Great Pretender

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 before ... the 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.

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 is ... a 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.

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 and ... unpredictable 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.

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, but ... it'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.

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 know ... the 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.

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 final ... scam victim truly was the viewers.

*Spoilers*

This review I am giving is heavily subjective. In terms of overall quality, it is easily higher than a 7, but did I enjoy this anime? Very much, up until the last part. And as for why is due to very personal things, but also something that would bother other people besides me. To me anyway, when you're tricked by your friends into thinking you've killed them, and then also tricked into thinking you've shot your own father, you should be a little more angry and resentful than Edamame was. But we can't have that can we, it would ruin the overall tone of the ... show if we had "consequences" or "tragedy" at the very end. It wouldn't sit well with the audience! But I guess that mean Edamame's father can't be a scumbag, Dorothy can't be dead, and absolutely no one is hurt physically or mentally by anything that happens!

This show just made me feel angry by the end, why cover serious subjects at all if you're just going to cop out at the end? Why does everyone have tragic backstories that justify everything that they do? Why are the main characters such assholes to each other, you'd think they'd have formed some kind of bond by the end but nope. They treat each other like college frat boys, to scared to show any emotions to each other, and I don't think being conmen justifies this. They go through so much shit together and there is zero emotional payoff for it, capping off by mentally scaring the main character for the sake of a scam and feeling no real remorse for it. Laziest writing I've seen in a while.

Be warned that the review will have spoilers!!

Unfortunely, Great Pretender has to be one of the most disappointing things i've watched this year. It was pretty nice until halfway the last heist, but after Abby and Cynthia ''died'', it all became just a rollercoaster of nonsense and fake emotions that throwed away everything it tried to build. To be organized, let's go with the usual:

Story: For a heist anime, the heists were pretty mediocre. There was no moment of ''hey, that is in fact really smart'' or any tension on the heists whatsoever, to the point were sometimes it just felt like artificial stupidity ... of the targets. The first and last heists felt totally unearned and simply ''ex-machined'', whilst the second and third were the most interesting. Despite that, the story's quality simply falls off a cliff on the last heist, throwing away literally everything they built till that point to make a ''the father was a good guy all along'' route, becoming simply preposterous. The last heist and ending seemed like a cheap way to discard everything the show tried to create for the sake of a bad plot twist. There was a point on the last heist that everyone already knew how things would play out and it was obvious that it would be bad, but for some reason the show felt the need to instill doubt on the crew that Makoto would do something different, for no reason at all (yeah, they didnt believe that tricking him into thinking they were dead and leaving him at the mercy of a yakuza boss would affect him, they thought he would do something strange because ''that's how he is'')

Art and Sound: The art is, simply put, impressive. Character design is great (altough repetitive, Clark looks like a Middle-eastern Laurent) and everything looks great almost constantly, to the point its simply gorgeous to watch and listen to. Aside from the main jazz that plays through crucial moments, some of the musics really made me tear up

Characters: Design wise, they were really nice and quite unique when you compare them to other anime. Content wise, poor at best. It certainly is nice to see their backstory unfold in every heist, seeing the reason they live their current lifestyle, but a sad backstory does not make a character. Their actions on the present moment are simply going with the plan and we never see them interact outside of their jobs, apart from Makoto, who develops through the heists.
The problem is, come the last heist, this development is thrown to the rats: he never had a say in things and his whole raison d'être was actually a ruse, because his mother never suffered and his father was always a good guy (and, for some reason, that nullifies his hardships to the point his father called that a ''rebellious phase''). ''The Wizard from the Far East'' puts Makoto through a LOT. A HELL LOT. He sees his father again for the first time in YEARS, is betrayed by said father, who procceds to kill Makoto's best friends in front of him, Makoto kills his father and has a mental breakdown. He is so unstable that he began to see the matron of the yakuza, who does child trafficking, as a mother to him. And after two months of SELLING CHILDREN HIMSELF, his father shows up and says that it was actually all part of the plan, that they tricked him into believing he lost everyone because, in some way shape or form, he would spill the beans, outright saying they didn't believe in him, and the crew procedes to doubt Makoto for the rest of the duration of the heist. Makoto's answer? ''Its okay, i'll do the heist, no hard feelings''

Enjoyment: I was sincerely enjoying till half of ''The Wizard of the Far East''. I was pissed that Makoto believed his father, who meddled in child trafficking, but was surprised when the payback came and his father betrayed them. I was awestruck when his father kills Abby and Cynthia and is killed by Makoto, but deep down i suspected it was a ruse: the series hasn't been that good till that point, surely something was coming. I enjoyed Dorothy and Laurent backstory, but every single thing that came after it, including the ''Father was actually a good guy all along'' made me want to puke. Makoto having a nervous breakdown while being feeded by a Yakuza matron, the first person to show him any kindness since his mother PASSED AWAY, after almost guilt starving himself because of the death of his friends, became fake and undermined after the reveal that it was all planned. I was hoping that Makoto would be pissed or show some level of instability towards his crew after putting him through that while they lived the good life. It didn't happened. They were just all happy like nothing wrong ever happened.

OVR: Like i said up there, it was one of my biggest disapointments of the year. I was enjoying a lot of it, but the way the series shifted tones near the end for the sake of false emotions and a bad plot twist made me want to cheer for the f*kng child trafficking yakuzas to win in the end. The characters lacked the real interactions that needed for them to be memorable and, when you look at it by the end of the show, Makoto never really had the competence to be there, he just was because his father was. Somehow Great Pretender manages to get worse with every minute after ''Snow In London'', to the point that even after the credits come up you still have another ''F*ck you'' scene at the end

Quick Thoughts:
A decent anime overall. I think the story peaked early and steadily declined afterwards, but visuals alone will make Great Pretender very memorable.

Story:
The story follows a group of con-artists as they conduct various heists for tons of money. This season covers 4 heists: 3 in the first 14 episodes and 1 in the last 9 episodes. I think this anime peaked hard in this first arc. The plans were at least somewhat believable, and the plot twists were reasonable as well. However, the arcs afterwards were either boring/underwhelming, or distractingly ridiculous. At times, they dealing with some of biggest figures and groups of the ... black market, and yet their nothing more than playthings for our protagonists. It takes away any possible suspense.

Art/Sound:
The production value is what caught my attention. The color palette was vibrant and varied, and their unique shading technique brought backgrounds to life. I enjoyed the smooth, jazzy ost as well. Character designs were solid as well.

Character:
The characters themselves were a weaker point of the anime. They were fine in the sense that fit the roles they were given, but outside of Edamura, they weren't interesting enough to make their background stories compelling. It might've been fine had these backgrounds taken up a few episodes, but they're a large a factor in two of the arcs. As for the antagonists, I found most them to be generic bad guys who are unreasonably gullible.

Enjoyment:
Despite its flaws, I did find Great Pretender enjoyable overall. I'd imagine it's more enjoyable if you're the type of viewer who can sit back, enjoy the visuals, and doesn't mind op protagonists much.

Great Pretender is a very unique anime in pretty much everything. I thought it was going to blow me away with each episode but it ended being a let down considering the amazing visuals and soundtrack. I'll explain why it got a 6/10 from me.

Animation:
1) It has a very unusual art style. It's very colourful and it there aren't many details at first glance (but only at first glance!!!). In my opinion, it's a stunning anime to look at and it gave the show its own personality, similar to what Lupin III did (and has been doing for decades).
2) Despite my ... praise for the animation, I can't ignore the fact that in some occasions, the dialog and the animation weren't in sync.


Sound:
1) The cast is a mix between legendary and veteran seiyuus with rookie ones but I'd say that all of that performed well in their roles.
2) there's plenty of english, spanish and french lines over the 23 episodes and I can tell you that the staff was really careful in giving us an authentic experience. From what I could gather from other people, the same was done to the other languages (chinese, for example). However, I'd prefer to have the same seiyuu performing all the lines of his/her character than having multiple people spkeaing each language. It just kept breaking immersion for me. Besides, anyone can repeat whatever google translator says or a teacher in a few minutes practicing.
3) I loved the jazzy soundtrack and obviously to have a song performed by Queen/Freddy Mercury can only be a major plus. However, I wasn't a fan of other english songs in my original (japanese) dub.


Story and characters:
1) the story and its events become incredibly predicatble and in a story about con people and trickery it's a very bad sign.
2) there's plenty of references to north american movies, tv shows and historical events and in my opinion it's a nice touch to bring more personality to the series.
3) *SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT AHEAD!!!!* Anderson and the rest of the FBI co-workers not realizing that Cynthia isn't Pola Dickens was absolute absurd. They look nothing alike and let's not forget that she was famous as heck within the FBI itself, which means they had to notice how different Pola Dickens and Cynthia are.
4) It would've been much more enjoyable to watch Abby getting her revenge and to have a paraplegic man fly a plane after ages on being stuck on ground level was infuriating. In fact it ruined the entire arc for me.
5) I hated how they gave Cynthia a love interest. It felt so out of character for her and I much prefer her as a swindler. Although I'm happy with the way the arc ended, the entire thing surrounding the romance sucked in my opinion.
6) To have Edamame switch up the paintings last minute so that James keeps the real masterpiece while the family keeps the fake one made my blood boil.
7) On the 16th episode, Makoto is a part of the yakuza. Regardless of being a newbie, no one stalks him or keeps an eye on him and to me that's unrealistic as heck.
8) On the 17th episode, I feel that Edamura forgave his father way too quickly and I consider that to be a consequence of bad writting.
9) Dorothy's arc and murder was one of the saddest things I've ever watched in an anime. It was absolute heartbreaking. However, to have the last scene of the show reveal that she somehow got rescued and is alive made the last arc feel pointless.
10) The 22nd episode almost made me feel bad for the human trafficker
11) About the 23rd and final episode, I liked how we got to see a making of the last heist but the Makoto "betrayal" still felt like a huge unnecessary mindfuck. I wanted revenge or a major send off or even to see them move on using their skills for something meaningful. But instead we got a empty ending and 3 pieces of scum came back as "cameos" as if they deserve any amount of spotlight.



Now that the spoilers are over and to give you an overview of my enjoyment levels with this anime: out of the 23 episodes I can say I only liked 7 of them, with the rest being either boring or just terrible. I think the story would be better told in a series of live action movies rather than an anime. It had a lot of potential, a lot of things going for it but it ended being a let down.

Art is great, loved the style, pretty refreshing. the bright colors definitely work and distinguish itself from other anime.

Soundtrack is good too.

Storyline wise, first arc is pretty good, didnt skip a second, twists are decent, i was actually invested into the story and wanted to see how the story will proceed.
however, start from the second arc, everyone except the main characters seems to have 50 iq and act like idiots, especially in the last arc

[Spoilers below]
where the leaders of probably two of the most powerful gangs can be manipulated so easily just by incorrect translations. maybe i was just being too picky ... after seeing the first arc.

Overall, i would say that great pretender is worth watching if you have spare time, but not a show that you absolutely don't want to miss.

I mean...The thing I loved about this show was the settings, the beautiful innovative style and design of the characters, Dorothy for example and Abigail were beautiful, even Laurent seemed to bring out a new energy to animation. But, it was so disappointing because the story did not take advantage of this at all, this story could have been legendary if anyone had given it the time but they clearly didn't. I do still kinda like it because of the potential of the characters, I can picture they were much better than they actually were written. That's the only motive to watch the show really, ... nothing else. Plot is shitty, has 0 character development (even though they try to pretend there was, THERE WASN'T), it's such a poor dialogue and every "twist" is just not a twist at all, it is all very predictable as if you were watching a kid's show or something. I do regret having watched it...sort of a waste of time. There was an interesting development in the second season (between the main character and a villain)—this ISN'T a spoiler btw. That's the only decent part and smart thing in the show.

Story: 5/10
Art: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Character: 9/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 6/10
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I suppose a 6/10 doesn't seem like a great score, but I had a blast watching this. The narrative is compelling, the characters are likeable and unique, but the story is a mess. The animation, pacing and voice acting does a good job distracting you from that during the buildup, but the conclusion is downright insulting. Here's a spoiler, so look away now if you're not ready: literally nothing bad happens to anyone in this show. The heroes pay no cost, make no sacrifice. The villains are redeemed. Even the true big bad at the end is portrayed in ... a sympathetic light.

Now, this is a somewhat lighthearted show, so I was never expecting anything too dark or grisly. But like, they establish the existence of this character via flashbacks, Dorothy. She's a fun character: cute black girl who loves the finer things in life, just as deceitful and mischievous as the rest of the cast. She's a love interest for Laurent and, if I recall correctly, the two are engaged. But she meets with a tragic end, getting shot and kicked off a boat somewhere in the (presumably) Western Pacific, never to be seen again... OH WAIT JUST KIDDING SHE'S FINE LOL.

Oh, and not ONLY is she a-okay, she even finds the FUCKING RING that Laurent throws into the ocean as TRIBUTE to her. You know, because he thinks she's DEAD. I genuinely raised my hands and said, "what the fuck?!" at this moment. It's ridiculous! But honestly, I guess I can't be too surprised, since two of the other characters cheat certain death the exact same way. But to be fair, I suppose it WAS in the script for them to evade it, since their murders were staged... somehow. I mean c'mon, you didn't really think they were gonna kill Cynthia and Abby, did you?

I was willing to turn off my brain and be dazzled by Great Pretender's wonderful colors and sounds, and just bask in the humor and catharsis, but the resolution cheapens almost all of the buildup. 3/4 of the villains all end up assisting the heroes in the end, and the big bad Chinese lady Akemi Suzaku is made out to be this sweet, sensitive old grandma who just happens to be a little misunderstood... I mean, she's only TRAFFICKING CHILDREN. Excuse me, show, but you don't NEED to make me feel any sympathy for her. Just let Cruella de Vil be a bitch!

So yeah, this show's plot is absolutely wack. The ending is a complete joke. It's so dumb. But it is a lot of fun, I have to admit.

to be honest when i first watched the show i thought it was the greatest thing ever, except for the last arc which was noticeably frustrating. this show definitely looks amazing and the animation/colours used give it such a unique personality that it distracts from the rather choppy and sometimes downright aggravating writing.

this show feels like it’s trying to be lupin iii meets serious crime drama, and while it has some traits of both, every part after the first case ends up being more disappointing than the last. while i do like the characters’ personalities, and their backstories feel right in concept, they’re constantly overshadowed ... by dialogue that is supposed to be mature, but ends up coming off as fanfiction-esque.

i won’t go on a rant about the last case, but for what it’s worth i think it summarizes my problems with the show perfectly. your story is not good just because it has a twist the audience was not expecting. that twist must make sense, otherwise it comes off as lazy and/or arrogant writing instead of smart and witty. the first case is near perfect because it all made sense, and in hindsight there were things the audience could’ve picked up on to figure it out. but as the show progressed it all toppled like that building at the end: Looks great, but ultimately will fall apart if you poke it with a stick.

that’s not to say there aren’t good qualities to this show other than it’s good looks, Great Pretender has a lovely and thrilling soundtrack that is a great ode to jazz and of course that ending song is such a classic, i am a huge Mercury fan. when the story isn’t spitting in the face of the audience wondering why we couldn’t see through their 5 layers of inconsistent character writing with their main protagonist and not properly punishing the crime syndicate members that have been shown to have done deplorable things, the chemistry between the main cast is very enjoyable, and Laurent and Edamura are a very entertaining duo.

in conclusion, Great Pretender is great at pretending it’s something smart, but damn if it isn’t pretty to look at/listen to.

This show's made to look smart, but it's not up to the mark over its execution. Had great promise with all the visuals at the beginning (OP theme and the unique Art Direction) but came out more of Conceited Storytelling than the wit it was supposed to execute. Overall okay, but not great. Thanks to the average execution of the show.

Often predictable plot. And a poor cast of characters.

The show is mostly based outside of Japanese context. It could've been better with its writing and a more experienced director who has a better idea of the world outside beyond that of anime stereotypes.

It felt like ... a show trying to force itself to be amazing.

The anime lives up to its eponymous name. It conveys itself as a 'Great Pretender' in terms of execution. Pretends to look a classic, but ain't.

Trying to enforce consumerism, with real-life references to its snooty script. The only great things in this show corresponded to Freddy Mercury's ending song, the Opening Theme animation, and the Art Direction. The rest was a big let down.

Disillusion of a show against its first glances. Almost comparative of an Oscar Bait, which has no critical acclaim.

This is the first review I'm ever writing and I'm going to try keep it short. **SPOILERS** on the ending.

I'm only writing this review because I've never been so infuriated with an anime before. I can deal with mediocrity but man a bad ending on a good show really just kills me on the inside. If we were to exclude the last heist, I probably would have given this show a high 8 to a light 9/10. The art design and characters were absolutely amazing throughout the series and I thought I was watching an easy 10/10 (thinking that the ending would be great ... as well). Sadly, the last heist, especially the ending, literally ruined the show for me. I would rate this a 3/10 if I hadn't enjoyed the show so much up until the ending. To list off why I have a problem with the ending:

-Makoto barely grows as a characters and proceeds to think everything is alright despite for months thinking his friends we're dead, his long lost father betrayed him, and believing that he has been selling off children for god knows what. He then finds out he was left out the plans again for like the fourth time and for some god forsaken reason just brushes it off. Makoto literally just never grows and its painful extremely painful to see especially in the last part where he receives way more trauma.

-IMO this was definitely the first thing I witnessed that set me off. Why the fuck did they bring the previous villain's back. It ruined the whole point of the show that they we're supposed to be ruining these scumbags' lives and all the trauma and hardship characters others faced due to them is all for nothing. Especially Eddie who is a literally fucking drug lord that has probably killed hundreds of people. Also them giving rations to the yakuza (child human traffickers btw) just made it even worse. I get that they don't kill people but at least follow through on making their lives miserable. Fuck the writer who put this in. It ruined every previous part before it.

-The show is was too scared to kill off any characters ever in this show. During the last heist, I literally laughed whenever a character "died" knowing they would just bullshit their way back to life like every other part. The show lost most of its magic on me by the last part and it was really heartbreaking to see. I didn't even need to see deaths, I wish anything would have changed in the status quo.

-Brining back Dorothy was the salt on the wound. The whole point all of this was even happening was due to Laurent's trauma of watching her die. Her being alive makes almost everything that has happened in part 4 totally meaningless in my eyes. At least they didn't bring her back in to the story/

Overall I'd give season 1 (part1-3) a 8-9/10 and season 2 (part 4) a 2/10. The only thing saving this anime from a low score from me is the incredible art style, good story leading up, and very memorable and diverse characters. The only reason I would see a season 3 being justified is having all the mistakes listed above being resolved. Diffidently one of the worst endings I've ever seen to an anime.

Hi, this is my first review, and possibly my only one. I felt like I really did have to write one for this show, because watching it was a rather strange experience for me. I fully expected this show to be absolutely incredible, and, up until the last arc it truly was. Created by Wit Studio, it has a fantastic score, artstyle and consistently great animation, and the first 3 arcs (up until episode 14) are incredible, with the cons being set up and executed really well, although some parts are somewhat predictable. I also thought that the strongest part of the show was the ... manner in which it explored its main cast and characters, with some really emotional moments and well thought out character writing. The villains were also great, and we could tell that they were the kind of people who deserved what was coming for them. In fact, if I were to rate the show up until episode 14, I would give it a solid 9/10, and I was really looking forward to the final 9 episodes of this show.

I've written the above paragraph as a separate part, because I feel like the show threw almost all its strong story and character points out of the window in the final arc, which is truly a shame. The art, animation and music were all still on point, but, without going into spoiler territory, all I can really say is that they started to really overdose on the plot twists, and started to undermine all their character writing until that stage. They even threw out the moral basis of the characters actions!!! This series had so much potential, and it really made me sad to see it go so badly downhill. All I can say is, if you want to watch the Great Pretender, I would highly recommend the first 14 episodes, and perhaps leave the final arc upto your imagination.

I used to love this in the first few episodes, then it started to go down slowly. And the last arc, everything... and i mean EVERYTHING is predictable.

They used the same trick form the first few episodes over and over again. The Moment I see something from episode 15 and above. I knoiw exactly what was going to happen. AND IT DID.

And they used unecessary twist that should not needed to achieve a goal. Like not going to a straight line to go somewhere, but you have to go zig zag, skip, turn around, take a detour, and drink coffe first

There's no need to ... show character development that have no use that i guarantee not affecting anybody. For example, There's a character development story that lasted several episode. Only to be gone in the end. AND GUESS WHAT? There's no one that affected by the character development story. Nobody changes, so what do i watch for several episodes for. There's a build up, but the final product is just POOF, GONE.

And the ending. Oh GOD. It feels like a filler episode. There's so much twist that feels like Mario became the president...no that maybe feels better... The build up is zero, and when there's a build up, the final product just nonexistent. It feels like someone throw random stuff like a paper toilet at you..did you expect that? no...did that amuse you because you didn't expect that?...its a no from me

The art and the sound stays good. Thats what got me hooked, and of course the story from the first few episode. But The story feels like slowly deteriorating and took a huge falls from ep 15

Should you watch this? Yeah its quite good so you can give it a try. Not a Must. But i didn't feel quite satisfied by the story and ending in the end.

--Minor spoilers ahead--

Good God, what happened?

Great Pretender started off so strong. The characters were interesting, the story was enjoyable, and the art and music were top notch. GP had everything it needed to be good, and for the most part it was.

The first, second, and third twists were all pretty cool, and like a heist movie, it was a lot of fun to watch the various concocted plans unfold on-screen.

Specifically, everything in the "first season" of GP was worth watching, and if you want some good fun, I'd recommend it. My issue with GP is specifically with the second season, which is the ... last case covered by the anime.

When a lot of the story arcs in the show feature twists that are meant to shock the viewer, it can be difficult to consistently do so. The first twist is by far the most shocking, and it only furthered my interest in the universe and the characters. The second twist was a little lame, and I genuinely believe that it probably could have been executed better, but that arc as a whole was pretty solid, so I can't complain too much. And the third twist wasn't so much a twist as it was a cathartic beatdown of the man being conned. Immaculate.

With high expectations after an arc that I thoroughly enjoyed, I wondered what the final case had in store. Initially, I was hooked. Promises of Laurent's backstory, the most heinous criminals the show had seen yet, and a lengthy plan execution with multiple twists drove my interest and kept me engaged. What went wrong then?

For starters, the twists. Christ almighty, in a show where a twist happens one way or another in each arc, you cannot reuse the same ones for a later arc. They're predictable, they aren't satisfying, and they just feel uninspired. Granted, not every twist in the final arc was predictable, but some of them were just stupid.

Bringing back the old victims made absolutely zero sense, and not only confused me, but infuriated me. The past arcs taught me to hate these evil pieces of shit, so why even bother attempting to humanize them after the fact? Furthermore, aside from Eddie's role in the final plan, I literally have no fucking idea what the other two even did. They just showed up, like they weren't bitter at all, and that was that. Stupid.

Then there is the most horrible, ungodly twist that I've ever witnessed in my entire life. I won't say what it is, but it happens at the end of the credits of the final episode. It undermines everything that just happened in the last case. The emotional weight of the arc is completely lost, and the con is no longer a compelling tale of revenge that took years to successfully pull off.

To put it simply, the last arc is unbelievably frustrating, not just because of the ending, but because of how it unfolds. I get that it's supposed to play out like the viewer was the one being conned, when you consider each and every twist and how they weave together to create a massive twist, but the unfortunate thing about being conned is the anger and bitterness that comes with it. None of the twists were satisfying or intriguing, they were simply excessive and pointless.

Aside from the atrocity that is the final case, everything else in this show is pretty great. The stories are short and digestible, the characters are charming, the art is absolutely gorgeous, and the soundtrack is pretty phenomenal as well.

The funny thing about GP is that it looks like a Studio Trigger show. I love Trigger's art style, but their track record is abysmal. GP is by WiT and is stylized to look like a Trigger show, so I was ecstatic to finally be able to watch something that looked as good as a Trigger show without the horrendous storytelling that often accompanies them. Ironically, even GP succumbed to those same shortcomings. Trigger shows tend to be solid for a good portion of the beginning, and shit themselves when it comes to the ending. Kiznaiver, Darling in the Franxx (though I hated most of this show after episode 10 or so), and Gridman (from what I've heard) all end in a fiery wreck, as tends to be the case with Trigger shows not written by Nakashima.

What am I trying to say with all of this? Well, like Trigger shows, GP also ends in a fiery wreck. I just find it ironic that it befell this fate without even being connected to Studio Trigger at all.

Great Pretender features con artists with high stakes. Honestly, it's right down my alley. I'm a huge fan of gambling shows, games, and I also like the swindling genre done right. This was the only anime I've seen so far that deals with swindlers as its focus, so I had expectations.
I can't say the beginning is bad. It's honestly decent. It plays around with events out of order, yet formulating a coherent plot. It introduces information at the right timing to keep a sense of suspense. It's not too little that you don't know what's going on, and not too much that you have ... a grasp of the full picture. It's a clever presentation of disconnected events that eventually fit together in the puzzle. It's done well enough for me to confidently say that it was more effective than any linear storyline could bring. The way the protagonist is eased into the story and introduced to each character is pretty good as well. It's natural enough, and the story doesn't ever drag.
The magic kind of ends there. There are a variety of different schemes and tricks that our group of swindlers use to deceive different people. It features multiple episodic arcs, and as a result, you kind of get boring schemes. There's just too little focus on the tricks and schemes in general. In the very first arc, there's high stakes involved, suspense, and a wonder of "what's going to happen?" In the later arcs, these feelings don't come back. The plans of all the con artists flow pretty smoothly, or if there are any setbacks, there's not too many consequences. There isn't tension where there should be, and it's laid back and seems to be more of a comedic tone than anything else. Not to mention, the tricks and schemes themselves are pretty self explanatory and simple. There's just not too much focus on the planning, acting, or carrying out of the missions. You could say that there's not too much that could screw up because the plans are so simple, and the people getting swindled don't act out of their plans. There's no complexity to it, and nothing feels like a "gotcha" moment anymore. It's super funny because in the first arc, everyone says "don't trust anybody, only trust yourself," yet in the next arc, many acts of blind trust and bonding happens. What happened with all the "staying on your toes?" Seems like everyone's having fun with each other.
Well, if the schemes aren't the focus, what are? That brings me to the other bad part of the show: characters. It seems that the schemes go so well that character focused development usually eclipses the plans of the scheme, even if it means abandoning or modifying the plan. Lets go with Edamura. Look, I don't like the idea of a character that's in conflict with his morals and wishy washy all the time, but it's an archetype that I can acknowledge and applaud when done well. Despite so much screen time trying to develop Edamura, he's a really weak character with little to no motivations, acts on whims, and his moral compass still is extremely malleable.
A job of swindling corrupt rich people without any bloodshed is definitely more admirable than let's say, a gang boss. Edamura initially gets caught in the action accidently, and after dipping his toes in, he decides that he's had enough. He turns himself to the police and tries to "absolve his sins." Well first of all, what was he thinking? Does he think that he's better than the other swindlers because he's turned himself in? Is he joking? He's committed crimes, and after the fact, you want to turn a new leaf? I hope that he wasn't thinking that he's morally superior than other swindlers because of that. In fact, he was worse, since he betrayed them to an extent. However, I can accept it if he means that he can't do it anymore, I guess. I can accept that resolve. I don't see how he finds the police to be the "just organization that punishes fairly" though, when he got mistakenly caught before, and made his life miserable, unable to get a job. Wouldn't that usually make you distrust police? Especially when he just witnessed how people with money can get out of jail pretty easily? What about after Edamura's release? What happens? He didn't learn anything, there wasn't any personal redemption or growth as a person. He literally went to jail and experienced no higher sense of virtue. The biggest joke, though, has got to be how he immediately jumps back into swindling with his gang. Yet, he always says how he wants to lead an honest life at the beginning of each arc. No, clearly not. Edamura went to jail for nothing, and went back to his old ways, yet also can't resolve to stay face to face with his actions, and demeans the swindler trade. He does random acts of kindness, yet pettily targets people that barely offend him. Edamura doesn't ever progress as a character, and it seems he's more fit for comedic purposes than anything else.
The other characters are also pretty bad. They all have something in common with each other in why they're bad, but I'll focus on Abigail for now. This show loves bringing characters to the forefront of the story, and learning all about their past life and motivations. News flash, I don't really care that much about a character even if they have established backstories if they didn't attract my attention in the first place. Great, you added a lot of backstory to a bland character with a personality I barely recognize. Abigail Jones has a much more believable personality than Edamura, but the problem with this character is more about how the show tries to characterize her. It's pretty clear that there are plot arcs dedicated to a certain character, to learn more about them. The problem is that the way the characters' backstories are introduced are extremely intrusive and more like exposition dumps than anything else. Even if the past of the characters are really interesting, again, I didn't really have an interest in them to begin with. Why do I care about their past? You should be learning bits and pieces of a characters past, and less of a documentary of their life. There should be interesting story involving them, and I should be able to naturally gauge their personality through the interactions with each of the characters and them acting out their schemes. Yet, what I'm instead presented with is a forcefully crafted narration of their life story, with little substance to their actual personality. Which would you prefer: knowing the backstory of a character that is well established in a story, or knowing the backstory of a random character? Of course it's the former. Yet, here you are, learning about Abigail's story. You care about the past of a character because they're an interesting character to begin with. You don't make a character interesting or well written by presenting their past to us. It's very clear to me that this is the stance that the show is taking, though. I'm on the third arc, and the formula is as such: swindle some guy, learn about a character's past, move on to the next.
I can't recommend this show. It tries to bring character development through forcing a character's past down their through while haphazardly throwing some plot details that sort of makes sense as to why you would need to know this information. It'd be a lot better if you got to know each character more slowly and naturally by putting them in actually dangerous scenarios, like black lagoon. This show lacks what Black Lagoon has, which is tension, action, and natural character interactions that lead to characterization.