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GAME - CHARACTER ANALYSIS / YAP - Blog Posts
ALICE IN BORDERLAND : SEASON 3 THEORY
It's always 'who's the joker??', never 'how's the joker??' What if, in a perfect world, where everyone's read the manga, we asked the real questions regarding season three : What's the joker going to do? Straying from the idea of who the Joker is opens up a lot more possibilities as to what season three could hold for us and what its symbolization might be. So for today, we're taking a step away from all the 'who' theories and thinking about the whys and hows. And that starts with a single panel of the manga all the way in chapter 60.
The Sanzu River. WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SANZU RIVER ? : In Japanese mythology, the Sanzu river is a river representing the border between life and death. It is a river with three different paths for three different kinds of souls- a bridge for those who have done good, a deep section filled with poisonous snakes for those who have done bad, and a ford for those in between. The borderlands represents the Sanzu river. MORE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THIS CLAIM : - The Sanzu river is said to be located somewhere on Mount Osore, which might be what the mountain terrain that began to surround Tokyo is meant to represent. Continuing on with the Sanzu river references, at the end of the Sanzu river, the travelers enter Meido, where they will experience a number of trials to determine whether or not they are deserving to go to Tengoku (heaven), or doomed to go to Jigoku (hell). Judging by going off of Alice in Borderland being a sort of big reference to the Sanzu River, continuing on with this, the next step after borderland with the theme in season three being the joker card, could be Meido. So in theory, the next season could be the series of trials that our characters will overcome before they finally die. JOKER CARD SYMBOLISM : - The joker card is likely to represent that the characters in borderland aren't fully out yet, and we don't know if they ever will be. In history, the joker card is described as a wild card that represents UNPREDICTABILITY and CHAOS- a fitting description of the foreseeable events to come in season three ---- While the joker represents the ferryman of the river in the manga that might allude to this theory being incorrect, the mountains that began to surround the city possibly indicates that the sanzu river symbolization has not changed, but the joker's symbolization has. ---- In this case, it might be that the joker is to represent that souls might BELIEVE that they are finally to the afterlife after crossing the river (just like how the characters in borderland seem to have finished their terror), but there's still one last challenge left for them to overcome, meido (in borderland's case, the joker card.) - Joker card is also sometimes compared to the fool in tarot, which also represents unpredictability as well as the start of a new journey. - It also is sometimes believed to symbolize CHANGES IN FORTUNE, once again relating to the belief that the characters have left borderland, when they actually still have one more thing to go. I'm going to refer to this as the RIVER THEORY.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING !! I had the realization for this while yapping with a friend about how I thought people thinking the most random characters were the joker was stupid, started talking about the joker in the manga, and realized I actually didn't know what exactly the end of the Sanzu river was supposed to be. So it had me thinking- if AIB netflix is continuing with this symbolization, how would they go about it? Please let me know what you guys think and if you have any other evidence or theories to go along with this !! Have a great day and happy theorizing ! SOURCES : https://www.curiousordinary.com/2022/11/sanzu-river.html https://yokai.com/meido/
'25 GEN AIB and the controversy around SHIPPING.
If you've ever been in a fandom, which you certainly have if you're on tumblr, then you know that one of the biggest things that makes a fandom is shipping. Whether it be adored by the fandom, shut away in some locked up corner online, or frowned upon, almost every fandom has shipping. And Alice in Borderland is no stranger to the concept.
<> NOTICE : Nothing that I say in this post is meant to offend, harm, or attack anyone. This is simply an informational post sharing my opinion on current controversies in the fandom.
IT'S THE BASIC OUTCOME OF A FANDOM.. : Alice in Borderland has been around for almost 15 YEARS NOW. No matter how long ago you joined the fandom, whether you've been here since it's first manga release or since this year's borderland revival, if you may, on TikTok, you already know shipping is HUGE in this fandom. Which means an outrageous amount of stupid arguments over which characters are more compatible than others. Perhaps the most frustrating part of the new gen of AIB fans (I say this because I personally and most of those similar to me have been here for around 4 years) is the shipping. Now, don't take this the wrong way. I am all for shipping- if you already know me, then you would know that a large chunk of this account is based on an AIB ship. Shipping becomes a problem when people in the fandom begin arguing over which ship is better and full on attacking each other over it. I say this referring to the uprise of Chippei (Chishiya Shuntaro / Ippei Oki) and Nishiya (Niragi Suguru / Chishiya Shuntaro) and the new fandom's growing rivalry regarding these 2 ships. I have literally seen Chippei lovers tell Nishiya fans that they HATE THEM and even tell them to kms over them preferring Nishiya, or just for not liking Chippei. A portion of Nishiya shippers aren't saints either. This behavior is EXTREMELY immature. And it isn't only between these two, but it's mainly between these two. As a fandom we should respect each other, whether or not we agree with each other's opinions. Nishiya shippers who act immaturely back to the shippers who disagree whether they be Chippei, Chirisu, Niratatta, etc, make me feel ashamed to be a Nishiya shipper. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU DISAGREE WITH A SHIP ? : : If you disagree with a ship you should simply scroll away. It's that simple. I personally have STRONG opinions towards Niratatta, but you will NEVER catch me telling someone who ships the two to do bad things to themselves or other kinds of hate speech. If you are in a conversation with someone who ships something different from you, you can simply say, "I personally don't ship them / don't agree with the ship, but it's a cool concept! I'm glad you enjoy it!" And go along with your day. It's THAT simple to be a normal human being and respectful member of your fandom, whether its Alice in Borderland or not. If someone is being disrespectful or crude towards you for your ship, don't reciprocate the behavior. Simply ignore them, and if they don't stop, block them. You should NEVER reply with rude remarks in return.
And, that concludes my rant. To anyone in this fandom, or any fandom for that matter, that already behaves in a respectful manner, props to you. Keep doing what you're doing !! You make your fandom a much better place when you treat others nicely :)) See you next rant !! Bye bye !
okay not to hate on other peoples opinions but HOW do some of you mfs believe that niragi would be a big bad wolf and like most alpha male ever in a relationship im sorry but ngl if niragi ever trusted someone enough to get in a committed relationship w them he would lowkey be the biggest crybaby bf of all time. trusting someone that much is basically js letting his guard down, ion get why some of yall assume that his actual self is the persona he put on starting at the beach cuz let's be for realsies that mf is DEFINITELY a sweetheart under allat even if he doesnt wanna show it
nono, you like chishiya because you see him as your smart little cinnamon roll, i like chishiya because he's a humanity-lacking, empty, selfish, pathetic asshole who lacks the ability to converse with and understand others so badly he feels practically nothing. i like chishiya because he's so fucking apathetic he doesn't even care that he might die- not because he's a 'chill guy' but because he is SO disinterested in life he doesn't see the value in living. i like chishiya because hes jealous of people who try hard because he knows damn well he could never be as human as them, because he knows there's something wrong with him. we are not the same tiktok chishiya fans. nono, you like niragi because you see him as your hot aggressive crime committer, i like niragi because he's been so traumatized by the things others have done to him he's become the thing he hates in a desperate attempt to feel like he deserved everything he went through. i like niragi because he puts up the facade of being all confident and mighty, drowning himself in the power he forces other people to give him with the goal of seeming less emotional and voiding himself of potential weak spots. we are not the same tiktok niragi fans.
chishiya, arisu, and niragi - their effects on me as someone who experienced severe depression
chishiya’s little confession to arisu always fucking gets me. call me selfish little shit all you want but i relate to him, niragi, and arisu so much. that realization and my connection to these three led to the alteration of my brain chemistry that literally ended up saving me from committing suicide.
because he was actually so fucking real i don’t care what you guys say. i lived so much of my life depressed wondering what the fuck was wrong with me (being autistic and having emotionally abusive & neglectful parents did NOT help with this), and hearing him talk about being small-minded and jealous and being always afraid just hit home. i was so jealous of everyone around me who just hit every little thing in life like it was a home run because when you become depressed at 8 and it doesn’t go away for a LONG time you start to be so fucking pissed about people who celebrate their every move. i pitied it but in reality i was just jealous because they all had that little life in them, that HUMANITY that i never experienced.
niragis whole character hit home like crazy for me. because of my inability to fit in with others i was bullied a lot by my classmates and picked on for what felt like no reason at all. i was, of course, jealous (which i refused to admit) and it drove me insane. i started to become the person i never wanted to be because the hatred drove me so fucking crazy i started to think i either had something seriously wrong with me or they made something seriously wrong with me and either way i was going to revel in it because there would be no fixing for someone like me. niragi hit extremely hard for me during this time, call me psychopath or whatever the fuck but i seriously related so much. he was just like me and it was comforting because even though he was so terrible it made me feel less alone.
finally, ep 8 of s2 when it was flashing back to his father asking him what his purpose in life was with that DEPRESSING ASS SONG in the background while he sobbed saying he doesn’t deserve to live broke me. that was the last fucking straw. all my selfishness and jealousy and anger and HATRED for everyone else just crumbled down on me and i didn’t want to live anymore because i felt like a selfish waste of space. it hurt and it hurt BAD. it was like somebody just took a knife, stabbed me straight in the heart a twisted a full 360.
these were very relatable characters for me, and i know i seem like an asshole for it, i don’t care. thats what real mental illness and effects of neglect / bullying / discouragement / everything looks like. they genuinely make me sob every time i see them because they’re actually me i see them and suddenly im that same scared little boy again. to this day those fireworks are STILL my favorite thing in the world and they mean everything to me. that was the scene that convinced me not to do it.
sorry i have a bone to pick with people who say that chishiya manipulated his way into winning against kuzuryu.
look at the difference. LOOK AT HOW MUCH IT CHANGED HIM. LOOK JUST FUCKING LOOK PLEASE IM GONN
AIB S3 TEASER IS OUT AND I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.
THIS FIRE SCENE. RECOGNIZE IT??? THAT LOOKS LIKE THE ORIGINAL 3 OF CLUBS FROM THE MANGA, THE FLAMING ARROWS GAME. IM SOSOSOSOS EXCITED TO SEE HOW THEY WORK THE ORIGINAL GAMES INTO THE STORY, ASSUMING THEY ARE !!
THEY'RE BACK IN THEIR ORIGINAL CLOTHES FROM BEFORE THEY LEFT BORDERLAND, BUT IN THE TEASER, THEYRE ALL WEARING DIFFERENT CLOTHES. ALSO, RANDOM DUDE IN WHEELCHAIR?? JUDGING BY THE HAIR AND THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF A LEG INJURY IT MIGHT BE SOME KIND OF VERSION OF CHOTA, WHICH COULD MAKE SINCE, BECAUSE IN THIS SCENE THEYRE CLEARLY STILL IN BORDERLAND.
i am BEYOND excited for this new season. SOMEONE PLEASE HMU IN MSGS AND TALK TO ME ABT THIS BECAUSE OH MY GOD IM TWEAKING OUT
me each time I see someone have the wrong opinion about AIB: please remember that Arisu is a ♥️ player, not a ♦️ one. Arisu being a ♥️ specialist is VITAL to all his development and to the final confrontation between himself, Niragi and Chishiya because that's a ♥️ player facing two ♦️players The final game within players is meant to be mind and reason vs heart and emotion and one character with a lot of empathy and skills of understanding others facing other two WHO LACK ALL OF THAT
it's not a game between 3 ♦️ players That wouldn't make any sense it's a ♥️ player DOING HIS THING AND "TRICKING" THE DIAMIN PLAYERS INTO CHANGING
You got Chishiya, whose apathy and indiference towards the world made it so imposible for him to undertand others And Niragi, who is so trapped inside his own view of the world and himself who can't also undertand anyone else
And then you have Arisu, who gets BOTH OF THEM, he can understand both CHISHIYA AND NIRAGI BECAUSE HE IS A ♥️PLAYER. WHAT WOULD BE IMPOSIBLE IF HE WAS ALSO A ♦️ ONE
Arisu is not a parallel to Chishiya or Niragi Chishiya and Niragi are the parallels Arisu is the one standing at the edge, trying to choose what route to take just to realize that this is not even his road before turning around and walking his own one
Chishiya and Niragi are narrative foils Arisu is the one who disturbs that weird balance, makes them change and offers them a new way to face the world A new way that Niragi refuses to take but Chishiya does follow
Because both Chishiya and Niragi are completely alone, they both don't want to be anymore, but only Chishiya does something to achieve that in the end You get Niragi saying out loud that he doesn't want to be alone, but doing nothing about it and Chishiya taking Arisu's hand into starting his personal change, even if he never says it outloud THAT ONLY MAKES SENSE WITH ARISU BEING A DIFERENT KIND OF PLAYER
SINCE AIB S3 HAS BEEN OFFICIAL FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS NOW...
EXPLANATION OF EACH THEORY ! 1. ann remembers everything - ann is the only one who remembers everything about the borderlands 2. banda and yaba are the jokers - due to there being 2 jokers in a card deck and banda and yaba being so persistent about living in the borderlands, it's theorized that these 2 will be the jokers 3. usagi's dad is the joker - his constant important-seeming appearances throughout the series despite being a minor character and the mountains surrounding shibuya in borderland has brought some viewers to theorize that he was the joker / game master 4. mira was telling another lie / it's all an illusion - the queen of hearts game is still ongoing and the hospital is another 'truth' 5. life / borderland is the joker itself - "life is just a game we play together, you should try to enjoy it" could support the theory that the joker 'game' is life itself 6. alice in borderland : RETRY - theory that the series will follow the manga sequel AIB : RETRY, where arisu is sent to the borderlands years in the future with a group of new players and must beat the 9 of hearts 7. alice on border road - theory that the series will follow the previous manga sequel alice on border road, where new characters are (intentionally ? idk if im mixing it w smthn else) put in borderlands, where they must walk from kyoto to tokyo. 8. arisu is the joker or / arisu AND usagi are the jokers - self explanatory, except im not sure of the reason behind this one other than the fact that they're main characters 9. the amnesia theory / the final game - based off of a fan game on tiktok where the hospital is the final game venue for a game called 'amnesia', where characters must recognize and escape with all the previous borderland players
NIRASHIYA HEADCANONS !! (post-borderlands)
idc what yall say, niragi is so a little spoon, chishiya would come home from work and this man would JUMP onto him. he'd like fall asleep on his chest while chishiya's just trying to finally get some food in his system.
flirty asf x flirts once in a blue moon
chishiya practically purrs in his sleep and niragi can never get enough of it
acts of service + quality time x physical attention + P.D.A
they call eachother asshole in a loving way, 100%. they are the definition of sarcasm
prefers-staying-at-home-over-going-out chishiya and literally-cant-cook-anything-but-shin-ramen-but-still-tries niragi
niragi always makes fun of chishiya's height- he never really means it, he just likes to nag him (as usual..)
chishiya loves to play with niragi's hair. when hes all curled up in his lap hes fighting demons trying not to comb a few fingers through the dark, messy strands.
CONSTANTLY staring (with love) x “why are you staring…” (with fear / concern)
can’t live without coffee x can’t live without redbull (he was hoping it’d give him the wings when he fell off the beach roof /sar) (on that note coffee DEFINITELY stunted chishiya’s growth)
should i make more ? :3
”hatters death wasn’t that bad” yeah is death wasn’t bad it’s the fact that aguni realized his gun wasn’t even loaded and sobbed his name while hugging his dead body. THAT was bad
controversial take : idgaf how much you hate niragi, saying that you'd be (pre borderlands!)niragi's bully and going in depth about how youd beat his ass so bad and going as far as saying you hope he gets SA'd is so fucking weird and disgusting. i dont care how much you hate him, talking abt how badly youd hurt him before he even became terrible is just flat out gross and honestly kinda disrespectful. i dont care how much you hate him, he was somebody's baby once. he didnt want to be the monster until they made him feel like he needed to
i think chishiya just has a soft spot for pathetic dorks. arisu ryohei? literally changed his perspective on life. ippei oki? adopted on sight.
where the HELL did half of niragi's character go in the live action??
i absolutely LOVE niragi's catholic undertones throughout the alice in borderland manga, everyday i grieve the fact that the series had used the tunnel scene instead of the church scene for him, which i think contributed to the mass niragi mischaracterization in the side of the fandom that has not looked into the manga. his desires to be liked and feel wanted mentioned in the king of clubs not being present in the live action genuinely disappointed me- although admittedly harder to portray through cinematography, ill give them that, it could've worked just fine with a bit of monologue. he deserved more than a flashback and a one-liner. get this man some character development and an in depth character arc in season 3 STAT !!! although unredeemable, i need to see him represented for what he was in the manga :(
Niragi Suguru : A Character Analysis
PRE-INTRO NOTE ! Hey Tumblr, guess who's back on a new account after 2 years since my dumbass accidentally deleted my original acc. What a shame.. Anyways ! I hope you all will enjoy my first work of 2025 ٭ INTRODUCTION Today im doing a character analysis on Niragi Suguru (from Alice in Borderland / 今際の国のアリス, of course). I will be using both series and manga references to get my point across. I've noticed that with the rise of AIB online, there are many strong opinions on characters, 'characters' being Niragi. I often see comments like "I hate Niragi" and "Bullying doesn't justify what he did to Usagi." and fairly, I agree ! I don't think that what Niragi experienced when he was younger gives him a get out of jail free card for every wrongdoing. Though while it isn't an excuse, it is a reason. NIRAGI SUGURU : BASIC CHARACTER BREAK DOWN Niragi Suguru- at first glance he's a violent, overly confident, gun obsessed freak beach executive. Throughout both the manga and series, Niragi has been known to be aggressive, threatening, and an overall asshole. Though, with a little bit of research, his story proves him to be more than just the sadistic villain he's represented as.
In 10 of Hearts / Witch Hunt, (!Manga) Niragi purposely riles up the beach in order to make the game more entertaining for himself. Usagi claims he's not even an animal (as she claimed he was before in the well-known sexual assault scene that I honestly will NOT bother explaining unless necessary). Niragi then replies to this by saying that "It's predisposition- man, left to his own devices.." Niragi mentions something similar to this when he is assaulting Usagi, noting that rape, murder, and other acts of indecency are illegal because they are all part of human nature. This shows us a lot more of his character than most people will even bother to look into. Just by these dialogues, we can tell that Niragi believes we should revel in our true human nature, boasting our human behavior whether it's disgusting or not. PSYCHOLOGY OF NIRAGI SUGURU According to nu.edu, human behavior is learned, affected by the environment one lives in. 'Environment' being this.
Niragi grew up being constantly bullied and abused by his classmates. This had serious effects on his self image and development, these events taking a toll on his behavior even years later in the borderlands. Niragi referencing his bully telling him "I told you targets don't move." during the Witch Hunt. v
His behavior was learned from his bullies, who he mimicked later in life in order to gain self confidence and feel like he was in power. Niragi's actions and behavior were created and carried out in a desperate attempt to feel like he deserved the abuse he endured when he was younger. In season 2, episode 2 of the live action series during King of Clubs / Osmosis, he states the following during a flashback to his childhood; "I don't know if they hated me because I was twisted, or if I became twisted because they hated me." It's proved in the manga that Niragi became twisted because they hated him (Chapter 23)
^ He claims that he'd be miserable unless he changed. He became a terrible person with the intent to feel like he deserved everything that he had to experience prior to his adulthood. He thrives on destroying himself and other people's views of him. "I'm going to make everyone wish they never met me." (Somewhere in season 2..) + "I'll continue living, despised by others. I will continue to incur hate, and hold my head up high as I go to Hell!!" (Chapter 54) Also in chapter 54, he winds up in a church and cites a scripture (?) about Jesus. He says this;
In this scene, I believe Niragi is reflecting on his outcome of experiencing hatred compared to Jesus. Jesus was despised by his peers, which Niragi relates to, as he was bullied relentlessly. Though the thing that separates Jesus from Niragi is that Jesus was loved for years and years after his abuse. Niragi never got that kind of treatment- he had nobody to care for him nor love him. My theory is that he continued to be hated and uncared for even after the bullies were done with him, leading him to believe that he must have been twisted and that's why nobody wanted to help him.
This is what separates Niragi from his peers. Despite acting so terribly, he's separated from his bullies because unlike his bullies he became terrible to feel like he deserved everything. He's different from practically everyone else he knows because of his terribleness. In Chapter 56, the seventh day of exhibitions, Niragi sorta talks on this topic.
I also note that he follows the line with "You're lucky you're on the side of the populace." I think that Niragi is heavily referencing his differences with other people in this scene. It's possible that he may be referring to the fact that if everyone was like him, they would all be victims, making Arisu the perpetrator. It's also possible that he's referring to the fact that he doesn't believe in kindness (especially not kindness at heart) but realizes that there really isn't anyone like him as Arisu and his gang showed him kindness despite what Niragi put them through. There are a lot of different theories for this and they all seem to point towards Niragi feeling something deeply wrong with him, not his actions, but him as a person. CONCLUSION Niragi wasn't meant to be just a villain. He isn't just meant to be the guy you dread every time you see him on the screen. He's meant to represent what happens when someone is dehumanized. With each baseball strike, the more he was reduced to scum. Trash. By the time he was grown up he had known no empathy nor experienced it, given or received. In the universe of Alice in Borderland, whether you humiliated him or ignored him, Niragi is the villain, sure. But if there were 7 billion of him, the evil one would be you.
Still don't get it?? Compare Niragi to "Pigs" by Tyler, the Creator. Very similar concept.
Well that's time, see you next week :) [Or not] Feel free to leave suggestions !