Stars: 4/5
In the current day, anime has risen from a niche entertainment medium to a worldwide channel of some of the greatest and most popular stories to have ever existed. Most of these shows either take place in Japan or a fantasy world, which makes the global settings of Netflix’s new original TV anime “Great Pretender” grand and gives it a new feeling deserving of the year 2020.
“Great Pretender” is a show about a young Japanese man named Makoto Edamura who, prior to meeting the rest of the characters, makes a living off of scamming other Japanese citizens with his former boss and business partner Kudo. He is initially over-confident and self-serving, feeling no sympathy for those he has swindled out of exorbitant amounts of money. It isn’t until he gets mixed up with master French swindler Laurent Thierry that he begins to regain his consciousness.
Through getting involved with Laurent, Makoto makes his way from Japan to Los Angeles, California, where he meets the other master swindlers Cynthia Moore and Abigail Jones. He gets involved in a scheme to swindle a famous Hollywood director out of millions of dollars, and after this is accomplished, his ego is crushed. Makoto returns to Japan and admits he is a criminal to the police along with turning in his share of the stolen money. He is incarcerated for a year before being released and fooled into getting into another grand swindling scheme that Laurent and Cynthia have planned, thus kicking off the rest of the story.
The show is a fresh take on the cliché of talented people who are prone to abuse being roped into schemes that benefit the people originally hurt. Makoto is very weary of Laurent and his gang of swindlers but always ends up using his talents of manipulation to help them pull off the heists. He feels wrong for tricking the people in the schemes, but in reality, is helping the people hurt most from them.
Along with the freshness given to the show, it shines brightest through its wonderful animation. WIT Studio, which also animated ‘Attack on Titan’, spared no expense in sharpening this show with one of the best-looking adaptations of this year. Coupled with an amazing soundtrack that feels as modern and vibrant as the settings the arcs take place in, ‘Great Pretender’ will have viewers feel as though they are watching a modern crime show the likes of “Oceans 8.”
The show’s main theme not only brings together the narrative but also provides a social commentary that can be applied to modern society as a whole. The title “Great Pretender” is a double edged sword. While the characters act one way, to manipulate and eventually scam their targets out of millions of dollars, the real pretending they engage in is the glitz and glam facade they put forth.
Cynthia owns a private island, engages in other multiple million-dollar real estate ventures, and even has a private jet. She has all the money she could possibly dream of, yet she cannot remedy the sadness she holds on to from losing a friend to greed. The same can be said of the other characters, who use the stolen cash to fuel their avarice. It’s a ploy to come off as something that they are not, hence the name of the show.
Ultimately, this is a worthwhile new experience for any fan of crime, anime or comedy. “Great Pretender” was a fun ride that is still airing in Japan with a second season releasing in November of this year. If you are a fan of quirky and stylistic shows with a variety of colorful characters, engaging action, a sorrowful plot and hilarious scenarios, then the “Great Pretender” is what you are looking for this fall.
