A huge chunk of Alice in Borderland Season 3 was centered around a new character, Ryuji Matsuyama, who worked as an assistant professor at Shushikan University. At first, we didn’t know much about Ryuji’s background except for the fact that he had been doing extensive research on the victims of the Shibuya meteor incident. Through multiple interviews, Ryuji deduced that all the survivors of the crash had embarked on a journey to some far-off place where they played challenging games to survive. In short, Ryuji was the first one to figure out that Borderland existed, but he didn’t have enough evidence to prove that the land of the dead was a real place. Therefore, Ryuji joined hands with the main antagonist of season 3, Banda, a former player who chose to become a citizen of Borderland after the show’s protagonist, Arisu, defeated all the face cards and won the tournament. Ryuji made a deal with Banda to bring Arisu back to the game in exchange for the information that he needed for his research; that is, Ryuji wanted to know all the secrets of Borderland and the man who governed it.
Spoiler Alert
Throughout the entirety of season 3, Ryuji had been portrayed as a scientist who had become obsessed with his research. A flashback sequence later revealed that his obsession stemmed from the death of one of his students, Yano, who injected herself with a drug to push her body into a subconscious state so she could get a glimpse of the afterlife. But unlike the rest of the players of the show, Yano never woke up. We all know that it was Yano who volunteered for the experiment, but Ryuji always blamed himself for her death, pushing him to immerse himself into his research so that Yano’s sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.
You see, Banda knew Ryuji’s weakness, and he was willing to exploit it to fulfill his own desires, but in the end, Ryuji didn’t give him the satisfaction of realizing his ambitions. Banda wanted Ryuji to shoot Arisu’s partner, Usagi, but Ryuji didn’t finish the job. However, in the end, Ryuji did try to drown Usagi in the vortex of death, believing Banda would uphold his part of the bargain. Thankfully, he had a change of heart and let Usagi go with Arisu, but he swam into the vortex to kill himself. But hold on, there’s a catch. Ryuji only had a physical death. His subconscious is still alive, and now it’s a part of Borderland. The show never really revealed what actually happens to the bodies of those who choose to stay in Borderland, but it can be assumed that they die a physical death in the mortal realm, thereby becoming servants of purgatory for eternity, or until they are killed by the Watchman or defeated by the players.
Coming back to Ryuji, if you remember when Banda made him the offer, he told him that after he held up his end of the deal, he would be free to do as he pleased; that is, he could either become a citizen of Borderland or return to the mortal realm to continue his research. Now, Ryuji’s act of jumping into the vortex can be seen as his decision to become a citizen, which brings me to the possibility that we can expect the return of Ryuji in Alice in Borderland Season 4.
Now I am not sure if Ryuji will ever be able to find the truth about Borderland or meet the one who governs it, but it is quite possible that he will return to the show as one of the citizens who organize the games for the next tournament. We all know that the world is going to be hit by a devastating catastrophe that will flood Borderland with the souls struggling between life and death, and to manage such a crowd, the Watchman will need as many citizens as he can get his hands on. Maybe Ryuji will become a game organizer on the condition that the Watchman grants him the wish he yearned for. Also, you might be aware of the fact that becoming a citizen comes with its own set of perks. Ryuji wouldn’t be bound to a wheelchair anymore. However, the question that I am more interested in is: what will be the impact of Ryuji’s return to the show? I guess you might have noticed that Ryuji had developed feelings for Usagi. I believe this was one of the reasons why he didn’t pull her into the vortex with him. So if our professor guy is going to come back, then we can expect to see a more villainous side of him. The thing I am trying to say is that Ryuji will certainly feel envious of Usagi’s husband, Arisu, and will do anything in his power to make him suffer in the game, even try to kill him, like Banda. But obviously none of it is going to make Usagi like him one bit, but you all know how villains are. They never stop trying, and Ryuji has been that obsessed guy from the very beginning, so I am quite sure he wouldn’t have any grip on his feelings and would end up becoming the next antagonist of the show.
However, these theories will only come to pass if Ryuji is still alive in some sense, because on the contrary, if jumping into the vortex means an absolute death, that is, the death of the physical body and spiritual soul, then I guess this was the last time we’ll see Ryuji, and it would be safe to bid a final goodbye to our serious professor.
