A series of unfortunate events has led Makoto Edamura to adopt the life of crime—pickpocketing and scamming others for a living. However, after swindling a seemingly clueless tourist, Makoto discovers that he was the one tricked and, to make matters worse, that the police are now after him.
While making his escape, he runs into the tourist once again, who turns out to be a fellow con man named Laurent Thierry, and ends up following him to Los Angeles. In an attempt to defend his self-proclaimed title of "Japan's Greatest Swindler," Makoto challenges his rival to determine the better scammer. Accepting the competition, Laurent drops them off outside a huge mansion and claims that their target will be the biggest mafia boss on the West Coast.
As Makoto becomes increasingly involved with the cunning Laurent, his colorful associates, and the world of international high-stakes fraud, he soon realizes that he got more than what he bargained for as his self-declared skills are continually put to the test.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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LilToadie
I have never felt so compelled to write a review about an anime until I watched the end of Great Pretender. To sum it up, I loved this show until the last arc. I genuinely thought that it would go down as one of my favorites of all time. The art is fantastic--every scene looks like it could be a convincing computer wallpaper, the animation is super fluid, the music and sound design is exceptional. And, until that last arc, the character development and plot seemed just as good. I felt attached to the main cast, invested in their backstories and growth as they workedtogether in elaborate con jobs. The dialogue and pacing was great as well--it struck a delicate balance between funny moments and handling serious topics very well. There seemed to be strong foundations for a fantastic ending to this show.
That's what I thought, at least, until I actually watched that last arc.
I don't think there's really a way to address the problems I have with Great Pretender unless I spoil some things, simply because I truly thought it was amazing up until that last arc. So, if you still are interested in watching it and don't want to read on, a spoiler-free analysis of the show would be that it almost felt like the first 3 arcs and the last arc were from 2 completely different shows. In the last arc characters acted in complete opposite ways as they were built up, plotlines weren't fully developed and, at times, did not seem to make coherent sense, pacing was extremely rushed, and all of the accomplishments and character growth established in the plot of the first 3 arcs seemed to be erased--especially in the last episode.
So, I would recommend to just watch the first 14 episodes, because they're really fantastic. If you do feel some compulsion to continue watching after that (and, if you really like the show, you probably will, since episode 14 doesn't really offer a satisfying conclusion), I would say go ahead, but just keep in mind that you're setting yourself up for disappointment and confusion.
SPOILER REVIEW BEGINS HERE:
I'm going to review the easily most consistently good parts of the show first--briefly, since I don't really think there's much to say other than that they're really good.
ART: 10/10
EASY 10. As I said before, every shot looks like it could be screencapped and used as a photo or computer wallpaper. Animation is very clean, character designs are polished, and the color pallete is bright and creative. I am in love with the art style and direction, as both were inventive and made the anime really stand out.
SOUND: 9/10
I think all of it was great in terms of music--there was a variety of different music styles and variations of the theme that I loved to here recur throughout the show. The ED is fantastic because of course, it's Freddie Mercury, and the OP is really fun and poppy big band, which fits the show perfectly. The only thing I took issue with was the fact that there were often many different languages being spoken in a scene, and it wasn't clear what language people were speaking at times. This was mostly due to the fact that Japanese was established as being the substitute for English in the first episode to make it easier for VAs to actually voice act instead of speaking a foreign language. That distinction began to get muddled when scenarios started happening in Japan, where it became unclear as to who was speaking English vs Japanese since they all audibly were speaking Japanese in the show. It even got more unclear when one of the main characters actually started speaking English audibly, but the rest of the cast continued to speak Japanese while calling it English...it sounds confusing because it is. Overall though, it didn't really interfere with the story, except for in that last arc...but there are definitely bigger problems with that last arc than just weird translations.
And now, for the parts that I feel extremely conflicted about--STORY and CHARACTER. I'm addressing them both at the same time because I feel like it would be impossible to address one without having discussed the other.
STORY and CHARACTER...I have no idea what to rate them. N/A?
I genuinely cannot decide on a number to give the STORY and CHARACTER sections of this show. If I were just discussing the first 3 arcs, my ranking would probably fall within the 9-10 range--again, I really believe it was great. I think the only arguable detriment of that first arc would be the "predictability" of the cons. I personally don't believe that the twists were super predictable, moreso that the predicability came from audience always knew the outcome was always going to be in favor of the main characters, or else it wouldn't feel satisfying. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing though--many shows thrive in the fact that you always know plots will resolve in a satisfying way. The interesting thing about Great Pretender's first 3 cases was not how the case would end, but how the con was handled, and how the plot would change one of the main characters and increase our knowledge of and empathy for them.
Speaking of characters, all were likable and relatable in the first 3 cases. We got to see the backstories and growth from 3 out of the 4 main characters--Edamura, Abbie, and Cynthia. Each of the cases focused on something from their past that drew them to becoming conmen, and how that history related to the con at hand in the current case. Personally, I liked the first case (Edamura's case) the best just because the novelty of the main cast and certain twists in the case, such as Abbie and Laurent "dying" and Cynthia being a conwoman the whole time, were well-executed (however the initial shock of these "deaths" and reveals for the audience is what made them great...boy, it would be a shame to have the writers recycle these plot details again in the last arc...). Each character's traits and personalities are also explored well through the con--Edamura is kind-hearted and honest who is always kept in the dark about details of the con (acting as a lens for the audience to view the plot through), Abbie is rebellious and, to put it simply, a badass, and Cythia is the flirty, quick-witted and quick-tempered woman of the team (she reminded me a lot of Faye from Cowboy Bebop in ways). The only main character who isn't explored is Laurent, the smooth-talking classic conman who recruits Edamura and acts as the de-facto leader of the group. He's still good enough of a character to be likable while also remaining mysterious through these first 3 cases, which says a good deal about the talent of the writers up until episode 15.
Basically, I think the characters and story were pretty solid for the first three cases. I could go on about certain plot details, but what drove me to write this review was my feeling about episodes 15-23 (aka the last arc/case), so let's just get right into that.
The last case focuses on Laurent's past, which is certainly not a bad thing--his backstory is actually pretty interesting, and I thought the way they tied Laurent's connection to Edamura's dad was handled pretty well. I also think episode 15-middle of episode 18 isn't horrendous--Edamura is shown to have compassion for the kids that are being trafficked, and the narrative is showing the toll that being an undercover member of the trafficking company is having on his mental health. He begins smoking in every scene, and, when it comes down to it, forces the kids out of their imprisonment at gunpoint, this scene being harsh but necessary to expand the audience's perspective that Edamura spending a significant amount of time with bad people is wearing down on him, even though his intentions may be good. Judging by these actions, it seems like the plot is going in a direction of focusing on freeing those kids and absolutely destroying Suzaku (the human trafficking organization)...because human trafficking is WRONG. And anyone who participates in it is NOT GOOD. THAT IS THE PRECEDENT THEY ARE SETTING UP FOR THIS ARC. And, given what we know about Edamura so far and his actions in the past arcs, he seems to have a strong moral compass and will often do the right thing even in the face of adversity, even if it's rash or not completely thought-out. It's what makes you root for him, and the way others adapt to these actions during a con is what makes you root for them.
However, things take a turn in the middle of episode 18 that sets the precedent for the rest of the show to plummet into confusion and inconsistency. The part I'm specifically talking about is when Edamura's father appears to have ratted out Edamura, Abbie, and Cynthia to the Shanghai and Suzaku trading companies while they attempted to free the imprisoned trafficked children, and Edamura, Abbie, and Cynthia are all facing seemingly certain death, as they've been taken to a boat and are being held at gunpoint over open water. Before this point, there are some minor red flags that have happened, mainly concerning Edamura's father. In the span of about 1 episode, the audience's perspective of him has flipped from being on the human trafficking side, to him conning the human trafficking side, to him conning Edamura and ultimately working with the trafficking side. It is a lot of side-flipping, which makes it kind of confusing for the audience, but not inherently self-destructive in terms of guiding the show's plot. Another thing to mention is that the leader of the Suzaku company is portrayed as a stern and vicious old woman who has a soft spot for Edamura. This last aspect has not influenced Edamura's actions so far because, like all of the audience, he understands that she is a BAD PERSON. Because she literally buys and sells children. So there should be NO SYMPATHY for her.
What changes everything is when Edamura's father tells Edamura to kill Abbie and Cynthia to gain the respect of the Suzaku lady. When Edamura refuses, he "kills" them himself, which is a big no-no, because there are really only 2 options that this action creates for the audience to believe. The first option is that Cynthia and Abbie really have just died, which feels anticlimactic and disappointing, and, given that there are about 5 episodes left and so much work has been invested into their characters, probably not likely. The second, more believable (and yet somehow worse for the plot) option is that Cynthia and Abbie aren't really dead, and that Edamura's dad is actually working with THEM, not the trading companies (so...4 side flips within a single episode, at this point). This also feels unearned and does not bode well for the rest of the story because 1. they already used the "OMG someone just died!" trick during the first case, and 2. because of the frequent side-flipping, the audience starts to lose trust in the identities that have been established for characters.
It only gets worse from here, though.
The part that seals the deal (at least narratively for me, and seemingly for the rest of the case, given how everything proceeds from this point) is that as soon as Cynthia and Abbie "die," the narrative immediately begins to push this idea that the Suzaku lady (who SELLS CHILDREN) is kind and compassionate. She takes pity on Edamura seconds after the people who she was most likely going to kill were just "killed" by giving Edamura the freedom to decide what he wanted to do with his father, giving him a gun and expressing her sympathy. Everything can still be fixed, though. At this point, the authors could still make it believable that Edamura's father truly is a scumbag who just killed his friends, or they could go the other route (as they did) and make it turn out that he's part of the con, and actually on Edamura's side. All they really had to do was just make sure they represent that Edamura is still exhibiting his traits of compassion and kindheartedness by NOT KILLING HIS DAD, despite everything his dad seems to have done. It's a little cliche, but it would allow the writers to show that, despite everything that Edamura has gone through, he will still make the morally right decision. This is something that has been accentuated in EVERY. SINGLE. CASE.
And yet, they decide to have him just shoot his father in the chest. Which, of course, the audience is less likely to believe, because now we just got 3 sudden main character deaths, and we have the knowledge that they can fake dying.
I think this choice was to accentuate the fact that being in the human trafficking business has taken such a large toll on Edamura, but I think the cost of doing this definitely outweighs the benefits in terms of creating an interesting story. For one, Edamura genuinely believes he is killing his dad in that scene. I don't care if that's just a ruse and his dad is actually fine (which is exactly what happens)--the sentiment behind that action cannot be taken back. If you're going to make such a dramatic move like that, there should be no room for lighthearted reconciliation between Edamura and his dad when everything's said and done (which is exactly what happens).
What I also don't get is the real motive behind Edamura's dad's actions. He lies to his own son on the boat, "kills" Edamura's friends right in front of him (potentially causing trauma for his own son), and for what? Dorothy? While again I'll say I don't really have a problem with the Dorothy-Laurent backstory, I think it doesn't make sense that all the characters, which have been shown to be generally pretty reasonable, would go through so much to essentially just mess with Edamura while getting some kind of revenge for Dorothy. Seriously, why even bring Edamura into it at all if you genuinely want revenge for your dead friend, and why even go through all the trouble to deceive him and incite a possibly permanently broken relationship with your child? This is addressed a little in the end of the show when Edamura is yelling at his dad with the Suzaku katana to his dad's chest (which, by the way, ends in Edamura getting killed...but not really, because, you know, faking your death is a great plot point when you use it 5 times in a row, right?) but the ending seems to show that they were working in kahoots the entire time...so was that even a real argument? The back-and-forth shifting of what "side" Edamura's really on and who he's fighting against from episode 18 onward, undermines all of the character development that was established for him before and makes the narrative feel like it's aiming to be confusing for the sake of being confusing.
What's more frustrating is that the focus of human trafficking being bad is essentially thrown out the window after the "deaths" of Edamura's dad, Abbie, and Cynthia in episode 18. Edamura decides to throw out his conscience and LEGIT work for the Suzaku human trafficking business (which BUYS AND SELLS CHILDREN) because the Suzaku lady seems nice, and it's heavily implied he reminds her of her estranged son, and she reminds him of his mom...which is so messed up for so many reasons. I get that they're trying to humanize the villain, but this humanization is addressed so sloppily after setting this precedent that human trafficking is BAD and anyone who participates in it freely is a BAD PERSON (which is absolutely correct!). This, again, completely subverts the audience's belief that one of the sole aspects of the Edamura's character is that he's compassionate and kindhearted and the fact that he serves as a moral rock for the rest of the conman crew. And yet, the narrative still seems to want you to sympathize with him and the Suzaku lady. Which, not gonna lie, kind of feels like they're asking you to sympathize with human traffickers. I think a good story is capable of making you feel sympathy for anyone (take the Sopranos--the whole show is about making you feel sympathy for a mob boss that commits crimes and ruins lives on a daily basis), but completely changing the ideals of a main character to be sympathetic towards the head of a human trafficking company within the span a of a few episodes, after CLEARLY ESTABLISHING that this company is the ABSOLUTE WORST...that ain't it, chief. That ain't right.
Another thing to mention is that, when they introduced the Dorothy-Laurent plotline, they essentially shifted audience's perspective of the goal of the conmen from being noble (destroying a terrible company that BUYS AND SELLS CHILDREN) to being vengeful (getting revenge for Dorothy). That second goal wouldn't be so bad if it didn't completely overshadow the first, seeming to prioritize the importance of revenge over fighting against human trafficking. The children and the plotline the writers started about them feeling like they'll "never be wanted" is completely forgotten as soon as that Dorothy plotline is introduced--the fate of the children is thrown in as an afterthought in the final minutes of the show. The main conflict at the end of the con isn't about fighting THE BUYING AND SELLING OF ACTUAL CHILDREN--it's about being mad about a friend dying because wow I can't believe someone died while trying to infiltrate a company that BUYS AND SELLS CHILDREN AND HAS NO MORALS. The worst part about this is that it's revealed that Dorothy isn't even dead--she just lost her memories and is just chillin' with an old couple on the beach--which means that the "revenge" plotline holds less weight than it even did before. No, actually, scratch that--the worst part about this is that all they do to get "revenge" (and fight human trafficking, I guess) is put the leaders and a few of the members of the Shanghai and Suzaku trading companies on an island and let them just vibe there. Like BRO you're not even going to get them arrested?! They are either going to die on the island OR they're going to make it back to the mainland, the second option being more likely given that at least one of them probably has a phone and will be able to call for help at some point. Regardless of whether or not they make it back from the island alive, it's guaranteed that BOTH of those trafficking companies will be fine, unless they are so inept that they can't figure out a new leader and are so crippled by the financial sacrifice that both companies seemed pretty okay with making in that deal that was supposed to take place in the final episodes. I think the show doesn't make it clear enough that the company is "ruined," unlike the other cases, where each villain was shown to have lost everything due to the conmen by either getting thrown in jail, losing all their money, or a mix of both.
Speaking of the outcomes of the villains from the last cases...the icing on the salt-filled cake that is the last case of Great Pretender is that it appears that all the people who were established as TERRIBLE people from the previous cases are in on the con. Edamura appears to just happen to have the contacts of all three of the antagonists from the last 3 cases, and he has them help him with the con for reasons that I believe are not fully explained. And these actual criminals, one who one of the main characters (Cynthia) has had a personal vendetta against for about 20 YEARS, are just chilling on the boat, explaining to the audience how they regained their status and were totally content. The main characters don't even seem perturbed by these villains being involved with the con--the most surprising non-reaction is from Cynthia, who I would assume would be livid about someone who took advantage of her and her ex-partner's lives for his own benefit just chilling and gambling on a yacht like nothing happened. This particular development seemed to just erase both the goals of the conmen, which were to bring down bad people (which they clearly failed at or didn't care about, given that the three antagonists they had supposedly "brought" down seemed perfectly happy and content with their lives) and all of the deplorable acts that these antagonists were shown to have engaged in in the previous cases.
In other words, it felt like the show almost betrayed everything that it said it stood for, in terms of dealing with serious topics and actual crime. Judging by the rest of the reviews I've seen submitted here for this show, I think some other people feel similarly to me about this.
That's not to say that all of the parts of this case were completely nonsensical and bad, however. If I am to say anything positive story-wise about case 4, I really thought Abbie was solid the whole way through, even though she had very little screentime. And, except for the last part where she just seems totally okay with that painter fraud guy just chilling on the yacht, I think Cynthia was fine as well--she provided some comic relief when her and the rest of the conmen gang were painting the fake Suzaku building...which I'm not even going to get into how stupid and convoluted that whole idea was, given that I've been writing this for approximately 2 hours straight and my exhaustion with just writing simple sentences is probably showing at this point.
ENJOYMENT (...no number again)
Once again, I don't really know how to rank this section either. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 cases, I was utterly baffled and disappointed by the last case. I don't know how any of that would translate to a comprehensive score of enjoyment without being completely biased towards my feelings towards either the first three cases or the last case. I will say once again that it really does feel like cases 1-3 were from a completely different show with completely different characters than case 4, so I don't feel like it's appropriate to group them into one score.
OVERALL CONCLUSION (TLDR) (4/10)
4/10 doesn't feel like it's a low OR high enough score when addressing this show. There are so many aspects that I absolutely adored from the first 3 cases that were just obliterated in the last few episodes from a few odd narrative choices that completely subverted the tone and our understanding of key characters. I am astonished by how plotlines were started and then just immediately thrown out and characters were just changed on a whim for shock value, and am just kind of awash in disappointment right now, as I really thought this show was going to go down as one of my favorite anime.
It feels like the last case of Great Pretender was the big reveal of a giant con that ran through the entire show. The first 3 cases served as the deception that Great Pretender was truly going to be (and end) fantastically, with a solid cast of likable characters, a good sense of humor and dialogue, and a coherent plot that would make you wish you could just erase your memory and watch the show again for the first time. And that last case served to show all of us that, like any great con, things that you thought were undeniably true could easily be undermined. If someone were to tell me that I would be ranting about how much I was disappointed and infuriated by the the ending of Great Pretender about a month ago, when I was excitedly waiting for Case 4 to drop after bingeing all 3 of the cases within a few days, I would've laughed. I just wouldn't have expected a show that seemed to exhibit such sensitivity for establishing solid characters and understandable plots to completely throw everything out the window within the last few episodes of a show...and yet, here I am, ignoring the real-life work I should've done 2 hours ago, instead spending my time typing furiously at my keyboard, writing an overly long review that I'll be lucky if one person actually reads through, feeling like I've just been duped.
SingleH
What we have here is an expression of love for art. It’s a treat in every sense of the phrase, being sweet to the taste beyond expectation and a dietary rarity worth your appreciation and indulgence. As time goes on, television ad rates plummet, and production committees get stingier and stingier with their limited funding and man power, impossibly ambitious original anime become more and more financially harrowing to fund and logistically nightmarish to create. Yet somehow, here we have it, the beauty to behold: Great Pretender. How much of what I’m about to tell you which you find completely obvious is entirely dependent on howblind, deaf, and senseless you happen to be, because if you ask even such a staunch critic as myself, this is the hardest masterwork to overlook and the single most broadly appealing triumph of entertainment I can name. From the drop dead gorgeous artwork and animation to the surprisingly thoughtful, endlessly amusing storyline, and from the delightful cast of lifelike characters overflowing with charisma to the fantastic music which itself is just as charming and built with just as much personality as any one of the characters, every facet of the show is delivered with expert craftsmanship awarding its audaciously dedicated production values. Given just how expressive, experimental, and downright weird the roots of anime are, most of the standouts which you can find therein are just as esoteric, and Great Pretender stands to be an exception the likes of little before. Inspired by Western crime dramedies which it swiftly outclassed in a single debut episode of exceptionally clever episodic structuring and excellent visual direction, Great Pretender follows amateur swindler, Makoto Edamura, as he gets swept away by the real deal, a gang of con men with whom he exploits others and entertains himself all whilst reaping the seeds of trickery they’ve all sown together…which is what I meant by “broadly appealing.” Yes, I conveniently left out the show’s thought provoking themes, all its discussions and ideals on social injustice justifying an individual’s turn to crime, but my basic summary of the plot is no lie, and it is such a cliche setup as to be almost embarrassing, so the fact I can even get close to calling it the masterpiece which I nearly have already speaks to the brilliance of all involved in its peerless creation. Great Pretender is solid proof a simple concept can write its way to a classic. It’s exploding with life, love, and lavishness in every way it can, and anyone unable to appreciate the monumental effort and unrivaled talent necessary to deliver on such a beauty or empathize with the unflinchingly human psychological core behind all its scheming and hilarity is simply beyond my comprehension, or somehow just contrarian enough to deny it all.
If I had to oversimplify it, what makes Great Pretender so good in a single phrase is the tact with which each episode is handled and the way in which they are uniquely cared for by whichever member of the directorial staff headed its careful creation. Despite being an arc structured show which does not hesitate to grab you with low-stakes, hardly annoying cliffhangers, the true method to the narrative’s madness is every single episode feeling like an open and shut case nailing the finish and leaving you as gratified as you are dying for more, whether you be left hanging on the cathartic conclusion to a resonant character development, the satisfying resolution to an episodic or overarching plot point, or simply on the butt of an actual joke, landing yet another delightful punch line driving home the show’s damn funny comedic identity just a little more. Unlike most anime and, quite frankly, most entertainment in general, Great Pretender is self-aware regarding all its metatextual eccentricities and in-universe contrivances, so no matter how hysterically outrageous nor matter how artistically bold the story goes about presenting itself, it will always be tongue in cheek enough to come across as jest as opposed to being an irksome logical conundrum, and while not every episode is as perfectly balanced as the last, the show as a whole certainly is. Most anime which aren’t made for TV find themselves with the privilege to be as uncensored as they’d like, and by extension, they often end up leaning too hard on their freedom to finally incorporate vulgarity and nudity to their heart’s content, but Great Pretender stands as a complete and total exception. Accompanying its boisterous comedy and sensational personality is an incessant sense of realism offered by—yes, those brands of obscenity—but also by its deftly paced character time and nuanced characterization sewn throughout the hijinks. Comparable only to the best of Shinichiro Watanabe’s works from Cowboy Bebop to Space☆Dandy, Great Pretender has mastered the art of endearing and repulsing the audience with its duplicitous adult cast, the push and pull which invests viewers in the among the most human yet still the most entertaining on-screen individuals one can find in the most natural way one can find them.
What makes building a character such a delicate science is you want to make them worthy of the screen by having their actions be somewhat absurd enough to be entertaining, but you also want to keep their passions down-to-earth enough to be emotionally engaging as relatable human beings, and this is where Shinichiro Watanabe truly excels. No one just throws on episode one of Samurai Champloo immediately invested in characters as ostensibly ridiculous as Mugen, Jin, or even the comparatively normal Fū, but given how well-written and smartly characterized these misfits are over the course of the show—the show which itself makes a point to show them at their lowest, most vulnerable points in life and at their happiest, most unapologetically free spirited—even the most jaded among viewers will finish the journey completely immersed in their stories, assuming, of course, they weren’t cynical enough to drop the show before then. Great Pretender is not only a master of the exact same craft, but one which has just as handily mastered the accompanying craft of outstanding voice acting. Complementing the prepossessingly sharp character designs of industry legend, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, every character is deftly brought to life by a cast of talented actors and actresses who’s voices embody their respective characters to a tee. As Makoto and his compatriots march along the vibrant parade which the animation staff has made their lives, skeletons start falling out of closets just as you’d expect them to from the secret histories of real people, and the characters subtly progress in intimacy as they overcome problems of life and love alike. Be it Laurent, the mastermind fueling every fire under everyone’s asses; Abby, the blunt, stoic braun serving as the honest counterbalance to Laurent’s conniving brains; or Cynthia, the absolutely badass, electric heroine who you’ll be wanting as a best friend for life or desiring as a wife by the end of the show depending on your sexual preferences; every single one of the colorful personalities on screen has just as much to learn and love behind their beautiful faces as does the cover of the show itself. And speaking of having a colorful personality, Great Pretender is one hell of a feast for the eyes!
Great Pretender, visually, is straight fucking unbelievable. While you may get this impression immediately, credit to Takeda Yūsuke’s ever legendary background art, all facets of this anime prove themselves to be crafted to the perfection of a Production IG classic back from the days of the Kamiyama Team who shared the same art director. Be it the explosive yet expertly balanced coloration and its astoundingly consistent shading, the flawless character artwork and the intricately detailed linework required by those razor sharp designs, or the flowingly lavish animation elegantly weaving it all together, every frame of Great Pretender is laudable to some degree even at its very lowest points and worthy of a standing ovation at its mountainous heights. Everything is overflowing with personality and branded with an unforgettable artistic identity such that I can promise with complete confidence you’ve never seen anything quite like it at such a high production value, and I promise just as easily you’ll never see anything like it again outside the purview of Production IG. This is the first project handled by WIT Studio with the exception of their debut series with Mitsuhisa Ishikawa’s full involvement, and his intimacy with this endeavor is no secret given the amount of IG names inscribed on this gem. With Takeda Yūsuke having already been mentioned, Kyouji Asano, the now legendary graduate of Team Oshii and Animation Director for Psycho-Pass and the first two seasons of Attack on Titan, has made his return along with too many animators to count, and Ishikawa also seems to’ve organized the recruitment of the best of the best not already under the illustrious IG umbrella. From the criminally obscure genius color designer behind works such as Space☆Dandy and Redline, Yūko Kobari, to the industry veteran sound director who’s so prolific and who’s been around for so long that he worked with Chiaki Konaka in bringing to life the brilliant soundscapes of Serial Experiments Lain and The Big O, Shouji Hata, Great Pretender is stacked with more talent than you could ever imagine, and somehow, every little bit of it shows. Great Pretender is the first time WIT Studio has fully lived up to both the technical perfection and unflinching consistency of their founders at Production IG, and it never ceased to take my breath away.
The introductory paragraph of this review is worded in such a way to mirror the first anime review I ever read, which I’d directly quote if not for having unfortunately forgotten the address of whatever blog I saw it on. I only remember the impression its wordage left on me. Sentimental, I know. It was a review for an anime equally ambitious and equally outstanding as Great Pretender which shocked as many critics as fans it elated. It was a work also made at the dawn of a new decade, relatively speaking, and much like this decade, it was a time in which anime as a whole was on a downturn. Studio Madhouse had just thrown out Masao Maruyama in the face of their ambition fueled bankruptcy, and now, a decade later, their only remaining holdout of talent is Director Natsume, who’s work is the only excuse optimists have left to not call the studio dead. Gainax had been exposed for their toxic business environment which drove away Hideaki Anno only to then lose its remaining creative leads, who now, nine years later, are thriving in their own limelight at studio Trigger whilst proudly carrying the creative torch of the Gainax of old before it all went sour. More positively speaking, Kyoto Animation was redefining the word “polished” and winning award after award for their work on genres most powerhouse studios would scoff at, yet now, nine years later, a fifth of their staff was horrifically massacred in an inhuman arson which has gone down in history as the second most deadly mass killing on Japanese soil since the end of the Second World War. So much has changed since that review was posted, so much, except the studio which pioneered the anime it was reviewing. That’s right, the studio was Production IG, and the anime was Psycho-Pass. The reviewer offered his thanks to the pantheon of artistic prowess and creative genius which had, in such an incredible fashion and with such an epic production, restored their hope in an industry they saw as stagnating, and now it’s my turn to do the same. The son has grown into the shoes of the father, as WIT Studio has finally, unequivocally matched their founders at Production IG, and with their achievement, my own hope in the anime industry has been restored just as those of the cynics before me.
Thank you for reading.
suoivne
Great Pretender was exceptionally disappointing. What I thought to be watching was a modern Lupin, it ended becoming the classic 'predictable but not fun' kind of story. I wanted to like it and say originals aren't always bad... I couldn't. Nothing in this godforsaken anime makes sense. Every 'plan' is meant to show that our main cast is good at this, but everyone besides them are plain stupid so of course they're gonna succeed without breaking a sweat, or are they? Well, we're meant to believe that they're trying really hard but the 'challenges' are never found. All of the outcomes are painfully predictable and youcan see who is who and/or what she or he is up to based on their personalities alone. The supposedly villains are just there, often times without any reason and in the end they lose, as you would guess. What you don't know is that all of this feels underserved. You don't cheer for the main cast nor get to either love or hate the villains. You only feel empty. Like an emotionless humanoid who wanders in search of happiness. That empty.
Furthermore, some of the characters are so smart that often times distort reality. "Predicting the prediction one character has predicted once his prediction was predicted" is the whole anime in a nutshell. When these guys start doing something you know they'll win, as aforementioned, undeservedly. Nothing can go wrong with them around and I don't like how their "everyday life" is portrayed. You see them walk all over and yet, after everything they've done, they still live. How's that possible? Because it isn't. The 'Great Pretender' world is modern and considering the whole thing is full of cameras (and more) I don't see any reason why the gang hasn't been killed yet or at the very least put in prison. Is this anime really expecting me to believe that despite all of that they keep outsmarting everyone? Because if that's intended to I don't buy it for a second. It's humanly impossible.
"Great Pretender" has a bad cast, a poorly written story with a immeasurable predictable results and even its ending song (which is best thing this anime has to offer) couldn't save it. If you want to hear my advice, stay away from this. Just my two cents.
SancheRamos
The Great Pretending that this anime is a well written story about con artists making well-crafted schemes and not a giant mess full of nonsensical plot twists and protagonism. The Great Pretender was in fact a good anime in the beginning and it quickly became one of my favorites. The first season is worthy of a 10, with great schemes and character development put together in three interesting cases. This anime was very creative and stood out of the ordinary with fresh new ideas and characters with well constructed personalities. And it even chose a Freddie Mercury song for the outro! What could possibly go wrong? Season2 happened, giving us a very risky storyline that could go both ways: 1 - Give the anime an epiphany and improve a lot with a great story that may have been unexpected when you started watching but had been slowly building up to this point, or 2 - Putting it as a giant bait and resolve it in an edgy, disappointing way of ruining the show.
This arc was supposed to be Laurent's story as we finally get to know his flashback and why he is the way he is, and it all makes sense. With all that has happened in his childhood and after losing Dorothy, he basically gave up his soul to become a smart, unbeatable scammer who takes down gangsters, monarchs and rich bastards. All of that so he could avenge Dorothy in the future. This is why he is so selfish, arrogant and careless for the people he likes, he gave up on his human emotions with the trauma he suffered long ago.
This adds well to Laurent and Makoto’s duality that makes them as perfect antagonist and protagonist. They work together, but Makoto is constantly trying to outsmart him and failing, and always falling into his schemes, over and over again. Laurent likes the boy, but because of his past he is not attached nor shows any sign of true friendship towards him, seeing him more as a tool for his schemes. And Makoto eventually gets tired of it.
Makoto’s development is different from the rest. He starts as a low-level scammer who is actually a good guy, and he has a good heart, as we see in his interactions with his mom, Salazar, Abby and Cynthia. He has good ideals and wants to come out clean to live a normal life, something that Laurent’s team has taken from him a lot of times.
This is why Makoto is an interesting character in season 2. He has always been easily manipulated by the people around him, mainly by Laurent and recently his own father, and now that he works for Suzako, who besides being a TERRIBLE person who sells children, manipulates him really well and he is with someone who actually shows any care for him and treats him like family. And after all he’s been through, he had all the development to hate Laurent and to be what this season teased a lot of times, a villain who would outsmart him.
Laurent may be somewhat of a good guy in the series but he is an antihero, as he screws over murderers, gangsters and people who are actually terrible, having unusual means for that. And by that I mean using Abby, Cynthia and Makoto as tools just so his plans can work. As an example, he knows Abby is suicidal and takes advantage of it to put her in risky situations that may result in her death, because she doesn’t care about her life. And we also have Makoto, whom he plays a lot with.
Makoto went through a lot during the series. He was a petty thief in Japan who had to flee the country because of Laurent, who also got him involved with narcotraffic, then he got tricked for the first time for trying to do what his moral compass said and denounce the international scammers to the FBI. After that, he tried to come out clean, spent some time in prison and tried to live an honest life as a mechanic, but Laurent won’t let that happen, he will set up a fake mentor for Makoto to look up to and believe that he is rebuilding his life, just so he could be completely broken when the truth is revealed afterwards and accept working for him again.
Even so he tried to do the “honest part” of the work by just being a mechanic, but ended up playing a major role in the scammers’ plan against the brothers and almost died for it. Once again he tries to come out clean, but Laurent sets up another plan and makes Makoto get into it. After that, one more time Makoto tries to live a normal life but, surprise surprise, Laurent manipulated everything so he could accidentaly join the Yakuza and become a tool to Laurent's plan to avenge his wife.
At that point I would have become paranoid with Laurent, and this is Makoto’s case as well. Many times he tried to be an honest person, just so Laurent could break his moral compass and show that there is no escape from him. After years with this guy and three schemes, he is told that his only purpose was to train for this big scheme of avenging Dorothy. And because of the father he hates, who also happens to be Laurent’s best friend.
In his last attempt of being a good person, Makoto tries to free the children that Suzaku is trafficking, just so his father could betray him. Then he has to watch two of his friends die in front of him, kill his own father and be left alone for MONTHS, without any information from Laurent nor knowing the truth about Abby and Cynthia. And Laurent planned for it to be that way, it all made sense in his head as he clearly underestimated Makoto. He believed that he would never turn against him, and even if he did, he would not manage to outsmart him.
Don't get me wrong, they may have forced the opposit but Suzaku is a TERRIBLE PERSON, she SELLS CHILDREN. And by choosing to stay on her side, helping her and liking her, he is choosing the dark side. And it makes sense that he does so. Because Laurent showed him that there was no escape from the life of crime, lied to him and played him like a toy, over and over again. And, because of him, Makoto is living the way he is. He has all the reasons to HATE Laurent and has the perfect construction of a protagonist turned into a villain. And this leads to the final scene.
The scene where Makoto betrays Laurent. He follows his plan of defeating both companies and stealing their money, and then brings up an armed group to surrender them and protect Suzaku. And what could the french scammer do? He didn’t think about this at all, he was trying to avenge the love of his life, the only thing he cared more than schemes and heists. He was hallucinating with Dorothy on his chair, Dorothy talking to him, and even bursted into anger in the end by attempting to kill Liu to avenge her death. His only trace of humanity was also his fatal flaw, and Makoto took the chance to finally outsmart him.
Then he has his own Kira moment, he laughs and give us a speech that sums the entire series perfectly. Con artists are supposed to be lone wolves and independent, but when the hard times come, they will sacrifice everything for the group. Oz let himself be imprisoned, abandoned his son and wife and let her die alone just so he could help Laurent avenge Dorothy. And he is honest about the scammers, even though they’re in the right here, as you know, he is working for a woman who sells children. He finally confronts his dad, Laurent and the group and shows that their actions towards him had a consequence. Just so, in his arrogance, he makes a mistake and dies.
I wish that was the ending.
What happens next is a bunch of nonsense that shows that this is not a single story. Rather, a lot of different stories squished into one.
They wanted to do Makoto’s bastardization and revolt, but also wanted to make a happy ending where the protagonists can all be friends and make a possibility of a third season.
They make all of this be a plan, and it makes no sense. Makoto showing his true feelings and hiring an additional group to throw off one of his allies makes no sense. Their reactions and the unnecessary acting of all that makes no sense. Makoto’s character construction of becoming a villain and Laurent messing up his biggest plan because of his decay into madness and the trauma of losing Dorothy, all thrown into the trash.
The second season had other problems like Oz’s introduction and quickly redemption with his son that ends in a betrayal that is very predictable for how fast the entire thing is. Another one was the recycling of the first arc’s fakeout deaths of two main characters who turned out to be alive and working together with the person who killed them.
And also Makoto’s second meeting with the father he supposedly killed, not acting surprised or shocked, that tied up in a 2-episode flashback sequence without explaining anything of what was happening in the current time. And don’t forget that Makoto, who spent months imprisoning and training child slaves, doesn’t get that mentioned at all afterwards, as they force us that he has never done anything fucked up like a villain would do.
Talking about Oz, I gotta mention that he is the absolut worst character of this series.
He neglected his family for decades, didn't care about his wife dying in a hospital bed, didn't care to go after his son, hid the truth from him, and that's just him on the "good side". He worked for the chinese mafia for YEARS, dealing with human traffic and helping Liu and Suzaku SELL CHILDREN, and it's a huge thing to justify by saying that somehow this was part of the Avenging Dorothy Master Plan. All of that just to make Makoto's final confrontation with him a complete JOKE and make him instantly forgive him afterwards.
But, yeah, for me the thing that ruined this great anime was The Great Fanservice at the end and the discarding of what could have made this anime really stand out. And also they bringing up the first three villains, Cassano (narcotrafficker, murderer, rapist), Ibrahim (scammer, pedophile, murderer, crippled Lewis) and Coleman (scammer, thief, manipulator, ruined Cynthia's boyfriend's entire life) as friendly and living happy, wealthy lives, just to ruin the first 3 arcs. And also Dorothy being alive this whole time, just to shit even more on this season's story and to take out the sense of Laurent's motivations.
By the way did I mention that they bring up human traffic, romanticize the person who does it and this whole plot is totally overshadowed by the revenge one and literally NOTHING happens to the traffickers afterwards?
The first season was good and I recommend it, but the second one was a huge awful mess. It's like a pizza cutter. Too edge, no point.
Between this and Yesterday I think I won't watch anymore animes whose titles are references to great songs by legendary musicians. They tend to turn out terribly.
SharerShadow
Great Pretender has a decent soundtrack, and the art is quite pleasing, but these things don't matter when the story is poor. The emotional/dramatic scenes were well done, but I couldn't take it seriously knowing how absurd the plot was. If you don't get too hung up on how well the plot is written, you might enjoy it, but it was dreadful for me. Great Pretender is about a journey of international swindlers conning people that they deem evil. But the ones that are being conned aren't the "evil" individuals, but YOU, the viewer. The scriptwriters are trying to con you into thinking that there weren'tany enormous plot holes and that the show was good.
Great Pretender wasn't able to fool me, so that's why I'll be exposing this deceitful scriptwriting to protect others from this scheme.
If you don't want to read the whole thing, I'd recommend reading section 2, which objectively states the plot holes, or section 4, which points out how nonhuman the characters are in a subjective manner.
Disclaimer: The sections below contain vulgar language at times.
---------------------------------Spoiler Ahead---------------------------------------
1)
The problems start in the first episode. Laurent manages to lure Edamura to LA with his huge brain. Then Laurent visits Cassano with Edamura. When Laurent feeds the fake drug to Edamura with no prior explanation, Edamura freaks out and runs away like a maniac. If Edamura hadn't reacted like a maniac or tried to vomit it in a calm manner, Laurent's plan would've failed. So the only explanation is Laurent was able to calculate Edamura's exact reaction, which is ridiculous. You're bound to run out of luck when you leave things to chances.
2)
Then comes the second arc. Even the premise of the second arc has plot holes. Ibrahim is fixing air races on his show, so that his brother Clark can always come first. Ibrahim is so determined to fix races that he was willing to sabotage Lewis's plane, which led to Lewis becoming crippled. My question is, why? Are people going to stop watching your air show the minute the current champion loses a single race? You can make Clark win ten matches again right after. I think the main reason the writers created this plot hole was to make sure Ibrahim was an "evil" person. Ibrahim is an evil person, so I'm going to definitely root for the other criminals that are trying to steal money from him.
The way Ibrahim trusted Edamura didn't make much sense. I understand that Laurent used his colossal brain to portray Edamura as a similar person to Ibrahim and make Ibrahim have an affinity toward Edamura, but that is still not a good reason to trust Edamura.
Also, if the races are fixed, experienced pilots watching the show should be able to tell that certain people are throwing on purpose. With the power of the internet, it shouldn't take long to expose such a scheme. Yet, people are oblivious. So oblivious in fact, that it isn't odd for people to gamble on it. If this weren't the case, Ibrahim would've thought the idea of gambling was ridiculous when he was introduced to the secret gambling society. Another problem is that Ibrahim could've found another way to gamble on fixed races long before our swindlers came into the picture. Yet, he didn't and was adamant at using the one that got introduced to him. This problem can be somewhat explained, but it still ends up being a bit of a stretch. When Ibrahim gets banned from the gambling place for faking his identity, he wants to gamble again. That's why Edamura says that they will accept him again since he has a lot of money, which doesn't make any sense. As the owner of the air race, you would think any decent gambling place would bar you from gambling on races that take place on your show. After being persuaded by such shitty reasoning, Ibrahim does go back to the gambling society.
They convinced Clark— a pilot skilled enough to compete with veterans— that Edamura had the hand of god or some shit like that. Edamura made adjustments to Clark's plane, and Clark took the plane for a ride. Clark's time didn't improve at all, but then came the fake journalists. The journalists said that even spectators such as themselves could tell that his plane had gotten faster. That's all it took for Clark and Ibrahim to be convinced that Edamura's skills were the real thing. Can a skilled person like Clark can't tell the bullshit that he's being fed? Of course he can't because the characters in this show can't think if the plot doesn't deem it appropriate.
By the way, what was up with how our swindlers sabotaged the plane? They messed with the engine while people were there. No one heard the sound of the fuel cap, or the chemical being thrown inside the fuel cap? To be fair, you can just say it's an anime and ignore this one.
3)
I think the third arc was the best one out of the four. My criticisms are minor for this one. When Edamura got hungry and looked at the fridge, he saw a toffee box. He took the toffee box because he was hungry. Cynthia then took away the toffee box from Edamura and ordered pizza. The toffee box had the ring Thomas drew. This interaction later made Edamura look for the box due to curiosity. My question is, why was a special memento like that inside the fridge? Couldn't the writers find a better way to interject Edamura into Cynthia's personal relationship? I guess you can argue that Cynthia did it on purpose to tell Edamura, or Laurent was responsible, but both of those arguments feel hollow. There was an emotional scene where Cynthia threw the toffee box into the ocean, but I couldn't take it seriously, knowing that even the interactions regarding the box were a stretch.
Secondly, the turning part in this arc was when Coleman badmouthed Fara. Abigail asks whether Fara will buy the painting for Coleman, and Coleman addresses Fara quite demeaningly. I find that quite ridiculous. Coleman has been hanging out with Fara for a while, and she's buying paintings worth millions of pounds for Coleman, and Coleman is going to talk shit about her to a girl he's known for a couple of days? Coleman isn't a decent person, but you wouldn't do such a thing out of safety. Abigail records Coleman's remarks, and our swindlers manage to convince Fara to abandon Coleman. So our swindlers very much got lucky here. But what if Coleman hadn't talked shit? These criminals were planning to take 70 million pounds from Fara, who was being manipulated by Coleman. Our swindlers, as righteous as they might act, are a bunch of assholes, and I'll elaborate on that by explaining the mess that is the fourth arc.
4)
I thought the fourth arc would be the turning point for the show because it started quite well with no visible plot holes. I was ready to give Great Pretender a 5 and move on with my life. Yet, it ended up being so frustrating that I ended up writing this review no one asked for.
The viewers learn that the whole show was part of a grand scheme. Laurent planned to steal money from Liu for years after the girl he loved, Dorothy, was "killed" by Liu. Liu ordered Dorothy to be shot because she slapped Liu prior, got caught for being a swindler, and told Liu to die. I would argue it was well deserved. Laurent is devastated and tells Oz, Edamura's Father, to come up with a plan to steal money from Liu. The script already sounds quite stupid, but it gets worse when we look at how Laurent and Oz achieve their goal.
They make Edamura join a Japanese company without telling him the company engages in child trafficking. The story doesn't explain how they managed to lure Edamura into the company, but who cares at this point. Edamura gets in contact with Laurent, and Laurent tells him that they will con the company. Fast forward, Edamura gets in contact with his father and still feels very affectionate towards him even though Oz ran away from his family after getting arrested years ago. Why did Oz even become a swindler in the first place? He was a lawyer; didn't he make enough money? Oz makes up garbage excuses to Edamura regarding neglecting his family. The problem with this scene is that we can't tell the writers' intentions. Are the excuses intentionally bad because Oz is making excuses, or were the excuses supposed to make sense like the rest of the show did? Edamura tells Oz that they are going to escape and that he should join them. Oz then tells this plan to the Japanese crime syndicate, and everyone gets caught. They get brought to a boat. Oz even points a gun at Edamura to stop him from attacking him, and later tells him to shoot Cynthia and Abigail to show his loyalty. After Edamura refuses, Oz shoots Cynthia and Abigail. Then the head of the Japanese crime syndicate tells him to shoot his father, and Edamura gets forced to shoot his father even though he still cared a lot about him a day ago. As a result, Edamura gets fucked mentally. Who wouldn't after witnessing your love interest and friend getting shot, and shooting your father. He doesn't eat anything for three days, and becomes an active smoker. Here comes the banger— none of the characters are dead. This is Great Pretender, no one in this show can possibly die. Laurent and Oz planned it out, so they had the blood bags and everything ready apparently. Laurent's reasoning for not telling Edamura is because he was too honest to keep this plan under the wraps. You can't trick me Laurent. The reason you didn't tell us is that it would've been boring to watch otherwise, and you're just trying to fuck with the viewer. For what cause are they ruining Edamura's mental health? They're messing with this kid to one-up a crime syndicate, jesus christ. How childish can Laurent and Oz be? Does Oz not give a fuck about his son at all? There was no good reason to mess with him in the first place, but they didn't bother to tell him that they were alive either? What is going to change after they succeed? They didn't even make money since they spent the money to swindle the syndicates. You would think that more people will catch onto how absurd this is since the viewer unconsciously empathizes with the main character. Apparently it's not obvious because the show has a score of 8.41 on MAL.
They even executed their plan with the help of people they swindled in the past. Cassano helped them out in the end. You would normally expect the people you tricked would have a grudge against you and betray you. Not in Great Pretender. The characters can't think unless the plot deems it appropriate. Even if they did, I'm sure Laurent's huge brain would detect it and create another plan. You can see Cassano, Coleman, and Ibrahim all hanging out and having fun. Even after losing money to our swindlers, it seems they are still quite wealthy. It just shows how irrelevant the actions of our swindlers are. Irrelevant as they might be, they didn't stop short at ruining a kid's mental health for it. Even Dorothy is alive. She got shot, got lost in the ocean, and didn't die. Of course she can't die. It's the Great Pretender after all. She conveniently has Amnesia. Otherwise, the story wouldn't have happened in the first place. I don't get these types of happy endings. They feel very forced.
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-Closing Statement-
I'm writing this review almost a week after watching it. I can make this many points because the show was filled with absurdities. I'm sure I've forgotten many things, but there were too many absurdities that I ended up recalling quite a lot. If you asked ten people to watch the show and list the plot holes, I think the lists would be quite distinct since there are so many. I still can go on, but I think I've made my point.
Cipher3030
Man, in all of my years watching anime, I've never watched such a good show that left me with such a bad taste in my mouth. Before I get into the meat and potatoes of my review, let me first say that I will try to avoid spoilers for those of you who aren't watching the sub online off of Netflix, since the final arc isn't available on US Netflix yet. Furthermore, a lot of my harsher scores in the story, character, and enjoyment areas are heavily influenced by the final arc, and especially the ending, so if you don't want to be jaded beforethe final arc officially releases, just stop reading here.
Story: 4
The story follows the exploits of Makoto "Edamame" Edamura, a two-bit scam artist who took advantage of old people in Japan until he meets Laurent, the first person to con him. After joining up with Laurent, an enigmatic and charismatic confidence man, Edamura gets roped into several schemes all targeting wealthy criminals who have used their influence to avoid justice. The series takes a mostly light-heated and fun approach to each of these cons, although there are moments of genuine emotion sprinkled throughout that help make the cast a lot more likeable and relatable. Furthermore, there are enough twists with each of the cons to keep them exciting, though some of them do require a good deal of suspension of disbelief. This fun story manages to stay consistent for 14 out of the 23 episodes before taking a sharp turn in the final arc. In order to avoid spoilers, I'm not going to talk much about this final arc, but basically the plot becomes silly at best despite the grim subject matter -- international child sex trafficking -- and the resolution feels like a slap in the face given how the story had played out up until that point. One of the interesting ideas of the show is that Makoto is one of, if not the only good person in Laurent's crew, and he essentially acts as the heart of the group comprised of manipulative narcissists. Because of his earnesty, Makoto ends up being taken advantage of constantly in Laurent's schemes, often finding himself completely in the dark about what's going on until the final minutes. The final arc deconstructs this aspect of Makoto in a really interesting way as well, essentially exploring the hypocrisy of Laurent's group and how their actions might actually push Makoto far enough to turn on them. However, in a massive cop out that I will not reveal, this whole character arc gets completely uprooted, leading to an unsatisfying conclusion that completely ignores the previous 3 arcs and just feels hollow. On one hand, I understand why the show did this, given that one of its core themes, especially in the final arc, is forgiveness. In every previous arc, one or more of the characters learned either to forgive themselves or one of the people they were scamming, so it makes sense that this theme continues in the final arc. Hell, you could even try and call the ending a subversion of expectations given how it really does subvert the viewers expectations; however, subversion for subversion's sake isn't inherently good, the payoff has to be satisfying, and it just isn't here. Furthermore, the way that this theme is explored in the final arc with Makoto just isn't satisfactory and honestly felt very contrived. There's honestly no reason for Makoto to forgive these people, especially considering what they put him through, and yet he does anyway. Maybe this speaks to my own poor character more than poor writing on the part of the show, but still, there are still examples of undue forgiveness past this moment in the finale that are even more contrived and a lot harder to rationalize for me. Finally, there's the post credit scene at the end of the final episode, which I don't even want to think about and I honestly can't make sense of. It seems like sequel bait, but it completely spits in the face of everything the final arc was about, making the last nine episodes feel like more of a waste of time. All this being said, the actual resolutions for each character outside of all of this are really sweet and pretty satisfying, though what comes before it is legitimately awful.
tl;dr: a great story that manages to drop the ball spectacularly in the final few episodes. If you're going to have a tonal shift in the final arc, at least follow through. Also, the way they pulled off the final con was stupid at best and reminded me of a quote from Community which I will paraphrase: So, according to the Sting, in order to pull off this grift, we need a full crew, a bunch of briefcases, and a fake hospital for some reason.
Art: 9
Yeah, the art is mostly really great and expressive, but the CGI looks genuinely awful. Even though the CGI is stylized, it still looks super jarring and it's even worse when characters are modeled with CGI. Everyone keeps comparing this show to Lupin, but Lupin's recent anime and films blow GP out of the water completely.
Muisic: 8
A pretty above average soundtrack overall, though there are quite a few tracks that blend in with one another. The vocal tracks are all pretty excellent, though.
Characters: 6
Again, for the first half of the show, the characters are all really great. Edamura is a likable lead, Laurent is incredibly funny and commands the screen when he's on, Abbie is one of the most charming characters of the year, and Cynthia just oozes with charisma. Plus, each of these leads has a really compelling backstory and character motivation, and each is given some genuinely superb character development throughout the series. The villains are all fairly one-note, but it works in the show's favor because it gets you to really despise them. The one stand out is Suzaku, the villain of the final arc, who is not only despicable, but sympathetic in a way because she develops a really compelling relationship with Makoto, almost becoming like a surrogate mother to him. Unfortunately, the main cast outside of Abbie all become genuinely insufferable during the final arc and that's when you realize that they've been self-serving, hypocritical narcissists for the entire series and have been insanely cruel to Makoto for almost no reason, seemingly enjoying his suffering and treating him as a joke throughout the entire series -- literally none of the characters actually call him by his proper name. As a minor spoiler, I think it's really telling that while Makoto is basically in the middle of a mental breakdown after a severely traumatic event, the rest of the cast is at a hot spring having the time of their lives -- it really shows how awful the rest of the cast are, which makes the resolution even more frustrating when none of them actually get what's coming to them in spite of Makoto's really passionate and eloquent rant about why he hates them all. Again, like the story, the characters are great until you realize that everyone but Makoto is a legitimate piece of shit who never gets theirs.
Enjoyment: 7
I think the one takeaway from my review is that it's a really enjoyable show and if you just ignore the final arc, the show's probably like a 9/10. Unfortunately though, you can't just pretend that almost half of the show doesn't exist. Maybe I'm an outlier in terms of how I wanted the ending to play out, but from what I've seen online, I'm not the only person upset with the ending in general. A bad ending can really mar what could have been a great show -- just look at GoT -- and Great Pretender has joined the ranks of other really promising shows that just couldn't follow through in the final stretch. It's the first show in a long time that has genuinely made me feel conflicted after watching it, not sure if it was worth my time or not. I enjoyed it, but I was only able to tolerate the show's absurdity up to a point.
Overall: 6
I was really rooting for this show, and it was genuinely the most fun I've had with anime in a really long time. However, I just can't look past its ending and final arc in general. The writers seemed to through everything fun and compelling about the show out the window in the final arc in favor of a forced tonal shift that they didn't even have the guts to follow through with. I know my other scores average out to about a 7, but I felt that it deserved to be docked another point for the post credits scene, which just felt like a slap in the face after an already flawed and frustrating arc.
Overall tl;dr:
A good show that had a lot of potential, but completely squandered it in the final 9 episodes.
Streecer
People often like to dramatize how they feel about any given show for the sake of being theatrical, but I'm telling the truth when I say that the Great Pretender is one the best, and most dissapointing anime I've seen. It's visually stunning, with a great soundtrack and an appealing premise. And for the first half of the series everything is smooth sailing. It's nothing mind blowing, but the presentation and banter between the cast keeps things light and fast paced. Each arc focuses on one of the main characters and their backstory in an intelligent and well put together way. Except the last arc. Which isa complete trainwreck narratively, morally and themetically. Aside from the deceptive way that the story is edited to come out with a twist that makes you scratch your head, everything leading up to that final moment is a disaster. I'll spare you the spoilers, but the show lets the audience down with a flimsy final act that says nothing and doesn't advance the characters in a meaningful way.
That is to say, the Great Pretender is a show of two halves. The first is everything you could want, the second asks you to leave your brain at the door - because engaging critically even slightly with the events that unfold and their implications (and lack thereof) on the characters, will only upset you. The fact that the bad part of the show is longer than any other induvidual arc is an extra kick in the teeth.
The main character, Edamura, gets the short end of the stick in terms of development. While the other characters have development that starts and ends within their own arcs, Edamura's resolution never arrives even though the series pretends that it has. This is thanks to a messy back half. Edamura never has a moment where he gets one over on Laurent, who for all intents and purposes is his main rival. And the most important revalations that are aimed at him are concealed from the character, meaning we never see his reaction to them.
With all that said, it's still an above average production. I would reccomend it to people, but my feelings on the final arc are a serious detriment to the whole package.
EvaFotia
Great Pretender was an anime i was excited to watch due to Wit Studio and the general hype around it. After waiting a few months due to work, i finished the anime and boy was i disappointed. The anime is essentially a "i predicted this prediction to happen" and everything goes all according to Laurent's plan. I am aware it's an anime but the general "villains" of the anime are essentially robots taking orders from Laurent as they do everything according to plan. It doesn't exactly help that they throw away the whole plot of the anime at the final episode where Edamura magically hascontacts of all the past villains and they're all essentially good guys now despite the artist dude ruining the life of Cynthia's boyfriend.
Edamura's character basically never grows as he stays as the angry kid that "never wants to do heists and wants a fair life but ends up doing it" for the whole anime. I honestly hoped for the whole cast of main characters to fail a plan and for them to all die because that's what i felt like they should've done.
Despite the failings of the plot and characters, the art style is gorgeous and the sound design is reminiscent of cowboy bebop with jazz and such. But yeah, don't go in expecting something that makes you think super hard but rather go in expecting a "crime drama" but everything goes according to plan but the characters are absolutely unlikable.
OpanJam45
Great pretender is a 10/10 show with the worst ending known to man. You watch this show and become enraptured with the cunning schemes, the characters and their backstories, the immaculate art, and just the overall thrill of what feels like Oceans 11 the anime. Then the ending throws a concrete brick at your f*cking head like you're a homeless man in a 2014 youtube prank video. I've never felt so disrespected by an ending. Honestly it's genius how they could make an ending this d*gshit. Watch everything up to the boat scene and then stop after that and pretend that's the ending. The finalscam victim truly was the viewers.
HenriqueNeves
I haven't seen any comments about Great Pretender yet, but I can already foresee the many free praise for his art, which consists of a palette of colors quite different from the usual, but which does not suit the unity of the rest of the work at all. The truth is, I liked Great Pretender. It has a very dynamic and hurried plot, and this is very well combined with this agile cinematography at almost every moment. I think that the innovation of anime comes from this vitality of movements in animation, and that goes well with this narrative that is more down to earth andunpredictable at the same time.
What prevents anime from boosting this feeling of dynamism to the rest of the other elements that I praised earlier, is this choice of an ultra stylized and unnecessary art. The truth is that mixing this glamor with a sophisticated look from the director sounds much more personal than it should, I don't think that was the right tone that Great Pretender should preserve.
In some moments I even liked it, it gives a change of tones between the palette of colors to try to reflect some emotions for the viewer. It would even be possible to say that this free mannerism of the director could be aimed at his characters. If he had used this feature only in specific moments, it would be ok, but the scenarios insist on staying that way in several moments, which ends up harming even in the dramatic construction, it does not differ at all from any other situations that are occurring.
It could have been the best anime of the year if the director hadn't been so mannerist with no justifiable purpose.
ShadowLight13
I've seen many shows that saw themselves as smart, and yet, I saw them as... "okay" at best. This is one of those shows. It's full of fake outs, retcons, and other elements that make you /think/ it's a smart story, but really, it's highschool level smart. Which, I suppose it's okay, because realistically speaking, this is aimed at teens. However, for me... it's just not enough. That's not to say it's a bad, or a boring show - I /did/ watch 23 episodes of it, after all. And that would not have happened if it were that bad. Actually it had several merits, butit's vaulting ambition ended up crashing and burning in my eyes. So let's get down to those merits and faults, shall we?
|[ Visuals - 9/10 ]|
It has a very distinct style, and saturated, pop-y colour palette - similar to that of "Words That Bubble Up Like Soda Pop" - which is pleasant enough to the eyes, while standing out against other anime. However, when it comes to character design and art style for characters... it's fairly standard. Clean, Serviceable, but nothing special. And, of course, bad guys predictably look a little worse for wear for the most part than the "good guys", with some exceptions. The main character's design is safe, as are most, but I suppose the grounded, more realistic designs do work for the setting. At times, however, it looks almost lazy, and in some scenes, I think it takes away more than gives. A general lack of detail replaced by colour that confuses the mind a little, can make certain shoots simply look off... but for the most part it works well, and looks good.
Plus, I can appreciate the cats, and the OP/ED.
However, some character designs, I question. One woman's design in particular, looks dubious, and I wonder if it's "diverse" or offensive, but, not being from that group, I think I'm not quite qualified to be the ultimate judge.
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|[ Sound - 7/10 ]|
Nothing much, if perfectly serviceable. The only stand outs for me are the openings and endings, and the voice acting is okay... but, I have to say, I hate how pretentious it is. The ED song doesn't quiiiite fit, I think; it was most likely chosen because it had "pretender" in it and was sung by a well-known singer. I can enjoy it for what it is, but it's not as clever as it thinks it is. I can appreciate the cats that acoompany it too, but still...
And the worse stand out aspect of it is the frankly ridiculous choice to have characters speak in foreign languages in some scenes fully, and sometimees donning only an accent. It's not "smart" or "quirky", it's just inconvenient and poorly executed. It's also inconsistent, and, frankly, sometimes seriously unneccessary, especially when everyone in the room is speaking the same language. Moreover, for those who struggle with written language - typed or handwritten - would it not be terribly ableist for these people to demand of them to have to read the subtitles to understand the languages spoken if they have not yet learned those languages? To me, it seems like a major oversight, and even though I myself do not have dyslexia, the inconsistent changing of languages ruins the immersion for me, rather than improving it. If I wanted to watch a series or movie in a foreign language, I would simply watch it with subtitles. However, as I prefer to multitask to make the most use of my day, I have to reduce the score for this part of my review because of this pretentious and frankly insulting decision.
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|[ Characters - 7/10 ]|
Nothing amazing, not the most choices of characters to root for, but good enough. None of them seem too exaggerated, but frankly, I'm having a hard time even pinning down their qualities except for "skeevy", and y'know, they all have some sort of sad backstory, but frankly.... there's just something missing to them. Well, at least they're not obnoxious or boring, they just won't be making my favourite character lists; that's all. Not exactly a tragedy, if you as me. Also, these are relatively modern day characters, but their wardrobes are so... same-y and basic. Which is a pity, considering if we're talking fashion, this time period is probably the most diverse, because with globalisation, everything's more accessible. You would think with the exciting, colourful artstyle, the fashion choices would also be a bit more... interesting. Unfortunately, no dice. It's serviceable, and works with the characters, but I guess since the characters themselves ain't much, predictably, therit styles aren't much either.
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|[ Writing - 7/10 ]|
Nothing too egregious if you ignore all the fake-outs and occasionally dubious dialogue. Moreover, this anime seems to have a problem with thinking that convoluted = good, when all it is, half the time, is confusing. Oh, and thugh I said the characters aren't too exaggerated, there are definitely tropes and cliches riddles throughout the story. Which, can be good, but there are times when it just doesn't hit. Granted, this is subjective, but still. This IS a subjective review, as are all reviews to some extent, so you know.
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|[ Enjoyment - 6.5/7 ]|
Frankly, due to some of the issues I had with this, half the time I was just waiting for the opening/ending to start, since those were the only times when I could have some carefree enjoyment of the series.
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|[ Overall - 7/10 ]|
Look, this anime is perfectly suitable for someone whose free-time is endless and all they do is watch anime. But I fit into neither of those categories, let alone both, so... I can't find the same enjoyment. Moreover, I want to watch the dub for the dub. Not to have to read subtitles anyway. I still don't hate the show and found /some/ enjoyment, but I wouldn't rate it as highly as others.
mistersunday
Picture your dream job. If you’re a smart ass like me you might say that you don’t dream of labor to begin with. That's not a bad response, unfortunately most of us will have to work at some point in our lives regardless of what our feelings towards labor are. So I’ll ask again, try to set aside your smart assery and picture your dream job (or the one you dislike the least if that’s easier). Got it? Alright well I’m going to assume that ‘con artist’ isn’t on your mind right now (if it is then I guess this anime will be right upyour alley lmao). The thing is, scamming people isn’t as black & white as one might imagine. The moral landscape of scammers is dubious no doubt, but dubious nonetheless. Great Pretender takes us on a journey, illustrating what life as an extravagant scammer might look like, as well as what it really means to be ‘respectable’ in your line of work.
This anime is a diamond in the rough. It’s an enjoyable show with a premise that doesn’t confine itself to a single genre. This multi-faceted storyline, depicted through opalescent visuals and an eclectic soundtrack, unravels seamlessly before the viewer. Great Pretender has all the makings of a binge-worthy show; nonetheless, the story and character arcs suffer from a case of ‘style over substance’ (to a certain extent). Although the characters have depth, the story-telling doesn’t deliver its overarching messages with as much cogency as you’d expect from a show of its caliber. On one hand, this allows the viewer to make their own interpretations about the story arcs and their characters. This works well when the show attempts to underline how ambiguous morality can be and how hard it is to categorize actions as ‘good’ vs ‘bad’. However, at the same time the show has a robust sense of characterization: there are clear antagonists and protagonists (the latter of which tend to display a ‘better’ moral compass than the former). In this sense, the show implies that there are ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways to go about things, and there are also various mantras about living your life in a respectable way that the characters repeat. Additionally, Great Pretender also seems to subtly critique different aspects of capitalism, cultural hierarchies, human rights violations, and war. While it does this relatively well, it fails to make a strong impression on this front due to a lack of development.
While watching Great Pretender I appreciated how far-reaching the context of the storyline is. The diverse cast of characters presents an amalgamation of perspectives and stories that are very interesting to watch. As we keep learning about the characters and watch them scam people all over the world, we begin to understand the show’s unique point of view. In my eyes, one of Great Pretender’s main messages is to highlight the deficiencies of capitalism and the injustices it can create. The show spends a great deal of time demonstrating how much power can be obtained by amassing wealth. Monetary wealth allows you to transcend the rules of our societies. The rich antagonists in Great Pretender bypass law enforcement, sports regulations, federal & international law, as well as political institutions. This is all a result of capitalism which places a great deal of power and decision-making capabilities in the hands of an affluent echelon. Our main character, Edamura, became looped into the world of swindling because he himself was duped by the company he worked at. They had been engaging in consumer fraud without his knowledge in order to increase their profits (profit maximization is incentivized by capitalism). No company would hire Edamura with a criminal record. Backed into a corner, he becomes a scammer in order to survive. While Edamura’s background could simply highlight the inherent injustices in the world, throughout the show we see how he also meets people in equally challenging predicaments, many of which were brought about by the ramifications of other injustices, even systematic ones like economic disparities and war crimes. By demonstrating the simplicity with which human rights can be violated when money is involved Great Pretender hints at a critique of capitalism. Throughout Great Pretender there are many instances of money superseding human rights and ethical considerations. In my perspective, this is one of the show’s stronger and clearer messages. Unfortunately, the anime mostly alludes to this without making a clear statement. I think this hinders the impact of the anime’s narrative on the viewer. If the show was a bit more intentional in conveying a layered message, rather than just being entertaining for the sake of entertainment, I think it could’ve left a deeper mark on the viewer.
Ultimately, Great Pretender is a fantastic show which is not short of insightful observations. Despite this, the anime still has room for improvement.
Story: 8
The story is quite creative, each story arc revolves around a particular case (or scamming operation) that our gang focuses on in a different part of the world. I really enjoyed how each arc takes place in a completely new environment involving different industries. The setting remains very international and it continuously makes connections across different fields. On top of that, the way that the events unfold keep the viewer reeled into the story while not dragging on for too long. If it weren’t for the shortcomings in the overall narrative of the story that I outlined previously, the story would be close to perfect.
Art: 9
The visuals are quite spectacular. The vibrant color palette really stands out, it adds a life of its own to the story and it rebrands each of its locations as sites for action and excitement.
Sound: 8
I thought the soundtrack was pretty good, I enjoyed the opening and ending songs. I thought there were a few parts that had music that didn’t entirely fit the tone of the episode, mostly towards the end.
Character: 7
Great Pretender boasts a diverse and charming cast of characters, all of which have their own unique identities within the context of the story. While I found the characters to be very fun to watch, I think their storylines could’ve been developed a bit more given the episode count. With the exception of Edamura, I felt like each character could have received a bit more attention in order to properly expand on their motivations and background. I feel like this is quite noticeable with Laurent, we get to see his backstory with Dorothy as well as how he recruited the gang, but we still don’t really know what/who molded him into the person he is today. His origin story isn’t really known. The same goes for Abby and Cynthia whose backstories don’t really go beyond one particular event/person in their past (Abby’s main event being the Baghdad bombings whereas Cynthia is mostly tied to Thomas). However, beyond that not much is known about their pasts, and they don’t really experience fully realized character arcs. I’m not sure if the series is trying to set up a second (or technically third) season by omitting these elements, but this season still feels a bit hollow without more background on these key characters.
Enjoyment: 9
In general, I thoroughly enjoyed Great Pretender. As I’ve already mentioned, I think that certain themes and characters could have been developed better. Nonetheless, Great Pretender has high production quality mixed with a fun premise which makes for an enjoyable watch.
Overall: 8
I would recommend Great Pretender to anyone! Whether you’re new to anime or not I think you’ll like this show :)
ItsallGoodman
WIT Studio has always knocked viewers and critics away with their latest series this decade. My favorite anime "Attack on Titan" was conjured up among them. Likewise, the Viking anime "Vinland Saga", which has unfortunately been lost from the crowd, which has it all. But back to "Great Pretender". What the animators have conjured up with this art style is a feast for the eyes. Starting with the fall in Los Angeles which shows the world of the "Pretender" and their rules, as well as the group of 4 of the series (consisting of Makoto, Abby, Cynthia & Laurent) quickly ushered in. Here we get to knowthe main protagonist Makoto with his tragic background story of how he fell into this whole network of crooks.
Case 2 was about the Singapore Airplane Race. You also get an explanation of why Abby keeps being so grumpy. But with her story, there is a good reason.
The first two cases out of a total of 4 are loaded with more action and tension.
Then it's off to London, which became my favorite of the whole falls.
The atmosphere of London created a single work of art around this work of art theft. Coupled with the wonderful music and Cynthia's story, this part sucked me in 100%.
After a long time, the 4th and last case became available on Netflix and until then I liked the anime very much. But my enthusiasm is limited.
This case is by no means bad. Laurent's motivation for his raid is more than understandable. However, he broke this group of 4, which consists more of randomly thrown together people, a bit.
At one point the action could have abruptly slipped into a "Cowboy Bepop" ending, which I would have liked more. Because the actual end of this case, the development of Makoto nullified me for the entire duration of the series.
But "Great Pretender" doesn't want to be a "Cowboy Bepop". It wants to lead the audience by the nose, only to surprise them with a much bigger plan than expected.
Now to the conclusion of all 4 cases:
Case 1 & 2 are extremely exciting and entertaining. (4/5 stars)
I might like case 3 even better after a rewatch. (4.5 / 5)
I think case 4 is okay. Laurent is a cool character, but that doesn't make up for my criticisms. (3/5)
But one recommendation definitely goes out to everyone. Even those who are not big anime fans could have fun here.
At the end of the day, if you're wondering if the name "Great Pretender" isn't a Freddie Mercury song, you're right. This is used as an outro and gives the series a bonus point.
iitora
The Great Pretender was fucking incredible. Without getting into spoiler territory, all I can really say is... it's one of the smartest anime out there. I know I sound like a goddamned Rick and Morty fan when I say that, but believe me. Everything about is top notch. The animation is incredible, the characters are realistic and relatable, and most importantly, the heists are incredibly well thought out. It's definitely worth your time. Tl;dr: WIT does amazing things when they're freed from the Attack on Titan mines. The first half is currently available on Netflix (worldwide, i believe!); However, the final half is unfortunately locked to JapaneseNetflix only for now. You can easily find the final half on torrent sites... but even then I would suggest watching the first half now and leaving the last case for later. It's not good to bingewatch this kind of show. You have to let it sink in first. Because, trust me, the last case is a doozy. And you neee to be prepared for what happens in it.
...I guess this is less of a review and more just me rambling about it, but whatever. Just give it a chance. You won't regret it.
microbiome
After 7 years of being on this site, this is the first anime I've watched while airing that I've felt so passionate about writing a review. Great Pretender is a good show. Dare I say, a great show. As someone who enjoys the idea of heist in media (note: I say this because I admit I enjoy the thrill of heist in media but don't actively watch/read it), it was refreshing to find this in a newer anime. I entered the show completely blind; I watched the PV and got some slight gist of what was going to happen, but I didn't realize how enthralled Iwould be in all the twists and turns of the plot. And boy, does this anime take you on some turns. As someone who keeps theories to a minimum while watching, I could say I was genuinely surprised at some of the big reveals of the anime especially when it gets towards the end of the series.
Each case study is equipped with gorgeous animation and beautiful color palettes, a jazzy OST (featuring Freddie Mercury in the ED), and a cast of characters that are (mostly) fully thought out before your eyes.
No show is without its faults and despite my absolute adoration of the show, it definitely has points that deserve raised eyebrows. But overall, it was one of the most entertaining anime I've seen in a while that truly had me hooked on every episode. It's going against some great contenders, especially in the upcoming Fall season, but recognizing that this as an original source anime... Great Pretender might be my anime of the year.
Thechaoscat
I truly loved the motivation for edamame's journey most of the show is really good. But the constant fakeouts with edamame just being okay with everything that happens to him its ruins it. Every other character gains or fixes a problem for them not edamame. He only got more questions and learns to truly trust no one. Relationships you think will happen never develop further. The final case is too complicated even for a heist show so many variables that is was more dumb luck. Edamame just gets played a fool and never retaliates or shows he's good at anything other than being the pawn.But the show calls him a genius but gets played a fool the whole show.
Zestiria
Story-9 Great Pretender is a show about scamming and stopping bad people, while watching this show, i get to see some fun and cool ways to fool people. In the early episode, me and probably a bunch of other people got fooled thinking that Chynthia killed Abby and the others. When that happens, i thought that Edamura will somehow change into a god at scamming learning of his mistake then. But i got fooled, i then think that this Con Man group is actually really good and i would see more of this fun comedy. At the ending, before this anime finishes, i thoughtthat Edamura would betray again but i was fooled twice. Also, the part explaining the history of how the Con Man was created was really great
Art/Animation-9
The Animation is really cool, the animation itself is like a painting that moves. There's a ton of colors and i never seen this kind of animation or art in a show before, i thought that WIT studio is really great at making cool CGI scene since i am a big fan of SNK and Vinland Saga, but WIT made one of the comedy that i really love.
Sound-9
The opening was ok, it was fun. What i love is the ending, it feels like a english music when the anime suddenly end and shows a cat. Also the OSTs are all great, my favourite of them is the ost of when Chynthia helps another guy paint, this song was titled "Someday" and it was really touching
For the voice acting, I don't really feel someone or a character that has a really great voice that gain my attention or maybe i missed someone.
Character-10
The 2 favourite character that i love the most are Edamura and Abby. First, Abby is a hot and sexy character, there are a lot of scene that shows how cool Abby is, Abby's past story was ok, it wasn't bad and it wasn't really that good. To look at Abby being able to dress up in a lot of clothing and can be a good bait since she's hot.
Second, Edamura, i felt really bad for edamura who usually didn't get how the plan will go and he always became the victim. His looks is normal and something i love about this show is that time flies really quick. I've seen Edamura, Abby and other character timeskipped 1 or 3 times
Enjoyment-10/Overall- 9
I really enjoy this show and i laughed a lot while watching. This show is really cool and i really reccomend if you haven't watch it. I bet a lot of people are gonna get fooled a lot of times watching this show
Overall this anime is a must watch and you should check it out, if you like the light and funny comedy and a bit of action, i really reccomend this, the characters are really great, songs are great and the animation is the one that makes things really interesting. Go and watch this show please
Onna_Tantei
I've got just two words : JUNICHI SUWABE . . . . . . . why are you still reading this? Junichi Suwabe always picks amazing anime to work in, and this one is no different. I started watching it to hear his voice and because the art style looked amazing and the story turned out to be amazing too. Rightfully labelled 'slick' on Netflix, this show had some great cons with the character's relationships and the music being a huge bonus. The end of each con can be a bit predictable but I truly have no interest in watching an anime where the intelligent and heart-broken con artists lose at their owngame. It was fun to see this crew work together, then fall apart, and then come together again over some newly discovered schmuck they decided to take down that month.
It kinda reminded me of the Ocean series at times and only in the best way possible.
A great watch, right till the end.
Spiceseller115
I loved the Show it was suspenseful fun, and is great for a binge watch or a slow burn. One of the only bad things that I can say about the show is that one or 2 of the episodes feels repetitive. But after that it keeps its momentum. The characters were cool, and a the main character is a so enjoyable to see him scheme fail, and succeed. if you like shows like kakeguri, kaiji, or other suspense filled shows this will quickly become an all time favorite. The art is amazing every establishing shot, or just a still from an episode isgood enough to be a wall paper background.
