#chishiya already won because 1) I didn't want to plot out the game and 2) this was the brain child of a Sims 4 cat

[24hlevi]

My AIB S2 Review

okay everyone, i had to take some time to write this out because it was only getting longer and longer the more i watched s2.

now, i did read the manga before s2 came out so i already knew what was going to happen, so naturally, this will contain major manga spoilers!!! i do love this show and manga very much it is my number 1 manga but i thought a review could be enlightening to some.

i will be going in episode order to make it easier

episode 1:

i thought episode 1 was pretty good actually. the first scene being the same scene from season 1 was a good touch to remember how arisu was before being sent to borderland and getting a small refresher. the king of spades intro was good, it was dramatic for the first person dying and i thought the actors did great on the whole car chase scene as well. also ann was amazing for driving i love her. i don't really have a lot to talk about this episode to be honest but i think the intro for king of clubs was great. though, i wish niragi was a little more fucked up looking? he looks pretty bad in the manga when they first meet him at the venue for king of clubs but dori does an amazing job portraying niragi. i also enjoyed the cast's reaction to kyuma being naked because i would react the same too.

episode 2:

starting the king of clubs. to be honest, i think it was both good and bad they took 2 1/2 eps to do the king of clubs. good for people who are willing to understand the opposing team more and feel more emotion, bad for people who just want the game to be fun and see people die. i do wish yamashita would've had more...expressions? kyuma is often seen smiling in the manga and while yes, i think he was still portrayed more, a smile or two might've been nice. i think king of clubs personally was the best adapted game in season 2 excluding the queen of hearts. i really liked the band members on kyuma's side too they were all really cool.

episode 3:

episode 3 i really enjoyed. i liked the flashback for tatta being foreshadowing to what will happen to him in the king of clubs game. as always, i really liked kento's acting when tatta died. also, i enjoyed the parallels to season 1 ep 3 when karube and chota died. i think kento did an amazing job for expressing his sadness even if arisu didn't know tatta for that long, he was still a friend, and naturally, people would cry with situations like this. i really liked kyuma's last words as well to arisu. very motivating. also his death was cool.

second half of episode 3. the jack of hearts. when i first saw the images/trailer with chishiya in the jack of hearts, i was worried they would ruin the whole aspect of the game. and while really, chishiya didn't change anything about the game, they did take out some parts from the manga that i'm disappointed didn't make the cut. for example, enji being a hypnotist and hypnotizing kotoko into everything she does and believing he won because of him thinking he was superior to the players. i think hayato did a great job as banda, he definitely gave off a good creepiness to the character that you're supposed to feel even as a viewer just by the way he stares. again, chishiya being there was weird. urumi was also portrayed amazingly i really loved her more even if she was only in one ep she was great.

episode 4:

i don't have a lot to talk about this ep really. the end of jack of hearts was...eh. to be honest, removing enji's whole inner dialogue with himself and removing the fake eye aspect were the things that made me wish were included because it could've been so much better. chishiya...was good i guess. i mean, he's not a hearts player, he's a diamonds player, so why would he join the jack of hearts? i don't fucking know. it felt like he was almost given plot armor from the writers and just made him have a "feeling" enji was the jack. also, the snacks bags communication was stupid in my opinion. it would've been much better if they kept him being a hypnotist instead. other than that, i think it was done pretty good. the second half of ep 4 was good too even if there was only a little bit of action with the king of spades. though it's weird to me what things the makers of the show chose to take from the manga and what not to, but i'll discuss more of that later. i did however, think it was funny how arisu ran into aguni and heiya. i really believed we would get doudou (manga only character) and it worried me about the dynamics that would be created and change by adding arisu into the mix instead of doudou. and i was right to be worried.

episode 5:

alright, ep 5. so, heiya is my favorite character in this series. reading the manga i was so excited to see if they would include her and when i saw the first picture of her in the adaptation i was so happy. what made me even happier was seeing the seven of spades aka her first game. reading it hit like a truck, but it was so good. that's how it felt watching it too. i'm glad we got at least one scene of her before being sent to borderland and her mentioning her mother. while it wasn't told in the adaptation, heiya just appears to have some issues with her mom. well, the manga definitely puts more thought into heiya's character as a whole just by her first appearance in the side chapter 37.1. it's shown that she has quite the broken family. with her father constantly at work, her mother would bring back affairs to the house and tell heiya to not tell her father which started the hate against her mother. the adaptation just didn't even bother with that i guess. we were lucky enough to even see the seven of spades honestly.

now, as i said, heiya is my favorite character. but i believe they just didn't get her right. i love every bit of yuri's performance as heiya and she did phenomenal, but i personally think they could've done more to show her character more. i do like that they kept her "everything i do is for the future" talk so at least they got that right. to me, i see heiya and aguni as a father-daughter duo, especially in the show. in the manga with doudou included in the trio and not arisu, he even says they are like a family. but we got basically none of that. i'll say it, arisu shouldn't have been included in the trio. i think it would've been better if they had even just brought a brand new character to join heiya and aguni instead of dragging a main character into the games where they aren't supposed to be. much like with chishiya in the jack of hearts. the side characters deserve their spotlight, and i think the show was too determined to make sure that they had at least one main character in every game for season 2. i didn't like that. sure, arisu gave some comedic relief in the ep but...yeah.

queen of spades was pretty cool. for it getting a lot of screen time without it being in the manga was interesting seeing as many of the others were just clips from them. the game is basically advanced tag with taking turns involved. the set was really cool though and it was awesome how they were moving around to get to others faster. usagi's speech was a little too long but it got the job done like always so i can't complain when she does great at everything. the queen was good, too.

episode 6:

second half of queen of spades. i thought the fight between usagi and lisa was amazing and fun knowing both actresses did the stunts themselves making it appear more real when they get hit. the kid was there for what seemed like no reason though but i understand why lisa chose him as their teams king since he was just a kid and couldn't do anything, it was a smart move on her behalf that very easily could've made her win if not for usagi. overall, i thought it wasn't too bad for a show only game.

onto the king of diamonds. when i saw kuzuryu in the trailer at the venue for king of diamonds with his pose, i was so happy knowing they would do it. while i don't understand the rules pretty much at all because i suck at anything math related, it was very interesting. i'm glad they did it but upset by what they did with chishiya and his backstory. in the manga, he's not even a full doctor, he's still a med student. the show practically changed his entire backstory for ultimately no reason at all. we didn't get to see him as a child who was neglected all his life which resulted in him becoming the way he is, and we didn't see how he actually was in the manga. they basically dumbed him down to just some sarcastic "unbothered" character when he's far from it. nijiro did amazing as chishiya i really love him and how he did portray him even if it wasn't the same as he is in the manga. i am surprised that they did show a flashback for kuzuryu to understand his thoughts better and why he made his game fair. overall, i really liked king of diamonds and am so glad they decided to keep it in.

episode 7:

this episode was...definitely something. the first half battle royale between niragi, arisu, and chishiya was good, not as great as it could've been along the lines of dialogue, but still good. i didn't think they would keep this honestly. but i was so happy that they did. while chishiya's words weren't the same and didn't have as much impact as the manga in my opinion, i believed it was still pretty damn good. this is also me just being grateful it made it to the final cut.

king of spades. now, i cannot express how unbelievably irritated i was at this whole thing. for one, they basically erased all of shirabi's (the king) thoughts and feelings on how he believed he was giving the players mercy by killing them. we barely got the flashback of him killing his fellow solider and i was annoyed they just made him out to be the bad guy who just liked killing others.

as for the rest of the ep, i was extremely disappointed. i thought that maybe because they would change the king of spades maybe they could have it equal the manga in terms of how the group would defeat him, but no. there was no tracker shirabi had that heiya shot and broke. there was no shirabi burning down the forest and causing the others to venture back into tokyo. it was just so different that it made me hate the king of spades game as a whole for the show. i love love the king of spades in the manga because the trio of doudou, heiya, and aguni were able to do it alone by themselves. but apparently in the show even all of them couldn't defeat him nor could a fucking bomb. they basically just obliterated half of the cast for no good reason except to fuck with people and that alone was irritating. i didn't think they could fuck up the king of spades so bad and then they did.

for personal reasons, i will pretend ep 7 doesn't exist.

episode 8:

everything i hoped for. this was the best ep in my opinion. mira crying was especially interesting to see after usagi and arisu's little moment with one another. people said this ep dragged on and was boring but i thought it was excellent. riisa did a great job at being mira and i just fell in love with the character even more after watching this. i liked that they showed the meteorite hitting them and that they stuck with the manga ending. but, the joker card. personally, i would be perfectly happy with the series ending where it's supposed to. but if they do a s3 of sorts i will probably still tune in. i understand why they did that instead of showing the joker like the manga, but i would rather it just ending. but, a little disappointing they didn't show arisu drinking the tea beforehand and that's why he's believing what mira was saying because i really enjoy the panels where she talks about the tea being a hallucinogenic and causing him to freak out. but, i can't complain too much.

overall:

i thought s2 was still amazing even if there were some downs that i didn't like, i still love this show and manga to death. i was happy with it as a whole product and thought it was still brilliant and i am so glad to have seen this become a adaption and have so many people watching it when it went viral on twitter in multiple countries, the hours viewed are amazingly high compared to last season, and just the general reaction to it. i'm very thankful for the actors who were able to participate in this show and the director. it was truly amazing and i will most definitely continue rewatching over and over again.

[aceofspadegrass]

Chess is Quiet

Characters: Chishiya Shuntaro

Genre: A little angst, but otherwise just normal Borderland business. Chishiya's just being Chishiya and watching.

1k words

Would you believe me if I said I wrote this because my sibling bought the Sims 4 with the pet expansion pack?

Because I did. We named the cat Moo Cow. This is a story that came from us naming a Sims cat Moo Cow.

Also I mention blood and death, so be aware.

Death hung heavy in the air, people gasping their last. Some held tightly to never-ending gushing openings, light and warmth fading from their eyes. Not many still remained standing from the group that entered in the first place. The floor was smeared in blood and viscera; body parts were thrown everywhere like discarded dolls.

Chishiya stands in the relative safety of the safe zone, hands in his pocket as he surveyed the scene.

The game was simple, a game of chess with one important factor: Only those who managed to reach the other side were to live. It was not a game of capturing a king as the game usually dictates, instead solely on crossing the checkerboard floor as neatly as they can. They of course still held the mobility rules of chess, pawns only able to go diagonal to ‘capture’, knights only moving in an L shape, and so on. The positions were randomly chosen for the players, leaving nobody to try to take the best move allowance on their own terms. They also still held true to any game, everyone having to go one at a time, dictated by whoever raised their hand first from their side. The phones would always turn red when they were allowed to move.

As with a game of chess, there were opponents, other players who had the same objective. Both sides were allowed to be armed with weapons, however unable to use them until ‘capturing’ an opponent piece. Whoever was captured were fated to be killed on the spot, and if not by human hands, then by a laser or by the referee wearing a mask and wielding a chainsaw. After the first few deaths, it was random in what complimentary death would occur for a captured player. Cheating, obviously, was illegal, and led to the same fate.

Chishiya was lucky, in a sense. He got the esteemed role of the queen, allowed to move in any direction he pleased. Granted yes, it meant he would be targeted as he had the easiest way towards victory, but Chishiya wasn’t cunning for nothing, keeping track of every opposing player. The game didn’t mark players visually, leaving them unknown to others if they didn’t tell everyone their role in the game. Once moved around, it was near impossible to know who was who just by sight.

Chishiya still managed his way past every opposing player, now safely free from the confines of the checkerboard floor. He watches as those remaining stand on the board, some still holding strong and others trembling. He was currently the only one safe, although others certainly seemed close to it. He watches one of the players try to plead to let her make it to the end, hands clasped together in such a pitiful manner. This late into the game to beg? Chishiya notes her position, which wasn’t half bad considering everything.

Still, he didn’t believe the tactic would work, as removing any opposing force paves the way to safety. Chishiya is proven right not even a minute later, a man approaching her spot and swinging the axe into her neck, the blood gushing and spraying before she falls limp to the ground. Her body was roughly kicked aside to make space to continue to move, and the game continues onwards as normal.

Chishiya leans against the wall, forced to wait it out until either the remaining players all died or finally make it across. Chishiya does not look away for a second, watching each and every move. He cracks a smirk as one of the players, the poor king, steps on the tile that placed them in the path of the bishop without noticing.

The bishop does not hesitate to obtrude, and the king falls by laser. The player barely offers a glance to the corpse that now laid at their feet, whether by respect or disgust for them.

The game trails on far too long, and Chishiya decides instead of watching fools play to explore around the building they were within. It seemed to be a restaurant, chairs and table pushed around haphazardly, with barely a path through some of the mess, the game space the only pristine area free from obstructions.

The inspection turned out nothing for the man’s curiosity. Utterly boring. There was rotting foods and spoiled beverages in the kitchen area, and everything remained in disarray without a sign of any clues that Chishiya could pick up on. He could risk looking if the referee had anything of use, but the game was still in play and he didn’t bother with dealing with them when they had a weapon that could seriously harm him.

A brief glance back at the game showed decent progress, and yet no more people made it to the other end. The last few remained at what seemed to be a standstill, still grasping for survival that only lay across from them, guarded by others who wanted the same.

Chishiya takes a seat nearby to watch instead, letting his mind roam without fully absorbing himself into his thoughts. He needed to remain at least somewhat vigilant in case someone broke through to the other side and felt particularly violent despite being safe for a few more days.

His semi-absent thoughts carry him throughout the rest of the boring game, only two others actually ever making it. Their phones all chime at once, just as the referee’s head explode signaling the end, and Chishiya makes his way out, passing the lone table with the lone card. He doesn’t stop, purloining the card and tucking it in his pocket. He knows what laid on the face, a 4 of diamonds, a simple and easy game.

There was a car that waited for him, but he was the only one left to take it, the others that had been with him too stupid to be able to come back. He didn’t care, he got the card and now could ‘rest’ before he was inevitably sent out once more to continue putting his life on the line.

That was fine by him, Chishiya could easily glide by as he always had been. He turns the car on and drives off, back to the Beach, not a single distraction in sight. Calming, left him alone once more with himself.

Calm like the death that now allowed the silence that hung in the air.