Yoshiyuki Sadamoto brought huge damage to Neon Genesis movie promotion due to his highly offensive and inappropriate twitter comment on sex slaves who suffered heinous crimes by Japanese soldiers during WWII. Anno Hideaki, the director of Neon Genesis, a well-known pacifist trained under the great Miyazaki Hayao (a thorough pacifist himself), completely removed Sadamoto's name on the staff lists and credit rolls in protest. I appreciate the art as well but please consider the artist's neo nazi-like denial of war crimes (that broke many hearts of fans) before praising him.
Laurent made me develop a crush on hot blonds in anime, and Makoto? holy hell, I live for him. just absolute perfection of a character. I wonder if I'll ever find an anime as great as Great Pretender.
This anime is so f***ing pretty. My partner is a figure painting TA and she was going nuts about the landscapes while we were watching. It gets sunsets so right.
I was so hyped for this anime. I tried not to get too excited about it, I didn't want to be disappointed. But I couldn't help it. Heist plots are my JAM and it is so rare to find a good one. But even with all my hype and excitement and extremely high bar I set for it, it still jumped right over it smoothly without hesitation. It was fantastic! And it was gorgeous too! Honestly, a feast for the eyes. Highly recommend, definitely up there in my top favourites.
The only thing that bothered me about the series was when that dumbass head cop ordered a double double without pickles, and I just imagined the poor servers having to pick out every scrap of pickle in the In&Out spread. And if something that I mentally chuckled at was the only thing I had even a small problem with, that just goes to show how AMAZING everything is
So, in Canada, a Double Double is coffee with two sugars and two creams. So you saying Double Double with no pickle threw me for a loop until I finished the sentence lol
@@natefroggy3626 Yeah, it kinda was. If they’re gonna make a follow-up with her in it, she better be over with her relationship with Laurant and actually be a better character on her own.
@@natefroggy3626 yeah but let's be honest. These guys cant die. I've seen enough fake outs through the show to know she was still alive. Now I didnt know where she was but I knew she was out there...
We need to talk about the screenwriting for a moment, the Great Pretender's lead screenwriter is Ryōta Kosawa, who hasn't alot experience in anime as a medium. However, he is a familiar name for fan of Japanese live action drama. In a 2012 Toyko Rueter survey, he was ranked #1 as the most entertaining screenwriters in Japan. His live action drama like Legal High (with both seasons having over 10% of total viewership in Kanto Region) and Confidence Man JP (average 8.88% viewership nationally) reflects his style of writings. Witty, Comedic, Strong character dynamics, the story never take audience to be stupid. I highly recommend everyone to check out his work because if you like the Great Pretender, you will definitively find his other work above much in the similar veins.
We seriously need more of these types of anime, this show really felt like a modern version of Cowboy Bebop, the writing, the characters, the voice acting, the art style is all perfect.
The case 2 setting of singapore really pushed the art style to beyond gorgeous, with all the glamour and the lights, and you always felt like you knew were you were at all times because you recognize every bit of it
Coming from Singapore, it was amazing to see the attention to detail they put into the scenes! As a lawyer, I chuckled when Abby was alone, lost in her thoughts in the middle of the night at the top of our Court of Appeal, artistic license be damned!
I'm 16. My mom always thought anime was just this weird thing I enjoyed. I had already got my dad into anime with FMA, we've been watching 3 episodes every Sunday. My mom loves crime dramas. I convinced her to watch this with me. It was great! We've been watching 1 case per week and the last case is next Sunday!
That's awesome. My parents don't really try to understand anime. Might try with my mom sometime though. Cool to see your parents taking interest in your hobbies and actually enjoying them as well!
The best thing about this show is that it never feels like the characters are following a script. Everything feels so natural and flowy. If anything, it feels like their interactions are being turned into a script.
Abigail is one of the most attractive anime characters conceived. What's interesting is that her appeal is from her actual character not just her looks. That's hard to do, she doesn't feel cliche.
She's basically a female Elliot from Leverage. Hell, from what we know if they were in the same universe Elliot and her may have interacted when she was young.
Dang, I actually manged to watch one of these anime before you made a video about it. Since it wasn't brought up, I really like how in the first half of the first episode it plays a lot with different languages, like the japanese characters primarily speaking in their native tongues until they encounter Laurant, a foreigner and switch to English with heavily japanese accents. It was really neat to see play out and I was pretty disappointed when they changed it to only one language at the end of the first episode. But the dub was still sublimely executed so when it switched to English primarily I wasn't that miffed about it. Can't wait for the final case 4 soon
Yeah I liked how it organically switched from traditional Japanese sub to dubbing, however I do think it would've been nice if they actually didn't dub scenes in which the characters would be speaking Japanese, such as flashbacks to Makoto's childhood. The dub is great so I can't complain too much, but that kind of swapping would've been cool to see
Like it when they actually speak the language instead of dubing it in Japanese (exept for english most of the time but that's understandable). Also I could literally listen to the part in English and French without having to read the subtitle it's pretty rare.
Probably because the first part, before the dub kicks in, they use the voice work of native speakers. For example, Laurent's french VA is Benjamin Pascal, he does the English and japanese prior to the dub. Later on, when the language barrier is a plot point, they keep it, which is pretty cool. Whenever Laurent throws in French in his speech, they keep it, which is nice as well.
@@myrmesuwu607 Same, saw the first two cases in japanese dub, they kept it for the most part in the dialogue as well. You misunderstood what I meant with dub. Dub in general just means to provide soundwork for television or film. Even the japanese can be considered a dub. In this case, what i meant is after the language switch. I only swapped to English dub for the London arc.
Yeah, I found the story elements quite derivative. There's an homage (to put it charitably) to Jesse Pinkman cooking the blue in Mexico. I also found the characters to be kinda inconsistent. Like is Makoto unapologetically the best con man in Japan, or is he an innocent kid down on his luck just looking for a surrogate family? Anyway, I still very much enjoyed the show purely on the merits of the overall art design and music, and I still like the characters fairly well, even if they were a little too inconsistent or had very contrived pasts begging for sympathy from the audience.
I love this show. The artstyle is dropdead gorgeous, the soundtrack is amazing and it is an emotional rollercoaster to boot. It instantly became one of my favourites.
dude what's going on with THAT tension! I don't even think the show is going to go there, but there´re at least 3 moments I can't find a non gay explanation to
Dude seriously they must be doing it on purpose, the first episode especially, and also that scene where Laurent is flirting with Cynthia and she just says 'I thought Edamame was your favourite'. And I mean Laurent obviously favours Edamura a lot
"But as great as that series was at evoking the film's it was inspired, it only aspired to stylistic emulation, whereas The Great Pretender aims for true elevation." My man out here spitting bars
i feel like people dismiss or overlook homoerotic subtext or hints and it’s made fun of but theres a very interesting story in here in terms of laurent, several times they say that his motives are him being horny and there are several comments made about makoto being his favourite and some more subtle things in the animation or expressions. I really hope they explore that in his arc and i think they might judging on how they ended snow in london with him looking so fondly at him, i feel like their interactions are very interesting and were put v much in the background after the first case like revving up for the final case. I might be wrong but i think it’s sad how many people don’t see that or dismiss it entirely! i think it adds a really interesting element
Hard agree on this. And I'd say it's not even subtle at times, it's right there in the text. Yet, since hoping to see a non straight character in most media is a set up for disappointment, I wonder if maybe his interactions with Edamura are just a way of defining Laurent's 'sensual' personality rather than building up a potential relationship between the two. Still, I think the writing is too clever for the creators to not be aware of what they're doing, and it would be wonderful if they address this in Lauren's arc.
Tartic Ant the creators confirmed that laurent is bi/pan so they definitely know what they’re doing but i’m curious so see what they do in the next case ! even if the feeling is not mutual they have definitely shown laurent is into edamura and i hope they explore that more
@@mitchhhhhhhhJust checked the interview and, looking back at all those suggestive moments, they were quite darn cheeky! It's great to see these things incorporated into the character and the story without much fuss. Now I'm really looking forward to see how things are going to develop for Laurent's arc
I had the exact same thought. The fluid and vivid art and the atmosphere and world building are absolutely amazing! The character over all else though reminded me of Bebop: the way they explore and define the characters is just astoundingly good!
God I fell right back into love with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's character designs. His time working with Mamoru Hosoda really called for rounder and grounded design where in this it has so much edge and energy. His skill and talent really has seasoned over time and we are seeing his golden years in my opinion.
I didn't know there was 9 more episodes coming to this series. Can't wait to see the final case, probably it will look at our lovable playboy Frenchman.
I was about to tell Jeff that if he liked this then, if he wanted a quick break from anime of course, he should ABSOLUTELY watch, "Leverage," since it's almost exactly like this. Guess you beat me to the punch though!
Sadly, the con aspects of the show aren't as well done as they were in Leverage (or White Collar, for that matter). But the art style is definitely the strong point of the series.
The writing in this video is excellent, lately a lot of your videos were great, but this one especially felt really good, and the editor also did an amazing job as always, easily one of your best videos yet
I just watched this, and I want to say thank you. This is the most beautiful and poignant series I think I've ever seen. The third heist broke my heart and had me tearing up!
YES!! Rock was exactly who I thought of when we learned more about Makoto, and just in general this show comes closer than any other anime I've seen to filling the void Black Lagoon left (although with, yknow, less violence)
Funny thing you mention Black Lagoon. That anime/manga feels like I´m watching a Western Action movie, with guns, explosions and cool and dry characters. This anime feels like watching Western drama-suspence movie of heists, with schemes and plans, plot twists and lovable and deep characters.
@@MrTigracho I completely agree with you. GP has the same vibe that I hoped BL would, quick and witty and dangerous and punchy. But while BL ultimately left me uninterested with its virtually nonexistent plot and its boring characters, GP had me hooked the whole way through. The characters are strong and full of chemistry and growth, and while the plot can feel a little confusing or dull at parts this is entirely intentional, and it makes the moment when you're let in on the joke that much better. GP feels like a better paced mix of BL and Jormungand, with a healthy dash of Money Heist. All in all its a 10/10 in my book.
The show is basically the anime version to the movie catch me if you can, with heist elements mixed in done by the con artists version of the black lagoon company.
@@ravenrembon1312 nah... everyone who watched and loved the show would understand this.... I was not queen fan but GODDAMN that song is soooooooo good....
(Spoilers if you haven’t finished Case 1) THEIR DEATH ACTUALLY TRICKED ME SO WELL😭😭😭 I was beginning to like Abby and Laurent and when they “died” I was so shocked. At first I thought they were joking about it but like they kept going on it for A WHILE! So then I started to get worried but thank god it wasn’t real haha
Binged the first arc this morning and I am HOOKED [Spoilers(?)] The twist at the end of episode 1 was sooooo well done, how could I not be instantly into it?
Ahhhh I’m literally in the middle of writing about Great Pretender myself. Easily my favorite of the year! Also, CYNTHIA’S THEME SONG THO??!?!? The whole backstory made me an emotional wreck.
I just finished this anime. Its so good I had to put it in my top five anime list. It's really a breath of fresh air. The visuals are amazing, you get all kinds of settings depicting London, Los Angeles, Singapore and many parts of the world. You get well-drawn characters with distinct personalities and beliefs, and they all vary in age. (somehow in most anime today almost nobody over the age of 30 exists) Character development is also a focal point of the plot. Yes and the ED is amazing. If you are looking into more mature themes and characters, delivering the right balance between humour and the heavier moments like certain character struggles, this is the anime for you. There is so much light-hearted fun to be had, but at the same time deeper undertones throughout the show as the plot advances. Truly a work of art...
from the intro of the video to the ending, by starting with the hunger games song witch with the visuals gave me chills and ending it with the jazz that is the whole musical ambiance of great pretender is a very good choice from a story telling point of view; genuinely an amazing analysis of it
Spoiler Im not ashamed that the death fakeout in the first arc fooled me i though they were wearing bullet proof vest but it was all just an act the fbi anf everything it blew my mind
I had thought for a split second that it could be fake, but immediately shook it off since it would be so insane to fake a con to that extent. Lol i seriously thought the anime was going to suddenly take a very dark turn for the rest of the seasons
As someone who LOVES heist films (specifically Ocean's 11 and 13), I will now proceed to binge this show for hours with vodka and popcorn. 15:33 THIS ONE LINE SOLD ME
Spoilers That 3rd arc, the near-perfect love story of Cynthia and Thomas was beautiful. I loved their relationship story until of course when Coleman ruined them. Shows how guys like Coleman can destroy such simple relationships. He brought the greed out of Thomas.
Abigail is fantastic, and headcanon states that Radical Edward grew up in the woods and went just a tiny bit feral. And also got really fond of throwing people the finger.
It's so cool you released a video on this show! I'm currently watching it in Japanese WITH Japanese subtitles to improve my listening and reading comprehension of the language, and it's a BLAST trying to piece together the plot by myself, and I always feel so proud when I figure out a sentence!
I fell in love with this immediately after watching the forth-wall breaking language transition. Especially in the dub when they're supposed to be speaking Japanese instead of English.
Man, your analysis ability is truly God tier. As someone who's aspiring to enter this medium of videos. Your vision and work are indeed an inspiration. I've been a fan since you first started with Baby steps. I hope to one day do a collab with you.
WIT Studios making another passion project seinen anime (Vinland Saga was exactly this last year) and damn is it ever good. September 21st can't get here soon enough.
Yes!! I haven't watched your entire analysis through yet, but I already know I'm going to enjoy it. The Great Pretender was such an Epic Masterpiece :D
The first time I saw the thumbnail on Netflix I was like, "Geoff is gonna make a video about this show". Like two days later you dropped this. Just finished it and I loved it!
I adore this show, and 100% agree with *all of this* I'm just mad at how they treated Edamura throughout the *entire* show, barely resolving/"fixing" it at the end--
As a jazz fan I can veritably day that at 15:13 I literally lost my sh*t over "It Never Entered My Mind" by Miles Davis (yes that was an unsubtle jazz plug, listen to the damn song)
the part I love most about it is actually that they have really good accents even in other languages, as a french speaker, I loved that you van tell how fluent and what region the french is (the french people speak french in a french accent, cynthia's french is clearly not fluent) and it's apparent to those who understand the language (though that might just be the case with the french, I'm not fluent in any of the other languages, so I can't speak for them)
I really hated how it's so underrated two years later. I WATCHED IT TWICE IN A WEEK. first in sub, then to dub. both are glorious. I'm...heads over heels. I have never felt more in love like I did with this one. Just...nothing else compares. I have never been more in love with the ost. with the animation. with the designs. the characters. just...everything. it needs a bigger fandom. it already caters to the current fandom's biggest ship: Edaurent, yet still leaves space for everything else. I'm reading the manga rn, but the anime honestly did it best. it really made me rediscover my love for con-artist genre but it's eastern(never felt anything for the western type, just the asian ones). I'm on my hunt to rewatch Leverage(k-drama) bc it's the laying steps that made me deep in love with Great Pretender.
I'm so happy to talked about this show, as soon as I watched the first episode I fell in love. I watched both seasons in like 3 days. it was just so breath takingly beautiful. I'm an artist myself so the Snow of London arc had me screaming and crying cause it's literally about how about capitalism and greed ruins art. Do you ever think you might do a video analyzing Great Pretender and include the spoilers?
Man, Geoff's cadence played into the whole jazz vibe of this series. Also, I really need to watch this one. I keep hearing such epic things about it and haven't watched it yet.
The only complaint i have about the great pretender is that there isn't enough of it! and i don't mean that in each case didn't show enough content i just purely want more! Each case's story flowed so well and each one went into the other masterfully while also feeling like their own whole anime in themself. I couldn't praise this anime enough. It's one of the best ones i've seen in recent times.
god the art makes me wanna cry so fucking much why cant i draw something like that why cant i pick such wonderful colours and perfectly mesh them together in a way thats so athletically pleasing that it makes you want to pluck your eyes out at the sight of anything else and for the love of god why does artblock have to grip its slimy little fingers on me right as i start watching the gorgeous show
Nadia C. And it's never brought up again. I think Netflix wanted to be deep by talking about the consequences of war and how it affects people but it didn't want to make its American audience feel bad. It only PRETENDS to talk about war. But hey atleast you get to have an another oversexualized brown waifu for white nerds to fetishise.
@@kerovibe this exactly like it was too scared to really punish the veteran character and for what. It was a big missed opportunity and my biggest problem with the show
@@kerovibe and im glad someone else saw it weird like i really do enjoy her character and thought she had a great design, shes my fave. But she was oversexualized and made into a hotheaded archetype and its a bit sus as shes the dark skinned girl. Idk
Nadia C. Yeah it's a trend with colored characters in anime. I would forgive it tho because I did really like Abigail and how she dressed did fit her character and motivation there but the apology scene was just so infuriatingly bad. The part where the mc says you've already forgiven him and she smiles is so stupid when in the last episode she was trying to kill him. I thought maybe he wasn't actually the one that killed her parents but no he straight up admits to it and everything is fine after. It soured the rest of the show for me.
The thing that captivated me the most was the backgrounds in every damn scene, they seem so aesthetic and it has been consistent throughout, this anime definitely deserves more love
Fun fact “the great pretender” is actually a song by “The Platters” from 1955 It’s one of my favorites and I didn’t know of Freddy Mercury’s rendition until this video
I literally didn't even notice that the planes were CGI
Lol, me 2
I didnt notice the people
@@chichai_archive ^^, You know what i realllly liked about that anime ? the unique coloring.
AnimeLove yeh I know but I already seen it on Jojo- this one is lovely too but Jojo is just elegant
@@chichai_archive Got a point there.
Sees video
Pauses video
Watches entire show in 5 hours
Resumes video
This is actually exactly what I did.
Amazing anime I finished it a few days ago
Same
Heheheh
Took me like half a year to do it but same
Finally, Freddie Mercury gets his own anime.
It’s what he deserves
I mean, he starred in Cromartie High School
Well he was Gohan's gym teacher
@@maxschreck9988 And fought Kenshiro in a fist fight.
@@maxschreck9988 I was just about to say lol
The plot may be about scamming people, but the anime itself definitely gives you what you paid for.
It scammed us and we are happy.
@@hirahiro2331 definitely
Laurent scams bad guys; a drug dealer, a manipulative boyfriend, child smugglers.
Fun fact the cats shown in the ending song are in fact all Freddie mercury s cats
Woah man!
Awwwwwww, catsss.
All cats are in fact Freddie Mercury's cats.
Not just any cats. Just like in real life, Delilah gets the most attention/screen time.
would Freddie Mercury have been a furry?
Fun fact: The character designer did designs for shows like Neon Genesis, Dot Hack, and FLCL. Amazing work by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Did they also do designs for Durara? Low-key pretty similar
YOOOOOO
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto brought huge damage to Neon Genesis movie promotion due to his highly offensive and inappropriate twitter comment on sex slaves who suffered heinous crimes by Japanese soldiers during WWII. Anno Hideaki, the director of Neon Genesis, a well-known pacifist trained under the great Miyazaki Hayao (a thorough pacifist himself), completely removed Sadamoto's name on the staff lists and credit rolls in protest. I appreciate the art as well but please consider the artist's neo nazi-like denial of war crimes (that broke many hearts of fans) before praising him.
Haha laurent reminds me of Haruko in a way
Laurent made me develop a crush on hot blonds in anime, and Makoto? holy hell, I live for him. just absolute perfection of a character.
I wonder if I'll ever find an anime as great as Great Pretender.
I mean it's not every day where an anime has Freddie Mercury's cover of The Great Pretender as the ED. Complete with cats!
oh freddie.... gone too long man... the world needs a talent just like yours to keep people smiling again.... the true wonder of freddie.....
You must’ve forget about jojo
@@monkeymon327 we know but can we mourn freddie....
Crow Akechi did you just found out about Freddie’s death? Cuz that was almost 30 years ago, you casual ass
Crow Akechi “oh I just found about Freddie’s music, I wonders if he’s still alive?” That’s how you sounded like
This anime is so f***ing pretty. My partner is a figure painting TA and she was going nuts about the landscapes while we were watching. It gets sunsets so right.
Honestly whoever Netflix has in charge of anime should get a raise.
I never imagined anyone would ever make this sentence and yet here we are.
@@universalperson I never imagined anyone would make this comment and yet hear we are.
@@johnswick1351 Hey, I meant it as a compliment to Netflix. Let's hope they can fix thier anime reputation.
@@universalperson oh, sorry about being passive aggressive. They should have a better reputation.
As someone who loves to comment on anime with others I still will not use Netflix I will watch it when it comes out not wait for US.
I was so hyped for this anime. I tried not to get too excited about it, I didn't want to be disappointed. But I couldn't help it. Heist plots are my JAM and it is so rare to find a good one. But even with all my hype and excitement and extremely high bar I set for it, it still jumped right over it smoothly without hesitation. It was fantastic! And it was gorgeous too! Honestly, a feast for the eyes. Highly recommend, definitely up there in my top favourites.
ME TOO. I truly, truly wish I hold unwatch it and rewatch it
The only thing that bothered me about the series was when that dumbass head cop ordered a double double without pickles, and I just imagined the poor servers having to pick out every scrap of pickle in the In&Out spread. And if something that I mentally chuckled at was the only thing I had even a small problem with, that just goes to show how AMAZING everything is
So, in Canada, a Double Double is coffee with two sugars and two creams. So you saying Double Double with no pickle threw me for a loop until I finished the sentence lol
@@KoiPuff same
They...have spread without pickles
The right way to eat an in n out burger is a double double with everything on it and both fresh and GRILLED onions.
Imagine eating In and Out and thinking its more than just overhyped mediocre fast food
I don’t think there’s a way you could actually dislike this anime
That’s depending on how you view the after-credits of the final episode.
@@whoareyoutoaccuseme6588 I’m going to have to re-watch that now. I either forgot about or didn’t see the post credit scene
@@whoareyoutoaccuseme6588 i thought it was kinda silly. the story is definitely more meaningful if shes dead
@@natefroggy3626 Yeah, it kinda was. If they’re gonna make a follow-up with her in it, she better be over with her relationship with Laurant and actually be a better character on her own.
@@natefroggy3626 yeah but let's be honest. These guys cant die. I've seen enough fake outs through the show to know she was still alive. Now I didnt know where she was but I knew she was out there...
We need to talk about the screenwriting for a moment, the Great Pretender's lead screenwriter is Ryōta Kosawa, who hasn't alot experience in anime as a medium. However, he is a familiar name for fan of Japanese live action drama. In a 2012 Toyko Rueter survey, he was ranked #1 as the most entertaining screenwriters in Japan. His live action drama like Legal High (with both seasons having over 10% of total viewership in Kanto Region) and Confidence Man JP (average 8.88% viewership nationally) reflects his style of writings. Witty, Comedic, Strong character dynamics, the story never take audience to be stupid. I highly recommend everyone to check out his work because if you like the Great Pretender, you will definitively find his other work above much in the similar veins.
Which is amazing. Great pretender is a serious story without any of the dumb cliches found in anime. A fresh air from most of the other shows.
Thank you!
Was about to post this: The Confidence Man JP (which also got a movie this year) is literally another live action heist/con movie.
@@filippogabello1567 where could I watch this online?
@@MrTigracho Exactly. It makes it one of the most unique anime so far
We seriously need more of these types of anime, this show really felt like a modern version of Cowboy Bebop, the writing, the characters, the voice acting, the art style is all perfect.
I was thinking that! Especially the jazzy ending
@@justabout6979p
The case 2 setting of singapore really pushed the art style to beyond gorgeous, with all the glamour and the lights, and you always felt like you knew were you were at all times because you recognize every bit of it
Agreed, also nice profile picture
Coming from Singapore, it was amazing to see the attention to detail they put into the scenes! As a lawyer, I chuckled when Abby was alone, lost in her thoughts in the middle of the night at the top of our Court of Appeal, artistic license be damned!
when edamura fake-breaks down at the end, it gave me chills like omgg its happening, he snapss
It ruins the series
Finally, a big channel talks about this masterpiece of an anime.
Just finished this anime And it's actually pretty awesome!!!
Right, I was hoping one of big anime youtubers would talk about this show its so good, its like Oceans 11 meets Black Lagoon
@@StrictAlchemist Yup!! it's epic, I was also planning to do that, he was ahead of me :)
Yes! It really is sleeped on, aagh
I didn’t enjoy this I’m on episode 4 and it’s very boring
This show gives me the same feeling Cowboy Bebop did and not many other shows have; I can't describe why (I wouldn't pin it on the jazz soundtrack).
For me The story just felt refreshing. I never watched a anime about con man.
I'm 16. My mom always thought anime was just this weird thing I enjoyed. I had already got my dad into anime with FMA, we've been watching 3 episodes every Sunday. My mom loves crime dramas. I convinced her to watch this with me. It was great! We've been watching 1 case per week and the last case is next Sunday!
That's awesome. My parents don't really try to understand anime. Might try with my mom sometime though. Cool to see your parents taking interest in your hobbies and actually enjoying them as well!
What's FMA
P0c R0c Fullmetal Alchemist
@@alexa.2403 I figured it out thanks tho
My mom got me into anime lol
The best thing about this show is that it never feels like the characters are following a script. Everything feels so natural and flowy.
If anything, it feels like their interactions are being turned into a script.
Abigail is one of the most attractive anime characters conceived. What's interesting is that her appeal is from her actual character not just her looks. That's hard to do, she doesn't feel cliche.
I mean, her character is kind of a cliche tho. It's the typical tramuatic nihilist trope that we also see in characters like Revy.
Honestly I felt they did the same with Cynthia. Her arc is one of the most bittersweet and heartwarming stories I've seen in anime.
she kinda looks like casca from berserk but what’s odd is that she has long hair in the manga while it’s short in the anime
Honestly the paintings of Cynthia kinda look like a female Kakyoin, lmao
She's basically a female Elliot from Leverage. Hell, from what we know if they were in the same universe Elliot and her may have interacted when she was young.
I always had a believe that an anime where the Dub feels like an addition intead of an option is most definitely a top tier anime.
Dang, I actually manged to watch one of these anime before you made a video about it. Since it wasn't brought up, I really like how in the first half of the first episode it plays a lot with different languages, like the japanese characters primarily speaking in their native tongues until they encounter Laurant, a foreigner and switch to English with heavily japanese accents. It was really neat to see play out and I was pretty disappointed when they changed it to only one language at the end of the first episode. But the dub was still sublimely executed so when it switched to English primarily I wasn't that miffed about it. Can't wait for the final case 4 soon
Yeah I liked how it organically switched from traditional Japanese sub to dubbing, however I do think it would've been nice if they actually didn't dub scenes in which the characters would be speaking Japanese, such as flashbacks to Makoto's childhood. The dub is great so I can't complain too much, but that kind of swapping would've been cool to see
I dont know if I could've handled the heavy accents for the entire show if Laurant's french accent was hard to enjoy
@@chuckbatman5 I actually switched to the japanese dub on Netflix whenever it was relevant, haha.. But mostly used the english dub for the rest.
I laughed so hard when the show just cut out and said "from this point forward everything will be translated to English"
Iirc, there was also a Chinese(Mandarin) and a Russian VA(maybe French, i forgot) who are both good.
Watching this anime is like falling down an endless staircase but none of the steps are the same length and its great.
Like it when they actually speak the language instead of dubing it in Japanese (exept for english most of the time but that's understandable).
Also I could literally listen to the part in English and French without having to read the subtitle it's pretty rare.
Probably because the first part, before the dub kicks in, they use the voice work of native speakers. For example, Laurent's french VA is Benjamin Pascal, he does the English and japanese prior to the dub. Later on, when the language barrier is a plot point, they keep it, which is pretty cool. Whenever Laurent throws in French in his speech, they keep it, which is nice as well.
@@EliteRocketBear Yeah I watched the sub tho
@@myrmesuwu607 Same, saw the first two cases in japanese dub, they kept it for the most part in the dialogue as well. You misunderstood what I meant with dub. Dub in general just means to provide soundwork for television or film. Even the japanese can be considered a dub. In this case, what i meant is after the language switch. I only swapped to English dub for the London arc.
Make sure to watch after the credits during the final episode
Yea i got mind fucked
I deadass didn’t know about this and flipped when I saw it just now
It ruins the series
It borrows from a some of the most famous heist movies. The second case borrows from the Sting starring robert redford and Paul newman
Yeah, I found the story elements quite derivative. There's an homage (to put it charitably) to Jesse Pinkman cooking the blue in Mexico. I also found the characters to be kinda inconsistent. Like is Makoto unapologetically the best con man in Japan, or is he an innocent kid down on his luck just looking for a surrogate family?
Anyway, I still very much enjoyed the show purely on the merits of the overall art design and music, and I still like the characters fairly well, even if they were a little too inconsistent or had very contrived pasts begging for sympathy from the audience.
The firts one borrows from Operation swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and John Travolta.
I love this show. The artstyle is dropdead gorgeous, the soundtrack is amazing and it is an emotional rollercoaster to boot. It instantly became one of my favourites.
I watched this show, and I was blown away by the artstyle, the story, the homoerotic tension
Fr the style is is unique and good
dude what's going on with THAT tension! I don't even think the show is going to go there, but there´re at least 3 moments I can't find a non gay explanation to
Dude seriously they must be doing it on purpose, the first episode especially, and also that scene where Laurent is flirting with Cynthia and she just says 'I thought Edamame was your favourite'. And I mean Laurent obviously favours Edamura a lot
Laurent is clearly straight lol and Edamura clearly likes Abigail. Being a bro doesn't make you gay.
@@Binks129 Have we watched the same show? Laurent was clearly hitting on everyone, Edamura included
I'm so glad more people are talking about this anime, it really is incredible.
Its not. Deserves to be forgotten
@@gijane2cantwaittoseeyou203 Oh, it most likely will. What annoys me is that there are some shows that won't end up like it
Griffith Uchiha will it be forgotten? Sure, Probably. Does it “deserve” to be forgotten? Absolutely not.
@@gijane2cantwaittoseeyou203 the ending is so bad it makes it a 0 out of 10
"But as great as that series was at evoking the film's it was inspired, it only aspired to stylistic emulation, whereas The Great Pretender aims for true elevation." My man out here spitting bars
Monkey brain: "Abbie is best girl."
Galaxy brain: "Cynthia is best girl."
I agree with galaxy brain
@@claudius888 that's also great
Bruh the mum is best girl
Abbie is my wife
Why not have both
One anime that the dub adds to the experience.
unless you speak French, German or Spanish.
@@TinyTyranitar95350 so should I watch this in sub or dub
@@agrapanambunan5288 sub not dub. You wont regret it
@@agrapanambunan5288 both are good
Agra Panambunan dub is great
i feel like people dismiss or overlook homoerotic subtext or hints and it’s made fun of but theres a very interesting story in here in terms of laurent, several times they say that his motives are him being horny and there are several comments made about makoto being his favourite and some more subtle things in the animation or expressions. I really hope they explore that in his arc and i think they might judging on how they ended snow in london with him looking so fondly at him, i feel like their interactions are very interesting and were put v much in the background after the first case like revving up for the final case. I might be wrong but i think it’s sad how many people don’t see that or dismiss it entirely! i think it adds a really interesting element
Hard agree on this. And I'd say it's not even subtle at times, it's right there in the text. Yet, since hoping to see a non straight character in most media is a set up for disappointment, I wonder if maybe his interactions with Edamura are just a way of defining Laurent's 'sensual' personality rather than building up a potential relationship between the two. Still, I think the writing is too clever for the creators to not be aware of what they're doing, and it would be wonderful if they address this in Lauren's arc.
Tartic Ant the creators confirmed that laurent is bi/pan so they definitely know what they’re doing but i’m curious so see what they do in the next case ! even if the feeling is not mutual they have definitely shown laurent is into edamura and i hope they explore that more
@@mitchhhhhhhhJust checked the interview and, looking back at all those suggestive moments, they were quite darn cheeky! It's great to see these things incorporated into the character and the story without much fuss. Now I'm really looking forward to see how things are going to develop for Laurent's arc
@@mitchhhhhhhh he is just bi. Not pan
Tartic Ant I totally agree!
Why does the anime remind me of Cowboy Bebop? Why has Abigail replaced Faye as my all time waifu?
I had the exact same thought. The fluid and vivid art and the atmosphere and world building are absolutely amazing! The character over all else though reminded me of Bebop: the way they explore and define the characters is just astoundingly good!
Maybe it was the music as well? I especially got that from the intro
Yes, the intro is reminiscent of cowboy beebops .
Abby is best girl. I didn't watch the anime before I figured that out.
The music and character design def give me cowboy bebop vibes too
God I fell right back into love with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's character designs. His time working with Mamoru Hosoda really called for rounder and grounded design where in this it has so much edge and energy. His skill and talent really has seasoned over time and we are seeing his golden years in my opinion.
I didn't know there was 9 more episodes coming to this series. Can't wait to see the final case, probably it will look at our lovable playboy Frenchman.
when???
@@jrelllll sept 20. Still a mind numbing long times away
@DisMyWaifu•ITakeYourLaifu 2020
@@mrs9935 I just finished it. I heard Laurent has something to do with th ed. Hyped as fuck for his backstory.
That Internet Show I agree haha
So this is basically Leverage: the Anime? Because sign me tf up. Leverage was awesome. And this animation is absolutely beautiful.
I'm glad that I'm not the only one who remembers Leverage.
I was about to tell Jeff that if he liked this then, if he wanted a quick break from anime of course, he should ABSOLUTELY watch, "Leverage," since it's almost exactly like this. Guess you beat me to the punch though!
This right here!!
Leverage buddies!!!! ^.^ Yay!!! I will never understand why it doesn't get more love...
Sadly, the con aspects of the show aren't as well done as they were in Leverage (or White Collar, for that matter). But the art style is definitely the strong point of the series.
The writing in this video is excellent, lately a lot of your videos were great, but this one especially felt really good, and the editor also did an amazing job as always, easily one of your best videos yet
i honestly didn't expect the anime to be so good and genius - underrated, too sadly. glad to see someone talk about it, even if i'm nearly a year late
I literally just finished watching this anime a hours ago.
Hahaha me too what the fuck I just finished it 12 min ago
Same 10 min ago
Fine. I'll watch it tomorrow!
Clearly we been bamboozle by Geoff 😄
It's still only 14 episodes. There are more to come so technically you haven't finished it XD
I just watched this, and I want to say thank you. This is the most beautiful and poignant series I think I've ever seen. The third heist broke my heart and had me tearing up!
YES!! Rock was exactly who I thought of when we learned more about Makoto, and just in general this show comes closer than any other anime I've seen to filling the void Black Lagoon left (although with, yknow, less violence)
Funny thing you mention Black Lagoon. That anime/manga feels like I´m watching a Western Action movie, with guns, explosions and cool and dry characters.
This anime feels like watching Western drama-suspence movie of heists, with schemes and plans, plot twists and lovable and deep characters.
@@MrTigracho I completely agree with you. GP has the same vibe that I hoped BL would, quick and witty and dangerous and punchy. But while BL ultimately left me uninterested with its virtually nonexistent plot and its boring characters, GP had me hooked the whole way through. The characters are strong and full of chemistry and growth, and while the plot can feel a little confusing or dull at parts this is entirely intentional, and it makes the moment when you're let in on the joke that much better. GP feels like a better paced mix of BL and Jormungand, with a healthy dash of Money Heist. All in all its a 10/10 in my book.
if the great pretender is even half as fun as black lagoon, ill love it
@@optiona3667 "Boring characters" *Laughs in Revy and Rock*
@@baggyyy black lagoon has the most interesting characters
The show is basically the anime version to the movie catch me if you can, with heist elements mixed in done by the con artists version of the black lagoon company.
MB: Posts a video about Great Pretender
Me: .........OHHHH YESSSSS
Only elites understand this comment
@@ravenrembon1312 nah... everyone who watched and loved the show would understand this....
I was not queen fan but GODDAMN that song is soooooooo good....
(Spoilers if you haven’t finished Case 1)
THEIR DEATH ACTUALLY TRICKED ME SO WELL😭😭😭 I was beginning to like Abby and Laurent and when they “died” I was so shocked. At first I thought they were joking about it but like they kept going on it for A WHILE! So then I started to get worried but thank god it wasn’t real haha
SAME! AND THEN CYNTHIA!
Same with makoto
Honestly, i realised it wasn't true from the start cause it's a con artist anime, they wouldn't die so soon
Great pretender has the most annoying plot armors. Death isn't even a thing
Every fake death in the show is excellent
“I am a confidence man” to the first few notes of The Great Pretender actually gave me shivers
This Anime made me have trust issues.
Binged the first arc this morning and I am HOOKED
[Spoilers(?)]
The twist at the end of episode 1 was sooooo well done, how could I not be instantly into it?
The end of episode five is what really sold it for me
Myles Pacillas Dane I wasn’t ready for it
@@becnancy7183 I was showing the first arc to friends and they had to take a break from the emotional whiplash
Rhea Welsh I understand I was shooketh
Netflix mostly loses, but when they win, they win big. I’m happy to come back to this video every once in a while because I just love the show
Ahhhh I’m literally in the middle of writing about Great Pretender myself. Easily my favorite of the year!
Also, CYNTHIA’S THEME SONG THO??!?!? The whole backstory made me an emotional wreck.
I just finished this anime. Its so good I had to put it in my top five anime list. It's really a breath of fresh air. The visuals are amazing, you get all kinds of settings depicting London, Los Angeles, Singapore and many parts of the world. You get well-drawn characters with distinct personalities and beliefs, and they all vary in age. (somehow in most anime today almost nobody over the age of 30 exists) Character development is also a focal point of the plot. Yes and the ED is amazing.
If you are looking into more mature themes and characters, delivering the right balance between humour and the heavier moments like certain character struggles, this is the anime for you. There is so much light-hearted fun to be had, but at the same time deeper undertones throughout the show as the plot advances. Truly a work of art...
7:47
Bojack horseman? On a channel primarily focused on anime? What is this a crossover episode?
bojack isnt an anime
I was looking for this comment as soon as I heard the music, Hollywoo and the game show name
Konan Kami That’s what they said
thank GOD im not the only person out there who thinks this show absolutely needs more recognition
Alright, you sold me on this in less than a minute. It looks freaking incredible.
from the intro of the video to the ending, by starting with the hunger games song witch with the visuals gave me chills and ending it with the jazz that is the whole musical ambiance of great pretender is a very good choice from a story telling point of view; genuinely an amazing analysis of it
Spoiler
Im not ashamed that the death fakeout in the first arc fooled me i though they were wearing bullet proof vest but it was all just an act the fbi anf everything it blew my mind
Me too! Completely had me fooled
I was also pretty sure that they were taking their deaths but the FBI thing totally caught me off guard
I had thought for a split second that it could be fake, but immediately shook it off since it would be so insane to fake a con to that extent. Lol i seriously thought the anime was going to suddenly take a very dark turn for the rest of the seasons
Same I was so sad and then I found out it was fake. It made me look like this
👁👄👁
i got attached to laurent as a comfort character very fast and i cried so hard at that lmaooo
I love anime like this! I love jazz, love real world settings, and love the art style. It's gorgeous to look at!
At 20:03 - ok ok ok I really MUST watch Deca-Dence now.
As someone who LOVES heist films (specifically Ocean's 11 and 13), I will now proceed to binge this show for hours with vodka and popcorn. 15:33 THIS ONE LINE SOLD ME
×snap snap×
Professional Beatnik,
Speaking The Word
from his
Daddy-O's Basement
Spoilers
That 3rd arc, the near-perfect love story of Cynthia and Thomas was beautiful. I loved their relationship story until of course when Coleman ruined them. Shows how guys like Coleman can destroy such simple relationships. He brought the greed out of Thomas.
three minutes in and this video is friggin' freestyle poetry I love it
Abigail is fantastic, and headcanon states that Radical Edward grew up in the woods and went just a tiny bit feral. And also got really fond of throwing people the finger.
Yo, Jeff, you left out " hornswoggling" on your list of what you supposedly aren't doing.. so now I know I'm being hornswoggled!
It's so cool you released a video on this show! I'm currently watching it in Japanese WITH Japanese subtitles to improve my listening and reading comprehension of the language, and it's a BLAST trying to piece together the plot by myself, and I always feel so proud when I figure out a sentence!
Never Been this early...
Basement really upped the production quality on this one! Masterclass analysis!
I fell in love with this immediately after watching the forth-wall breaking language transition. Especially in the dub when they're supposed to be speaking Japanese instead of English.
I've been meaning to watch this show. Since you recommended it, now I have to
I already started, it’s goooood
Indeed, this might be the new cowboy beebop. No joke.
You're not gonna regret it.
Man, your analysis ability is truly God tier. As someone who's aspiring to enter this medium of videos. Your vision and work are indeed an inspiration. I've been a fan since you first started with Baby steps. I hope to one day do a collab with you.
WIT Studios making another passion project seinen anime (Vinland Saga was exactly this last year) and damn is it ever good.
September 21st can't get here soon enough.
Just finished the show today and was hoping sooo much that Id find someone talking about it. I love this show so much thank you for shouting it out.
It's not over yet.
@@justaname1345 I know, and I can't wait for case 4
What makes this show great is the different cons and locations add differny rarity in art music and culture. Easy episode feels different.
That was probably the best part of it
this anime is truly a masterpiece, the colors and animations are so vibrant and colorful
I really love the art style of this anime. The backgrounds are unique and stunning.
I already watched it before this came out but you've convinced me, Geoff, I'm gonna go watch all of it all over again
Yes!! I haven't watched your entire analysis through yet, but I already know I'm going to enjoy it. The Great Pretender was such an Epic Masterpiece :D
The first time I saw the thumbnail on Netflix I was like, "Geoff is gonna make a video about this show". Like two days later you dropped this. Just finished it and I loved it!
Hey I was the one who requested for a review! Thank you for the fulfillment. Hope the video is great
Edit: Loved it
I adore this show, and 100% agree with *all of this*
I'm just mad at how they treated Edamura throughout the *entire* show, barely resolving/"fixing" it at the end--
Honestly my fave show since FMAB & Konosuba! Cannot WAIT for more episodes! Amazing show! 😍♥️
Have you watched Code Geass yet? I suggest it after watching Great Pretender!
@@tofutofyd1863 Ofc I have :p Love it. But I mean in recent years for shows I've seen (nothing will ever take FMAB from my number one spot though)
I still dont know if I should watch it in sub or dub yet
@@ShaesKyu I just finished Great Pretender and haven't watched code geass, Why would you say is a great follow up anime to watch ?
As a jazz fan I can veritably day that at 15:13 I literally lost my sh*t over "It Never Entered My Mind" by Miles Davis (yes that was an unsubtle jazz plug, listen to the damn song)
Feeeell like I should be snapping along everytime he takes a pause.
the part I love most about it is actually that they have really good accents even in other languages, as a french speaker, I loved that you van tell how fluent and what region the french is (the french people speak french in a french accent, cynthia's french is clearly not fluent) and it's apparent to those who understand the language (though that might just be the case with the french, I'm not fluent in any of the other languages, so I can't speak for them)
The opening of The Great Pretender reminds me of Tin Tin.
I really hated how it's so underrated two years later.
I WATCHED IT TWICE IN A WEEK. first in sub, then to dub. both are glorious. I'm...heads over heels. I have never felt more in love like I did with this one. Just...nothing else compares.
I have never been more in love with the ost. with the animation. with the designs. the characters. just...everything. it needs a bigger fandom. it already caters to the current fandom's biggest ship: Edaurent, yet still leaves space for everything else.
I'm reading the manga rn, but the anime honestly did it best. it really made me rediscover my love for con-artist genre but it's eastern(never felt anything for the western type, just the asian ones). I'm on my hunt to rewatch Leverage(k-drama) bc it's the laying steps that made me deep in love with Great Pretender.
I'm so happy to talked about this show, as soon as I watched the first episode I fell in love. I watched both seasons in like 3 days. it was just so breath takingly beautiful. I'm an artist myself so the Snow of London arc had me screaming and crying cause it's literally about how about capitalism and greed ruins art. Do you ever think you might do a video analyzing Great Pretender and include the spoilers?
Man, Geoff's cadence played into the whole jazz vibe of this series.
Also, I really need to watch this one. I keep hearing such epic things about it and haven't watched it yet.
"you don’t need to fill in all the details to get someone to
buy into a lie."
LOOKING AT YOU, DISNEY! >:(
Just finished this and i'm still shocked over all the twists in the show.
The only complaint i have about the great pretender is that there isn't enough of it! and i don't mean that in each case didn't show enough content i just purely want more! Each case's story flowed so well and each one went into the other masterfully while also feeling like their own whole anime in themself. I couldn't praise this anime enough. It's one of the best ones i've seen in recent times.
god the art makes me wanna cry so fucking much why cant i draw something like that why cant i pick such wonderful colours and perfectly mesh them together in a way thats so athletically pleasing that it makes you want to pluck your eyes out at the sight of anything else and for the love of god why does artblock have to grip its slimy little fingers on me right as i start watching the gorgeous show
Abigail forgave too quickly tho all that build up resolved in minutes didn't sit right
I completely agree. Obviously it seemed like he meant his apology, but even so i would never be able to forgive that, much less in under a day
Nadia C. And it's never brought up again. I think Netflix wanted to be deep by talking about the consequences of war and how it affects people but it didn't want to make its American audience feel bad. It only PRETENDS to talk about war. But hey atleast you get to have an another oversexualized brown waifu for white nerds to fetishise.
@@kerovibe this exactly like it was too scared to really punish the veteran character and for what. It was a big missed opportunity and my biggest problem with the show
@@kerovibe and im glad someone else saw it weird like i really do enjoy her character and thought she had a great design, shes my fave. But she was oversexualized and made into a hotheaded archetype and its a bit sus as shes the dark skinned girl. Idk
Nadia C. Yeah it's a trend with colored characters in anime. I would forgive it tho because I did really like Abigail and how she dressed did fit her character and motivation there but the apology scene was just so infuriatingly bad. The part where the mc says you've already forgiven him and she smiles is so stupid when in the last episode she was trying to kill him. I thought maybe he wasn't actually the one that killed her parents but no he straight up admits to it and everything is fine after. It soured the rest of the show for me.
The thing that captivated me the most was the backgrounds in every damn scene, they seem so aesthetic and it has been consistent throughout, this anime definitely deserves more love
This show’s color palette is amazing holy
Parts of the writing in this video actually felt like reading poetry, rhyme, meter, alliteration and all. Great job!
You sold me on it
2:08 DAMN BRO OKAY YOU GOT BARS
... Did you write this review as a 22 minute beat poem?
Mmmmaybe.
Fun fact “the great pretender” is actually a song by “The Platters” from 1955
It’s one of my favorites and I didn’t know of Freddy Mercury’s rendition until this video