Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
ggrrvv
I honestly didn’t expect to like Great Pretender this much.
I started it because the whole con-artist idea looked fun, but what really kept me watching was how unpredictable everything was. The twists caught me off guard more than once. Just when I thought I understood what was going on, the anime would reveal something that completely changed how I looked at the situation.
But for me, the best part was the characters and their pasts. As we learn more about them, you start understanding why they are the way they are and why they make certain choices. It made me care about them much more than I expected.
I especially liked how the story doesn’t just show you a character and tell you who they are. It slowly gives you pieces of their past and lets you understand them through their actions.…
Read at the sourcehuhyouexist_0
I was a bit late to the game on this one, but this was the first semi-recently made anime to actually engage me and made me feel something lol. I love this specific genre of crime, and the heists and reasons for what they did were very different. Each character was so unique and eventually went into their individual lore, which made it better and gave a good explanation as to how they fell into this unique line of work. Each character showed their strengths and personalities, which were all different and really cool. Amazing storyline with some unpredictable twists. It's a pet peeve of mine when I can guess everything that will happen. At times, the story was so tricky that I doubted everything when it seemed too tragic/good because of the twists, but I could never really guess what would…
Read at the sourceMrBeam
Incredibly tragic viewing experience. The art and score are phenomenal but the story and characters are just not my jam.
Starting off the first case with a drug deal scam was great, but following it up with a case about sports betting and a case about retrieving a painting just took the wind out of my sails. I think the final case was a good way to raise the stakes, but it really feels like it should have come sooner.
My main problem with the story is that it bends over backwards to make sure every main character is an inexplicably good person. You are served constant dialogue and reminders and that they are a force for good who would never actually harm anyone innocent and whoever they're scamming is very bad so they deserve it. It really dulls any story beat where Edamura tries to lea…
Read at the sourceDrMechano
Great Pretender is - true to its name - great.
It's a series about a group of con artists who scam wealthy criminals out of their money. The show is divided into several arcs, each one focusing on a different scheme with a different mark. And each one outshines the last, culminating in one of the most cleverly written endings I've seen in an anime.
I won't dare spoil the details, but the way the characters pull off these scams is genuinely exciting to watch. The entire show is a battle of wits, pitting very smart criminals against each other with life-or-death stakes.
The characters themselves are all quite memorable, from our ragtag group of scammers to the kingpins they con out of their cash. We get some interesting development and backstory for the whole crew, and they're all given j…
Read at the sourceaesovp
I remember binging this when it came out. And then Season 2. You have to watch this to understand, such a mature, unique, comedic, and fun anime with some nice plottwists. And the (very realistic) characters are pretty fleshed out, despite this being a rather short anime. Also, the animation is insanely good and paired with the music? Absolute cinema.
So underrated, despite being one of the best, in my opinion. Can recommend this for sure, especially if you´re sick of cliche anime with kids as protagonists lol :D
PS: It´s the funniest thing ever when they speak english in the japanese dub, give it a try hahaha
Read at the sourceFreuks
Great Pretender is simply a masterpiece of deception in the best way possible. I never imagined an anime could surprise me this much, fool me so cleverly, and still make me laugh, cheer, and question everything all at once.
The storytelling is incredibly well-crafted, full of twists that leave you thinking "wait, what?!" but in a way that all makes sense once the pieces fall into place. The main character goes through a meaningful journey, and each arc is tied together masterfully, always with a unique sense of style and charm.
The soundtrack is classy, the direction is creative, and the art style has its own special flair that makes the anime stand out visually. The final arc is a true spectacle that elevates everything the series had built up to that point.
If you enjoy heist stories,…
Read at the sourceMrKuandohan
The background art style is unique and on point. It has a palette knife style too it, which I haven’t seen in an anime before. I do think the character designs are quite unique too (for anime). But the proportions in their faces are sometimes off. Such as where their mouth is relative to the rest of their face. I personally do not like Dorothy’s design. I’m not sure why, but I find her designed insultingly try hard to make her seem black, but quirky. It could be I just find her character annoying too and that tainted the design to me.
The music in the show is usually very good, especially the jazzier pieces. I personally found the vocal track to be very generic though. I also thought some arcs over used the vocal tracks. I believe they used the same song 4 times in a row during Cynthia’s…
Read at the sourceblueberri7
truly one of the best animes i've ever watched. im the type of person who needs an anime to be very good within the first episodes for me to finish watching it and i think this one passed this test. interesting plot, no generic or boring characters, unique art, funny & entertaining. this might be a little biased because my favorite trope to read about or watch is found family, which was perfectly portrayed in this anime among the group of con artists, but im sure if you give it a try you'll end up liking it as much as i did. also, there was no fan service considering that it is one of the most important aspects i look for in animes. definitely add it to your watch list ( and actually watch it) !!!
Read at the sourceArmio
A very very good 6. I would recommend it for the thrilling contained heists but dont be surprised if you find yourself wanting to drop.
It took me many years to finish this (i watched the first part on netflix then time kept getting away from me after the second part released).
The animation, overall story, music, etc is all top notch, but the conman plans in each arc are fun as an arc but I didnt feel like the overall story was moving forward (kinda like detective conan or other long running shows) EXCEPT for the growing feeling that the mc was being used. This cycle kept making me lose interest over the years and only watch a few episodes at a time.
This feeling was brought to a head at the end and it feels like some pretty big narrative swings were about to be taken until collapsing…
Read at the sourceOnna_Tantei
I've got just two words : JUNICHI SUWABE
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why are you still reading this? Junichi Suwabe always picks amazing anime to work in, and this one is no different. I started watching it to hear his voice and because the art style looked amazing and the story turned out to be amazing too. Rightfully labelled 'slick' on Netflix, this show had some great cons with the character's relationships and the music being a huge bonus.
The end of each con can be a bit predictable but I truly have no interest in watching an anime where the intelligent and heart-broken con artists lose at their own game. It was fun to see this crew work together, then fall apart, and then come together again over some newly discovered schmuck they decided to take down that month.
It kinda reminded me of the Ocea…
Read at the sourceElhwing
Great Pretender has many things to offer, and could have been a great anime, but it fails to deliver towards the end, hence the mixed feelings review.
I'll try to explain down below every reason that might make you enjoy this anime while also disclosing the few parts that should make you lower your expectations.
Things done right :
- The art :
Although art is rather subjective, anyone will reckon that the art shown in this anime has a unique vibe, it's colorful, it's good looking, you have many different kind of places depicted ( urban places mostly, but from all around the world which adds even more diversity ).The same goes for character design, while some characters aren't that inspired, they all have their own style.
- The characters :
The cast of main characters is done w…
Read at the sourceZackamo
I believe this is better defined as a comedy drama crime, following a group of con artists as they pull off various heists and scams around the world while dealing with their life issues. It's a unique and original show that impressed me with its cleverness. There are still some issues that make it imperfect but still a solid experience.
The show uses a multi-arc structure, with each arc focusing on a different heist and different characters. Its cards are given early on, but the expectations and some unexpected ones still keep it engaging. The character's morals are very questionable, though, and that's one disappointing aspect, not being consistent or realistic enough.
The show uses vibrant colors and watercolor backgrounds to create a vivid and realistic depiction of locations such as L…
Read at the sourceMirase
I highly enjoyed the entirety of this series, at first, I thought it might be cringe or one of those wannabe kinda stories but once I got into it, let me tell you it was captivating as hell, with the whole element of surprise, great character design and the comic timing with the exciting flow of events, loved every bit of it. Not to forget the beautiful art style and music choices, it was a treat from the beginning till the very end, one of the most satisfying shows I've watched to date.
Every arc had a hook and made us multiple times more familiar with each character, it was very intriguing how the theme remained the same of them conning the opponents but the variety of settings and degree of planning behind each one was enthralling to see, even relating with the main character and unde…
Read at the sourceOpanJam45
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.
Read at the sourceUtisNemo
This anime has everything: it's sweet and dramatic, it makes you laugh and then cry, it's innovative and captivating.
The art style is amazing, rich of details and full of vivid colors. And the story is so good, often unexpected and never boring, and what makes everything better is the great choice of characters. A group of con artists that swindle and steal only from the worst species of criminals, each of them has its own story portraited like an independent movie, a small piece of poetry in each arc. And cherry on top, every now and then you can find enjoyable quotes and references scattered through the episodes.
Read at the sourceShadowLight13
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 "Wor…
Read at the sourceCde050
My first Netflix anime that I throughly enjoy. Watching everyone go on and make plans for heists makes you want to jump into the screen and join them. Sitting down and watching the whole series makes it feel like a heist movie. Like watching Ocean's 11. Plenty of action to go around and the characters are very enjoyable. Edamura can be an annoying protag to get used to at the start but he gets to be very likeable and you can notice when his character starts to develop more and more through the series. I honestly don't want to say more as I think to whoever is reading this, watching the show is a way better experience than reading my review, or anyone else's for that matter.
Read at the sourcesqueegee-c
The Great Pretender is an excellent Netflix anime that's a different flavor of Black Lagoon. Instead of gun fights in the seediest of settings, you find the psychological thrill of pulling one over on the wealthiest people that really deserve it.
Characters: 10/10
The characters are all very solid and well fleshed out, even though, by nature, they are hard to read because they're skilled scammers. They all have backstories given that help us understand how they've entered the scamming world. Like Black Lagoon, none of these characters are objectively good people, but I find it refreshing that this anime doesn't take any efforts to wax preachy about it like Black Lagoon does.
Art: 10/10
The animation is phenomenal, namely the coloring. The color palettes are vibrant and bring life to ever…
Read at the sourceZanryu1337
Story: 10
Animation: 10
Sound: 9
Characters: 9
Enjoyment: 7
Total: 9
Great Pretender does a lot of things really well by putting the correct moments at their correct position. However, by doing so, they tend to forget about some details. Most notably this goes for the main cast outside their respective arcs. Nonetheless, this show has great characters despite the small structural flaws, all with their own motives and reasons to do what they want to do.
But let's track back a bit, shall we? Great Pretender is about Makoto and his upbringing as a con man. He gets scouted by Laurent, a con man on international level to assist him in a series of schemes to ultimately bring down various figures by swindling their money from them. This premise alone instantly reminded me on the manga Kurosagi…
Read at the sourceOmelettea
Oh my goodness. Thank god I stayed through the ending song. Almost missed it. Am psyched.
So, Case 3; Snow of London was my favorite case of them all! Not really a fan of romance but I was not expecting them to have a case dedicated to romance. That song.. Someday ft Emarie. Absolutely beautiful, I love music. And for them to incorporate it into this short love story between Cynthia and Thomas... Ha.. It's very lovely. You kinda forget what the main case was about. So lovely that it leaves me with a bittersweet taste at the end. Ha :')
To be honest, because it's an anime you can't quite be left with satisfaction after watching them solve every case (4 Cases in total), because the gap between anime and realism; is on a scale of 4 to 10. (Realism in their own anime world not ours). It's int…
Read at the source
