Netflix’s Alice in Borderland is a wonderful example of a Japanese thriller series. It’s arguably the best Japanese survival thriller since Battle Royale—or, at least, the most successful.
Alice in Borderland focuses on a group of friends who must survive a series of challenges in a freaky, emptied-out version of Tokyo. Winning helps them extend their “visas” in this world they didn’t want to inhabit in the first place. Losing means death by sky laser.
If you’re finished with Alice and want more, here’s what to watch next.
10. Blue Lock
Perhaps you’re looking for a bit of variation in your survivor thrillers. Blue Lock is a popular new series about a group of male high school soccer athletes taken into a facility which will make exactly one of them the best striker in all of Japan. The others have to give up their dreams and careers in soccer—for good. The result is shockingly gripping.
9. House of Ninjas
If you’re curious about what other original Japanese dramas Netflix has to offer, I’d direct you to 2024’s House of Ninjas. There’s a comic streak to it—one of the main cast is the titular character of the legendary Japanese comedy film Tampopo. But it follows a family of ninjas in the modern day, struggling with an internal loss against a mounting conspiracy.
8. Death Note
Death Note is often the first dark, psychological anime people come into contact with. There’s a survival aspect to it, but Death Note manages to find the thrill in a survival of wits. Light, an incredibly intelligent high school boy, finds a notebook where simply writing down a name will result in that person’s death. L, a genius detective, is attempting to find him.
7. Dark
Dark is, on its face, like the German version of Stranger Things: there’s a small town, and kids keep disappearing. But Dark weaves in and out of different timelines. As its name might suggest, it’s also thematically darker than Stranger Things—making it an interesting watch after Alice.
6. Sweet Home
Sweet Home‘s premise bears some similarities to Demon Slayer: a boy suddenly and tragically loses his family, and afterwards, he’s forced into a life of fighting. But in this South Korean thriller-drama, there’s freaky monsters trying to eradicate humanity.
5. Tomodachi Game
Anime does psychological thriller ridiculously well. One popular example is Tomodachi Game, in which a well-meaning boy raises a bunch of money to go on a school trip, but all of that money is stolen. Instead of a fun school trip, Yuichi and his friends get dragged into a mysterious event called the Tomodachi Game … and they’re playing for money.
4. 3%
3% is a Brazilian thriller-drama which takes place in the far future, but has a depressingly familiar ring about it. 3% of the world’s population get to live in wealth and decadence, while everyone else lives in poverty and squalor. When people turn 20, they get the chance to join the 3%. The results are about as cutthroat as you’d think.
3. The Last of Us
Alice in Borderland isn’t quite a post-apocalyptic show, but it certainly has that vibe. If you’d like to pivot to the post-apocalypse and zombies, The Last of Us is in the zeitgeist for good reason. To put it very simply, it’s the tear-jerking tale of a man trying to get a girl who reminds him of his dead daughter to safety.
2. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is by the same mangaka as Alice in Borderland, Haro Aso. While the series has a rather grim opinion of the modern work environment, and there’s certainly many tense moments, Zom 100 takes a more positive view of the apocalypse. The protagonist is simply delighted that the zombie apocalypse means he doesn’t have to go to his shitty job anymore.
1. Squid Game
Squid Game has become the most famous modern-day example of a survivor thriller series, and for damn good reason. Every moment of Squid Game is thrilling. We watch hundreds of contestants play children’s games for a cash prize. The losers are killed—and there’s only one winner.
Published: Oct 8, 2024 02:22 pm