'Alice In Borderland' becomes Netflix's most watched Japanese series

Netflix sci-fi thriller "Alice In Borderland", which dropped its second season on Dec 22, has become the most watched Japanese series on the streaming platform.

Over the Christmas weekend, it took the top spot with a total of 61.2 million viewing hours as fans binge-watched the latest eight episodes.

It also hit the Top 10 Series list in 90 countries including Japan, United States, Canada, Brazil and France, and is now the top series for Singapore.

It came close to beating megahit K-drama "Squid Game's" 63 million viewing hours in its first week when it started streaming on Netflix in September 2021.

Alice In Borderland, based on a manga by Japanese artist Haro Aso, stars Kento Yamazaki as a video-gaming misfit and Tao Tsuchiya as a mountain climber mourning the death of her beloved father.

Trapped in a dystopian and abandoned Tokyo, they are forced to compete in dangerous games inspired by "Alice In Wonderland" to avoid execution by lasers being shot from the sky.

Aside from Yamazaki and Tsuchiya, other members of the ensemble cast returning in the second season include Keita Machida, Sho Aoyagi, Nijiro Murakami, Dori Sakurada, Yuki Morinaga, Aya Asahina and Ayaka Miyoshi.

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A number of new actors have joined the show, including Yuri Tsunematsu, Hayato Isomura, Tomohisa Yamashita, Honami Sato, Kai Inowaki and Katsuya Maiguma.

The first season was the most-watched live-action Japanese series on Netflix in 2020 and was swiftly renewed, but a third season has not been confirmed.