Television series

Great Pretender

Name: Great Pretender
Genre: Action, Anime
Released: 2020
Cast: Chiaki Kobayashi, Junichi Suwabe, Mie Sonozaki, Natsumi Fujiwara

Con-artist caper

A Japanese con artist gets recruited by a suave French grifter into an international crime syndicate pulling elaborate heists across the globe. Great Pretender is a slick, globe-trotting adventure that moves at a sprint, mixing high-stakes cons with genuine character warmth. It's for anyone who loves a good trick, beautiful animation, and stories where the fun never stops.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like heist-style con stories where the cleverness lives in the setup and misdirection, and you enjoy watching sharp talkers trade lies in elegant, stylish set pieces.

Skip it if you want one tightly plotted mystery, since it hops between cons and cities and its mafia violence is harsher than the glossy surface suggests.

What it asks of you: Around twenty-three half-hour episodes asking you to keep pace with dense dialogue, layered deceptions, and stretches of patient scheming before anything lands.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Lupin III1971

A stylish heist anime about a master thief with the same electric pacing, gorgeous animation, and cons-within-cons plotting. If you loved Great Pretender's intelligence and swagger, this is essential.

But The episodic format means less ongoing character development than Great Pretender's ensemble arc, and the tone shifts more dramatically between episodes.

Carole & Tuesday2019

Another gorgeously animated series that spans continents and builds deep friendships amid high-stakes scenarios. Watanabe's direction creates that same sense of drift, danger, and unlikely connection that makes Great Pretender sing.

But It's a musical drama about singers on Mars, so the genre pivot is severe. The pacing is slower and more introspective than con-game adrenaline.

Michiko e Hatchin2008

A road-trip anime following two outsiders bonding while on the run across Japan. It captures that buddy-adventure warmth and the cinematography is stunning—less heist-focused but equally thrilling in its own way.

But It's heavier and more melancholic, with real danger and desperation. The tone is darker than Great Pretender's playful con-games.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Great Pretender

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

Both are con-artist stories built on the pleasure of watching clever people outmaneuver each other, but Great Pretender handles it with genuine affection for its characters where this film treats them as disposable pawns.

A live-action con-game noir where a thief and a private detective navigate LA's criminal underworld with witty dialogue and constant reversals. It has Great Pretender's playful intelligence and that same pleasure in watching smart people scheme.

But It's a brutal, R-rated crime film with graphic violence and sexual content. The humor is mean-spirited and cynical where Great Pretender leans warm.

Durarara!!2010

An ensemble urban thriller with global criminal networks, witty ensemble chemistry, and intricate plots that reward close watching. The same pleasure in watching intelligent people outmaneuver each other.

But The narrative is fragmented across many characters and storylines, which can feel scattered compared to Great Pretender's focused crew dynamic.

The Boys2019

Charismatic antiheroes pulling off impossible jobs against powerful enemies with sharp dialogue and genuine stakes. It has that same blend of clever scheming and character depth, just in live-action superhero territory.

But It's far darker and more violent, with sexual content and bleak themes. The tone is cynical where Great Pretender remains fundamentally fun.

The Ocean's 11 Story2001

The spiritual grandfather of every modern con-game story: beautiful people, impossible plans, slick execution, and genuine charm. If you love the heist mechanics and style, this is where it started.

But It's a 122-minute film rather than a series, so less time to develop character relationships. The humor skews toward Rat Pack suaveness rather than anime's visual comedy.

Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace2015

A mystery anime with similarly slick direction and an ensemble of brilliant misfits solving impossible cases. The visual style and character chemistry carry the same sense of dangerous competence.

But It's darker and weirder, built on tragic backstories. Less about the joy of the con and more about psychological damage.

No. 62011

A compact anime about two boys navigating a dystopian conspiracy with wit and growing intimacy. The same attention to character development within a high-stakes plot, beautifully animated.

But At eleven episodes, it's brief and rushes its ending. The focus is emotional connection rather than heist mechanics, which might feel slower.

Tower of God2020

A Korean webtoon anime with clever characters scheming through impossible trials, gorgeous animation, and real stakes. The ensemble dynamics and tournament-style plotting share Great Pretender's DNA.

But It's the first arc of a much longer story, so it ends on an unresolved note. The tone shifts between comedy and tragedy unevenly.

Arsène Lupin2004

Both feature charming French characters with impeccable taste orchestrating heists, but where Great Pretender is kinetic and global, this is grounded in Parisian history and class romance.

A French miniseries about the legendary gentleman thief pulling elaborate heists across Paris. It's beautifully shot, moves fast, and understands that a good con is performance art. The same international elegance runs through both.

But It's a live-action period piece with slower pacing and a more romantic tone. The episodic cons are less visually dynamic than animation allows.

Moulin Rouge!2001

Both understand that the greatest con is making the audience believe in something beautiful, and both marry criminal cleverness to pure theatrical joy—one through anime's kinetic cuts, one through Luhrmann's operatic excess.

A maximalist musical about con artists, seduction, and spectacle in turn-of-century Paris. It shares Great Pretender's visual exuberance, its understanding that a con is pure theater, and that style is substance.

But It's a three-hour emotional melodrama told almost entirely through music and dance. The heist plot is secondary to a tragic love story, and the camp aesthetic won't appeal to everyone.