STORIES THAT ENCHANT THE MIND

Great pretender: Con artists go around scamming people

Debuting on Netflix, the Great Pretender

Is just as the title says, the anime is about a group of con artists that go around scamming people.


We have not seen many anime with a plot like this, have we? But just like with every other anime, the plot isn’t the main selling point of an anime.


So let’s break down this anime into its defining components and see for ourselves just how good this anime actually is.

Plot:

Life had been unfair to Makoto Edamura, in the end he gave up and started scamming people to make some good pocket cash.


Time passes and he starts taking pride in it, he also ends up labeling himself as “Japan’s greatest swindler.” Until one day, for once, he himself gets swindled by a tourist. The tourist being someone he had tried to scam moments ago.


Then a couple of random yet planned out events happen and he ends up following the tourist to Los Angeles. Just like that, Makoto’s adventures in scamming some of the biggest dons of the mafia world begin!

That is pretty much how the anime begins. Now even though the story might seem awfully alluring to some of us. It is still not the real strength of the anime. The real strength of this anime are its characters.

Glacias Merch Banner

Thief Quote:

Graham Greene

"You put the small thief in prison, but the big thief lives in a palace."

Characters:


If we had just been given a story about a bunch of sociopaths who go around randomly turning the world upside down, that would’ve been great too. However, this is not what this anime is, the main characters have been through unfortunate events in their lives that led them to choosing the path of scamming people.

None of the characters come off as generic pieces that are there just to keep the story going. The things they do and why they do, makes sense. And sometimes, it can even hit right in the feels.

As you continue to watch the anime you’d find that you’ve gotten more invested in the characters than the actual plot. Not to mention, these folks only swindle the filthy rich bad guys!


It’s no secret that if you really want your anime to stand out, you have to put in an inhumane amount of effort into the art and animation, and once again, Wit studio showed us that they never screw around.

This anime features a lot of different cities all around the world like Los Angeles and more. Yet the aesthetic backgrounds and jaw breaking visuals never seem out of place. Why?

Wit studio's crew visited all of those cities to make the art more in line with the reality. As for the animation, its Wit studio we are talking about and they never deliver anything less than almost perfection. The animation is so fluid and smooth, it blends well with the aesthetics of the background as well as the atmosphere of the story. It’s just that the art and visuals of this anime leave with awe and inspiration for at least the rest of the day.

Seriously, kudos to everyone who worked on this masterpiece.

Conclusion:

Plot, characters, art and animation are the fundamentals on which anime are usually judged. As for the overall rating of any show.

There’s one more factor and it’s how much did you emotionally get invested into the show. More often than not, this is where it gets subjective.

Great Pretender is a great anime, I mean, it’s even there in the name. I personally consider it to be the best non sequel anime to come out this year. That’s right, while all of the hype was around, “Tower of god” and “The god of high school”, This anime took the cake. People are seriously missing out on this gem. It’s easily 9 out of 10.

The dubbed episodes also started coming out right away, and considering how most of the characters are from different countries, it would be interesting to watch the dubbed version even if you usually prefer subs.

To wrap things up, at it’s very core this anime is about a group of con artists that go around scamming people, yet something about it just works!

Also, did I mention that its ending theme is a cover of the song "The Great Pretender" which was performed by the late 90's vocalist Freddie Mercury?

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Talha Ahmad

Written by Talha Ahmad

Talha Ahmad, currently 17 years old, has a knack of anime, manga, and everything nerdy. He loves writing stories and creating illustrations. He plans on creating an original work of art too, someday.

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