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REVIEW: Great Pretender Razbliuto Anime Movie Review




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fathomlessblue



Joined: 28 Mar 2012
Posts: 348
Location: Manchester, UK
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 1:10 pm Reply with quote
I feel pretty conflicted about more Great Pretender. Honestly, while the animation & colour scheme were superb, & I initially enjoyed liked of the cast, the actual heists always felt both overblown & underwhelming. And that was before we got into the final arc that found ways of becoming so repugnant that it genuinely soured me on the series as a whole (Makoto angst leading him to becoming committed to the child-trafficking trade, the hideous prior villains showing up as wacky frenemy accomplices, etc). The show ended up at such a place where I honestly never wanted to see most of the cast again.

The sole exception of course being Dorothy, who was such a delightfully charismatic & energetic presence that I feel compelled to check out the movie for her focus at all. I guess I can ignore all the usual plot-holes & contrivances if it gives me more time with her hyper-suave gremlin routine.
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Gnarth



Joined: 06 Oct 2023
Posts: 175
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 1:51 pm Reply with quote
I really liked Great Pretender until the final episode. Production wise is close to perfect and the characters were built up really well; the third arc is my favourite and it was genuinely emotional. The last arc started well, it did a good job with Laurent's past and I liked the darker turn as it looked like Makoto was finally going to have his time to develop past walking joke.

Unfortunately the last episode completely destroys and spits on everything that was built before it. Sure, the show never took itself too seriously, but it had some depth and emotional moments, the characters were developed and went through serious arcs. The ending decides to simply throw all of that away and just conclude with an intentionally contrived and farcical pile of nonsense. When I saw Cynthia laughing and smiling next to the art dealer I pretty much checked out.

And then it turns out Dorothy is alive, if anyone still thought there were any stakes or narrative consistency left. So yeah, not very excited for this and the review just confirms what was pretty much guaranteed. I also really don't get why they're making a sequel about such a marginal character that already served her purpose and not the established cast that, while ruined, I can still kind of like.
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MrPuzzles



Joined: 27 Sep 2023
Posts: 152
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:08 pm Reply with quote
Wait...movie?

This...was never a series?
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Glordit



Joined: 11 Sep 2020
Posts: 469
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 3:23 pm Reply with quote
MrPuzzles wrote:
Wait...movie?

This...was never a series?


They released a part of the series as a film. The series itself is coming out later in February.
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Jay_Stone



Joined: 15 Oct 2016
Posts: 144
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 4:25 pm Reply with quote
Glordit wrote:
MrPuzzles wrote:
Wait...movie?

This...was never a series?


They released a part of the series as a film. The series itself is coming out later in February.


Good to hear. I was kinda disappointed when I saw it was only a movie but glad to hear there is more
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sneakysnake128



Joined: 14 Sep 2010
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:30 am Reply with quote
Well, that was a disappointment. Film spent most of its time going back and forth for the middle portion only for everything to abruptly wrap up in the last 5 minutes with no real catharsis.
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