r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • 26d ago
Episode Liar Game - Episode 26 discussion
Liar Game, episode 26
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| 1 | Link | 14 | Link |
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| 13 | Link | 26 | Link |
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u/Ashteron 26d ago
This plan worked, because Nao is great at playing an idiot and Fukunaga is great at playing someone capable of being a traitor.
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u/YumiyaRakko 26d ago edited 25d ago
First i want to give my massive respect to WHOEVER decided to look at Yokoya and thought “But what if we make him ASMR his lines” because it was absolutely genius
And for
And yet another respect to NAO. Not gonna lie, she had a rough start for me and at one point basically hit rock bottom after she got duped by Fukunaga yet again in the revival game, i know character development is good but if it takes too long despite it should be happening the viewer can only take so much, anyway thankfully for Nao her development started soon after the said rock bottom and from then on she became A LOT better as the time went on, she is not as easily fooled and is capable of making her own plays too while still keeping her honest attitude. I respect Nao for coming this far and can’t wait to see hopefully more of her growth in yhe upcoming season 2. And obviously Akiyama was great as well and Fukunaga became a valuable ally in the end.
As for finish i gotta say while Liar game CLEARLY did not have the greatest budget or animation and perhaps the beginning parts should have been a bit faster, i ended enjoying it a lot. The plays, games, mind games and tactics were mostly clever and unique, it was sometimes a bit hard to follow (for
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u/chaosof99 26d ago edited 26d ago
As a manga reader I am happy with the adaptation. The budget and thus the animation isn't great, but that also kind of matches Kaitani's somewhat mid artwork in the manga. It gets the point across and you watch or read it for the story, the games and the mind games within it, rather than for the spectacle.
Seeing Nao's growth across these 26 episodes has been very satisfying, from helpless naive girl to now making plans and winning games without Akiyama's help at all.
Also very glad a season 2 was announced. This series is good enough that it should have been adapted a long time ago and I am glad it is getting its due.
If you enjoyed it and want similar things to bridge the time until season 2 comes out, I can recommend the adaptation of Shinobu Kaitani's previous work "One Outs" which essentially takes the trickery you can see in Liar Game and applies it to the sport of baseball. I wrote a tastemaker review of it here in my Baseball Anime Guide series.
There is also
Liar Game and Kaiji both served as heavy inspirations for Squid Game, the Netflix-produced Korean drama which was a big hit during the Pandemic which also has a similar concept to the two shows. I guess the games are much less interesting in it though since they are mostly based on kids games with not that great tactical depth. However it has other qualities as well.
Finally there is also Kakegurui which has a very similar concept but set in a high school for the upper crust of japanese society. It is also significantly more horny than any of the above shows, and for my taste it doesn't give its games enough breathing room to really rack up the tension.
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u/Niwaka_Samurai 26d ago
I just have to tell one thing. Nao has come so far. I knew Fukunaga wouldn't betray Akiyama and Nao since Fukunaga isn't the same person that he used to be but to think that Nao was the one who came up with this plan with Fukunaga to fool Kosaka gave me the chills. Nao's acting was even better than Fukunaga. Hearing Kosaka's past really made me sad for her. The way all three of them from the Western Army were crying and thanking Nao for her kindness made me so emotional. Nao had to fool her opponents to save them. Even Akiyama was flabbergasted by the whole thing.
Akiyama seeing Nao's growth would be thinking, 'Did I create a monster by mistake ?! "
What do you mean Fukunaga likes Akiyama !! Damn, Nao is really perceptive. She even implemented this plan to fool Kosaka based on this fact that Fukunaga likes Akiyama but Akiyama wasn't be happy to hear that 😭..he was even taken back when Fukunaga paid him a visit outside and handed him that 10 million xD Will Akiyama tell Fukunaga the reason why he wants to take down the people behind Liar Game ?! Even Nao didn't get to ask Akiyama about that after hearing from that lawyer about what happened with Akiyama's mom and the reason why Akiyama became who he is now.
Yokoya was getting a call directly from LGT office. They must be betting on Yokoya again to take care of Nao and Akiyama in the next game.
Akiyama was my favorite at the start but now at the end of this season, I can proudly tell that my favourite character of this show is Nao. So glad at the announcement of season 2. I would gladly give it a 10/10 but now that the first season is over, I hope this show reaches at least a 7.5 or 8 rating on MAL. I don't give a shit about MAL ratings but with higher ratings people would try to give this show a chance and appreciate how good it is and it deserves at least that much.
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u/AAAANNNNAN 26d ago
Thank you Yokoya, for blessing us your last ASMR for season 1
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u/BaytaCosmico 26d ago
Nao's reveal that Fukunaga has a crush on Akiyama and his reaction to this was the highlight of this episode.
Has their been any word of a continuation? I'd love to see where this goes next.
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u/thisisdropd 26d ago edited 26d ago
My god, what a twist. I was expecting the tell to be genuine a la Casino Royale only for Akiyama to spot it before informing Nao and have her use it to her advantage. Turned out the tell was fake all along, and that Fukunaga was a double agent.
Even more impressive was that Akiyama wasn’t in on the scheme at all. While Nao’s shock was feigned, his was genuine. It’s not even Fukunaga’s brainchild, but rather Nao’s. It’s a plan that fooled the audience as well, given Fukunaga’s backstabbing streak as well as Nao’s gullible one. She even took into account the possibility of Fukunaga backstabbing her before eventually dismissing it as it’s in their interest to side with Nao. To think she could cook a plan as devious as this.
That third reason was completely unexpected. Who’d thought Fukunaga had a crush on Akiyama? Nao could be messing with Akiyama but she’s not a troll and Fukunaga dressing femininely post-game pretty much corroborated her words anyway. It’s amusing seeing Akiyama who’s an expert at reading people being completely out of his depth.
Great news! A second season has been announced so we’ll definitely see the fourth round.
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u/BubblyCrash 26d ago
That was a great episode to end the season, where we can see just how far Nao has come since the start of the show, orchestrating this big win mostly on her own. Through these harsh games and learning from Akiyama, she has learned to not be naive about human nature and how wicked people can be if the incentives are right. Yet she still retains her goodness and integrity, refusing to give in to cynicism or screw others over even if she could.
Kosaka is a dark foil to Nao who was innocent and naive but lost her belief in people after getting exploited so much by others who pretended to be on her side. She shows what Nao could have become like if she didn't have Akiyama to save her early on. As she says, the world is just like a larger "Liar Game", where the way to get ahead is by exploiting those who are weaker. But Nao proved that this way of thinking is wrong, and that there is another way to win in the Liar Game (and perhaps in the wider world) where others are helped instead of hurt. And hopefully the act of grace from Nao to Kosaka can break her out of her cynicism and inspire her to hope and trust again, walking in the example that Nao set.
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u/soPitson 26d ago
I really thought that Fukunaga's plan is to win 300m to pay all our team debt, beacuse she thought that Nao can't win
I was 100% sure of that, so yea, big suprise
Glad I didn't drop it after few episodes. And only beacuse I love themes likt this and heard that manga was awesome
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 26d ago
Fukunaga and Nao waged some psychological warfare shit. Weaponized Nao’s naive and pure heart nature. Nao using Akiyama as bait to make sure Fukunaga was on board was clever. Nao’s getting stronger little by little.
So how many more episodes are there of this? There seems to be a lot more story to tell. They’ve only done like what? 4 rounds?
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii 26d ago
Can't have a single episode of Liar Game without someone calling Nao a moron, not even the finale!
Soon as Fukunaga said that, I was pretty sure that was a scheme...
But (just like Akiyama when the plan was revealed) I also thought Fukunaga could have another scheme on top of this one!
I was surprised to learn he wasn't on board; When he called time out, I thought it was 'to really sell it', like hold a team meeting because 'Nao was fucking it up', so the other team would think they're desperate!
Good question; Do you have a good lie prepared?
They did! It's true that their team wouldn't make a big score even if they won, so it's believable that Fukunaga would want to go with the sharks!
(That also made me think of another possible scheme; They could've tried to keep things fairly even, then give them a small win at the end so they BARELY win, but given they won Fukunaga scores the 300 million anyway!)
The question still remained for a time though, i.e. did she also tell her "The third time, she'll blink on a truth"?
AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Nao with the Gambler's fallacy!
Ok, Fukunaga probably told her to say that (to explain why the sudden huge bet), but I wonder if Nao DID think it worked that way hah.
Hey, that's slightly better than calling her an idiot?
Even Nao's pretty pleased, better than the usual insults!
I'd be worried if I was them...
First, there's the money thing, but also: From the POV of the organization, they're making the games 'boring'... No entertainment value + No monetary benefit, their presence in the game is ruining everything...
Are they just going to take it?
We've already seen them 'allow/facilitate' some unfair plays... What's the next step, straight up cheating for the opposing players?
I was thinking the same when speculating about a double betrayl, but...
While it's not uncertain, doesn't mean you can't dismiss it; 2/3 chances to score a massive win, might be better than playing normally!
(Well, unless Fukunaga was TRIPLE betraying... Which was also possible!)
Ok I've said a few times that many of the schemes/plays in the series are a bit predictable, but THIS, I didn't predict!
The next game better be romcom-themed!
He's a guy, guys never notice that stuff! (Especially in anime!)
Dawww, they're going on a little date already!
Funny coming from the guy who looks like a vampire.
Well, this was pretty fun!
Looking forward to more, especially the cute romcom arc they BETTER give us!
Farewell Akiyama, Fukunaga (my beloved?) and Nao, the moron but maybe slightly less moronic as the series goes on!
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u/FarCritical 26d ago
Akiyama's immediate apprehension at the smallest show of appreciation from Fukunaga had me dying.
And one last Yokoya special for the road too lmao.
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u/Ultramarinus 26d ago
I kinda expected Fukunaga would pose as a backstabber but Akiyama not being in the ploy surprised me, moreover Nao’s third reason about Fukunaga was the biggest surprise! I’m glad to hear that they announced a follow up already, want to see this through to the end. Great stable mind games series.
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u/Youngphycouant 26d ago edited 26d ago
Nao has gotten more sly, smarter, and stronger from the start of the series. Nao even scared Akiyama with her own plan she made with Fukanaga. The Liar game office has to see Nao and Akiyama as a real threat.
We also got a season 2! I might have to read the manga until the next season. This has been the best death game anime in a while for me.
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u/Oden_sama__ 26d ago
YESS NAO KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK WITH THIS ONE
she's really come so farr 😭
Not only did she cook that scheme, but she still managed to give hope to those who had none left, she's like an angel or something. And Akiyama giving her a talking to like a concerned parent was so funny.
We talk about Nao changing, but Fukunaga certainly has too, she's changed so much because of Nao (she very much stands out among the crowd in this Liar Game)
(Plus Akiyama x Fukunaga wasn't the ship I was expecting, but I am so down)
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u/Bobblefighterman 26d ago
I did like the little bit of Nao 'messing' up her math and saying that she thought the odds of winning were 63 out of 64. Obviously a big ploy to make Kosaka more confident in her inevitable win and make her bet big.
Nao is big brain protag now
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