GREAT PRETENDER: The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) Blu-ray Review

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Great Pretender is a Japanese anime television series produced by Wit Studio, directed by Kaburagi Hiro, and written by Kosawa Ryōta, and released worldwide by Netflix. The series’ arcs are called “cases” The series’ four cases are “Los Angeles Connection,” “Singapore Sky,” “Snow of London,” and “Wizard of Far East”.

The story revolves around a small-time Japanese con-man, Edamura Makoto, who becomes entangled with a group of international con artists after he tries to con a con, the Belgian Laurent, and then gets drawn into a long con to take down a Los Angeles drug king pin. Other characters include Abigail Jones, an athletic, ill-tempered woman and Laurent’s second-in-command and Cynthia Moore, the charming and attractive middle-aged woman whom Laurent often deploys as a honeypot.

The first case, “Los Angeles Connection,” really sets the stage well for this series, with an incredible twist that tells you exactly what kind of world we are entering and the sort of duplicitous characters in which we are investing. The second case, “Singapore Sky,” is a bit of a letdown after the big reveal of the first and not as easy to swallow as it involves a con of Middle Eastern princes, members of the team learning to repair and fly airplanes and race them. However, this successfully sets up the most concise and, in my opinion, best case of the series, “Snow of London,” in which the team pulls targets a fraudulent art dealer who is himself conning a wealthy aristocratic woman, sets up a fake art auction, and we also find out more about the background of Cynthia. The final case, “Wizard of Far East” takes us back to Edamura’s home country and uncovers truths about his estranged father as the team con an international child trafficking ring and Laurent finally gets revenge for a tragedy from his past.

This is an incredibly bingeable series that gets better with every episode, looks amazing, and is well acted for both Japanese and English versions. And it obviously got an infusion of Netflix bucks being able to get the original Freddie Mercury recording of “The Great Pretender” for the theme song.

What is great about the series is the interaction between the characters, building a believable world of camaraderie and honor among thieves if you will. The well-written characters have depth, motivations, and the storytelling is truly riveting, constantly keeping us wondering what will happen next.

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The Video

Great Pretender arrives on Blu-ray in a 1.78:1 AVC 1080p encodement. Apart from some very faint banding at times in color fills and very spotty areas where mild aliasing can be seen around some line art, this is a satisfying transfer. Some of the issues may very well reside in the original digital rendering/master. The colorful backgrounds come through beautifully without looking oversaturated.

The Audio

Great Pretender gets its original stereo Japanese mix and English dub in LPCM 2.0. While a 5.1 at the very least would have been great for this series, the 2.0 is very good, with clean dialogue, wide stereo panning, and superb dynamic range.

The Supplements

This collection of Great Pretender comes packed with tchotchkes that collectors will love, like a nearly 200-page artbook, 10 art cards, and a double-sided foldout poster. The on-disc special features, all on the final disc in the collection, include mostly the usual for an anime series, like trailers, and clean openings and closings.

Bonus Features:

• 192 Page Art Book
• 10 Art Cards
• Double Sided A3 Poster 
• Spoiler-Filled Exposition Contest with SD Characters (1080p; 00:26:48)
• Trailer Generic (1080p; 00:01:35)
• Trailer All Cases (1080p; 00:01:34)
• Trailer Case 2 (1080p; 00:01:11)
• Trailer Case 3 (1080p; 00:01:22)
• Trailer Case 4 (1080p; 00:01:26)
• Freddie Mercury Music Video (1080p; 00:02:13)
• Someday Music Video (1080p; 00:04:36)
• Clean Opening (1080p; 00:01:05)
• Clean Closing (1080p; 00:02:00)

The Final Assessment

Great Pretender is one of those rare “ensemble” anime series to come along that really gets it right, like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. This collection is a great addition for anime fans. Highly recommended.

Great Pretender: The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) is out now from Shout! Studios

Purchase Great Pretender: Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) on Crunchy Roll

• TV Rating: TV-MA
• Animation Studio: Wit Studio
• Distributors: Netflix | All the Anime | Shout! Studios
• Director: Kaburagi Hiro
• Written By: Kosawa Ryōta
• Run Time: 575 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Video Format: AVC 1080p
• Primary Audio: Japanese LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Secondary Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Subtitles: English | English with Forced Narratives
• Street Date: 12 March 2024