LIAR GAME
THE PLOT
Stupidly honest Kanzaki Nao (played by Toda Erika) is somehow lured into the deplorable LIAR GAME – a game of deception, debauchery and…I ran out of “D-words” but “betrayal” sounds like “detrayal” if you say it fast enough. Aided by genius (GENIUS GENIUS GENIUS!!!) (AND SUPER KAKKOII!) Psychology Student/ Convicted Swindler Akiyama Shinichi (played by Matsuda Shota), she manages to outplay, outwit and outlast…while protecting the purity of humankind. (hahaha okay, the last bit is nonsense).
How many synonyms for “genius”?! I don’t know what other word there is for the writer who (1) devised such clever games to tease out all the grisly aspects of the human psyche; (2) came up with such intelligent ways for the Akiyama and Nao duo to come out triumphant all the time and (3) do all that and convey a bracing message about how it is ultimately important to be Good rather than Clever. You know when something is sooo intellectually good, it becomes aesthetically pleasing? It’s like that in Liar Game.
And it’s so awesome how they push the main two players to the very (desperate, desperate, desperate) brink before reeling them back with final solution that most admirably of all, doesn’t seem forced or out of the blue. It is remarkable – how you hold your breath and have your heart pound and pound only to finally have a solution that not only makes you heave that sigh of relief but go whoaaaaa! at its ingenuity. And of course, the show builds up to the solution – no extra details suddenly appear to make the solution all happen. I can imagine how incredibly difficult it must be not to give in to temptation and throw in a deus ex machina to right everything topsy turvy when the characters seem so completely trap and I love it I love it I love it.
THE ACTION
Also brilliant – the adaptation of all that brainwork to screen. Excellent, excellent pacing – as evidenced by the Episode Endings which are all awesome cliffhangers which will leave you spell-bound, riveted, unable to stop watching the damned drama until you’ve finished all thirteen godly hours of it in asingle day.
Okaaay acting – but who cares, really? (There doesn’t seem to be much room for alot of acting anyway, so it’d be a little unfair if I judged) Suffice to know, Matsuda Shota executes his role with sufficient panache and charisma. He totally doesn’t look the right candidate (the little wash out that he was in Hana Yori Dango) but here, he was a Sordid Little Love Affair waiting to happen. I mean this more literally than you think – at a certain point, its like there just HAD to be the suggestion of a romance with his co-star because otherwise, it’d totally be a waste of Hot. And you know, it happened…rather randomly but you just KNOW it HAD to happen.
Just…you know, with the wrong candidate.
It’s probably not a spoiler if I mention he is not paired up with the ACHINGLY GORGEOUS GAME…HOST PERSON, Eri played by Kichise Michiko.
Beauty is etched into her very cheekbones and she is kick-ass cool in the show. Siiiigh.
One SUPER BONUS I completely did not expect were some beautifully crafted and composed scenes (visually, aesthetically). You’d think a thriller like that’d focus entirely on mental acrobatics and neglect such things as filmography as so often happens for dramas in this vein but the director! What a peculiar, quirky, brilliant sense of the aesthetic! You get scene after scene of screenshot worthy moments in fabulous colour palettes coordinated in the most unconventional, unusual, unexpected of ways – LOOK:
The (very picturesque) Police Station in a flamboyant riot of colours and details that manages to be *gasp, is it possible?* CHARMING not jarring.
So it isn’t exactly realism – but as far as escapist excursions go, this must be one of the prettiest, happiest ones! And I am loving, loving, loving that surrealistic sense of whimsy.
Wardrobe-Set coordination! I love!
…And this is where Nao lives. Love the red(?)/pink(?) and green. Love the swing and love the…well, its actually a carousel-style rocking horse thingamajig at the bottom left of the screen. I wish my screenshots turned out better. But oh well, all the more reason for you to GO AND WATCH IT for yourself.
And then the conventionally pretty scenes:
Prettaye!!!
All in all, I must say this is one of the most impressive sets I’ve ever seen on a Japanese drama (which…tend not to focus on looking good). It’s not just that they are either visually arresting or mellow and pleasing…it’s that they have their own personality and contribute to a very jaunty, enchanting tone of whimsy in the show. It almost makes me wish I took film studies or something just so I could have the right words to describe it.
OH and SUPER CUTE computer animations to help make understanding the (sometimes complex) LIAR GAME strategies an absolute breeze. Ever essential in a game like that!
Well-thought out animation that adds alot of value in enlightening the audience...with room for some comic relief for a super super intense film!
IN CONCLUSION
OH MY GOD?! LIAR GAME IS F*CKING RAD! IT’S SO F*CKING GOOD, I AM T*LKING F*NNY! Go Watch it! Go Watch it! Go Watch it! (If it’s the only favour you do for me…and yourself!) It is intensely exciting and it is (at points) laugh-out-loud funny and there’s the odd bonus of an artistically genius set. You will tear your hair out in nervousness – if you aren’t already gripping the edges of your seat in excitement and you will shout very loudly “HOW F*CKING CLEVER!” – if you aren’t already stunned into silence by the kind of intellectual acrobatics of the show. And you will like this show very much indeed – if you aren’t so shamed by your own humble inadequacies or…if you don’t have bad taste. And who knew the Invisible F4 Member, Matsuda Shota, would be such Hot HOT Stuff here?!
Quality: 10*/10
Loveability: 9.5/10
(Minus 0.5 for the worst Special Episode I have seen EVERRRR!
doramaphilic 