The Great Pretender

Summary The Great Pretender is a very good story about a bunch of individually unlikeable characters who come together to create a group of slightly less unlikeable characters. All kidding aside, I really enjoyed my time with The Great Pretender after I powered through the pain that was the second arc. If you haven’t watched the show or you gave up on it, I would really encourage you either pick it up or finish watching it, as the third and fourth arcs really make this show go from a 7 to almost a 9. While I wasn’t a fan of the art direction, the style was well-executed and of high quality. All things considered, I would definitely recommend you give The Great Pretender a chance. You won’t be sorry. SCORE: 8.8/10 Story The Great Pretender is an ONA about a group of the world’s greatest conmen and four of their greatest cons. It is very fitting that this show is about conmen, because holy crap do I feel like I got conned. There are four arcs (cons) that are shown throughout the story, and somehow I was tricked by all four. It would start with them explaining the target and me saying “ok cool I know what’s gonna happen and how they’re gonna con him.” By the end of each con, they even had me tricked! I’m actually really impressed with how meticulous each plan was, and I was pleasantly tricked four times in a row. Honestly, I would say that the first con is really good because it sets the stage for the entire series and establishes the mood that continues throughout the rest of the show. The second con for me was the worst and this is actually when I originally stopped watching the show. However, last night I decided to power through it and then watch the third arc and WOW the story improved. Between the second and third arcs the writers must have found some new stimulating drug or something because the writing vastly improved. Each character had a background explored in pretty decent depth and there was a lot of character development. Then, the fourth arc was one of the neatest storylines I’ve experienced from an anime. Seriously, this series was pretty damn good. In order, I would rate the cons as follows: 4 > 3 > 1 > 2. The show really does get better (and I mean MUCH better) as it progresses. SCORE: 9/10 Characters I was conflicted for a while about the characters in this series. Originally I thought they were unlikeable, especially Laurent and Abigail. As the series progressed, the writers fleshed out each character and really explored their histories and the events that shaped them. For Laurent, for example, I liked him a lot in the first con and then disliked him in the second and third cons. In the final con, however, they do a deep exploration of his background and they are two amazing episodes. This anime is definitely significantly above average when it comes to character development, especially for the main character. Edamura’s growth is very noticeable, and he grew in a way that was pleasantly cringe-free. Even the four victims of the cons were well-developed and well-written. Characterization is where The Great Pretender sticks out and really exceeds other anime I’ve seen. Still, I would have liked to see some more development for a couple of the side characters (we explore the backgrounds of a few, but they don’t really develop or change throughout the series which I felt was a missed opportunity for characters such as Abby). SCORE: 9/10 Visuals Visuals is probably where I’m most conflicted when it comes to The Great Pretender. On one hand, I say in my other reviews that I’m a huge fan of vibrant colour, and the colour palette of The Great Pretender is exceedingly vibrant. However, I find myself disliking the art direction of the show as well as background design and animation methods. I can’t properly articulate why I wasn’t a fan of it, though I do think that it was pretty well done. From an actual quality standpoint, I would say the series was animated quite well, though stylistically I’m not a fan of the art/animation styles. Therefore, I will not deduct points simply because I do not like the style and it was still well-executed given its artistic direction. Also, I really liked the character designs and the faces. SCORE: 8/10 Music At certain points the background music was slightly overbearing, though I’m a fan of the instruments used and appreciated the jazzy vibe so I am not deducting many points for this. As for the opening and ending, they are fire. ‘nuff said. SCORE: 9/10 Enjoyment I enjoyed this one. I’m not sure if I would watch it again from start-to-finish, but in a year or two when I forget about it, I’ll definitely happily reminisce the great storyline and plot development while talking to @KisaDi and other anime fan friends (hopefully I make more of those!) in the future. I will definitely remember the amazing backstories explored in arcs three and four, as they were legitimately amazing plots and really well-executed. While I wasn’t a fan of the art-style, the writing was so good that it kept me hooked as soon as I got through the pain that was the second arc. I’ll describe my enjoyment trajectory using the following analogy:

Watching the first arc was like entering a candy store that just opened on your block and stumbling upon a tasty new foreign candy that you were unaware existed until five seconds before you see it. You taste the candy and it was surprisingly good, so you try out the next flavour in the chain. The second arc (flavour) was bad. Painfully bad. Imagine the shopkeeper put razorblades in your new candy and it made you lose all your teeth (and die, probably?). So, you go to the hospital. While you are at the hospital, a sales representative (@KisaDi for me, in this case) for the candy visits you and begs you to give the candy (the show) another chance. So, you do. You figure, ok, I’ll watch it because this salesperson has recommended me some great candy in the past and I trust her opinion! So you try the new flavour! To your surprise, it is simply amazing. It brings you to tears because of how good it tastes. So now, you are reenergized and excited to explore the fourth and final piece of candy in this franchise line. Lo and behold, the fourth piece of candy makes you forget about your horrible razor-blade-related accident involving the second piece of candy, and instead pleasantly distracts you for the entire day while you are consuming it! In fact, the fourth piece of candy changed your mind about the entire franchise and turned an otherwise average candy into a really good above-average candy Now, you can die peacefully knowing that you didn’t give up on the candy and you were rewarded for it. Success.

There you go. That’s how I would describe my enjoyment trajectory for The Great Pretender.
SCORE: 8/10

P.S
If you enjoyed this review, please feel free to check out my other reviews.  Also, feel free to start a conversation with me about this series or any other great series you like! I’m new to anime/manga so I’m always looking for recommendations. I appreciate you reading until the end! Thanks so much and Happy New Year!