Japanese: 甲斐谷忍He received the prestigious Tezuka Prize in 1991 for Mou Hitori no Boku (Another Me). In 1993, his series Suisan Police Gang was serialized in Shoukan Shounen Jump. In 1995, he co-illustrated the series Sommelier in the magazine Manga Allman to great acclaim. His baseball series One Outs, ended its run in Business Jump with 20 tankoubon released.
His current serial is Weekly Young Jump's Liar Game, which has been adapted into two seasons of a highly-rated drama series as well as a forthcoming movie.
Hobbies: horses, travel Special skill: calligraphy, spoon bending
This marks my 100th read of 2021! Over the this Revival round was a lot of fun to read! Loving how Nao is growing with each volume. Spoiler alert: Fukunagawa having a crush on Akiyama was the biggest plot twist yet. Lol. I mean I shipped Nao and Akiyama but they are cute too. I just love the whole trio as a whole.
Continuing on in the revival round from volume 7, in this volume we conclude with both Akiyama and Nao's games in the 3-game revival. What I especially like though is the contrast between the two games.
Namely: whereas Akiyama's technique to win is complex and would likely work only for him or for someone equal to his level, in Nao's case, her technique would work for just about anyone, even a newbie like me.
In terms of Nao's character specifically, I think that THIS is the volume in which people will start taking her seriously in her own right. True, she's had some standout moments before this, but ultimately they were inspired by the same character traits and beliefs that she had at the beginning of the series, as well as being more motivational rather than tactical in nature. Her ideals remained unchallenged, and therefore while she did become a stronger person and did develop, it was more of a metre than a mile, y'know?
Here though, we finally see her truly coming up with something on her own, without Akiyama's help. This is something that she identifies as her way of not relying on him for a change, and therefore signals, even to the readers who've been complaining about her reliance on her "white knight" Akiyama, that she's truly developed.
Anyways, this signals the end of the "calm before the storm", as is indicated by the final scene with Yokoya, where it's clear that he's no longer playing just to win the Liar Game, but that he's got personal vengeance against Akiyama and Nao.
Overall Rating: 8/10 ... if... it didnt have 19 volumes. So honest rating- 5/10.
This was original, years ago. I have no idea how I had stumbled on Liar Game but it was phenomenal, original, intriguing with so much treachery and deceit, I just couldnt get enough. Liar Game plays on human emotion from the pages until the end. A game were deception and manipulation as well as conning strategy will keep you going in the game, avoiding exceedingly vast debt and psychological trauma, one can safely say that there are no winners at the end of the line of this secretive con tournament.
The psychological evolution of the main female character Nao changes as the series progresses but unfortunately her good nature of saving even those that wronged her would get on my nerves further on. Akiyama was a well rounded character to begin with and helped Nao during the tournament.
The ending felt rushed, with made no sense as this was a 19 volumes series. Honestly, I feel like 5 maybe 6 volumes would have been enough as the battles would become more intricate, convoluted and repetitive. Since the author had written for such a long time, I would have honestly expected a better ending instead of the mess it was with holes and details left unexplained.
So do I recommend it: I guess, but down the line if I really think about it, no... Unless you like psychological scheming dramas that last a bit too long. Kinda like soap operas!
Nota la margen: yo tampoco había considerado lo que dijo Nao acerca de los sentimientos de Fukunaga por Akiyama, pero en realidad tiene sentido todo el argumento que dio de cómo llego vestida con peluca y ropa de mujer por su deseo femenino de agradar a la persona que le gusta. Fukunaga misma dijo que es mujer en todos los sentidos y no está interesado en las mujeres, así que la posibilidad de que le guste Akiyama es innegable.
Nao básicamente también hizo evidente su gusto por él, así que esto me da un poco en qué pensar sobre, más allá de los juegos, cómo progresará el drama dentro de este equipo (que desde mi perspectiva ya está consolidado como tal, al menos hasta que Yokoya salga de la ecuación, pero solo me baso en mi intuición para creer que Fukunaga se quedará hasta entonces).
P.D. Si eres una de las raras personas que habla español y estabas buscando una reseña en ese idioma, lamento que esta no sea una, pero dejaré una en el primer y último volumen cuando acabe de leer.
Realmente bueno, sin embargo el final lo arruinaron. El 98% del manga estuvo increible, pero el final fue apresurado y las explicaciones carecian de sentido, de resto fue un manga increible, sin dudas.
Better than the last one. The Poker got better somewhy. I’m just dissatisfied that one of Fukunaga’s main motivations is her love for Akiyama. That’s just… I don’t know, I just didn’t like it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Even though I didn't fully understand the whole plan of both teams, I was still able to enjoy their great battle of wits. All the characters have become much more fleshed out in my opinion, Nao even admitting that Akiyama was basically doing all the work and she doing something about it which was awesome (and that hint of romance blossoming was some good shit too). They still insist in calling Fukunaga "he" and "mr" and even saying that she dressed up as a girl because she wants to make Akiyama fall for her which is complete BULLSHIT as that doesn't make any sense (even assuming she lied in last volume's questionnaire and she is just a man attracted to men it still doesn't add up). However, I still really enjoyed this volume and I look forward to the next
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Hmm. I don’t have much to say about this volume. The strategy for the stationary roulette game kind of went over my head. After reading about numerous ratios and outcomes, my mind started to tune it out. However, I still really enjoyed it. Nao continues to be annoying and gullible, but she did hold her own somewhat towards the very end. Akiyama is great as usual. Fukunaga is getting closer to overtaking Akiyama as the best character in the manga. He’s just so devious and amazing. While I’m a little pissed that , I am interested to see what the next round will consist of.
Nao fait confiance à tout le monde, passe beaucoup de temps à pleurer, et tient des discours passionnés sur le fait que le but du Liar Game n’est pas de prouver qu’on est le meilleur menteur : c’est un test de solidarité, car si tous les joueurs se montrent honnêtes et collaborent, personne ne perd sa mise de départ, personne ne gagne non plus… et les organisateurs du jeu ne font aucun bénéfice. Pour elle – et pour Akiyama, qui a une dent contre les entreprises d’arnaque – les véritables adversaires, ce sont les organisateurs qui endettent les participants pour s’enrichir. La suite de mon avis : https://elainevker.com/blog/2024/03/1...
Liar Game (Japanese: ライアーゲーム Hepburn: Raiā Gēmu) is a Japanese seinen manga series originally written and illustrated by Shinobu Kaitani. At first I felt unsure whether this manga could even be exciting. It seemed just so-so...but man was I wrong. It is a psychological suspense manga, filled to the brim with intelligent plot, quirky characters and over all fascinating story.
"A scrupulously honest college student named Nao Kanzaki receives a package containing 100 million yen (about 1 million USD) and a note that she is now a contestant in the Liar Game Tournament. In this fictional tournament, contestants are encouraged to cheat and lie to obtain other contestants' money, with the losers forced to bear a debt proportional to their losses. When Nao's first opponent, a trusted former teacher, steals her money, she seeks assistance from a con man named Shinichi Akiyama. Though they manage to defeat him, Nao and Akiyama decide to buy out his debt and advance through different rounds of the Liar Game Tournament against merciless contestants, while at the same time attempting to free their opponents from debt and defeat the Liar Game organization from within." -Book Blurb
Nao Kanzaki is unwilling dragged into the Liar Game, and to survive she hires intelligent con-man Shinichi Akiyama. They team up to destroy this mysterious and dangerous organization behind the Liar Game, from the inside out.
Unique and stylistic, intelligent and suspenseful, Liar Game is a very enjoyable series. I never thought I could love a series like this, nor did I know one existed. This is a battle of wits and chance, a story of truth and lies. It is not an action adventure, nor is it a romance, or comedy. It is a very interesting genre or blend of genres, falling somewhen under psychological suspense and intrigue. I highly recommend giving this one a shot, even it it seems its not your type of manga. I sincerely thought it wouldn’t be mine, but here we are. Take a chance!