Alice in Borderland, Volume 1

February 1, 2022

High schooler Ryohei Arisu fights a constant struggle against crushing anxiety over his grades, social standing, and potential for future success. One night, he and his two best friends--a hormonal goofball named Chota, and big, brooding Karube--witness an unexpected fireworks display over the city. When the display ends, they find the city around them overgrown and seemingly abandoned. Ryohei wonders if they've been transported to a wonderful dreamland where he'll be free of worry until an unseen enemy forces the three friends to compete in a complex trivia game where wrong answers are punished with volleys of flaming arrows. Miraculously, they survive...only to discover they'll be forced to compete in life-or-death competitions each and every day, for as long as their captors see fit. VERDICT Aso proves a master of suspense and visual storytelling, especially over the course of a sequence depicting a game of tag through a sprawling apartment complex, complicated by the presence of a hulking, gun-toting serial killer wearing a terrifying horse mask. This first volume, which is the inspiration for a hit Netflix series, should have readers clamoring for future installments.

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