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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | I wonder, just how many of your close friends have died. Do you remember the ones that were shot in the head, that girl you burned alive, the ones struck down by lasers or the ones who drowned. The ones whose heads were blown off, your friends. All that despair you've felt, those gruesome scenes, you'll never forget them. And that... really touches me. | „ |
| ~ Mira talking to the survivors of the First Stage. |
Mira Kano (also known as the Queen of Hearts) is one of the main antagonists of the Netflix show Alice in Borderland and its manga series with the same name. Mira originally appears as a member of the Beach Executive until it is revealed at the end of the First Stage to be one of the Citizens (or Game masters) behind the games of the Borderlands.
She is portrayed by Riisa Naka. In the English dub, she is voiced by Elizabeth Neale.
Her Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Her Heinous?[]
- As a game master, she is responsible for causing many of the deaths in the Borderlands.
- She had the option to leave the Borderlands when she completed all the games, however, she decided to stay because she correctly theorized that the ones staying would be able to run the next games and she wanted to observe people on the Borderlands forever, as she enjoyed herself watching people who are near to death struggling and she wished to find out more about humanity by seeing these players fighting to survive.
- Also, she shared her prediction with her new friends (Keiichi Kuzuryu, Isao Shirabi and Ginji Kyūma), which ultimately convinced them to decide to stay too.
- She is sadistic and takes great joy in watching the players compete and kill each other in the games to survive.
- In a meeting of the Beach executives, they talk about completing the Ten of Hearts and she teasingly notes (with Arisu in the room) that Arisu was able to clear the Seven of Hearts, to point out that if he can clear a hearts game anyone can (if they are accompanied by people who are willing die). She notes this while smiling, showing no regard for Arisu's trauma.
- In the TV series, during the Special Broadcast, she is gleeful as she describes various horrible ways people died in the First Stage.
- She uses her expertise in Psychiatry and Neuroscience to torture people psychologically and manipulate others. Her games are all psychological to a major degree. They usually drive people to insanity and to turn against each other, which are the cruelest type of games.
- She is the creator of the Seven of Hearts game, which she made especially for Arisu and his friends after observing how close they were. This game is the reponsible for Arisu's greatest trauma in the series, as his best friends ended up dying to save him.
- In the manga, after the Hatter was killed by Aguni, Mira correctly predicted that this caused Aguni a great trauma and told the dealers to change the difficulty of the Witch Hunt game (which they were setting up for the Beach) from Five of Hearts to Ten of Hearts. She made this saying that Aguni would be the "guardian of the witch", expecting to take advantage of Aguni's suffering to protect the witch's true identity (since Aguni would try to get revenge and kill the people at the Beach).
- During the Queen of Hearts game she repeatedly lies and manipulates Arisu's trauma to drive him crazy and make him give up on the game.
- This almost succeeds as Arisu grabs the hunting rifle and threatens to shoot her in the face. This act only makes her more heinous if you take into consideration that if Arisu did kill her, the game wouldn't be cleared and everyone in the Borderlands would inevitably die due to their visa eventually expiring.
- She gaslights Arisu about what actually happened before he was transported into the Borderlands, and tries to get him to take medication so that she would win the Queen of Hearts. She almost succeeds until Usagi comes in to pull Arisu back into reality and motivate him to keep going.
What Makes Her Inconsistent?[]
- Although it initially appears that her affability is false due to the revelation that she is an undercover game master at the Beach and her very manipulative behavior, she is truly polite and nice to others, especially when they aren't in a game.
- During her time as a player, the manga shows that she was able to bond and develop a friendship with Keiichi Kuzuryu, Isao Shirabi, Ginji Kyūma, to the point that one of the reasons they chose to stay in the Borderlands is that they wanted to spend more time together.
- When she sees Isao Shirabi burying dead bodies of players because he doesn't want them to be eaten by predators and the rebirth cycle to be broken, she decides to help him by planting flowers on the graves and starts to water them daily, honoring the dead.
- Aside from being manipulative and cunning, she's genuinely polite and affable to Arisu and Usagi during the Queen of Hearts game.
- When Usagi almost kills herself to motivate Arisu and the two of them show so much love for each other, Mira is sincerely moved by this and even cries. She then decides to concede defeat and tells Arisu that they should finish the game for Usagi's sake too.
- During the last round of croquet, even though she had the means to do it, Mira no longer tries to manipulate Arisu in any way. In the manga, Arisu even admits he truly had fun while playing the last round with Mira.
- In the manga, she also explains that one of her main motivations that led her to press Arisu so much during the Queen of Hearts game, it is because she wanted to force him to mature and "leave the nest". As a psychiatrist, she says that she also enjoys helping people mature and seeing them being saved, but this also makes her really sad, as she is always left behind. She wanted to do this forever, thus why she chose to remain in the Borderlands.
- She is honorable and this is what ultimately redeems her at the end of the series. This is proved when she stays by her word, concedes defeat at the end of the Queen of Hearts game, and lets herself die.
- Her death is played for sympathy as she redeems herself, genuinely had fun playing croquet with Arisu and promises him that he will have answers. She even dies while smiling sincerely at Arisu and gives him a final lesson about enjoying life.
External Links[]
- Mira Kano on the Villains Wiki
- Mira Kano on the Alice in Borderland Wiki
