- Liar Game
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Liar Game 
The first tankōbon of Liar Game as published by Shueisha featuring Nao Kanzaki (center) and Shinichi Akiyama (right) on the cover.ライアーゲーム
(Raiā Gēmu)Genre Drama, Psychological, Mystery Manga Written by Shinobu Kaitani Published by Shueisha Demographic Seinen Magazine Weekly Young Jump Original run 2005 – ongoing Volumes 13 TV drama Directed by Hiroaki Matsuyama, Ayako Taiboku Music by Yasutaka Nakata Network Fuji TV Original run April 14, 2007 – June 23, 2007 Episodes 11 TV drama Directed by Hiroaki Matsuyama, Ayako Taiboku Music by Yasutaka Nakata Network Fuji TV Original run November 10, 2009 – January 19, 2010 Episodes 9 Live-action film Liar Game - The Final Stage Directed by Hiroaki Matsuyama Music by Yasutaka Nakata Licensed by Pony Canyon Released March 6, 2010 Runtime 133 minutes Liar Game (ライアーゲーム Raiā Gēmu) is a Japanese manga series originally written and illustrated by Shinobu Kaitani. The manga was first serialized in 2005 in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Young Jump, published by Shueisha. It was later adapted into a TV series, which started airing on April 14, 2007 on Fuji TV, achieving a 11.4 viewership rating in Japan's Kantō region.
The manga has also been translated into Chinese[citation needed] and into Dutch. In Italy the series is licensed by Planeta DeAgostini.[citation needed].
Contents
Plot
At the start of the manga, the lead protagonist - a scrupulously honest college student named Nao Kanzaki - receives a package containing 100 million yen (about 1 million dollars) and a note that she is now a contestant in the Liar Game Tournament. In this fictional tournament, contestants are encouraged to cheat and lie to obtain other contestants' money; those who lose have to bear a 100-million-yen debt. When Nao's first opponent - a trusted friend and teacher - steals her money, she seeks assistance from a con man named Shin'ichi Akiyama. Though they manage to defeat the teacher, Nao and Akiyama decide to buy out his debt and advance through different rounds of the Liar Game Tournament against merciless contestants, while at the same time attempting to free their opponents from debt and to defeat the Liar Game organization from within.
Characters
Protagonists
Nao Kanzaki (神崎 直 Kanzaki Nao): Nao Kanzaki is a "foolishly honest" college student, who is coerced into playing the Liar Game. She is extremely honest and, initially, naïve, but these attributes allow her to win the trust of fellow contestants in the Liar Game. Nao is often able to make profound insights concerning the Liar Game and human nature and gradually learns to question others while maintaining her ability to trust her allies. Although Nao has had several opportunities to leave the Liar Game, she continues to play because she wishes to save the other players who have fallen into debt. Nao's only known surviving family member is her father, who is in the hospital with terminal cancer.
Shinichi Akiyama (秋山 深一 Akiyama Shin'ichi): Akiyama is a graduate of Teito University with a master's degree in psychology, who became a "genius" con man in order to take down the Multi-level marketing corporation that swindled his mother and drove her to suicide. In Volume 1 he has just been released from prison and agrees to help Nao in the Liar Game because her honest nature reminds him of his mother. Akiyama enters the Liar Game himself in Round 2 by substituting for another player, and by Round 3 is a respected, and feared, unofficial leader among the Liar Game's contestants, although he recognizes Nao as the group's true leader. Akiyama's motivation for continuing in the Liar Game is to destroy the entire Liar Game Tournament organization.
Antagonists
Kazuo Fujisawa (藤沢 和雄 Fujisawa Kazuo): Nao's former teacher and opponent in Round 1, who was originally a kind man concerned about the welfare of his students. After a series of misfortunes, Fujisawa has become angry, hateful, and mistrustful. Nao is shocked when he outright tells her he doesn't care if she goes into debt or is forced into prostitution to pay it back. Fujisawa's behavior, however, only solidifies Akiyama's decision to help Nao. At the end of Round 1 when Akiyama outsmarts Fujisawa but Nao gives Fujisawa her winnings to that he can repay his debt, Fujisawa is last seen bowing to her in gratitude.
Yuji Fukunaga (福永 ユウジ Fukunaga Yuuji): A male-to-female transvestite who first appears in Round 2, where she poses as a woman named Hitomi. Sly, calculating, and a 5th degree black belt, Fukunaga is a skilled manipulator whose weaknesses appear to be her desire for money and her temper. During Round 3, Fukunaga learns to cooperate with Nao and Akiyama, and even when Fukunaga finishes the round debt-free, she chooses to continue in the tournament to aid them. In later chapters, Fukunaga recognizes Nao's improvement and starts to get fond of her, although still believes her incompetent. Nao also observes that Fukunaga may have a crush on Akiyama. After Fukunaga's transvestite identity is revealed, the Japanese text deliberately avoids referring to "her" by gender. (In the live version this character is still male, but with a vaguely homosexual overtone).
Norihiko Yokoya (横谷 憲彦 Yokoya Norihiko): A character obsessed with domination, Yokoya first appears in Round 3. He is a calm, dark-haired man, who is often shown carrying mice. Nearco describes Yokoya as Akiyama's greatest rival, and Nao senses something odd about him early in the game. Yokoya comes from a wealthy family, and his strategy is frequently to bribe other contestants into becoming his pawns. His team is depicted as a dictatorship, as opposed to Nao's cooperative team. Although Yokoya initially plans to drop out of the Liar Game with his Round 3 winnings, Nao tricks him into proceeding to the next round, and Yokoya sworns to bring down Nao and Akiyama in revenge.
Takashi Harimoto (ハリモト タカシ Harimoto Takashi): Harimoto wears long robes and a straw hat. He has deep wrinkles, which hints that he may be the oldest character introduced so far. Unlike Akiyama and Yokoya, who both excel at psychological and mental manipulation, Harimoto's strength lies in taking advantage of a person's emotional state. He first appears in Round 4, as the founder of the Peaceful Paradise cult. Three female members of his cult - Mika Mikamoto, Kei Kimura, and Yukiko Abe - are also contestants in the Liar Game and follow him unconditionally, giving him a strong advantage. He controls his cult members by telling them that all outsiders are demons and must be defeated and destroyed as a matter of virtue.
Liar Game Tournament (LGT) Office
The name of the organization that runs the Liar Game Tournament and its purpose have not yet been revealed in the manga. Rather, a number of employees of the LGT Office have been shown, who manage the rounds of the game. Two types of employees have been shown so far: "handlers" who manage individual contestants and provide information on upcoming rounds, and "hosts" who carry out the actual rounds of the Liar Game and observe the contestants.
Teruo Tanimura (谷村 光男 Tanimura Teruo): A man who posed as a lawyer (a policeman in the live-action) and whom Nao first consults when she gets involved in the Liar Game Tournament. It isn't revealed until later that he is actually part of the Liar Game Tournament working to make sure players can't escape the game by going to the authorities. Tanimura is the Liar Game representative assigned to Nao. It was Tanimura who initially gives Nao the idea of using a scam artist to win the game (in the live-action adaptation, this was deliberately done in order to bait Akiyama into participating in the game).
Leronira (レロニラ Reronira): One of the hosts of the Liar Game, he wears a suit and an ornate mask over his face. Although he admires Akiyama and Fukunaga for their intelligence, he admits to being most interested in how Nao plays the games. In the live-action adaptation, he is the masked figure who gives players instructions via recorded videos or through a monitor.
Nearco (ネアルコ Nearuko): A co-host of the Liar Game with Leronira who looks exactly like him but with a different mask, one with a long moustache. First appearing in Round 3, Nearco admires Yokoya, describing him as a fearsome individual, and cannot understand Leronira's interest in Nao.
Solario (ソラリオ Sorario): A third host of the Liar Game, he looks similar to the previous hosts, except his mask has a sun on the right eye. Solario becomes quickly interested in Nao when she realizes the objective of Revival Round 2 before he expected her to.
Forli (フォオリ Foori): A fourth host of the Liar Game who appears similar to the other round dealers, but with a suit and bowtie. His clothes are a bit scraggly-looking, his hair stands out, and his mask resembles the face-paint of a clown in the Renaissance with long, oval markings on each of where his eyes and mouth should be. He hosts the Round 4 Qualifier for Akiyama and Nao's side, rooting for them and tending to fall completely for all of Akiyama's plans, even though he's not involved and knows all the rules of the game. Forli is more "goofy" than the other hosts.
Kurifuji (栗藤 Kurifuji): A woman long dark hair, who wears sunglasses and a surgical mask across her mouth to cover her face. Kurifuji is assigned to Yokoya and often advocates his skills above other Liar Game contestants.
Alsab (アルサブ Arusabu): A fifth host of the Liar Game, who hosts Round 4 and its Qualifier for Fukunaga's side. His mask has a ying-yang symbol on the forehead; ☵ (water) i-ching symbol on the left cheek of mask; and ☲ (fire) i-ching symbol on the right cheek in a manner somewhat reminiscent of the South Korean flag.
Media
Manga
Main article: List of Liar Game chaptersLiar Game started serialization in 2005 (September 16, 2005) in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump.[1] As of October 2010, the series continues with 13 tankōbon released, the latest on September 17, 2010.[1][2] A short story "Roots of A" has been published as the title piece of a Shinobu Kaitani's anthology released in July 2008.[3]
Live-action television Series
Liar Game has been adapted into a Japanese television series: Liar Game, a 2007 Fuji series broadcast, followed in 2009 by Liar Game 2. In 2010 the film Liar Game: The Final Stage was released, which is a continuation of the TV series. A new film will be released in 2012.[4]
Background
Shinobu Kaitani was inspired to write Liar Game after visiting a local beer pub in Kagoshima.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b "LIAR GAME 1" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=4-08-876855-8. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
- ^ "LIAR GAME 13" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=978-4-08-879026-8. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ "LIAR GAME roots of A 甲斐谷忍 短編集" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=978-4-08-877476-3. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
- ^ "Liar Game Manga Gets 2nd Live-Action Film Next March". Anime News Network. October 5, 2011. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-10-05/liar-game-manga-gets-2nd-live-action-film-next-march. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
External links
- Liar Game (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- TV Drama Official Site (Japanese)
Categories:- Manga series
- Japanese television dramas
- Japanese films
- Japanese television series
- Gambling television programs
- Manga of 2005
- Seinen manga
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