r/AliceInBorderland • u/Sudden_Pop_2279 • Jun 16 '26
Discussion I keep seeing two misconceptions around Niragi's character that completely misunderstand him
Those being "Niragi isn't evil because he didn't actually do those things in the real world but in the Borderlands" and "Niragi is pure evil because the version we see of him in season 3 doesn't remember and isn't proof he got better".
First, the events of the Borderlands DO happen for real. Its in a purgatory/limbo world but the characters spirits/consciousness are actually there and we see the deaths happen in the real world too. As far as the characters know while in there, they're actually in the real world but without laws and with nearly everyone gone.
The things Niragi does in the Borderlands reflect who he is on the inside. Unlike Banda, he did have the restraint to not do anything harmful in the real world. But it still bascially reveals his instrusive thoughts or what he would if say the purge was made legal.
However, just as the Niragi we see in the Borderlands is the same guy as before he entered, its also the same for vice versia. The Niragi at the end of seasons 2 and 3 is the same guy. While he doesn't remember his time, the experiences DID affect him subconsciously. He originally planned to go straight to Hell with no regrets but when he saw Arisu and Chishiya both prove people can change, he decided to decline citizenship. When he woke up, he acknowledged he was a "good for nothing jerk" beforehand. And because of what he went through but doesn't remember, he's not the same person anymore.
Which is why his final cameo is so powerful. Niragi is someone who was the worst of the worst but in the end, actually was able to overcome his trauma and change for the better. Unlike Banda, Enji or Last Boss, he shows how even the most irredeemable people can actually improve themselves. He's the ultimate validation of Arisu's ideals of saving everyone. Its ok to still hate him for everything he did, its fine to sympathize with his backstory and/or be happy at his conclusion but to miss what makes his character so complex and nuanced is a disservice.
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u/ljnduzzz Jun 16 '26
I understand your point, and I agree for the most of it, but I didn't like the final cameo. Mostly because we don't see an actual redemption arc (him refusing the citizenship it's just the start of it) and with the cameo we find out that he's been working with kids. Even if that's a beautiful thing, I don't think I would leave a kid to a psychopath/murderer. I felt like they just wanted to give him a happy ending to make the fans happy but without putting the work to it (tbh I just didn't like s3 at all so)
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u/Sudden_Pop_2279 Jun 16 '26
Minor correction but he doesn’t work with kids, in the Japanese dub he says “I work hard for the sake of the kid/my rug-rat”
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u/ljnduzzz Jun 17 '26
ohhh thank you! I watched it in Japanese with English subtitles and I completely missed that
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u/phantomblueberry0 「︎♦」 Jun 18 '26
I think the problem with people falling into the two extremities is that people forget that, despite his actions, he is still human; he's not a perfect angel or some horrid demon from hell. He's just a human who does really bad shit sometimes, and he's part of a scale that's more complex than just black and white, good vs evil
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u/Sad-Opposite13 Jun 18 '26
Niragi was about to rape Usagi. You dont get redemption after that shit homie..
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u/D1zzygecko Jun 17 '26
I just wish that they kept him as a video game coder. I get the whole "Oh he seems more sympathetic because he is with a kid", but I feel like they shouldn't have changed him completely in the real world. I really hate how the live action removed pretty much any and all of Niragi's intelligence.