Produced by Studio WIT, it’s an anime that can captivate you with its endearing attitude. It’s a tribute to the cinematic heist genre in the style of Ocean’s Eleven, and it has one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in the last decade.
I consider this anime one of those gems that shine as small fragments of stars that don’t need to become franchises with unnecessarily long narratives. I must confess that while making this review, I found out the series has a second season that aired in 2024, but I haven’t seen it. So, I will share my impressions of the first season.
The story introduces us to Makoto Edamura, a low-level Japanese con artist who meets Laurent Thierry, a charming French master of deception, after unsuccessfully trying to scam him. Laurent is a professional swindler, much more experienced than Makoto, but for a reason that Makoto doesn’t understand, Laurent hires him to carry out scams.
The first season of Great Pretender only has 23 episodes (a series that you can comfortably watch in three or five days). If you’ve seen the Ocean’s Eleven movies and enjoy the dynamic theme of con artists trying to pull off a heist in the most complicated way possible, then you might love this series, as many of its elements draw inspiration from those classic films about clever and charismatic criminals.
From the first episode, the series dazzles you with its animation and character design by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (designer of Neon Genesis Evangelion). Adding to this is very good jazz music for my ears, composed by Yutaka Yamada. Speaking of music, the ending credits of each episode are my favorite part because through this series, I discovered the iconic song “The Great Pretender” performed by Freddie Mercury.
The narrative is divided into “Cases,” four arcs lasting about three or four episodes each: basically, it boils down to scamming the scammer or the evil millionaire of the moment, but the interesting part isn’t just that they do it, but how they do it. The plans and deceptions are very entertaining to watch unfold.
The first three cases are clever, have twists that will leave you speechless, and feature a flawless pace balancing humor, drama, and tension.
What will surprise you are the multiple plot twists this anime has prepared, as there won’t be just a few, but many that will blow your mind. A notable point is that this series knew how to use the surprise effect more than once in a very coherent and consistent way.
However, the series is not perfect: “Case 4: Wizard of Far East.” In its eagerness to create an epic climax, the plot pushes the suspension of disbelief far beyond the limits of absurdity and, from my point of view, makes the ending feel forced.
The entire series shines during the first three arcs, and in the final arc, which takes up almost a third of the series, the characters’ motivations become serious. Edamura has quite good character development despite having a sort of Stockholm syndrome toward a team that constantly manipulates his life behind his back.
A frequently used device is revealing that “absolutely everything was part of the plan from the beginning,” a classic from those old thief movies.
The truth is that “Great Pretender” is a fantastic experience; it was an unexpected discovery for me, and I recommend it for the great work it represents. Its charisma overflows to the point that you grow fond of and sympathize with every character on screen. If you’re looking for an original, refreshing, and visually spectacular anime, this is a heist you’ll definitely want to be part of.
Rating: 90/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/anime.
