What happens when you take a little bit of Ocean's 11, Catch Me If You Can ,and a huge dose of The Brothers Bloom? Well to put it bluntly you get Great Pretender. I had almost settled on the show being perfect but there are some glaringly minor nitpicks that bring this shown down a notch. However, Great Pretender was the biggest and best anime surprise this year besides Dorohedoro.

It's a straightforward premise of the con-man, or in this case a group of con artists that's made exceptionally well with plenty of style and satisfaction within each character arc. These story arcs might be disguised as side adventures, but they really explore the backstory of each character of the team while also making it exceptionally entertaining in the process. It's as if each arc takes upon a series of "cons" a kin to what you'd get to watch in a heist movie. One may be favourable over the other, but that's what makes each arc so entertaining and accessible for everyone of varying tastes. The entire cast including the protagonist Edamura is just a breath of fresh air in a sea of generic, stoic main characters found in recent modern shows that pride themselves as viewer self-inserts more than anything. The amount of care establishing each personality, and how they form closer bonds makes each episode feel like it counts. I've never seen an animated cast with so much chemistry, every one just plays off each other so well making for some great faux-sophisticated double crosses. Even the stories themselves give each character a chance to shine in their actions and their backstory. Although each arc is usually limited to 4-6 episodes and it does so much with the time its given to feel like a complete journey that makes you think its part of a separate season itself. More importantly dividing each storyline into these smaller focused arcs means that they don't overstay their welcome, and can move on to the next part of the plot with ease. Even the visuals take on a character of their own as the plot hops from place to place to explore different cultures and sceneries that get their chance to shine.

Great Pretender just oozes style, flare, and gravitas that almost dances around with how passionate it is about itself. Even the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic, from the opening credits that really feel like the Catch me if you can sequence, to the spot-on use of Freddy Mercury's Great Pretender; loved the hidden reference to his cats. Even some of the vocal tracks really hit hard at the right time, and although certain music (such as the theme) can sometimes feel overused, it all comes together to create something truly fun to watch. Even many of the "cons" work out perfectly most of the time, even when they don't at first, and those who have seen movies like The Brothers Bloom will understand the bait-and-switch style of pacing. This is a show where you'll have to suspend your feelings of disbelief as you witness the failed con devolve into a con of cons. The whole idea of the show is to go along for the ride and just enjoy it, and although it can seem "clever", it's best not to think too hard about its plausibility because we're served the (almost) perfect anime on a silver platter.

The amount effort put into the show's visuals is stunning and desktop-material. The bold shot composition just screams perfection and a huge understanding of artistic composure that feels fully realized. Studio WIT still manages to find ways to impress me with their attention to detail as seen in high octane hits like Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga or Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. Although they dropped their usual grittier art style of action shows like the ones mentioned above, don't let that fool you because there is some hard hitting emotional moments and a much darker side that you are guaranteed to choke up on as you learn more about the story. It's hard to find a show like this that feels so genuine about its presentation, and it absolutely knows when to laugh and when to take itself seriously.

HOWEVER we need to talk about something I mentioned earlier. Call it thematic theatrics for a show that double crosses your expectations at the last moment. Remember when I said you should suspend you're disbelief? Well do I have news for you who might've got frustrated with Great Pretenders lack of stakes. Sure, it's easy to accept each "con" as part of something that moves the plot along, and without getting into heavy spoilers, the latter half of the final arc blows it with some heavy emotional dissonance. I know the show prides itself as being sophisticated, but there is a huge difference between that and self-entitled arrogance that tries so hard to "fool" the viewer. Let's just say on the record that it absolutely fails to capture any meaningful emotion because the plot gets way too ahead of itself for its own good. I felt cheated of deserved emotional payoff, no wait, I was conned. It was the kind of expectational subversion that would make any Rian Johnson fan giddy with bewilderment. Great Pretender builds up a heap of emotions that then fall through the cracks because they can't commit to something legitimate in its finale that gave me a reason to keep caring. The emotional disconnect and suspension of disbelief kills the weightiness of the story as it tries its best to wrap up in a neat little box with just enough threads to be left open. The last two episode tried so hard to have its cake and eat it as it dances around with over-the-top theatrics that become more animeme than anime. If there was one thing Great Pretender did exceedingly well it was taking advantage of its setting to impress its viewer, but I was neither impressed nor satisfied with what they did for the final con or its resolution because they strayed so far from that. It's as if the writers said "look ma' no logic", and expected you to swallow this massive pill to forget its leaps in believability. At this point the story stock market just crashed and I lost all my emotional investments right then and there. The show could've forgot a lot of the previous cons in favour of pursuing a cohesive finish, but I'd be lying in saying I didn't feel robbed of an explanation that didn't feel pretentious. Every little plot detail doesn't have to connect with Edamura's life to be conclusive, in fact shoehorning every minor detail at the last moment kills a lot of my nostalgic goodwill towards the ending. The show isn't perfect even as is, however it doesn't detract from the enjoyment I had despite becoming an emotionally battered viewer. I love it, but I really don't know if I want a second season because of its consistent use of a plot-driven safety net for its characters. This is a one-and-done plot in the best possible way that almost could've been perfection had they stuck to it being one series.

Great Pretender is not talked about enough, and it's available right now on Netflix. I'm surprised a show of this caliber is getting so little attention, and I'd say it's safe to say its sorely underrated. This might have been anime of the year for me if it hadn't jumped the shark. With shallow low-brow shows like Uzaki-chan wants to hang out (ugh we see these kinds of show every year, don't get me started), it's nice to know that the industry still has enough passion and originality to really knock it out of the park with a charming show such as this. Besides the ending being a cop-out, Great Pretender was such a fun ride all the way through. This is a show that deserves all the praise and enjoyment it can muster, and it will most certainly be re-watched in the years to come.