Dec 20, 2009
When I first started Liar Game, I had pretty low expectations, thinking it was probably some Death Note rip-off. Boy was I wrong. While at the the beginning, I seriously considered dropping this manga, for reasons I'll explain later,I am EXTREMELY glad I didn't! This is a manga that will leave you at the edge of your seat, begging for more.
Story ~10/10~
So, in a nutshell, a stupidly honest girl gets mixed up in a game where you must lie. The first thing she does is fall for a lie, and seeks help from an ex-scam artist.
All in all, it's pretty original. But if
...
you consider reading this on just the plot alone, you may find it's completely different then what you'd expect. This story explores into the darkest parts of a human's heart; lies, deceit, greed, and selfishness, and one pure girl who looks beyond that.
Art ~7/10~
Ok, this is the first reason I almost dropped this. The art at the beginning is mediocre at best. Eyes that show no emotion, people with oddly shaped heads that triple in size with open mouths, and tiny arms, not to mention the drawing are highly disproportional. (Ex. When standing normally, Nao looks around average height, but when she falls on her knees and bends over to cry, she looks as if she'd be 8 feet tall standing.)
Notice though, I said at the beginning. The art noticeably gets better as the series progresses. The art style gets better, the bodies look proportional, the weird way of drawing lips the make the top one look like a mustache disappears, as does the strange habit the artist has of drawing the eyelashes at the side of the eyes. Although the art doesn't improve to something worthy of great praise, it becomes pretty good.
Character ~10/10~ -prepare for semi-long rant-
The heart and soul of this manga. And the second reason I almost dropped this. At the beginning, this story's major flaw was Kanzaki Nao. Stupid, naive, easy to fool, always relying on other people for help, and a total crybaby. Again, notice I said 'At the Beginning'. As the story goes on, she turns into a strong girl, yet still retains the honest purity she once had. Thanks to this, she's able to realize the "true" (air quotes because this has not yet been 100% confirmed) motive behind the liar game.
The thing that made keep going in this manga was Akiyama Shinichi, the genius swindler recruited by Nao. The word genius is an understatement for this man. Able to bring an entire MLM company to it's knees, not to mention he's only like, 24? I don't really want to go into detail, so I'll just say he's pretty similar to L of Death Note, even having the dark circles under his eyes. (The picture of him on his MAL profile does him no justice though, he's actually fairly good looking) The reasons behind the things he does and his abilities are a bit of a spoiler, so I won't go to much into detail on him.
This cast of characters is perfect for the story, each having their own reason for staying in the game, whether it be for wealth, domination, saving the other contestants, or finding the horrible person behind the Liar Game. Each has their flaws, some more then others, but each one has good in their heart, brought out by Nao and Akiyama, except for one. -*cough*Yokoya*cough*-
Enjoyment/Overall ~10/10~
I thoroughly enjoyed this manga, to the point where I finished 95 chapters in 2 days (Although each chapter is roughly 17-18 pages). It's a manga that will have you thinking about how on earth could Akiyama possibly beat the opponent, only to have a plan so complicated and thought-out that Einstein would be staring at the page with smoke coming out his ears. Truly an amazing manga.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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