Liar Game

It contains with complicated, thrilling story all the way until the last disappointed chapter !!

It much much worth to read. At some point in my life after reading this fxxking manga I just wanted to study psychology. It so damn cool even though there's no real actions. You just need to focus and understand every details the characters explained , that's the real thrilling part!

At first you may feel that the art wasn;t beautiful but after you have read much more chapters you will find it just fit right to the dark story it contained.

If you like death note , I guarantee you will like liar game too. And there's no romance or something like harem here!

Hope you like Akiyama-kun ><

Liar Game is a manga which you'll be kept guessing the entire time - and just when you think you have an idea of what's going on and make a prediction of what will happen to next, a twist takes you off guard completely. Full of surprises and focuses on interesting aspects in psychology, I really enjoyed it!

Some parts were hard for me to properly understand, so I kind of skimmed the difficult blocks of information, but overall it was really well written.

The only big issue I have is with the art and the typical sort of character the lead female, Nao. The artwork is simple and would otherwise be okay, but the fact that every time an either extremely obvious piece of information is released or maybe even an actual secret, the character being told always let's their jaw drop like a fish gaping above land. Sure it's almost kind of funny, but when you've endured pages and pages of big, hideous, fly catching mouths and "EH!?", the originality in expressions can be tiresome. Nao is also a rather typical character, too honest and naive for her own good, crying in every possible moment and relying on the lead male. Like many mangas, she does however develop into a more independent and self reliant character, but she is still incredibly irritating at some points and is not a character that would be appreciated by manga readers who resent the usual sobbing females.

Overall, it's a really great manga and should be given a chance, and not overlooked by these minor qualities that I did not like.

Its seems to me that the author of Liar Game must've been inspired by Deathnote. Liar Game has just as much psychological twists as Deathnote. If you look at Mr. Akiyama, he is as smart as L, has a combo of L's and Light's face, Light's personality, and a combo of L's and Light's hair style. It always keeps you guessing, you think the Liar Game is one thing but it turns out to be another. The art is extremely similar to Deathnote as well. I love how well developed the characters are as well. The story is simply fantastic. Cant forget this manga is very addicting. I was hooked after the first volume. I cant wait for the next chapter.

Pros:-
• Games follow rules. While I loved series like Kaiji and Kakegurui (actually that was just OK), there was sometimes some ass pulling and cheating that lead to the victory which often relied on luck, which wouldn’t work in real life. This took away some of the satifaction of the ‘win’ for me, and with Akiyama being the super genius that he is, the games he wins are all because of strategy and sure tactics.
• The show is grounded in its morals and messages, and especially the main character is less over the top like Light in Death Note with his holier than thou attitude.
• As someone studying mathematics and behavioural sciences at an undergradiate level, I was thrilled to see actual game theoretic and psychological principles cited correctly, another reason why the show is more grounded.
• Just very clever and believable writing all around. When it comes to strategic and tactical manga, Shinobu-sensei is by far the best.

Cons:-
• There is a clear lack of character development. With the show focusing moreso on the games themselves, almost 100% of screen time is about that, and especially Akiyama gets little human development (bar a couple of pages of flashback) as they focus on his brilliant mind
• Whilst the games are all extremely clever and well written, with no breaks in between each round the format of the manga gets very repetitive.

***Spoiler:
• Villains are set up to be very menacing and threatening, however this is undermined by the fact that Akiyama ALWAYS gets the win, so the credibility & consequences of an opponent’s strength is left unkown (looking at you, Yokoya)

• The ‘fodder’ characters are not consistent in their intellect. One moment they’ll have a really good epiphany but then the rest of the time they’re almost retardedly stupid.
• Bad Ending. It’s been said already tons of times and other people have explained it better than me.

Conclusion:
All in all I absolutely adored this manga because of the clever and believable writing and the suspense that was built. Yes the ending is rushed and inconclusive but every game had me binging it without even realising.

This magna was simply amazing and something that i could have never imagined. So far, this is the only magna that i ever read that deserved a 10 because every moment was amazing. i did think though at some parts it took a little long but because of that, there were a lot of twists and turns which i love in stories. the logic is also incredible that i couldn't believe that people could actually come up with some of this stuff. Im still reading it and i just want to know what happens next since all the chapters leave off with a cliff hanger. "If only it were finished" i always say. I cant wait to read the ending!
So over all, i give this magna a 10 because in one world, its just phenomenal!

It's been a long time since I've read Liar Game (because waiting for updates is excruciating) but with it being one of my most highly rated reads and most favourite manga, I'm compelled to write a review.

Let me say this first, don't let the art put you off. This is extremely important because the art is effing terrible in the beginning. Goodness knows how many people have dropped this manga (and maybe even rating it badly) because of the art.

However, it does get better as the story progresses and it even grew on me. I began thinking the art style was actually perfect for the story.

Liar Game is one of those manga that you literally cannot put down because of how exciting and unpredictable the story is. It's also a really smart manga (you just know the person writing this has one heck of an intelligent mind). The plot is impressively creative, and the storytelling and pacing is superb, especially the twists and turns it makes.

The main characters are an interesting cast and most are likeable in their own ways. Akiyama is the unrivalled main star of the story, with his unparalleled intelligence and suaveness. Nao is a more hit-or-miss character, you either find her innocence/naivety/good-heartedness endearing or vaguely annoying. I was intensely irritated by her in the beginning but grew to sort of like her and respect her in the later chapters.

I would term Liar Game as a 'mental thriller' and a complete masterpiece in terms of its story; a truly top-tier manga that any fan of unique storylines and adrenaline-pumping mental game fare should not miss! The only reason I rated it 9 and not a complete 10 is because of the lacklustre art, which could definitely be better and truly elevate the manga.

Otherwise, it's just an awesome and really interesting read that I would recommend to any manga lover or even non-manga reading people. (It's that freaking good)

Sorry this is my first review ever so it won't be great.

This is the first ever Manga I have ever read and boy did I pick a good one.

Story 10/10

The story is amazing it reminds me a bit of Death Note. It makes you want to read the next chapter almost immediately. The Chapters are full of suspense. And you learn alot about psychological warfare.

Art 7/10

The artwork isn't really the Manga's strong point. The art is mediocre at best you really don't see expression on the faces of the character other than baggy eyes and tears.

Character 10/10

The characters are very diverse ranging from a very honest girl to an insane greedy man. Of course all Manga's have a badass character and wow does this one comply.

Enjoyment 10/10

Must I really explain? It's an amazing Manga.

Overall 9/10

It is a very suspenseful anime and is a definite watch.

This manga has reminded me to not put too much stock into MAL's rankings for popularity + scoring. Perhaps I walked in with expectations that were just too high, but this didn't even live up to its premise all that well. While the characterization and artwork were competent enough to keep me coming back, the story itself is pretty shoddy. Let's dig in and see just why I feel this way!

[Story - 4]

The basic premise is that an overly honest girl gets a pro conman to help her out in an underground tournament of games revolving around deception. This is all fine and dandy, since it's a fairly intriguing premise and it does deliver initially, but there are some things I take issue with.

One thing I'll harp on right now is PACING. God, the pacing is so abysmal. The first 3 or 4 volumes have great pacing, but following this, it just gets progressively slower and slower until the final 'game' is over 3 or so volumes yet takes place in the timespan of several hours or so. For a title that is supposed to feel pretty 'high stakes' and tense at all times, it just got extremely dull for me after a while.

To lead into my next gripe: It would have been one thing if the story was paced like this to slow burn towards an explosive climax. However, this title does quite the opposite. It goes out with something that can be said to be less than a whimper - a tidy, clean ending that comes and goes in about......3 to 5 chapters or so. I don't necessarily mind this 'happy' ending, but the final few panels really grind my gears since there was no previous build-up or indication it would turn out like that. It just comes out of nowhere for shock value, and that's especially insulting considering how intellectual this title presents itself to be.

It isn't ALL bad, however: Some of the 'games' are actually pretty intriguing, and can have great twists (first one that comes to mind is that musical chairs one, along with the contraband game). The themes of trust and doubt (+ how they go hand in hand), the human condition, and psychological complexes dovetail well with the story and can be rather poignant at times. Just a shame that they didn't get a better writer to handle them.

(Side note - you know those two extra chapters? They're just the original last chapter split into two. Totally worthless to read them.)

[Art - 5]

Okay, I'm not gonna beat around the bush on this - the art is so hit-or-miss that I don't blame anyone for being turned off by the first 2 volumes alone. The expressions of each character can get rather goofy, the settings can be either too moody or bare-bones, and most of the character design isn't really all that notable.

On the flip side, however, the rest of said design can get good; I'd say that Akiyama's consistent stoicisms, matched with his cunning personality and bland fashion taste, suits him well (and totally reminds me of Light Yagami). Kanzaki's wardrobe and expressions just ooze 'woobie', Fukunaga's an absolute treat to see, and Nokoya's very face is just pure mischief.

[Character - 6]

This is probably the strongest element of the title in my opinion, even if that wasn't what it was aiming for. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the investment in some of these people's fates are what really kept me going after the story started to drag its feet.

Shinichi Akiyama is a bit of a Gary Stu, sure, but he's just too much fun to read. Something about how wildly sharp and on-the-nose he can be is just addicting, even if it takes AGES to get to the true payoff of his reveal. His backstory is adequately angsty, and he's got the temperament to match! It rubs up perfectly against Kanzaki's overbearing warmth.

Speaking of Kanzaki, let's move onto her. I have more mixed feelings about her than I do about her male counterpart, but she's fine for the most part. I know that some people don't enjoy naive kindness in characters, and it remains until the end here, but seeing her develop was interesting. It wasn't much, unfortunately, but you can totally tell that she has a shift in mindset over time and is able to adapt to the situation accordingly. Again, something about her compassion is just too palpable, and it just rubs off on you.

This leaves two other characters to discuss since the rest are admittedly bland and/or forgettable. To sum it up: Fukunaga's a delight to read between her comparable wit and her overall vicious personality. She serves as yet another foil to both Akiyama and Kanzaki, and it's genuinely great to see her develop over the course of the title. It's a damn shame that she got shafted HARD during the last arc, because the payoff in her arc was just....splendid. As for Nokoya, he's totally just another Rich Brat Who Loves Being Mean, but he presents as a perfect match for these three. While he doesn't get royally screwed over in the end, the few comeuppances he received were wonderful. He does have some form of an arc, but it plays second fiddle to seeing him ham it up as a 'primary' antagonist.

[Enjoyment/Overall - 5]

As you can see, this title has left me feeling unsatisfied despite its good elements being enough to keep me around until the very end. I'm sorry to say it, but I can't really recommend this one to anyone save for those who want to see psychological game shenanigans get drawn out way too long. The real liar game at play here was most of MAL giving this a 9 or 10.

Why you should read this manga..

Story: If you have a keen eye you notice that the some problems that arise in the games can be solved by math. But don't worry, they're not predictable. Unexpectedness is enjoyment, and that's what Liar Manga concocts in the first game- hooks you right in. It drifts you into the night in a small boat. So just lay there and do what's best: look at the stars... Now for the rebels including me: This is a game of wit ('lies'). There can only be so many gasp-moments with no violence included. To solve this problem i recommend to...
read faster :)

Characters: Nao Kanzaki- The writer's moral of the story. She is incredulously and unrelentingly kind. What the hay, just throw her in the mix. We needed a role model anyways. Ms. Nao truly has her own gravity. She directs this story into a =exciting one. She truly inspires Mr. Akiyama
Akiyama- He starts named as an 'ex-con' but what are his intentions? Does he want to swindle Nao? We learn he single-footedly destroyed a company that he didn't like. Scary. He will likely be the readers' moral- to kick ass... mentally of course.
Yokoya- Just as smart as Akiyama. He likes money, what more can I say? He pets down his mice as he devices stratagems. He easily sways his opponents, giving him an early economical lead. But who will win the Liar Game...

Art: Not an art critique but the words do synchronize with the Art.

Enjoyment: Don't force yourself to look for flaws and you'll like it more than I do.

Rate: 9

All people wear masks. Everyday has secrets that they hide from the world. Everybody lies in order to benefit themselves. Money... Money... Money... Money is corruption itself. You'd think human beings control money, but no. Money controls people. The concept of betrayal originated from people's jealousy of wealth. So what do you think will happen when people are all thrown into a TV show game where lying and betraying are the main themes. When a buttload of money is given to the participants for them to utilize to deceive their opponents and steal their opponents money. Luck? No such thing. Friendship? No such thing. All lovey-dovey bullcrap, no such thing. This is Liar Game. Liar Game is the reflection of the disgusting side of human nature. This is not a simple TV Show game where human greed is tested, but a competition to people's deaths, an unsolved puzzle in the scheme of the world's economy, a mysterious forgotten past. Liar Game is a much more mature and actually realistic version of No Game No Life (no, don't be turned off, Liar Game is amazing unlike the latter). Liar Game is a darker, non-colorful, and psychological version of No Game No Life.

The story is very simple if I explain it very broadly, but if I went into specific details, the plot thickens and gets a lot more complicated. Simply put, Liar Game is a TV show game where contestants are picked (not randomly, these contestants were specifically picked for a reason) and given a million yen (~$100,000). But these contestants don't get to keep the money, oh no. They HAVE to use it each round to deceive their opponents and get to the next round. Participants that are run out of all their money are eliminated, and here's the funny part; they don't just get to leave the game but they have to pay back the TV Show the $100,000 that they lost during the Liar Game show (Everyone participating in Liar Game is poor, and have a specific reason why they're in this game). If I went into the story more complexly, then I'd have spoiled everything good about the story for you, so I won't. Each round there is a new type of creative, strategic, mind-boggling, fascinating game.

Now in the midst of that story, there are the two main characters who are complete opposites. There's the stereotypical innocent, pure, trustworthy but dumb girl, Kanzaki Nao. She joins the game in order to pay back her father's huge debt (which ties back to the reason why Kanzaki was chosen for this game, every single participant has a debt to the exact same company). But from the get-go in round 1, Kanzaki nearly loses all her money and gets eliminated because she gets betrayed by someone whom she believed was an trustworthy, admirable person - there is no such thing. And... then the typical (anti)-hero coming in to help Kanzaki win the game for his own reasons, Shinichi Akiyama, the genius, manipulative, and in his own right, cruel ex-convict. They make the perfect combination because Shinichi can actually use his brain unlike Kanzaki which is pretty necessary for winning the game. But despite Kanzaki being the dumb girl that she is, she has traits that actually make her the best player in the game - wildcard: her overwhelming load of trustworthiness, kindness, and innocence. But can Kanzaki maintain her innocence and purity throughout? Or can she win the hearts of the other contestants and show the entire (audience) world that trust, love, kindness and benevolence are the keys happiness in this "lost" world. Thrust into the world of lies, betrayals, greed, hatred, and a mystery that delves so much deeper than your average mystery stories, Liar Game is one of the most intriguing and captivating stories I've ever read. Now, I've seen it compared to Death Note quite a lot, they're two completely different stories, I don't see anything relatively similar about these two stories except for the fact that their both psychological shows that include - lies and deceit. The other participants all have a reason of participation. Each participant is rather interesting to watch for as they each have a specific characteristic trait that defines them and gives them a specific role in the bigger scheme of the game. The hosts for each game are the most interesting characters after Shinichi. They are evil. Plain evil. They have secrets. They are the ominous shadows of the game. Who are they? They are mere hosts. What role do they serve in the grand scheme of things? Read to find out~ I will say that Kanzaki is very annoying, even more so than Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion, but Shinichi + the overall story kept me going. Oh Shinichi, what a mad genius~

The art was pretty bad. I'm not too critical about there being "great' art and all, but Liar Game definitely could have and should have had better quality in art. The characters portrayals were "meh". Characters honestly don't look accordingly to their personalities, which kind of annoyed/confused me. Each character shows absolutely no emotion, even when they're screaming "You bastard! You dare betray me?", the speaker looks like they're sleeping. The background of the story is basically in a TV Game stage-studio, so... Nothing much there... The color scheming was pretty putrid in my opinion. But at least on the bright side, the story is great.

I enjoyed it a lot, although the games every round do get a little bit repetitive, there were new aspects/psychological win-strategies to each round that really grasped my attention. This was a great manga overall, but if you want to see a true "masterpiece" version of this manga, then go watch the Korean Drama adaptation. It's 12 episodes, 1 hour each and it finished today at the time of this review~ It's Liar Game + Even deeper psychological aspects + non-repetitive, more creative games than what the manga presented. You won't be disappointed reading/watching either though, in fact I recommend you do both like me.

At the begining, Liar Game looked like anohter irrelevant thing, but when I started reading it, I was trapped untill today. This manga has a very good psichologycal style that explores the deepest parts of human ambition: seeing how each different character thinks and behave differently in the same situation keeps your attention drawn on every moment, allowing Liar Game to be an outstanding story.

Story: It has a very original idea, about a girl who sees herself trapped in this game, where she has to lie in order to live, Anyhow, she's got a problem: she is stupidly honest.

Art: The drawing in Liar Game is not the best drawing ever, but it meets it's duty.

Characters: a handful of very different characters lets one understand how each type off person would behave in extreme situations.

Enjoyment: Being completely unpredictable, it will keep you hooked and you won't even realize how many chapters have you read.

----->This review contains high level spoiler<-----

Finally I finished this manga VERY LONG, I am dead ... Before doing this review, I must say that this manga should not be read at once, otherwise it will become boring. Try to read one arc at a time, skipping a short time between the arcs. Going into criticism now, I have two things to say about the Liar Game: First point, the author had very good ideas, which resulted in an exciting story. Second, the author made wrong choices about how to develop the plot.

To understand what I'm saying, first we have to explain what the Liar game is ...

Liar game is a game, where a certain number of people are selected to participate, to simplify it in a way that you understand, these games will involve lies (of course), where everything will depend on how you convince others with your lies. Our MC, is a person who does not have the capacity to lie, that is, she is not a whistle to play the game (where the game forces you to participate), she is deceived and feels obliged and to resort to a swindler.

This is a starting point for this manga, which is very long, that is, a lot of things will change over time, believe me ...

The essence itself does not seem to be very attractive, but the author uses some resources to keep you reading this manga, which is practically making the protagonist adored by readers. This is not a wrong idea, but unfortunately the way the author did it made me very nervous ... To sum up, the enemies always sing victory ahead of time, and when they realize, the MC had already anticipated everything even before expected. Unfortunately, this happened in almost the entire manga, it is ridiculous. The author made the enemies seem childlike, extremely futile. Well, let's go to the notes:

1 - Story [6/10] - As I said earlier, the author's ideas are very good, but the execution was childish, if you are a 14 year old full of yourself, you will certainly feel great. Enemies leaving in the face that they plan something, it makes you feel good to be guessing what they plan, and of course, always after the enemy has revealed all his winning strategy, the protagonist will arrive with the infallible method, in addition, there is something worse ... As always, there are two people who stand apart in the arc: the protagonist and the enemy of the time, the other participants are influenced very easily, which gets to be very stupid. In the end the author presented many ideas, but the execution of the plot was extremely lazy, without many turns, with some holes, without risking, using the same card every arc several times.

2 - Art [7/10] - Art was not an outstanding point in the scenario issue, the scenarios are very simple (it is worth mentioning the best part of the manga are the scenarios, in my opinion of course). However, some characters have a very beautiful and pleasant design. I congratulate the author.

3 - Character [5/10] - As explained earlier, this is the worst part of the manga, the development of some characters is superficial, and it is simply disappointing (important characters), the author does not please me in finishing some important characters of the work, who converted their ideas in such simple ways, and were developed so lazily, that it is tiring.

3 - Enjoyment [6/10] - I believe that I may have read this manga wrong, his narrative by itself is very complex, that is, you need to reason everything following a dense logic in each arc, that is, read all at once will make you hate this manga completely. It is a lot of reading and a lot of time dedicated to reading a short chapter of 20 pages. You will enjoy reading this manga, if you like the style, of course, but for several reasons, some arc can be completely stupid if observed from a certain point, the games proposed by the author are brilliant, but the execution of the characters is horrible.

5 - Overall [6/10] - As you can see, I am very disappointed with the author, he had many good ideas to apply, but it was completely childish to apply them. If you don't care about all that, you like incredible protagonists, who just solve anything, and you feel the most for him, this work is for you. Otherwise, you will be cursing the author, and in the end you will be disappointed with another good idea, thrown in the trash.

So I have heard of this well-known horror manga from The Anime Man who mentioned it a couple of times in his videos. I read it this morning and honestly man, I CANNOT stand Nao. She literally reminds me of Bam from TOG who is also a complete utter simp. The amount of her having pointless meltdowns and always be easily tricked by different opponents she mets, literally grinds me f*cking gears man! I know I can be a crybaby myself when certain things happen but her character was literally all over the place. I've heard people says her personality changes overtime but with all due respect, I will still say she's the worst character I've ever crossed in the manga world lol.....

If only it was just about Shinichi and Yuuji partnering up to play the Liar game together, I would've enjoyed reading it no problem. Although I will admit, the story really did drag for me because a lot of things were going on that really weren't clear. What I'm trying to say here is not only the character Nao let me down but the whole plot of the story as well.

Yeah I mean if you don't mind having a typical wimpy character on a horror manga, go ahead and read this. Dont say I didn't warn you weebs!!!

When I first started Liar Game, I had pretty low expectations, thinking it was probably some Death Note rip-off. Boy was I wrong. While at the the beginning, I seriously considered dropping this manga, for reasons I'll explain later,I am EXTREMELY glad I didn't! This is a manga that will leave you at the edge of your seat, begging for more.

Story ~10/10~
So, in a nutshell, a stupidly honest girl gets mixed up in a game where you must lie. The first thing she does is fall for a lie, and seeks help from an ex-scam artist.
All in all, it's pretty original. But if you consider reading this on just the plot alone, you may find it's completely different then what you'd expect. This story explores into the darkest parts of a human's heart; lies, deceit, greed, and selfishness, and one pure girl who looks beyond that.

Art ~7/10~
Ok, this is the first reason I almost dropped this. The art at the beginning is mediocre at best. Eyes that show no emotion, people with oddly shaped heads that triple in size with open mouths, and tiny arms, not to mention the drawing are highly disproportional. (Ex. When standing normally, Nao looks around average height, but when she falls on her knees and bends over to cry, she looks as if she'd be 8 feet tall standing.)
Notice though, I said at the beginning. The art noticeably gets better as the series progresses. The art style gets better, the bodies look proportional, the weird way of drawing lips the make the top one look like a mustache disappears, as does the strange habit the artist has of drawing the eyelashes at the side of the eyes. Although the art doesn't improve to something worthy of great praise, it becomes pretty good.

Character ~10/10~ -prepare for semi-long rant-
The heart and soul of this manga. And the second reason I almost dropped this. At the beginning, this story's major flaw was Kanzaki Nao. Stupid, naive, easy to fool, always relying on other people for help, and a total crybaby. Again, notice I said 'At the Beginning'. As the story goes on, she turns into a strong girl, yet still retains the honest purity she once had. Thanks to this, she's able to realize the "true" (air quotes because this has not yet been 100% confirmed) motive behind the liar game.
The thing that made keep going in this manga was Akiyama Shinichi, the genius swindler recruited by Nao. The word genius is an understatement for this man. Able to bring an entire MLM company to it's knees, not to mention he's only like, 24? I don't really want to go into detail, so I'll just say he's pretty similar to L of Death Note, even having the dark circles under his eyes. (The picture of him on his MAL profile does him no justice though, he's actually fairly good looking) The reasons behind the things he does and his abilities are a bit of a spoiler, so I won't go to much into detail on him.
This cast of characters is perfect for the story, each having their own reason for staying in the game, whether it be for wealth, domination, saving the other contestants, or finding the horrible person behind the Liar Game. Each has their flaws, some more then others, but each one has good in their heart, brought out by Nao and Akiyama, except for one. -*cough*Yokoya*cough*-

Enjoyment/Overall ~10/10~
I thoroughly enjoyed this manga, to the point where I finished 95 chapters in 2 days (Although each chapter is roughly 17-18 pages). It's a manga that will have you thinking about how on earth could Akiyama possibly beat the opponent, only to have a plan so complicated and thought-out that Einstein would be staring at the page with smoke coming out his ears. Truly an amazing manga.

Liar Game is about a honest girl who participates in a crazy tournement called the Liar Game. There is no violence allowed, only lying. The participants can gain a lot of money but they can also lose a lot and that's is whay they are afraid of.

At the beginning you might think this manga is just average but that isn't true. Things are really getting started from chapter 9.

Art:

The art isn't really good but that didn't bother me when I was reading it.

Characters:

The lead characters have got some nice development.
The difference between the characters leads to enjoyable discussions and a lot of arguing.

Enjoyment:

If you liked the mind games in Death Note you will surely like this manga. It can be very ingenious. It keeps you guessing how the hell they came to the solution to win a round.

Overall:

Liar game is an ingenious psycological manga which u can't simply put down.

I randomly picked this manga simply because I liked the name and I was addicted to manags involving strategies at that time. I have never been disappointed with it. The characters are original, fresh, and new. They also seem so real and life-like that I can see people acting in just the same manner they do. I also love how it asks questions about human nature, greed, and the value of money. The way the minds of the main characters work are examined thoroughly and you can clearly see what motivates each one. The Art is unique as well. It just fits the series so well. The story just pulls you in and makes you want to read more. I read 40 chapters in about 2 hours today and I have my summer reading to do!!!! (Ask any of my friends how serious that is. I am a homework freak!!!) If I try to explain how amazing this manga anymore I'll give away major spoilers T-T So it's up to you to read this amazing manga!!! (Warning, not as amazing in the beginning, but just wait a little and then it gets good. Your patience will be rewarded).

I haven't read much chapters so far but I am really looking forward to the next chapter.
The story itself is very original. You find yourself intrigued and surprised every time a lie is revealed and you end up going back in the pages and you are like&quot; OH!! So that how he did it!!&quot; .
The art is good, nothing special about it, it fit the story well.
The characters are interesting,have a lot of depth and humanity to them. Something is always revealed about their background , so they never bore you.
The story is very exciting and fun to read, I would recommend this manga to people who love trying to solve tactics or mysteries and who loves story with psychological games, maybe it wouldn't be much appealing to young audience but hey try it out just in case, you never know. Anyways , HAVE FUN READING!!!

"People SHOULD be doubted. Many people misunderstand this concept. Doubting people is just a part of getting to know them. What many people call 'trust' is really just giving up on trying to understand others, and that very act is far worse than doubting. It is actually 'apathy.'" – Akiyama Shinichi



It is common knowledge that the world is for the most part controlled by money. It is what all humans need to be successful in life, and thus why we spend such a large portion of our lives doing slave work in order to acquire as much of it as possible. Money is the source of almost all greed and desire in this world... and thus also the most vicious means of unlocking the darkest secrets of the human heart.

Imagine that one day, a letter was delivered to your doorstep. A letter telling you how you could win an astronomical sum of money for yourself by merely playing a little game with a few other people. By accepting, you would however also have to risk losing an equally vast sum of money of your own to the other players. In that scenario, would you do it? Would you be willing to put such a fortune, effectively your life on the line for the sake of perhaps getting to live the rest of your life in luxury? And perhaps most important of all... would you be able to live with yourself knowing that in order to win that fortune, you'd have to get it from another player... and thus essentially ruin their life in the process? These are some of the matters you have to come to terms with if you seek to participate in the Liar Game.

The story of this manga primarily follows a college student named Kanzaki Nao who one day gets invited to just this type of game. She's given a box filled with 100 million yen and is told that her former homeroom teacher has been given the same amount. The two of them have 30 days to try to overcome any money they can from the other person. After the time has expired they must pay back the 100 million yen they were provided, but any excess money they were able to acquire from each other they're allowed to keep... but the person who in that case lost the money will instead go into heavy debt.

Unfortunately for Nao however, she is an honest-to-god idiot. She is a person who wholeheartedly believes in the righteousness of human honesty, and thinks that it's a bad thing for people to lie to each other. She wants everyone to get along, trust each other and cooperate. Now this might be a noble mindset for sure, but in these circumstances it only results in her getting tricked, swindled, and completely outsmarted at every given turn. On top of that, she's mentally weak. Whenever she gets to a hard part, instead of fighting back she'll start crying, get down on her knees and beg for mercy. In other words she's the absolute least suitable kind of person imaginable for someone participating in the Liar Game.

But luckily for Nao, she manages to make contact with someone who's willing to help her in the form of an ex-convict and genius swindler named Akiyama Shinichi. And I would just like to say that if every male lead character were as good as Akiyama is, there'd be so much less malice in this world. In my mind, he is one of the absolute best male characters I have ever seen and he's absolutely thrilling to witness. Following in the footsteps of famous characters such as Light and L from Death Note for example, Akiyama is one of those guys that will keep blowing your mind with just how far ahead he's thinking and the insane ideas he comes up with in order to get himself and Nao out of each and every possible situation. On top of being smart and charismatic however, he's also very friendly and loyal to those he cares about. Akiyama is the true driving force behind the Liar Game manga and the main reason you will want to keep reading. He is the type of character that is extremely cool and unpredictable, but at the same time has a very likable personality, and thus someone you really want to cheer for as a reader.

The manga takes place over many smaller arcs, each spanning a different game session. The shorter games only cover a single volume, whereas the longer ones span around three or four. The Liar Game itself is designed as a single large tournament bracket where every round contains a new game. In addition there are also consolation rounds for the losers of every game, where they have a chance to redeem themselves in order to be allowed to continue playing in the competition. The number of players participating in a game varies drastically, sometimes only having a couple people and sometimes being in the mid-twenties. The games themselves are all very different from each other as well; there are games of teamwork, unity, trust, conquest, deceit, domination and many other sorts. The common factor of course being that they're all psychological mind games to some degree, and they all require a respectable amount of strategy, planning and intelligence in order to master. All the games are also some sort of simulation; they come with a setting and a backstory in order to represent something in real life. It can be about smuggling goods to a bank in a foreign country, or about the Japanese wars back in the Sengoku era, or maybe about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. These games are far from mindless, and everything happens for a reason. This is also clearly used by the author in order to make certain points as real-life references and to send certain messages to the readers.

Liar Game is one of the most thrilling and captivating manga I have ever read. Once you start it, there's basically no stopping it, and I personally did pretty much exactly that, namely to read it from start to finish in about 20 hours straight. The games are incredibly well researched, written and presented, all in one smooth package. It has this feeling of excitement where it keeps trying to one-up itself with endless layers of lies upon lies and game-changing moves taking place back and forth in a never-ending upwards spiral of tension. At the same time it also keeps the overarching story going slowly but surely and thus it never feels like any of the arcs are non-essential in the long-run.

Of course there is no such thing as a perfectly flawless work of art and this is no exception. In Liar Game's case the main problem is actually quite blatantly obvious... and it goes under the name of Kanzaki Nao. As I mentioned before, at the start of the manga she's both an idiot and a weakling. Over time as the story goes on, she gradually becomes stronger and stronger mentally, and develops into a person you can wholeheartedly respect and look up to. However the fact that she's a dimwitted moron never changes at any point. Now it's not like you can really blame someone for being stupid, I mean it's not like she can help it. But when the same girl keeps falling for the exact same tricks time after time after time when literally everyone else can see just how blatantly obvious it is that she's getting cheated, it reeeaaaally starts to get on your nerves awfully quickly. As someone said, "If Nao lost 1 yen for every time she got tricked, she'd have lost 100 million yen by now." Like can the girl at least learn from her mistakes or what people try to tell her just once? Please?

That being said, Nao's role is actually very intentional for the sake of the overall story and the quite drastic effect she has on the other characters. I'd like to call her a necessary evil... or maybe necessary good would be a better phrasing as her mindboggling softness has a quite significant impact on how the other characters think and act. Nao functions sort of like the moral compass of Liar Game; like a holy saint willing to take on the sins of others in order to try to save their souls. She doesn't worry about herself, all she wants is for no one else to fall into heavy debt, and instead proclaims that it is the company responsible for the whole Liar Game that is the real enemy, not the other players.

In the same way, if Nao is the heart of the story then Akiyama is the brain. While Nao takes care of the humanitarian issues, Akiyama is the one who's actually resolving all the practical problems and the one coming up with the plans for how to win the games to begin with. Of course no genius protagonist could ever truly show off his skills if he didn't have any sufficiently competent opposition, and this manga naturally has one as well. The main rival of the story is a rich, sneaky bastard named Yokoya who is willing to go to pretty much any lengths in order to prove his superiority. I say any lengths, but it should be noted that all forms of violence is completely forbidden in the Liar Game. There are no darker elements like people being forced to bet their limbs or anything crazy like that in this story; money is the only thing on the line in here. Anyway, Yokoya is really the only one capable of facing off against Akiyama head-to-head, and the battle of wits between them never fail to utterly amaze you with how far they go. Since I mentioned them earlier, think of it as Light vs L again, though with a bit different motives of course. Regardless, every time they play against each other it's absolutely thrilling to witness.

As far as the artwork goes, it's definitely not displeasing for the eyes but it's nothing amazing either. However because of the type of manga that Liar Game is, it really doesn't feel like it matters very much. Essentially all the quality is in the text, and that's what really matters. You'll be fully absorbed trying to take every word into account in order to properly grasp the current situation to the best of your ability. Trying to objectively criticize the artwork will be the last thing on your mind while you're reading it. For the same reason, many of the images in Liar Game do not actually portray characters or backgrounds themselves, but rather consist of tactical displays and graphs in order to try to help the reader get a better understanding of the game itself, and what the players are thinking and planning. It has maps, game boards, cards, arrows and other helpful things along those lines, all in order to make it easier to follow along the crazy train of thoughts that the manga ever so often presents to you.

For the same reason, Liar Game is probably not really a manga for kids (hence the Seinen tag) as it takes a considerable amount of focus and attention in order to really keep up with the plot. However if you can appreciate complicated stories packed to the brim with crazy twists and turns then Liar Game is about as good as it gets. While some arcs are undoubtedly better than others, I still loved all of them and without a shadow of a doubt I consider this as one of the absolute best manga I have ever read. Reading Liar Game brought back emotions from me that I haven't felt from a manga in the last 2.5 years, that's how long it's been since I could effortlessly keep reading the same manga hour after hour completely undistracted and fully absorbed in it, and had the series been any longer I'm sure I would have kept up that same pacing for the rest of it as well. It's just that addictive. It's just that good. And therefore I wholeheartedly encourage you to try it out as well if you like psychological stories, and I can only hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Storyline: 10
The plot is simply original. In most mangas where there are sudden twists, Liar Game is full of them and, they are smartly planned out. Each challenge is psychologically related and also challenging. And they actually make sense. However, the main characters being able to solve each puzzles and use the,'actually, I had already figure that out' phrase does get kinda cheesy, but its still a good read as it keeps you on the edge to know how exactly will the mangaka pull it off.

Characters: 8
The characters are simply down to earth, they really portray just how rotten we humans are and how distrustful we've become of each other. One thing I like about this manga, is that the author made Nao a little smarter than when she first started out. Over the series, she improves and contributes to the series though you may find her to be extremely annoying. Akiyama makes us realise how stupid we, the reader are. New characters also have certain depths to their story but then, the story mainly focuses on solving and figuring out ways to deceive people that you honestly don't give a damn about the minor characters Other than the trio, Nao, Akiyama, Fukunaga and Yokoya not to mention the LGT office are the main focus of the manga. I love Fukunaga to the core. She ( I respect her wishes) is simply amazing as she makes up for Nao's stupidity.

Art:7
the art is nothing special although sometimes it may be a little off. But I give credit to the mangaka for making each character distinguishable from one another. ( I have problems with differentiating characters =_=)

Enjoyment: 9
I'm a sucker for mystery genre manga and I believe most people are too. I usually like mangas with strong female characters but Liar Game is an exception, because it never fails to disappoint me with its plot and not to mention puzzles.

Overall, Liar Game is simply one heck of a puzzle, its basically about humanities strive in trusting one another which is seriously lacking today.

This is an epic story that I have been following for years now, and I can't believe it has finally ended. *cries*

The story is a very VERY intense chess match that isn't filled with cheesy stuff like the power of friendship, but is more on actual logic. It's really unique, and it feels like every move, action, and reaction of the characters has been researched beforehand to make everything that more realistic. The games are probably the best part, and it's probably because of them that I finished this manga.

The art is not that pretty, and the reactions seem very exaggerated, but the story definitely makes up for it. Don't give up on this manga just because you can't stand the art.

The characters are very diverse, with each and every character having a reason for being there. Even the minor characters feel important enough to take note of, which is quite a feat for a manga that has A LOT of minor characters. The character development is also very well done, especially in the main character, Kanzaki Nao. She is very annoying at the beginning, but just bare with her for a while. She gets better as the story progresses. The other main character, Akiyama Shinichi, is somehow the opposite. As Kanzaki improves herself, Akiyama starts to step back from the spotlight to let her get in on the action. They balance each other out, not overshadowing one another.

Now for a *spoiler* that isn't really a spoiler. (Just skip this paragraph if you want to go in completely in the black):
The ending is very rushed, making it quite disappointing. It leaves too many loose ends for me to completely accept it. I personally suggest reading only up to the second to the last game, unless this manga comes with a sequel or an epilogue. I honestly changed my rating from 9 to 8 just because of the ending. Again, that is just my opinion, but consider yourself warned.
-end of pseudo spoiler-

Overall, this manga is an amazing read, and I don't regret rereading it while I was waiting for updates. Very enjoyable read that makes you want to jump in and join in the games (if it wasn't for the incredible risks you would have to take).