English Dub Review: Liar Game “Alliance”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Akiyama and Nao proceed further into the Minority Rule game with their alliance strategy.

Our Take:
A challenge like the Minority Rule deserves a team that’s larger than just two people.  But, as we’re all aware at this point, this plan helmed by Akiyama and Nao poses the risk of betrayal or worse.  While their recruits, including Hitomi and Matsubara, seem trustworthy, they’re still keeping their eyes peeled on the mysterious “Player X”.  Not only was X responsible for stealing a contestant’s cheque in the previous episode, but they also may have sneakily joined the group with the supposed purpose of sabotaging Akiyama’s plan.  This is evident during the first two rounds of the Minority Rule, where the team almost ended up in a draw twice.  This led to the realization that their concerns about X joining the group are, unfortunately, on point.
This episode introduces another aspect of the show’s psychological tension regarding trust: putting their faith in their new “allies” and a sense of misdirection.  As I said, these allies can be trustworthy at first glance, but they would eventually reveal their true colors the moment you let your guard down for more than a minute.  It certainly doesn’t help that the scenario occurs in a competition that’s literally based on lies.  But again, that’s what makes the source material so enticing in its twists because we may not know who’s telling the truth or not until they unravel their true intentions.  It’s what worked in the anime’s first episode, and it’s no different in “Alliance”, which continues the tournament’s second round with a twist shocking enough to carry its seemingly less-than-exciting conditions.