The anime, Great Pretender from the WIT studio is being featured on Netflix. It is directed by Hiro Kaburagi and the screenwriter for the same is Roya Kosawa. It is an encapsulating comedy tour-de-force with great characterization, jazz scores, and beautiful visuals.
“Japan’s greatest swindler” named Makoto Edamura has been presented as a con man. His lousy grifts catch the fancy of thief Laurent Thierry, who took a shine to Edamura. Edamura is caught in the web of Thierry’s plans and they had chalked out a plan to launch themselves into the lives of infamous but rich people, before they implement their evil designs further.
In Great Pretender, Abby and Cynthia, Laurent’s old acquaintances mould Edamura into a thief and as a matured person, before journeying on to their plan of ensnaring the criminal elite by their international thefts. Kosawa’s art in the field of crime narrative is evident here.
His storytelling is brilliant and reflects the sheer craft already seen in AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo, Legal High, and last year’s The Confidence Man. The series with the 14 episodes have been divided into three “cases”, aiming at the specific con targeted in a specific location from the underbelly of Los Angeles to futuristic Singapore to the beautiful London
We must mention the beautiful background art in the series. Studio Bamboo and Suuuu who had earlier designed for shows like Vinland Saga, Eden of the East, and Devilman Crybaby, have designed it for Great Pretender, with bright colored themes, cel- colored palettes, and attractive combination.
The beginning starts with Freddie Mercury’s cover of Great Pretender, with a complementary animation by Kaburagi himself. Composer Yutaka Yamada’s opening theme “G.P.” is a jazzy, big band ensemble piece that wouldn’t feel out of place in an episode of Cowboy Bebop, complimented by a stunning opening title sequence directed by Kotomi Deai.
The show’s production transcends the limitations of language and dialect with the voice-acting and dubbing, and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s fantastic character designs. The four protagonists of the four series have complex pasts, set challenges, traumas and so on that unfurls the history of the characters slowly. They are namely Edamura, Abby, and Cynthia.
The past of Monsieur Thierry is very shady. With only half of the series on the air, the rest past shall throw more light it seems. Great Pretender is an anime gem from Netflix that is original, polished, high in panache, and beautifully crafted. It is one of those shows which we whole-heartedly recommend you to watch because of its presentation.
