Aib Theories - 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/

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

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