Liar Game

"Doubting people isn't wicked. True wickedness comes from indifference." Did you see that viral video about the couple with their kids at a 2026 SF Giants game being ridiculed online, just because, from their perspective, the dad wasn't helping his wife and just from that they automatically assume the dad was automatically a deadbeat. How about the response by the wife? It's scary to think that people are quick to point fingers, laugh, and put someone under scrutiny from the little they see. Apparently, circumstances don't matter anymore but if the inverse happens to them, suddenly you have to listen to their side of the story. We often criticize people for failing to uphold values like honesty and truthfulness, yet we put people down for the same thing. There's obviously a middle ground to be made but the quote still rings true today. Liar Game has long been regarded in the community as one of, if not the best, of "mind/death game" genre. The manga ended over a decade ago already, and although it has received multiple live-action adaptations, it didn't seem like we would ever see the light of day to see this title being adapted into anime, especially when the adaptations have been thought of as a good alternative to the original source. With the popularity of Squid Game, however, it seems that the studio is attempting on riding on its coattails on its global success, especially with similar titles like Alice in Borderlands also finding moderate success. That makes it all the more disappointing that such a mainstay of the genre has been bombarded with mixed reviews as early as its first episode. A lot of this seems to stem from the expectations people are bringing into the adaptation. There's already a very specific idea of what Liar Game is supposed to be, and at bare minimum what they should expect. Words and phrases like "death game", "Kaiji successor", "Predecessor of Squid Game", and "You have to actually be smart to understand this" are repeatedly referenced when discussing the series and that's the problem. It was never any of these things. There are certainly elements in the show that suggest these concepts, but they have always been contained within the context of the game's rules. Unlike other works in the same genre, the rules aren't favored to lean towards a side. Sure, the underlying mechanics of the game strongly suggests that the Liar Game has more to gain from these games, but that's basically the extent of it. What ultimately happens is determined by the players' decisions whether or not it does come to pass. Unlike its contemporaries, the rules aren't there to harm its players. They exist to put the players into specific situations and see what they do with them. That distinction is important, because it is also where it leads to a lot of misguided expectations on what Liar Game should and what it should not be. The relatively low level of tension and limited development given to some of the minor characters have always been by design. Unlike conventional "death game" titles, Liar Game operates on the assumption that our protagonists are most likely going to make it through the game. A much more fitting way to understand Liar Game is to think of it as a mystery or logic problem. You're given a set of rules, clues and information within the games context or a math problem with variables and constants being given before you can arrive at a solution. It sucks that people often treat correctly guessing the outcome as an “A-ha!” or “gotcha” moment, when the author wasn't necessarily trying to hide those facts in the first place. In some shape or form, for some reason, these have been the primary talking points on the discussion threads and have been cited as reasons to classify the show as "predictable" but how often did people actually talk about how those situations became possible in the first place. Take the first game, it's a simple conclusion and could ultimately be deduced even without any hints, but in the first place, those things wouldn't be possible without the previous actions taken by Akiyama and Nao. There was little attention given to their actions prior to the conclusion by the viewers. Instead, much of the criticism boils down to the argument that the entire arc could have been significantly shortened because all those supposedly “useless” portions could have been removed which is funny in retrospect, because those supposedly useless portions are exactly what establish the circumstances that make the solution possible in the first place. Then there's Nao, the character that seemingly pisses people off so much that they think the show becomes unbearable to watch just from her presence alone. It is a fact that Nao is a frustrating character to watch sometimes because of her seemingly misplaced trust that seem irrational from most people's perspective, but I don't agree with the argument that her characteristic useless or unrealistic. Just today, I saw someone post about getting scammed out of their CS2 knife by an obvious scammer. People still fall for scams despite having access to an absurd amount of information about common scams and fraud tactics. So the idea that someone could be excessively trusting isn't exactly difficult to believe, especially if it's coming from a person that you have no reason not to trust. You have to consider Nao's characterization and perspective before being thrusted to Liar Game. She had no reason not to trust the people she confides with. You can make assumptions based on your own personal experiences but to judge a character, based on the first episode, is just foolish. Aside from the first game, the people participating in the subsequent games have already deceived some else which is much different from Nao's circumstance. There was still no particular reason for her to assume that people were inherently untrustworthy. Even after being deceived by someone she trusted, Nao was able to understand his circumstances and ultimately chose to forgive him. People have always been a victim of circumstance and Nao understands that and that is precisely what makes her partnership with Akiyama work. They influence each other's personal growth. The games don't get bogged down on just simply winning with our main protagonists, but "how can we win these games and saving as much people as possible". It just adds a new layer of complexity and makes the games even more interesting in my opinion. Without Nao, the games would arguably become much more straightforward. She fundamentally changes the way Akiyama approaches them. Nao functions almost like a McGuffin for the series, similar to how Tokuchi's supposedly “unhittable” fastball functions in One Outs. These elements exist to shift otherwise unlikely situations in the protagonists' favor, for better or worse. Removing Nao's character would fundamentally change what the show is trying to do. Moving on to the side characters, they operate under the same principles as to how they have been characterized. They're not exactly as dumb as what most people somehow assume. They act within how they were defined but that doesn't mean they don't influence the game at all. In fact, you could argue they influence the games much more, especially in the later rounds. Sure, they don't have the mental capacity as Akiyama, but they act within reason. It was never a surprise that X did this and Y did that because they aren't out of left field. They have no need to behave erratically simply to manufacture tension because there's no reason to and the show is more than capable of producing tension without having its character's characterization be broken. Having them suddenly behave completely out of character to create an unexpected twist would just defeat the purpose of the games. Yuzo Sato has worked on several projects that operate in a similar vein to Liar Game, and while his pacing can certainly feel old-school and occasionally drawn out, it's stran…

Liar Game has a genuinely interesting concept, and I can absolutely understand why so many people love its mind games and psychological aspects. On paper, this should have been exactly the kind of series that keeps me glued to the screen. But for me personally? This was such a dull and painfully average experience that it failed to captivate me almost entirely. There is a certain edge missing from Liar Game that I desperately wanted from a series built around deception, manipulation and high stakes games. The twists rarely felt as unpredictable as I hoped, the rules sometimes seemed almost designed around whatever loophole the story eventually wanted to exploit, and there was just something about the overall presentation that strangely bored me. Even visually, I found the anime incredibly flat. The animation and direction rarely added much intensity to scenes that desperately needed it. A series about high stakes psychological games lives and dies by its characters. I want to watch intelligent people facing seemingly insurmountable situations, desperately trying to think outside the box and finding some brilliant way to outplay opponents who appear to be three steps ahead of them. And this is where Liar Game really started losing me. Nao in particular became incredibly frustrating to watch. Her gullibility is obviously intentional. I understand that she is supposed to represent an unusually pure, trusting and compassionate person surrounded by people who exploit exactly those qualities. But understanding the intention does not automatically make the execution enjoyable. My problem was never that I wanted Nao to suddenly become another Akiyama. I did not need her to become ruthless, manipulative or some super genius who could effortlessly destroy everyone around her. I wanted her kindness to evolve. I wanted her to become more self aware, to learn how people manipulate her and eventually develop a form of compassion that was still recognizably Nao, but also smarter and more strategic. Instead, especially early on, it often felt like I was waiting to see how Nao would get tricked this week before Akiyama inevitably arrived to save her. She does improve as the story progresses. She begins contributing more, occasionally outplays people herself and shows that she has learned something from her experiences. I appreciated that. But for me, it was simply too little too late. After watching the same basic cycle happen repeatedly, I had already become frustrated with her character. There are only so many times I can watch the same character fall flat on their face before the frustration turns into boredom. The antagonists did not help either. So many of them seem to follow the same pattern. They are incredibly cocky, smug beyond belief and eventually break into some ridiculously dramatic villain laughter because they are absolutely certain they have already won. Except, of course, they haven't. Someone notices some obscure technicality or finds a convenient loophole hidden inside the game's rules, the tables suddenly turn and our protagonists survive another round. Rinse and repeat. And yes, I know. It is called Liar Game. Obviously the series is going to feature manipulative, selfish and unpleasant people. There is also very clearly commentary here about what pressure, greed and desperation can bring out in human beings. I understand that. I just do not find the observation particularly fresh anymore. The idea that people become selfish monsters when enough money, fear or social pressure is involved has been explored by hundreds, if not thousands, of stories before this one. So merely presenting that idea is not enough to impress me. I still need the characters exploring it to be interesting, and far too many of them felt like exaggerated tools designed around whatever psychological point the current game wanted to make. The games themselves are perhaps where most fans will disagree with me. There are absolutely some clever concepts here, and I can understand why people enjoy dissecting the rules and trying to predict how Akiyama will break them. But even there, I struggled. A lot of the games revolve around strange gimmicks or oddly specific rules that inevitably become crucial to the solution later on. Instead of thinking, “Holy shit, how are they possibly getting out of this?” I eventually started thinking, “Okay, which rule is going to contain the loophole this time?” And that destroyed a lot of the tension for me. For a show built around danger and psychological pressure, I almost never genuinely believed that Nao or Akiyama were finished. Even when everything appeared completely hopeless, I was simply waiting for Akiyama to reveal that he had already accounted for everything fifteen minutes ago. When that revelation inevitably came, instead of feeling amazed, I increasingly found myself rolling my eyes. That is probably the biggest problem I had with Liar Game. It technically contains almost every building block I would normally want from this kind of series, yet somehow none of those pieces created an experience that actually excited me. I followed the weekly discussions, so I know there are plenty of people who absolutely loved this anime. I can see why. I can recognize the things that work for them even if those same things did very little for me. But anime is subjective, and I do not want to pretend I enjoyed something simply because the general reception was positive. For me, Liar Game was average at its best and frustrating at its worst. I considered dropping it fairly early on and, now that I have finished it, part of me honestly wishes I had listened to that instinct. It had an interesting concept. It had moments of cleverness. It certainly has an audience. I just was not part of it. Liar Game was a complete miss for me, and unfortunately I cannot recommend it.

Yeah yeah I know it's about the plot, story telling and twists etc. BUT the character designs are so different and sadly much much worse than the manga that I almost want to drop it and give the anime 1/10. Everyone, LITERALLY EVERYONE looks like a goblin in this anime. Long necks, long faces, weird ears... They make us feel like they have no personality and aura at all. They are some creatures, no longer human. Shinichi ''the Genius Swindler'' has literally NO CHARISMA in here. He was one of my favourites of all time when reading the manga but this ''thing'' made me not like him anymore. (Also I really wanted and expected Takahiro Sakurai to be his voice actor :/ ) Anyone who wants to watch this ''thing'' should read the manga instead. DO NOT START WATCHING IT.

Liar Game — How to build up patience in modern anime days "Madhouse, you set your standards too high. Thanks to your Frieren anime adaptation under the Shogakukan-Shueisha committee, now every non-fantasy series you make must be at least sakuga." Or maybe not. Liar Game is just as good as the manga's score on MAL suggested. When the main key visual arrived, I thought it would be a story about the aura-farmer Shinichi Akiyama-kun, and I was wrong. Liar Game introduces you to a teenage girl named Nao Kanzaki, who is attending a high-stakes game called "something I've mentioned thrice" in order to pay her debt. As her name suggests, she was given the name "Nao" by her parents, so she could grow up to be such a lovely and honest girl. But the reality is that Nao seems to be too honest for this game, to the point that she becomes naive. I understand how cheap and dated it is to have a female protagonist who is naive and indecisive, considering that the modern world is filled with career women, while many men are unemployed. However, because of Nao’s ‘naivete’ and extreme honesty, the story felt more compelling, and I am looking forward to seeing how her character will develop in the future. My preference has always leaned toward your typical unrealistically beautiful and smart waifus when discussing series with the shounen/seinen tags, but that doesn’t mean I would be easily tormented if given female protagonists who start from zero and develop. The cast of this season was quite varied and interesting. At every stage, there was always at least another character who could steal the show from the protagonist and the smart guy. Their backstories are also quite interesting to follow and not just about selling sadness given the fact that they participated in this “high-risk, high-reward” game to win instant money. Each arc also has its own way of becoming interesting because Nao’s next move is always unpredictable. However, if we’re being realistic, Liar Game’s production quality was still below expectations. Forget about Frieren, HxH, or even No Game No Life. This anime didn’t have the classic ‘over-the-top’ Madhouse trademark seen in older works like Kaiji, Monster, or even One Outs (another work by Shinobu Kaitani), namely the thick shading and outlines on every character. Had they existed, they would’ve synergized well with the anime’s repeated use of exaggerated laughing micro-expressions, which successfully serve as its punchlines. The first OP by Yorushika is undoubtedly a contender for my Top 100 record of 2026, if not Top 25. A truly iconic production and music video. The second ED by Muque is pretty much a grower, so it’s fine. Meanwhile, the remaining jazzy songs by both Lucky Kilimanjaro and Kroi are just forgettable. In conclusion, Liar Game remains an interesting soap opera disguised as an anime to watch in 2026, despite having many tropes that some believe should’ve stayed in the early 2000s, as well as animation quality on par with American cartoons. The pacing is much better than expected, considering that many adaptations of 90s–00s titles are often done haphazardly by producers, especially in the neighboring demographic, shoujo. Happy to know that the anime is getting a sequel, so we might be able to see the endgame of Nao and Akiyama’s main story.

Watching stupid poor people fight in the mud is like farting in a crowded place before walking away: everyone likes to do it, but no one admits to. When billionaires get bored, it’s only natural they will apply some of their fortune into elaborate games for random idiots. That’s the whole premise of Liar Game, in which the main character is dragged into a dispute that involves cheating and conning other participants of their tournament money. Losers are forced to bear an enormous debt. The original manga was illustrated and written by Shinobu Kaitani, the same creator of One Outs. Despite being completely ignorant on the very basics of baseball, I liked the anime so much that I went to the manga afterwards. The story was generally predictable (if you can’t foresee the ending of a manga with the subtitle “Nobody Wins But I”, I don’t know what to tell you), but the mind games involved in pitching and directing a professional sports club made every chapter entertaining. Since I had Liar Game on my “to read” list for a while, the anime seemed a good opportunity to assess if I should commit my completionist impulses to a 203-chapter series. I’ll review the first arc (i.e. the first round of the game), as its formula neatly functions as a module reiterated in later arcs, followed by my final thoughts. --- Nao Kanzaki is one of those hopelessly naïve people who refuse to lie under any circumstances. If she happens to find any quantity of money on the ground, she’ll take it to the local police station. If she takes a driving exam and only remembers to put on the seatbelt after starting the engine, she’ll warn the examiner. If she goes visit her brother during the holidays and notices he hid some sweets from his spouse behind the bag of rice in the pantry, she’ll denounce the brother and ruin a fine marriage. One fateful day she receives a suitcase with 100 million yen and a letter. She is now a participant in the Liar Game, and the first round consists of stealing the 100 million from her assigned adversary, who happens to be a former school teacher. The loser would get into debt while the winner would walk away with the surplus. Because she is a nice girl, she calls him to come clean. Because she is an imbecile, he easily swindles her out of the whole amount. After she overhears him boasting about how easy it was to trick her, she confronts him to beg for an even split. That way, they would tie and avoid pushing either into perpetual servitude. He then goes on to tell his whole life history. When he was in charge of organising field trips for the school, he got a kickback from lodging companies. Later, he was exposed, lost his job, his family left in shame and he gambled whatever he had in savings. That’s far from the pleasant homeroom teacher his students thought he was. Short on ideas, Kanzaki decides to ask for the help of a con artist to retrieve the money. Luckily for her and for the plot, once she turns on the TV there’s a report of Shinichi Akiyama, a high-profile scammer, getting out of prison soon. She immediately goes to the prison exit, because of course she would. Despite being responsible for a massive con involving millions of yen, he simply walks away from the front gate. When the two meet, she cries for help and he understandably tells her to go away. He just got out of prison and a random girl tried to get him into a racket? Nice try, feds. Eventually, she insists to get his help with the promise of half the earnings, he notices she is hopeless and sees the opportunity for a quick buck. The way they trick the teacher into giving them the money is the best segment of the first arc. Here the author is in his comfort zone: he successfully builds psychological tension from an asymmetric contest thrown off balance by an incoming genius aiding the weaker party. Akiyama is in Liar Game what Tōa Tokuchi is in One Outs, and that’s fine as long as it works in favour of the narrative. By now, I had almost forgotten the forced conveniences that started the whole adventure; until they stood victorious with 50 million each. Before they even got back home, Kanzaki had decided how to spend her small fortune. If your guess is “help orphans buy school supplies and pay for tutors to combat school avoidance”, you’d be wrong. She was earlier characterised as pious to a fault and having a discreet intellect. That’s her algorithm. How does the story remind us of it? She goes back to her teacher’s house and gives him all her money! Fantastic; she was almost made destitute by this corrupt gambling addict who bragged about throwing her in the gutter through fraud, but when he got rug pulled by the same methods, he got sad, so she feels sorry. The author needed to put her back at the starting point, so let’s dump the spoils of war onto the loser and call it a day. Moved by his pal’s celestial gesture, Akiyama - the criminal - also gave his money to the teacher. Apparently the Japanese prison system does wonders to redeem their swindlers! After a while, Kanzaki receives a new letter. Now it’s phase two of Liar Game, with an option to drop out of the game by paying 50 million. I kid you not; she could have saved herself from this nightmare if only they hadn’t waste their money with that vermin. Since she is back at being a poor bastard, she’s in the game. I’ll give the author credit: at least he didn’t include a scene of her asking the teacher for half of his earnings just to be scorned. That would be painful to watch. By this point, my mind went blank, so I can only vaguely recollect the dramatic attempts to make me care. Apparently, she goes to a lawyer she knew, he told her to not ignore the letters or take them to the police, and to go to the meeting place to candidly ask to leave the game. Of course she agrees, only to find the same lawyer there as part of the organisers, laughing manically at her naïveté. Akiyama manages to get into the tournament as a participant to help his new friend. --- The author probably had a few notebooks filled with clever psychological contests to use in a manga. Then, he sketched a few characters, ham-fisted contrived justifications to get them to those games and his editor went with it. In getting from point A to F, he threw all the other letters out of the way and drew a straight line. This formula worked better in One Outs because the scenario allowed for it: a professional baseball player was in a slump, with the prospect of winning a title before retirement far from reach, so he employed a shady pitcher who was a master of strategic gambling, betting on an extreme form of moneyball. Naturally, other members of a sports league would do their best to crush opposition and win the lot. In Liar Game, getting all these people to participate without running away would require a more elaborate development. “She dumb; she giveth money away; oh no, now she stuck” is not good enough. My scathing language in this review stems from frustration. Once expectations weren’t met, Thesaurus provided. Still, for some strange reason, I found myself dropping everything in my not so busy life to watch each new episode. The dissonance between my rational appraisal and my actions was bothersome. Could this be a case of “so bad it’s good”? Clearly not, since the production value is solid and the story has genuinely good elements. Villains laughing like sociopaths while bragging about their plans get funny after a while. Once I got used to Nao’s stupidity and the convenient justifications for moving the plot forward, it didn’t really bother me on an emotional level any more. Just like a partner’s idiosyncrasies becoming more tolerable with time, the obnoxious antics in this anime turned into background noise after a while. Will I resume my experience with Liar Game in the manga? Probably not. Still, that’s not a thorough condemnation of the whole product. Adjusting your expectations and knowing what you’re getting into may lead to a ple…

And here I thought a university degree wasn't a requirement for watching anime. *Liar Game* is one of those gambling anime series they just don't make anymore; you can tell it comes from an older manga. It presents its games, strategies, and traps without coddling the viewer. It won't pause to spell things out in simple terms. I replayed explanations more times than I’d like to admit just to fully grasp certain rules or situations. It’s an anime that isn't afraid to challenge the audience. It doesn't hide information or try to pull a fast one with rules conjured out of thin air. Everything is laid out at the start of each game; it all comes down to how the rules are interpreted. That’s where the magic of *Liar Game* lies. Everyone—characters and viewers alike—plays with the same information. We’re even aware that if we were in those games, many of us would end up in debt for four generations. The best part is how it gradually improves; it’s a bit of a slog at the start due to the protagonists, but the deeper you get into the games, the better it becomes. Speaking of characters, let's talk about them. Kanzaki Nao is a character who really grows over time. At first, she’s stressful to watch—far too naive, falling for the simplest traps and crying over everything. In fact, I think she’s a great representation of how the average viewer would act if they were actually in a *Liar Game*. During the first half, Nao is insufferable—so much so that some might want to drop the series. But if you’re patient, she starts showing what she’s truly capable of in the second half. That’s when she gradually wins you over. By the time you reach episode 26, you’ll find yourself saying, "Wow, look how much you’ve grown, Nao." All that stress and frustration she caused you at the beginning pays off completely in the end. Akiyama is like a father to me; you could practically hand my university degree over to him. Every time I watched how he tackled a game, I felt like I didn't deserve that degree myself. What Akiyama pulls off is incredible—the way he’d leave me completely dumbfounded week after week. The high point is definitely the Smuggling Game; Akiyama absolutely carries the team—a team that couldn't have been more useless unless there were more people on it. The confidence with which he laid out his plans and traps was impressive, especially since the anime never hides information from the viewer. You *could* reach the same conclusions Akiyama does—you just don't. And if you did manage it, kudos to you; I mostly just ended up with a headache. If you enjoy anime about high-stakes gambling and the like, check out *Liar Game*. It makes up for its lack of flashy animation with a brilliant narrative.

The proof that animation>story... It's a Kaijii like who let us follow two protas : a naif girl and a smart guy. And even if the scenar isn't really bad despite the girl is intolerable at begin, globally it's dumb and pseudo-intellectual. And the animation and directing horrible doesn't help me to appreciate the dialogues because this is really wrong explained. But I didn't totally hate this anime because as kaijii fan I'm, I like the psychologic fights and seiyuu work. THe characters have personality and main girl has a good evolution and share a good humanist message (kaijii but goodless) Bref, can't recommend but you can like as a distraction.

Some would claim Liar Game as pseudo-intellectual, but contrary to most series within the high-stakes game genre, this leans more into interpersonal communication, personality reading, and trust building to overcome challenges. This strays far from the usual edgy tropes. Survivalistic greed is weighed against humanity. For those playing, the outcome of these events is life-altering. However, Nao deceives to save many, while Akiyama deceives to topple an organization. Their prioritization of people and proper perspective of money is refreshing. Her stupidly honest nature will deter some, but this intentionally unfaltering belief in others becomes her strength and is exactly what the anime wants to explore.

Don't be deceived by the "low rating." This is such an awesome anime. We get some really great characters with excellent development, smart and complex games that actually keep you thinking, and a couple of great plot twists that kept me interested throughout. I especially liked how the games weren't just about winning or losing. There was usually some kind of strategy, psychological battle, or hidden trick involved, which made them really fun to follow and try to figure out alongside the characters. The cast is also one of the strongest parts of the anime, with several characters getting some really good development. And honestly, it's just awesome seeing our boy Akiyama-san standing there and farming aura while his opponents think he's getting completely destroyed. The man could be losing his shirt, his shoes, and his last 10 yen and still somehow look like he has everything under control. Definitely worth watching if you enjoy psychological games, clever characters, and mind games.

Liar Game is basically lying to itself at this point. When you jump into a psychological game anime, you expect grounded, high-stakes mind games filled with actually competent, smart players. What do we get instead? Beyond the inconsistent writing and broken plot points, we're dragged down by a female lead whose pure, unadulterated stupidity makes her a target for literally everyone. She acts so self-righteous with zero situational awareness, constantly needing Akiyama to carry her dead weight. I swear, removing Nao from the story altogether would unironically make the narrative ten times better. She’s out here fooling herself 24/7 because of her blind 'moral trust' mindset. Meanwhile, the side cast is basically a gallery of NPCs who exist solely to gasp, panic, or do evil villain laughs. For a show labeled a 'pioneer,' the deeper you go, the more generic and hypocritical it gets. You’re served arc after arc of fake 'high stakes,' but only the numbers are big, there’s no actual intellectual brainpower on display. Basic bluffs, cheap feints, and bare-minimum maneuvers are presented like galaxy-brain plays because the rest of the players are written as complete idiots just to make the MC look cool. With Nao framed as the moral compass against human greed, she never actually learns a single lesson or gets a reality check on how humans actually work. Visually, Madhouse dropped the ball hard here. The early episodes are dead silent, the background palettes are washed out and lifeless, and the stiff character models completely ruin any sense of tension. The direction picks up slightly later with better timing and color contrast, but don't fall for the hype. The outer shell promises a genius thriller, but the inside is a nauseating mess of unrealistic themes, zero character depth, and a lead who stays a shallow, people-pleasing martyr until the very end

This anime is a classic case of the "genious protagonist dominates others in high stakes game theory" - trope. That trope is excecuted pretty well: They came up with some great games that usually contain several layers of loopholes and exploits. The strategic depth is pretty much on par with shows like Kaiji or Tomodachi Game. However, that trope is pretty much all there is. Everything else in this anime (characters, world building and over-arching story) is obviously just an empty shell for these strategy games. The good news though: The anime doesn't even pretend like they're more than an empty shell. It hardly wastes time on the shell and instead focuses almost entirely on just the games. To be clear: an over-arching story with character development and everything exists, but... It's really super shallow. Had I rated this anime based on those, it would have gotten a 2/10. Anime like Deatch Note or Kaiji prove, that strategy game anime with deep characters and a complex over-arching story can actually be amazing - Liar game is definitely a tier below them in that regard. It was still very enjoyable and I will most likely watch the second season. Overall 6.5/10

"Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. A person keeps telling the truth until he is recorded with God as a truthful person."ﷺ The first season of Liar Game is a tense psychological thriller about people forced into a tournament of lies to escape debt. It is not perfect. The mind games are addictive, and the show keeps asking whether honesty can survive when everyone else is cheating. At first, Nao Kanzaki seems shallow and even stupid. She trusts the wrong people, gives away money, and cries when others betray her. But that first impression is a trap. Her honesty is not stupidity. It is a stubborn, pure refusal to become like the game. She wants to save everyone, even people who deserve to lose. The Quran says, "O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true" (9:119). It also says that saving one life is like saving all of humanity (5:32). Nao lives that ideal in a place designed to crush it, and that is why she wins in the ways that matter. The games were creative and a lot more interesting than the ones in Akagi or Kakegurui, in my opinion. I also just genuinely grew to love the characters and their personalities. Even the most unlikable ones, initially, grow to be characters who have depth and can change. By the end, her unwavering ideals of honesty and saving others prove stronger than the lies around her. The season has rough edges, but its emotional core works, mostly because Nao refuses to give up on people. I give the first season of Liar Game a 9/10.

I have watched the 2014 korean "Liar Game" live action series and enjoyed it quite a bit. Of course I was happy to see the original manga getting finally an anime adaptation.... and got disappointed quite a lot. When watching the anime, I remembered most of the games in S1 and their outcomes already, so I focused instead on the characters and the differences. Since I don't remember every single detail of the live action, there were still some surprises left for me, as well as some new characters in the anime to enjoy. I don't know, why the live action worked so well for me at the time, but when I watched the anime, it didn't feel right at all. Nao is still a very annoying character (I mean.. who is this naive??), although she makes some progress throughout S1. The games were still interesting, but their pacing felt off. Especially the smuggling game had too many episodes for my liking, that it got tedious to watch. The side characters are flat as wooden planks and follow basically the same pattern: Smug in the beginning, laughing maniacally in the middle, crying and begging in the end. It bothered me a lot, that nearly every opponent gets rescued, while Nao and Akiyama stay in the games. I get, why they are doing this, but it feels stiff and superficial to me. I really love shows like these normally. High stake games, psychological drama, intelligent characters exploiting rules and turn hopeless events around, etc. But somehow Liar Game didn't satisfy that. It had all the pieces, yet failed to place them to a full picture. I don't know, if the korean live action was actually that much better, since I don't remember everything after so long, but I remember, that it felt more tense and complete. I really wanted to love this adaptation and I wonder, if I would love it, if I hadn't seen the live action or if I would still miss some things. At this point, I'm unsure, if I want to watch S2, when it comes out.

This was a nice easy watch. I was expecting more of an Alice in Borderlands/Squid Games/Hunger Games type vibe but it is a lot nicer than that. The pacing is slow enough to not really miss anything because they want to build suspense, each game is explained out to the watcher, along with all the tips and tricks as well. It kind of reminds me of a Saturday morning cartoon I'd watch. Part of that might be the art style though. The art style is mostly what drew me in, to be honest. It has that early 2000s style with the longer faces and the way they look a bit distorted when they are yelling or confused about something. The 24-episode season also helps with that feeling. It may seem like a small chore to get through a whole 24-episode season now because I feel like we are conditioned to the 12-13 episodes for a full season, or even 12-13 episodes for the first HALF of a season and now we have to wait at least 1 year before the rest comes out. I digress. Nao is like one of those people in a commercial about a new prescription drug. Where apparently the whole world is roses and you are none the wiser. She is foolish and accepting to a fault. Eventually she begins to use that to her advantage so she's at least a tiny bit capable. Akiyama is a misunderstood smarty pants with a large chip on his shoulder and a soft spot for his new found friend. In the end, I expect "generosity and sincerity will always prevail". I like seeing what different games that they come up with. I hope season 2 does something crazy. Not like Saw level crazy, because I don't think that would fit the world, but something a little more exciting than people standing around listening to someone berate them about how dumb they are that they didn't figure out the trick to the game before they did.