Monday, May 14, 2007

Liar Game eps 1-4

Be still my beating heart....

OMG! Finally a show really worth watching! Toda Erika plays this girl who is much too honest to the point of stupidity who gets pulled into a game called Liar Game. Basically she is given a hundred million yen and has to swindle her opponent who was given the same money. Any amount that she manages to get will be her prize money. She then finds out that a favourite teacher of hers is her opponent and unwittingly goes to see him.


Don't want to spoil the story but basically this show is about games of lies and deceit and this honest girl who is drawn into it. She then enlists the aid of a swindler, Akiyama to help her get out of the game. The only negative thing I've got to say about this show is that there are plot holes. However, I couldn't care less as I just look forward to the solutions.

The Liar game assistants are sexy. :)

Its hard to write a full proof plot involving games of deceit and it does a much better job compared to Kurosagi which was a horrible show IMO. I just want to see how Akiyama plays the game. Fuck, I can't wait for ep 5 to be subbed.

This picture does not do justice to how kawaii she is....

And the best thing of the show: Toda Erika! OMFG, she is soooooooo good. Seriously, she is so close to displacing Hirosue Ryoko off my favourite actress list. She just plays the innocent and baka girl so well that one can't help staring at her everytime she's on the screen. Of all the young actresses out there, she's the one who has shown the most range.

The S&M joke is a classic!

From playing the yankee girl in Galcir to playing Misa in the Death Note movies. Not to mention she is so fucking moe. I can't believe they put this show on at 11pm at night and crap like Joudan Janai get prime time. Seriously, its time to push her as a main actress.

I don't care whether she's S or M. Or she can be both. :)

Get this show now! You won't regret it!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems like I'm one of the rare few that's not really crazy about Toda Erika.

She's got the looks but for the time being, I don't really see her as main actress material.

IMO, there's a number of other young actresses that have greater potential and range like Nagasawa Masami, Miyazaki Aoi, Inoue Mao, Ueno Juri.

Anonymous said...

^that's a good list of actresses. I would put Toda in the same boat as Ueno in that they seem comfortable in front of the camera. I'm not sure if the other three have the same level of acting chop.

This is definitely my favorite drama of this season so far. There are many holes in the plot, but not enough to detract you from enjoying the show. And this is a show you can watch couple of times, and have a lot of "ah~" moments.

I think the guy who plays Akiyama has improved quite a bit from his HYD1 day. This drama will serve as a nice launch pad for him. I think he's a lot more fun and endearing to watch than Yamapi, who has a range of percussion triangle. (And so far is ruining Proposal Daisakusen)

Anyway, I gotta get ep 5. The ending of ep 4 was awesome.

Anonymous said...

The only problem is there's not enough material in the manga on which the drama is based to last 11 episodes. So what the writers/director did was to dumb down the plot and added a lot of unnecessary scenes, some of which just don't make any sense from the logic/math point of view. And episode 5 is starting to drag which does not bode well for a satisfying original ending (the manga is still ongoing).

Anonymous said...

Hi Akiramike,

I'm in agreement with you! This is one show I'm enjoying this season (along with Proposal Daisakusen--can't wait to read your review on it. Any other recommendations?)

I'm a convert of Toda Erika by this show. She's just so cute and moe.

Anonymous said...

Ah I didn't realize there was a manga original. I guess not having read it is working in my favor in terms of enjoying the show.

My only problem so far with this show is it's all taking place in-door. I mean, they probably could've shot ep 1-5 in a week! I would like to see some outdoor.

Anonymous said...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=H3PVjCzkJWc

^ this one's for Toda Erika hater. lol

Akiramike said...

Toda Erika really impressed me in Galcir and Death Note. The reason I'm so crazy about her is that she has done a great job in her shows I have seen, particularly in Galcir.

And forget about the main actor. He is such an improvement over so many of those johnnys and has the cool factor.

Jung: this is a midnight dorama. In other words, it low budget which is why it impresses me evern more. They've managed to use limited sets to tell a compelling story. The other midnight shows I've seen have crappy stories with lots of eye candy which makes this show even more impressive.

Haven't read the manga but I disagree on 'unnecessary' scenes. Obviously they don't have the luxury of side stories to pad up the run time so they need to lengthen stuff and scenes. I would think of it as an necessary evil.

Anonymous said...

Adding additional scenes is fine as long as they don't introduce plot holes and logic gaffes that are so laughable that a decent junior high level math student (at least where I came from) can spot them right away. I guess my comments were made in defense of the manga, just in case someone thinks the orginal manga must be no good based on what transpired in the drama.

Anonymous said...

Just to wrap up my comments, I don't think it's a bad show. I like it's music, artwork, sets; Erika Toda is definitely a plus and Matsuda Shoto did a very good job bringing the character in the manga to life. Just don't concentrate too much on the logic; read the manga instead if you're really insterested in the story (the drama will end before the manga does).

Anonymous said...

In case anyone is interested in getting more scoop on LGT's chief assistant, she's called Kichise Michiko and she has a blog (in Japanese but lots of pictures) :-)

http://kichisemichiko.livedoor.biz/

Anonymous said...

This is probably the best show this season with only one flaw...not long enough!!!! It reminds me of Kurosagi as well, which I loved. This one is more clever I believe and more realistic. I can somewhat see myself pulling some of the stunts here. Erika is so fione!