Hopefully, I won't spoil anything too much, but here it is - IT WAS LAME. I don't expect them to figure out intricate plots, but it would be most natural to not believe a damn thing Yokoya and Akiyama say. Characters actions make less and less sense when we know for sure that Yokoya plans 20 steps ahead and they still don't suspect anything. Come on Kaitani-sensei, after hearing the dealers say, 'Let's watch the game unfold' the first fifteen times, you'd think we'd have figured it out already. The games themselves are not a problem, they get more and more twisted, but the story telling remains the same. The main one is that it becomes formulaic after a while. Epic fail guys.Īll the praise aside, there are a number of problems with the manga. I've watched the drama three times already and I don't remember it happening. Why? This is such a pivotal factor in her character development and actions from that point forward, you would think they'd spare two minutes for it. The drama fails to mention one of the most important things in the manga - Akiyama's advice to Nao about doubting people to understand them. That said, there are a few moments later in the series where she reverts to type, something I think the author could have avoided.Įxcuse me while I go off on a tangent here. Nao is irritating in the beginning, of course, but I think her character development is one of the most satisfying things to come out of any manga.

It doesn't hurt that it has some charismatic characters in the form of Akiyama, Yokoya and Fukunaga to explain these things, and art that grows even more easy on the eyes as time passes. The real genius of the books lies in its common sense delivery of high-falutin' topics such as Game Theory, economics, psychology and the like, in a believable fashion. The premise of the Liar Game isn't all that new - testing humanity in the face of impossible circumstances.

Eventually I worked up the courage to read the manga and I have to say, it was both brilliant and a bit disappointing. This was a Jdrama I just picked up to pass the time and suddenly, it had me and my sister hooked. Note before reading: This is a review of the entire series, which was, as far as I know, completed recently in 201 chapters.Īhh, Liar Game.

Liar Game, Volume 1 by Shinobu Kaitani