Category: Great Pretender

I didn’t abandon you, Great Pretender – my cigarette heist just took a few weeks longer than expected.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 21-23 [Wizard of Far East]” →

There were, by my count, seven false deaths in these three episodes. Shootings, stabbings, car explosions, you name it – Great Pretender is down to fake it. Watching a show that treats human life as a tool to trick its audience can be fun, but the obvious consequence is ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ syndrome. There’s a legitimate, climactic death in episode 20 here, but I could only respond by rolling my eyes, given the show’s penchant for handing out death scenes like candy on Halloween. As a matter of fact, I’m not convinced that the murder in question ended in the character’s death (I’m omitting their name for now to keep spoilers beyond the ‘Continue Reading’ link). And even if it did, that doesn’t redeem the half dozen false fatalities that preceded it, some of which were direct transplants from the show’s first arc.

And yet, these episodes flew by in what seemed like a matter of minutes to me. Sure, the story may have gone to some outlandish places while following its passion for twists, but the extended flashback it delivered this week was just what the blogger ordered. At last we understand Laurent’s origin story, his reason for living as a confidence man, his connection to Edamura, and so much more (BBW Shi Won, anyone?). Yuusuke Takeda’s art direction continues to be one of 2020 anime’s most noteworthy accomplishments, too, as he and his team construct picturesque locales from stripes and splotches of contradictory colors. Wrap these positive elements in Great Pretender’s typically fun and fast-moving style, and you’ve got a series that somehow makes up for its regular lapses in judgment. Now if only I could access the timeline where the show didn’t play so fast and loose with its characters’ well-being…

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 18-20 [Wizard of Far East]” →

Good news, all you Great Pretenders out there: Netflix JP included English subs when they uploaded episodes 15-23, which means the entire series is now available for the reading. I plan to view the supersized fourth arc, Wizard of Far East, in three-piece chunks (this being the first). After three episodes, my initial impression is mixed – we’ve got the same excellent dialogue and background art as ever, but the plot seems to be progressing at 1.2x speed, and Laurent has reached omniscience levels that shouldn’t be possible. We’re still waiting on Dorothy (the woman whose name he uttered in the final moments of Case 3) to appear, so until she does, I’ll refrain from criticizing this arc too thoroughly. In the meantime, though, there are plenty of minor props and slops to award these episodes, so hit the jump if you’re ready.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 15-17 [Wizard of Far East]” →

We survived the wait, everybody. Great Pretender episodes 15-23 are live on Japanese Netflix, and the raws are already floating around online. Now we just have to wait for the fansubs to start rolling in like last time, and… What’s that? The guy who made all the previous episodes available hid his torrents and went underground?

Well, damn. This might be the last Great Pretender post on the blog for the foreseeable future. I’d say “better make it a good one,” but that sort of hinges on whether these two installments closed out the Snow of London arc in respectable fashion. Not to spoil the final verdict or anything, but “serviceable” is the word that comes to mind, rather than “respectable.” Hit the jump for my thoughts on why that is.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 13-14 [Snow of London]” →

This is the year of Great Pretender. The first 14 episodes were recently made available worldwide on Netflix, and the back 9 will be released in Japan next month, at which point fansubbers can do their thing. The only downside to the whole thing airing in 2020 is that it can’t be AOTY twice in a row – but I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ve got to investigate its third case, Snow of London, to see whether the show is still on track to compete for that title. After two episodes, this arc is off to a strong start, so hit the jump for some unqualified praise for once.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 11-12 [Snow of London]” →

We’ve reached the conclusion to Singapore Sky, my least favorite of Great Pretender’s three cases thus far. I love origin stories, so Los Angeles Connection’s task of integrating Makoto into Laurent’s gang of crooks was right up my alley, and the upcoming Snow of London is a breezy revenge tale with some nice Cynthia focus. ‘Singapore,’ by contrast, is the darkest of the three arcs, with war-torn backstories and active death drives, yet it also uses more narrative cogs than its cousins. Watching these last two episodes, I felt that Luis’s involvement pushed the story beyond its carrying capacity – but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of great moments in episodes 9 and 10. Let’s run them down (along with the not-so-great stuff) after the jump.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 09-10 [Singapore Sky]” →

This was a tale of two episodes for me. Number 7 was an excellent stage-setter for both the upcoming con on the Ibrahim brothers and Abby’s deteriorating psychology; number 8 was a jumble of confused dialogue and crossed wires. On the one hand, it’s awesome that I didn’t find significant fault with this series until its eighth installment (and that fault is subjective to begin with). On the other, I’d have loved for the show to fly high for its entire run, especially since one of summer’s other top prospects, Japan Sinks, just pooped its pants in spectacular fashion. It’s not like Great Pretender’s flirtation with mediocrity puts it in the same league, but a spotless track record would have been neat. But what made episode 8 so spotty? For that matter, what made number 7 so good? Let’s get into it.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 07-08 [Singapore Sky]” →

After concluding its first case on such an odd and intriguing note, my big fear for Great Pretender was that Edamura’s character reboot would alter the show’s DNA somehow. “Main character attempts genuine reform by turning himself in to the cops” isn’t a common path for heist stories, after all. A two year time skip is one thing, but using that time to rehabilitate a con man before throwing him back into a den of crooks? I can only speculate as to the purpose of such a decision – but hey, the show pulled it off with only a hiccup or two. From finding comfort in his prison routine to the somber mood surrounding his release, Great Pretender molded Edamura into a man looking for peace. And he found it, for a while, before getting dragged into the world of high stakes thievery once again.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 06 [Singapore Sky, Part 1]” →

In the realm of “Netflix Original” anime, my favorite remains 2019’s Rilakkuma and Kaoru (a stop motion ode to kindness and carefree living), but the much wilder and more subversive Great Pretender is currently giving it a run for its money. 14 of its projected 23 episodes were made available for Japanese viewers at the start of this month, and all 14 have been fansubbed in English since that time. The script is smart and snappy, too, which makes it a perfect fit for this ultra-polished effort from Hiro Kaburagi and Wit Studio. Kaburagi’s previous series was 91 Days, a mafia-themed revenge drama set in Prohibition-era America. Given that he chose to follow that up with a globe-hopping caper series inspired by Hollywood heist films, it’s clear that the man is something of a westaboo. But hey, that’s the kind of nerdiness you need to pull off a project this ambitious – well, that and a killer creative team – and luckily for fans of great anime, Great Pretender checks both boxes.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 01-05 [Los Angeles Connection]” →