Great Pretender (new WIT Studio project)

[Irenesharda]

A great end to this arc.

Spoiler for Ep. 14:

A great conclusion to the story. They took Coleman for all he was worth and made sure to protect Farrah, who was a poor victim in the whole thing.

Thomas and Cynthia are now on amicable terms and I hope one day they can get together again once she's through with the con-artist game.

And OF COURSE Laurent planned the whole thing. I have a feeling that somehow he's helping each of his "merry men" by doing these cons. It's not for the money, it's to give them a new start to life.

I know why Edamame did the switch, especially considering all Thomas has gone through. Though I somehow get the feeling Laurant knew that too.

The man knows everything!

Also, we'll be getting to his story next. Who is or was Dorothy?

[TinyRedLeaf]

I originally posted this on Reddit, but I'll re-post it here as well.

Spoiler for Episode 14:

A fantastic conclusion to Cynthia's arc.

(1) I now realise why Cynthia was so touchy about having her portrait being done by Laurent at the beginning of the arc. Given her past, she probably feels that the only person she'd allow to do a portrait of her again is Thomas. And even then, she probably won't want another painting of her done again any more. By throwing away her ring at the end, she has cast away the final vestiges of her past, and moved on.

(2) Maybe it's just me, but I've never had a particularly high regard for the valuation of so-called art, especially modernist art. So much of the process of valuing art seems to me to be a con job in itself, except that it's legitimised by the auctioning process. Does anyone recall the recent farce over a "modern art" piece comprising a banana duct-taped to the wall? There were people who actually paid as much as $120,000 for the piece.

It made absolutely no sense to me. It's just a case of rich people conspiciously flaunting their wealth. In that light, I feel a certain smug satisfaction in seeing the auctioneer become both the villain and the victim of this story.

(3) But what if I take that line of thought down a different philosophical route? What makes a piece of art special? Technical mastery is a given, of course. A painting has to be technically unique in some way to qualify as a masterpiece. That's a bare minimum requirement.

Beyond that, however, it's really up to the eye of the beholder. Art is great simply because you enjoy it, either because it makes you happy, or because it stirs some other deeper emotion within you and reminds you of your humanity.

In this light, what Thomas said at the beginning of this episode was absolutely correct and particularly insightful: An artist begins his journey by working on his technique, typically by imitating the works of other great artists. Through trial and error, and relentless practice, he'd one day find his own style and insight to share with the world, a point of view that is uniquely his own.

That's what Thomas achieved in the end with his own version of Snow of London. Is it really fake? Well, the owners of the boarding house liked it better than the original. So, yeah, Edamaru is right, the "fake" is no mere copy. I'd say it's even better than the real thing, because of the circumstances under which it was created.

On a similar note: What makes a con a con? Is it still a con if it's for a good cause? I'll leave you to muse over that little nugget.

(4) I'm still not quite certain about the intended symbolism this time around of having Edamura draw a gatcha figurine of King Edward VIII. At first, I thought he was the king who delivered the fateful speech that signalled the UK's entry into the Second World War, but that was George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II.

Edward VIII was King George's elder brother, the one who abdicated the throne to marry an American divorcee. If it were George VI, I would venture the guess that it's about how to "fake it till you make it" (King George had a terrible stutter and was terrified of public speaking, but he trained hard until he could finally deliver passable speeches). But since it's Edward VIII, I'm not sure what the deeper meaning is supposed to be.

[Wandering Soul]

Spoiler for episode 14:

That was good ending to this arc. Another heist pulled off and they even spared Farrah of any collateral damage.

Cynthia made amends with her past and even parted from Thomas on good terms. Who knows, maybe they can meet up again after she's done with her con artist career.

I'm not the least bit surprised Laurent planned this entire thing to give Cynthia closure. One of his goals probably is to help each member of his team leave a more fulfilled person than they joined it.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler for episode 9 and 10:

Would I be giving Laurent too much credit if I assumed one of his goals was for Abby to confront and overcome her past?

Yes.

Spoiler for Tneory about the eventual ending:

There's not much expressly Japanese content in Great Pretender, but the capsule toys are an interesting angle. We already know that Makoto fancies himself Totoyomi Hideyoshi, and after "Singapore" we know Abby is Akechi Mitsuhide. Does that mean Laurent is Oda Nobunaga? That has interesting implications for how the series might eventually end.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Yes.

Spoiler for Tneory about the eventual ending:

There's not much expressly Japanese content in Great Pretender, but the capsule toys are an interesting angle. We already know that Makoto fancies himself Totoyomi Hideyoshi, and after "Singapore" we know Abby is Akechi Mitsuhide. Does that mean Laurent is Oda Nobunaga? That has interesting implications for how the series might eventually end.

I'm not going to pretend to know much about Japanese history, I only know those characters from the many anime they've been in. So I couldn't begin to theorize there. And it kind of gets thrown when Makoto gets Edward VIII in the 3rd arc. So, the figure might not apply to the characters themselves but to the arcs they are in? Like as an overall theme?

Spoiler for What Laurent is Doing:

However, after this latest arc with Cynthia, I think that Laurent is indeed trying to help his teammates confront and overcome their past. At least considering the last statements Cynthia and Laurent had when we discover that he knew everything the whole time and meant to drag Coleman into the mix all along. And the statement he made about the past when he was commenting to "Dorothy". Laurent knew about Luis and his connection with Abby and so he set that whole thing up, even though it didn't give him much of a payday.

I think for some reason Laurent is doing this to help them. We don't even know how Abby and Cynthia got pulled into his crew. I think we'll see that when we get to his story.

I'm guessing we'll have two more arcs, one for Laurent in Shanghai and then going back to Tokyo to do the finale and wrap some things up for Edamura.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Yes.

I guess you're being facetious?

Spoiler for episode 14:

Laurent didn't confirm his involvement, but he didn't deny it either. And if he did that for Cynthia, chances are extremely high it was the same with Abby. It's also obvious he's "The Great Pretender" and that he isn't as carefree and jolly as he pretends to be.

This arc had a really great conclusion once again. I'm glad Thomas and Cynthia got to talk things out and were able to move on. I figured Edamura was going to switch the paintings when his gaze lingered a bit too long on the briefcases, but I was confused why he'd do that. Although part of me is disappointed that Coleman did end up with the real thing, I really liked Edamura's reasoning for bringing back Thomas' painting. Edamura really is the heart of the team, and I suspect that's the real reason Laurent brought him on board. He can bring things out of people that no one else can.

Glad they managed to save Farrah from Coleman's grasp too. She should treasure her faithful butler.

As for who Dorothy was, Laurent's deceased lover seems like the most likely option given the ED's visuals. Don't ask me about the cats.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I guess you're being facetious?

No, but I can't really comment as I've only seen through episode 10.

[Uribatake]

Just finished watching the first arc, and while this show is entertaining and beautiful to look at, not to mention the ED sung by the peerless Freddie Mercury, it's exactly the kind of story that was ruined for me by Rick and Morty episode 4x03, down to the

Spoiler:

"the lawmen were actually con-men as well" twist. Still, Edamura's decision at the end caught me off-guard and made me more interested in where the show is going.

Edit: now that I've seen all 14 episodes that have been released so far, I must say I enjoyed the second and third arcs much more than the first one. This show just works better for me when Laurent and co. don't keep Edamura (and the viewers, by extension) in the dark about the scams they're running.

[Kanon]

Anyone know when Netflix JP will release the next bach of episodes? Nothing this week, apparently.

Originally Posted by Uribatake

Edit: now that I've seen all 14 episodes that have been released so far, I must say I enjoyed the second and third arcs much more than the first one. This show just works better for me when Laurent and co. don't keep Edamura (and the viewers, by extension) in the dark about the scams they're running.

He's always kept in the dark on some level, but I get what you mean. In the first arc he was pretty much an outsider they were making use of. Now he's actually part of the team, whether he likes it or not.

[Nachtwandler]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Anyone know when Netflix JP will release the next bach of episodes? Nothing this week, apparently.



He's always kept in the dark on some level, but I get what you mean. In the first arc he was pretty much an outsider they were making use of. Now he's actually part of the team, whether he likes it or not.

It was announced from the start that it will air in two parts, so I presume a long break. Just hope it's not till September or so.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Nachtwandler

It was announced from the start that it will air in two parts, so I presume a long break. Just hope it's not till September or so.

I didn't remember that. That sucks. Definitely hope the wait won't be too long.

[Irenesharda]

New promo for Great Pretender came out. Shows some new scenes for those of us who are already caught up on all the released episodes. Next case (Laurent's) will be called "The Wizard of the Far East".

YouTube

https://youtu.be/NB0-u9eRhPk

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Guardian Enzo]

So now I'm thinking - maybe Laurent is the cat?

[Marcus H.]

I've decided to finish the first two cases before making a post on my first thoughts, so here we go.

Los Angeles Connection is pretty much the story of Edamame and the grayness of circumstances. The guy has a pretty strong sense of justice because of his lawyer father, though his father's involvement in a human smuggling ring and the ensuing collapse of his mother's health brought everything crashing down. Being entangled into Laurent's business brought him to meet the former gang leader Salazar, who like him was forced into doing shady things for the sake of someone they deemed important. Laurent's interest towards Edamame was interesting in itself; why put this much effort into bringing up some random Japanese guy into what can be considered the lynchpin of his plan to take Cassano's money? This may be something that would be brought up in future cases, but I had a hunch that Laurent was seeing part of himself in Edamame. After all, their confidence man group only targets people who are up to no good anyway.

The same interaction occurred in Singapore Sky, where this time, Abigail becomes a pilot for a team designed to wiggle into the rigged (almost WWE-tier scripting, I swear) air racing series by the Ibrahim brothers. However, it is a bit heavy on the details as Abigail's past as a former child soldier was revealed, and by sheer coincidence, one of the former pilots in the competition, Lewis/Lewis Mueller, was an Air Force soldier deployed to bomb down Baghdad, where Abigail was once such victim of the bombings. Turns out, they somehow had the same idea of wanting to be in a good spot to die. (I felt like even if Abby would slit out Lewis there, it won't be as fulfilling as the guy wanted himself dead anyway.) Anyway, by the end of the case, things haven't improved between Edamame and Abby, but well, she has her personal hell to deal with, and now may be too soon in opening her heart to a new friend or ally.

As for the next case, who's next? Chances are that it's Cynthia's turn for some exposition.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

So now I'm thinking - maybe Laurent is the cat?

I think Laurent is the guy kissing the woman at the end of the ED. He has Laurent's shape, shirt style, and hair style.

[Guardian Enzo]

It'd be more fun if he was the cat. And the cat could be that guy, actually - same person.

[Chosen_Hero]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

I think Laurent is the guy kissing the woman at the end of the ED. He has Laurent's shape, shirt style, and hair style.

I've been thinking that they are Makoto's parents because his mom was the one into cats and because the male shape looks like his dad.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

I've been thinking that they are Makoto's parents because his mom was the one into cats and because the male shape looks like his dad.

The ED features Laurent's ring, it's about him. Not to mention the song. I do think Makoto's dad will get involved at some point, but he's not an important enough character to get the ED to himself.

[SeijiSensei]

So it's now available on Netflix in the US. I only watched a couple of moments but was amused to see this billboard at the beginning:



Apparently the vending machine has joined electric lines to become an icon for Japan.

When I first heard about this show, it was close to the release date (today). So rather than torrenting the individual episodes I decided to wait. Probably won't start watching until tomorrow or the weekend since I want to watch Biden's acceptance speech tonight.

[Nachtwandler]

Looks like the Netflix JP airing will contionue on September 21st. I presume they'll show arc 4 and a week later arc 5.