The Netflix series based on the popular sci-fi thriller manga of the same name has found fans around the world and Alice in Borderland Season 2 has just been renewed.
It is one of the series most popular originals on Netflix this year and there are more to come. But while we wait for another round of life and death games in Alice in Borderland Season 2, here are some interesting facts about season 1.
1 . Since its release on December 10, Alice in Borderland has been popular in Japan and throughout Asia (Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), as well as abroad, reaching the Top 10 in Germany, France, Portugal, Austria and Greece, among other places. In total, it has been in the Top 10 in almost 40 countries/territories.
2. The Serie is an adaptation of Haro Aso's successful comic of the same name. It was serialized in the Japanese weekly comics Weekly Shonen Sunday S and Weekly Shonen Sunday from 2010 to 2016.
3. Google searches for the Alice in Borderland manga series skyrocketed globally around the time of the series adaptation's release. People around the world also discovered and sought out the lead actors Kento Yamakazi and Tao Tsuchiya, who are well-known names in Japan.
4. Interestingly, Aso says that he based the two main characters on himself. About Arisu, he says: "I remembered what it was like when I was around 20 years old and created Arisu based on my own indecision." He says that Usagi's character comes from the part of him that "is independent and doesn't need to depend on others."
5. The scene in episode 1, which features a deserted Shibuya Scramble Crossing (one of the busiest intersections in Tokyo), was not filmed in Shibuya at all. It was filmed on a huge outdoor set in the city of Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, more than 100 km from the actual Shibuya Crossing.
6. Originally, in episode 1, Arisu and his friends were going to meet in front of a Starbucks in Shibuya, but due to the complexity of a glass-covered set, the location was changed to a sign in front of the station.
7. The scene of Arisu and his friends running from a crowded street to the public toilet at Shibuya Station, waiting, and then leaving to see an empty Shibuya is filmed in a single take that lasts over 4 minutes. As a result, the team had to physically create everything that appears on screen.
8. In the Shibuya scene, everything except the front door, the public bathroom, and the road were created with CGI. To maintain the authenticity of the setting, the visual effects director even recreated the shadow of the Tokyu Building that would normally fall on that location.
9. The tiger in Episode 5 was created with VFX and was a truly global effort. It was supervised by Dutch animation director Erik-Jan De Boer, who previously won an Academy Award for creating the tiger in Life of Pi (2012). Production work was done by Indian animation and visual effects studio Anibrain. Generally, these visual effects involved teams from Japan, Singapore, USA (Los Angeles), and India.
1 0. To create the black panther in episode 4, the visual effects team from Japanese visual effects company Digital Frontier had to visit the zoo to investigate the feel and movement of the animal and its fur.