English Dub Season Review: Great Pretender Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Great Pretenders opens with an introduction to Makoto “Edamame” Edamura and his criminal lifestyle. Makoto has one goal, and that’s to become the top conman in all of Japan. He spends his days pulling simple heists and conjobs — until he runs into a Frenchmen named Laurent Thierry. The French con artist catches Makoto trying to pull a wallet stealing scam, and turns the table on him. They form a kind of connection, and when the Japanese authorities catch wind of Makoto’s schemes and come after him, he escapes with Laurent to Los Angeles.

Upon their arrival in the US, they immediately set about in another swindle, trying to see who can get the most money out of a rich Hollywood blowhard. It quickly turns into a ride that finds Makoto caught up in a crime community of sneaky spies who are just as happy to steal from the wealthy as they are to double-cross their partners. As the storyline moves from America, to Singapore, to France, the stakes get higher and higher as Makoto realizes that he still has a lot to learn from Laurent and his crew when it comes to committing high-stakes international frauds.

Our Take:

Great Pretenders comes from the minds at WIT Studio, the same group of animators responsible for the Attack on Titan anime series. I also loved their work on The Rolling Girls, an under-the-radar gem that flew by mainstream audiences back in 2015. With staff members who worked on such big titles as Evangelion and FLCL, Great Pretenders has a prestigious reputation going before it. WIT may have even passed on undertaking the final season of Attack on Titan in order to make this series. But was it worth it?

The show focuses on Makoto Edamura, a small time conman who thinks overestimates his cleverness by vast amounts. He shares some things in common with master thief Lupin the Third, and honestly, Great Pretenders feels like it owes quite a lot to the Lupin franchise. From the colorful, international scenery to the larger than life villains and wise-cracking criminals, it strikes me as being very heavily inspired by the long running caper series. Laurent Thierry is onboard for many of Makoto’s scams. He’s a more posh, world-wise fellow, and over the course of the show so far, their dynamic grows from student/master into more of a relationship between equals.

The plot of the series will likely be the deciding factor in whether or not you personally enjoy watching. If you can’t get enough of crime of the week type shows that feature broad comedy, dastardly criminals, and good guys who aren’t always on the right side of the law, then Great Pretenders will probably appeal to you. However, if you care more about characters and their growth, then this will be a show you can safely skip. While Makoto certainly becomes a much more experienced crook over the course of these first fourteen episodes, and new side characters come and go, there’s never really much depth to their personas and no one left a big impression on me. Sure, there’s the usual amount of backstabbing, treacherous twists, and jaw-dropping reveals, but most of them lack the necessary weight needed to make them land properly. It’s hard to care about successful heists when the show doesn’t let you get fully invested in the characters pulling the stunts.

When it comes to the more artistic qualities, things improve by great strides. WIT Studio is known for its bold colors and vivid animation style, and this show is no different. Even when nothing too thrilling is happening on screen, it’s still a fun show to look at. Backgrounds are beautiful, characters are well-designed, and the visual style is nicely carried out. The soundtrack was a bit too bland for my tastes, but the English dub is solid, despite not being up to the highest quality adaptations like Devilman Crybaby.

At the end, Great Pretenders doesn’t come to a conclusion as much as it just finishes an episode. There are still more episodes coming later in the year, and the show doesn’t try to put a wrap on everything because that’s not the kind of show it is. Don’t come looking for life-changing, thought-provoking challenges or unforgettable characters. But if you’re just after a fun crime show to breeze through on a weekend, give Great Pretenders a shot. I don’t think you’ll have to pretend to like it.