It stars Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya as allies trapped in an abandoned Tokyo forced to compete in dangerous games, the type and difficulty represented by playing cards, to extend "visas" that, if expired, result in the player's execution by lasers being shot from the sky.

[1][10][11] A few months later, on August 4, Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya were cast as the main characters of the series, with the pair appearing as Ryōhei Arisu and Yuzuha Usagi, respectively.

[5] A scene from the first episode featuring Yamazaki's character, Arisu, meeting his friends Chōta and Karube near Tokyo's busy Shibuya Crossing, was originally supposed to be filmed inside a Starbucks.

[21] Additionally, Academy Award winner Erik-Jan de Boer supervised the production of the tiger featured in episode 5, which was created by Anibrain, an animation studio in India.

[14] Post-credit visual effects were added in with the help of Japan's Digital Frontier, who worked alongside teams from Singapore, the United States, and India in an international collaboration.

[6] The first season came out on December 10,[22] and in its first few weeks, it "ranked in the top ten most-watched shows" on the platform in nearly 40 territories, including in Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

[34] Following its release, Alice in Borderland received mostly positive reviews from critics, who applauded its cinematography, editing, use of graphic violence, visuals, and the performances of Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya,[35][36] but left mixed opinions on its advancement without special focus on character development and its story in general, particularly in the second half.

[41] From The Japan Times, James Hadfield gave praise to Sato's directing but criticized the characters, stating that "few of the cast leave much impression, though Tsuchiya makes for an effective action heroine, and Nijirô Murakami has some fun as a smirking loner.

"[37] Writing for Ready Steady Cut, Jonathon Wilson gave a generally positive review, lauding the series for skipping over "exposition and careful backstory-building" and "just getting straight to it".

[42] Ars Technica journalist Jennifer Ouellette called the show "emotionally intense" and compared its games to those found in the books Ready Player One and Lord of the Flies, and the 1997 film Cube.

News, Lim Yian Lu highly praised the series for its "suspenseful plot", stating that it "will keep you entertained and yearning for more despite its grisly and gory scenes.

"[43] Writing for the Anime News Network, Theron Martin gave the series a C+ and accorded mixed feedback to the show's production, score, general storyline, and acting, while stating that it gives a "modest amount of entertainment" for its runtime.