefore, what must be an outside wall (death) vs. an inside wall (next room). The Netflix version showcases that Karube is the more aggressive of the trio, but also the braver, and Arisu is able to think under pressure.

Manga Version
In the manga, they get lured to a festival by the smells, and don't even understand that they have wandered into an arena until Shibuki shows up to play too. The game requires that you draw a fortune, and all players must draw a fortune before the time runs out, which is indicated by the festival lanterns getting extinguished. Arisu and Chota basically act like idiots who don't understand what's required, even when Shibuki does the same "you can't exit the arena" demonstration. Karube draws his fortune first (so still showcasing that he's the boldest), which marks him as a "leader." Nothing happens.

Then Chota draws a fortune, and it poses a question. The rules update to require that the person who draws the question answers the question aloud. Chota basically flippantly guesses at the answer, and he's wrong by 3 (not understandable, he has a math question; he could take his time and get to the correct answer). So three flaming arrows come out of the sky to shoot at the players. Shibuki understands the rules now, and goes to draw her fortune. She and Karube try to work out the correct answer, while Arisu and Chota have mental breakdowns. Shibuki is wrong by 420 (understandable, her question is "Milk is produced from the nutrients in a cow's blood stream. How many liters of blood does it take to produce one liter of milk?" She guesses 30.) Chota gets shot by one of the arrows, getting a similar injury to the Netflix game, and Karube showcases his bravery by saving Chota.

Then Arisu finally gets around to drawing. He is asked to state the entire Earth's population as of 2010, rounded up to the nearest 100 million. Shibuki provides a couple of educated guesses to help him out. He decides to just roll with one of them, but ultimately, he notices that it doesn't really matter. The fortunes have a question, but they also have all these other fortune cookie-like details (e.g. your lucky direction is..., your love life will...). When the arrows come, he notices that the arrows for him, Chota, and Shibuki all come from the directions on their unlucky fortunes. As Karube is the only one who got the good fortune, there must be something in that direction that will help them navigate the game. They run south, and discover a bunker, which protects them from the 100 million arrows.

My Verdict
I think the Netflix show did a lot better at putting the time pressure on them. Even though the manga has the time element to it too, it basically doesn't come up. The real issue is being surrounded by everything being on fire and suffocating in the heat. I also personally preferred that Netflix has that Chota is a bit unserious, but he doesn't come across like a complete moron.

Otherwise, I think the games basically executed on what the main objectives were: introduce Shibuki, show that Karube is the bravest of the bunch, show that Arisu is very observant, and show that Chota is kind of flippant, though Netflix reduced that to have him in just the "ladida" space rather than in the "are you sure the lights are on?" space.


I'm planning to finish the rest of volume 1 and volumes 2-4 over the next couple of weeks. :pikahappy:
I do not really understand the point system. So instead of days they get points, but you are not sure yet how many points you need to survive a day, but it could still be one point = day?

Interesting they made a completely different game 1 for the show! The questions from the manga version sound funny, but it really sounds a lot less strtessfull than the one in they had in the netflix show, so I would also think they did a good job here!
 

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I do not really understand the point system. So instead of days they get points, but you are not sure yet how many points you need to survive a day, but it could still be one point = day?

Interesting they made a completely different game 1 for the show! The questions from the manga version sound funny, but it really sounds a lot less strtessfull than the one in they had in the netflix show, so I would also think they did a good job here!
It reads to me like, in the manga, they get both points and days, so I'm with you! I'm very confused on what the purpose of the points is. "You get another five days" is more straightforward than "you get another five points, which extends your visa by five days." But I'll let you know if the points have some other value later!

I agree! It's not a bad approach in the manga, but I think I prefer that the "Life or Death" game in the show immediately highlights the danger they're in much faster.
 

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It reads to me like, in the manga, they get both points and days, so I'm with you! I'm very confused on what the purpose of the points is. "You get another five days" is more straightforward than "you get another five points, which extends your visa by five days." But I'll let you know if the points have some other value later!

I agree! It's not a bad approach in the manga, but I think I prefer that the "Life or Death" game in the show immediately highlights the danger they're in much faster.
ok I'm curious!

Also I agree, I think it was a very very good start to the series and immediately hooked people!
 

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Volume 2! First half matches up with episode 3 of the show.

  • Shibuki reveals what the first game she played in Borderland, before she met Arisu, Karube, and Chota. This background is only briefly referenced in the show, but never explicitly detailed, so it's spoilered below.
  • They play the Seven of Hearts, just the four of them. The game is the same as in the show. There are a couple of interesting comments about it though. I'm spoilering because my thoughts reference the last episode of season 1.
  • Just a fun fact: Arisu's hobby in the manga is playing guitar, because it's the first time he enjoyed something for the sake of it, without competition.

Shibuki's first game is the Two of Hearts. She arrived at a train station where she meets two other guys. In a lot of ways, the guys remind me of Chota, Karube, and Arisu. They'd been around before, but were optimistic and encouraging.

The game is simple: each person has to board a four-car train at the very last car. Every person gets their own train. Your objective is to move from the last car to the first car. Each car is locked for five minutes before you can move forward.

They also get a gas mask with three air canisters that will last for 5 minutes. One of the four cars is filled with a poisonous gas. Once you put on the mask, there's no way to stop it if the air is breathable and save it for a later car.

At the back of the car, before they can get on to it and have had to decide whether to use an air canister, there is a vase of flowers. In the poison car, this vase is wilted. In the good cars, it's a full vase. So they don't know before they get on the car, but they know once the doors are locked if they chose wisely or wasted air. You can imagine the Queen of Hearts doing this on purpose to fill them with despair.

It's interesting, because it's really a math problem. Before you get on any cars, each has a 25% chance of being filled with poisonous gas. But those odds transfer as you rule out a car. So while you're in the first car, the remaining three now have a 33.34% chance. Then when you're in the third car, the remaining two have a 50% chance. By the time you get to the second car, you've either decided wisely or you've killed yourself, because either you're breathing poison gas in the third car, or you're wasting valuable air when the last car is the one that's poisonous.

The results: Shibuki ends up full of despair and doesn't use a mask for the third car. It turns out the last car is poisonous. The other two participants used up all their masks before the final car. Shibuki waits for them at the "game clear" train station, but they never arrive.

I thought this was interesting, because it both highlights that hearts games aren't just about understanding others, they're about understanding yourself and have the strength to make hard choices (mentally, not physically). And this provides some context for why Shibuki acts as she does when she sees they're in another hearts game.

I also understand why Netflix didn't bother to show this. It's a game that's easily covered in a few pages, but to actually show it being played, that's a lot of time that would have to be given to show her mental state and moving through the cars, particularly for a character who's dead by the end of the episode.

The manga specifically uses this wording when introducing the rules: "As you have deduced by now, this Seven of Hearts guarantees at least one player's survival."

AT LEAST one. There was a way to solve the game so they all could have gotten out together.

In fact, Arisu and Karube immediately try to calm their panic to think through the solution, but just like in the show, Shibuki gets the wolf role, panics, and runs away from the others. I wonder if Shibuki hadn't been there, if they could have calmly worked out the solution together. Maybe the game is a seven because of the disrupting element of a fourth player who isn't as close to the others. The kind of thing the Queen of Hearts would do, like later when she sets the Beach game to a Ten of Hearts after Hatter dies.

The other interesting thing: Shibuki gives up on her own in the manga. She says, "How am I supposed to go on living carrying your lives on my back?" and tells Arisu at the end to live for her too.
 
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Volume 2, second half! This actually lines up with episode 5 and the first part of episode 6. So episode 4, Arisu and Usagi come together and play the Four of Clubs game. That game isn't played by any of the main crew and it actually shows up as a "side story" in volume 4 with characters that are largely irrelevant to the main story; something to make the world seem bigger I guess. I'll cover it detail when I read volume 4.

The second half of volume 2 starts with the same of Arisu and Usagi teaming up but jumps into their attempts to find The Beach. This makes sense given that Karube is the one who is given the hint about the radio in the manga, and he discovers the message about The Beach. Karube's dying advice was that Arisu should figure it out. So of course Arisu would prioritize that.

As a reminder, episode 5 is where Usagi and Arisu attempt to find The Beach, successfully do, and are forced to participate in games as a "test." The first part of episode 6 is when Hatter dies and Chishiya and Arisu attempt to steal the cards.

That said, here are some interesting tidbits. Nothing too spoilery this time if you've seen the show.
  • It's not clearly spelled out, but I think the players must get two free days at the beginning. They have a little picture box that shows Usagi's and Arisu's games they played vs. time expired vs. time left.
    • Arisu: Three of Clubs + Five of Spades + Seven of Hearts = 15 days. But he's been there for 8, and has 9 days left.
    • Usagi: Three of Diamonds + Four of Spades + Five of Spades + Six of Clubs = 18 days. But she's been there for 10 days and has 10 days left.
  • Hatter looks more unhinged in the manga, to be frank. (Image of him from google images.) I forgot about this. I prefer Netflix version, because Netflix version looks like a charismatic dude who people would respond to.
  • The Beach explicitly requires four-player teams in order to maximize skillset variety. Kind of interesting compared to the party attitude, like shows some intelligence behind what they're doing rather than pure YOLO.
  • When the militant faction goes after Usagi, Arisu shows his skill more explicitly with being able to connect the dots and understanding people's internal motivations. His inner monologue shows that he understands that the Hatter is motivated by being liked and appearing like he's on your side, so he's likely to intervene. He also understands that Niragi is insecure af and will be easily unsettled by this.
  • The Beach teams go play two of the same games as in the show, but Arisu and Usagi are not forced to participate in any of the games.
    • Six of Spades: The players are "zebras" who must defeat the predators. Played by the military faction.
    • Four of Diamonds: Which switch turns on the light? An plays this game with three unnamed players and solves it herself.
  • The other three games we see in episode 5 are Netflix exclusive. They do not appear in the manga at all. (Which is honestly why I find it funny if people complain there's not enough "action" in the Netflix show. Netflix added more games.) Those are:
    • Two of Spades: Human Elevator
    • Two of Clubs: Hunting Competition
    • Ten of Clubs: Bingo in the Match Factory. The game Usagi plays in episode 5.
  • In the show, it is unclear if Kuina knows that Chishiya plans to betray Arisu over the cards. In the manga, it is clear that she didn't know. Chishiya leads her and Usagi to believe the plan failed.

Hoping to start volume 3 tomorrow!
 
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Volume 3! The first half of the volume aligns with the rest of episode 6 and the start of episode 7, when the Ten of Hearts game starts. It's also the start of a "side story" for the Four of Hearts, a game that is not shown in the Netflix show, for reasons I think I get already, but I'll cover that game when I finish volume 3. Based on the chapter listing, the rest of volume 3 should complete out this side story and wrap up episode 7, the completion of the Ten of Hearts.

Noteworthy observations for the Ten of Hearts/episode 6-7:
  • An interesting difference: because they weren't forced to participate in a game, when the militant faction locks Arisu away, they believe they are torturing him. Without his participation on the game with An the night before, he only has one day left on his visa, and therefore, he spends that time trapped with terror about how much time has passed and if he will be able to free himself by nightfall to enroll in a game. If the Ten of Hearts had not been set up at The Beach, this action would have killed him.
  • Kuina confronts Chishiya on his betrayal! This action probably saves his life too, since he was going to leave The Beach right as the game was starting (unbeknownst to him).
  • Niragi is more sneaky in the manga. In the show, he comes across as someone who just blindly commits violence, but in the manga, he deliberately incites the panic at the start of the Ten of Hearts. He's not what I would call clever, but just underhanded. Like a coward who's always out to see someone else get beat down.
  • Because earlier in the manga, Shibuki becomes friendly with all of them and she also gave up her life willingly to save him at the end, when Arisu has his flashbacks, she is included. It's a nice touch.

I'm planning to finish volume 3 tomorrow! :pikahappy:
 

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Volume 3 cont! I got a bit of extra time today, so decided to finish the Four of Hearts side story.

  • This game is played by a new character named Dodo.
    • We never meet him in the show, and for that matter, he doesn't show up again until the King of Spades in the manga.
    • The chunk that's at the end of the first half of volume 3 is setting up who he is: a 15-year-old kid who lives with his grandma, his mom has mental problems that have hospitalized her, and his best friend has literally just stolen his crush (under the guise of helping Dodo out).
  • It's set during the first days that Arisu and Usagi are at The Beach.
  • When Dodo gets to the arena, there are four other people there: one who is disguised and doesn't react to Dodo's arrival, and three other characters who are new to us and aren't seen otherwise in the manga or show. These other three are visibly upset to have a newbie to Borderlands join the game.
  • The game has a capacity of five players.
  • It starts by having the players ride the elevator to the roof of the 20 floor building.
  • Each player has to get into a separate window cleaning platform that's hanging on the outside of the building. If you've never seen one before, these platforms basically enclose you at waist height, but are otherwise open, so they could still see and talk to whoever is by them. The platforms then lower to 10th floor.
  • The rules are simple: you have 60 seconds to answer a survey question with either "minority" or "majority." Think Family Feud or something like that: do you think the majority of the people knew the correct answer or that the minority of the people knew the correct answer?
    • When you are wrong, the platform lowers and...
      • Kills you outright if you are wrong with the minority (as in the "majority" of the sampled people were correct)
      • Just badly shocks you if you're wrong with the majority (as in the "minority" of the sampled people were correct).
    • When you are correct, your platform raises.
      • When you are correct with the "majority" your platform raises one floor.
      • When you are correct with the "minority" your platform raises two floors.
      • When you trick another player into selecting an incorrect answer while you select the correct answer, you gain a bonus of five floors.
  • The longer the game takes to play, though, the more absurd the questions become, where you'd have to either know an insane amount of obscure trivia or you're just blindly guessing. Or you would have had to have grabbed one of the pamphlets that was sitting in the arena lobby that had the answers. LOL The Heart fuckery kills me.
It's interesting to see from the sense of showing how more Hearts games work, since a lot of people don't seem to quite grasp that Hearts are mind fuck games, not about intelligence or speed or skill; they're about unsettling the players, and letting the players creep themselves out and make bad decisions because they're in their own heads. Every Hearts game can technically be completed without killing any players, because the point is about playing with your heart, ba dum tss. It's the Spades games that want to violently kill all the participants.

I understand why Netflix cut this one out, given that watching a survey play out would take up a lot of viewing space for characters who aren't otherwise relevant. And the fact that the fifth player is revealed to be Arisu, and it's not really clear how tf he wound up there when he was busy dealing with The Beach stuff. The side story just literally cuts to the game in the middle of the Ten of Hearts game, so the logistics aren't established or explained. Sticking him in the game with An at least still showcased relevant side characters (An, Tatta, and Kuina) and gave Arisu a reason to leave The Beach.

But I liked its inclusion a lot for the manga and providing that additional context to help readers better understand what a Hearts game is. They don't have to be played like a "violently betray other players" game like you might think after seeing the Seven and Ten of Hearts play out.
 

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The end of volume 3 aligns 1:1 with Ten of Hearts in the show, so I didn't write up about it. On to volume 4! The first half of volume 4 wraps up the Ten of Hearts game, aligning with the rest of episode 7 and the start of episode 8 (where we see Momoka and Asahi's point of view) . Based on the list, the second half should align with episode 4 and then should wrap up episode 8. I plan to get to that tomorrow or Friday.

  • There's nothing that's really different, but just a lot of details about the roles of the dealers is made a lot more explicit. It's interesting vs. Arisu and Usagi reflecting back on what Asahi leaves them in the show and what they piece together. Here, they don't get that, but as the reader, we get Momoka's and Asahi's insights.
  • Last Boss (the guy with the tattooed skull who fights Kuina) survives the fight, but chooses to remain in the burning Beach because "If I can't live by my own strength, then I should die." It's implied in the show, but made explicit in the manga. In a way, it reminds me of how much the actors really conveyed a lot without having to spell everything out for you.
  • Chishiya makes up with Kuina for betraying Arisu. I mean, in his way. He seeks her out and tells her the word "utopia" originally means nowhere, and its first use as being the best place ever was intended to be ironic.
  • The one big difference is that Aguni never takes on Niragi. Niragi does still spread the fire, but he doesn't have his gun with him anymore.
  • The fourth chapter in the first half of this volume is about the day after the Ten of Hearts game, showing how a bunch of different people are reacting to it. This happens in the show too, but it's shortened. Devoting a whole chapters gives it some extra weight, I think.
    • While Arisu is recovering from his injuries, Usagi seeks out An and Kuina for comfort, and we see the questions that Arisu becomes pretty obsessed with in the second season (e.g. "What is the nature of this place?") are thought by the others too. For example, An comes up with a bunch of questions she wants to explore, which also gives a hint at why she acts the way she does in season 2.
    • They decide to have a memorial for those who died at The Beach to share their names and dreams and not leave the dead behind like nothing happened. Not just the main cast, but a bunch of other people come too.
    • Tatta and Kuina helps everyone find a sense of joy in still living the day after the memorial. An kicks Kuina's ass at chess. Someone teaches Arisu how to play a sanshin. Someone else teaches Usagi how to play golf. Tatta gets a fancy sports car running and gives people rides.
  • It's probably one of my favorite chapters, because it's both somber and sincere. And it shows how so many people could have ended up together for the King of Spades right at the beginning of season 2.

  • The manga makes it explicit that the Ten of Hearts difficulty was raised from Five to Ten after Aguni murders Hatter.
  • The dealers extend their visas as players die, irrespective of the difficulty of the game. So if four people play a 10 of Clubs or something, the dealer only gets four days on their visa.
  • If the players win the game, then even if the game killed 99% of the players, the dealer's visa is immediately turned null and they are killed.
  • It's also clear that Momoka and Asahi volunteered for the game when it was made clear that one of the dealers would have to kill themselves. A bunch of other dealers originally wanted to volunteer, since The Beach is such a large site, but they backed out when it was made clear that the game would be a losing proposition for at least one dealer.
    • As a note, this also kind of doesn't make a ton of sense, since the dealers lose their visa if the players win the game. Five of Hearts is not an extremely difficult game. But maybe risk/reward? Yeah, there are good odds about not coming out of it since it's only a Five, but if you do come out, you'll get over two months on your visa (66 players at The Beach). It's an interesting conundrum.
  • There's also a belief among the dealers that, if they cross 100 kills, then they will be allowed to return home. When The Beach falls into a murderous rampage, despite Momoka's good wishes for the game to be solved peacefully, Asahi falls into despair and hopes the players lose so she can cross the 100 kills and carry Momoka's memories with her. It's the sincerity of players like An, Kuina, Tatta, Usagi, and finally Arisu that gets Asahi to change her mind.

That's it for today's reading. :pikahappy: Next post will wrap up the comparison to season 1 and will be my last for a while, as the rest of the manga isn't translated yet. Volume 5 is due out toward the end of March, Volume 6 in June. The rest aren't confirmed, but I expect Volume 7 in September, Volume 8 in December, and Volume 9 (the last one) in March 2024. I've preordered volume 5, so maybe I'll continue the comparison for at least part of season 2.

If they do the spin-offs, then that'll be mid-2024 at the earliest. Probably another 5 volumes for those. Maybe they can get them all published before a season 3, eh?
 

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Last half of volume 4! We return to episode 4 to play the Four of Clubs and then jump back to wrap up episode 8, after the Ten of Hearts is finished and we're in the "interlude" before the next round of games begins. This also covers a tiny part of episode 1 of season 2, where the King of Spades game begins and where Arisu and Usagi have their fight about whether to try to make it back home.

  • The Four of Clubs is a bit different in the show vs. the manga, so spoilering below.
  • In the interlude, we follow a character named Mahiru. He is not shown in the show. In the manga, he was #3 at The Beach and was known for the impressive number of games under his belt, giving him 30 days on his Visa after the Ten of Hearts. He basically does what we see in the montage of characters like An, roam around the place to try to understand the borders of Borderland and what's going on. It's fine, but I understand why the show had a more relevant character do this.
  • It's revealed that the REAL way for a dealer to leave is by the dealers getting game over for all of the players in the numbered games.
  • Not relevant, but there are two typos in this one. They called the King of Spades the King of Hearts and the King of Diamonds. OOPS.

  • In the show, the Four of Clubs is played by two groups: Arisu & Usagi and the trio of men who are clearly friends. In the manga, the game is played by six players, none of whom know each other, and in fact, they're pretty abrasive toward each other right from the get go.
  • The player with an injured leg gets his injury at the Four of Clubs. The arena seals off the tunnel that they enter from by collapsing it on them, and that player gets hit badly with one of the rocks. In the show, that character had been injured in some previous game.
  • The game name is also different, but the same sort of meaning is conveyed:
    • Netflix: the game is called Distance
    • Manga: the game is called Runaway
  • The manga explicitly states that they have to overcome "4 trials" and reach the goal. The show does not mention any trials in reaching the goal, as part of the rules. I suppose this makes the manga tricksier, because it suggests that the goal is far away; though the show also does this by having the water table to suggest they're on the right path.
  • The trials are also shown toward the entrance, behind locked tunnel passageways that open based on timers. The trials are:
    • Lock opens after 10 minutes: A cheetah is let loose and by this point in the run, they reach a congested part of the tunnel filled with cars. The players dive into cars to escape the cheetah. One player is killed by the cheetah.
    • Lock opens after 20 minutes: The tunnel floods. The players wait for the water to level out, and then start wading through to continue the race. When they do, it's revealed the water is infested with alligators. One players is taken under water and killed. The other two players get on top of the cars. (Noted below: only four of the six players continued the race past the bus.)
    • Lock opens after 30 minutes: The water drains from the tunnel and the temperature drops so severely that if you stop moving, you will freeze to death. One player is killed in this fashion.
    • Lock opens after 50 minutes: There is a giant explosion. This catches up to the last player who makes it to the end, and he is burned alive.
  • In the manga, they come across the bus after traversing down the tunnel. Two of the players help the injured player walk, and four of the six total players leave him at the bus when he can't keep going through his injury. One stays behind with him.
    • The bus doesn't run, but it does have graffiti and an English-to-Japanese dictionary that the players disregard. The dictionary would have told them that Runaway can also mean "an easy victory."
    • Even non-diamonds games seem to want the players to be a little smart lol. Come on, it's a four of clubs! Why would you think you had to run for an hour? The one who stays behind with the injured man even says "it's a clubs game, that means we're supposed to cooperate."
  • The end of the tunnel says "DEAD END" on it in the manga, so the one person who makes it knows how fucked they are.
    • At the end, the people who stayed in the bus are shown to have survived the trials by:
      • Locking the door against the cheetah and water.
      • Turning on the bus's heater to survive against the cold.
      • The bus is shown to be able to withstand extreme temperatures.
  • The injured man is revealed to be the King of Diamonds (to us as the reader, not the surviving player). He thanks her for her actions, and warns her that the next game may not reward kindness as this one did.
These two chapters made me laugh. Man, people really do play themselves sometimes.

We are now caught up until the end of March. :sanapray:
 

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