The Great Pretender is one of the most entertaining and notable animes that also spreads awareness about one of the most crucial social issues, which is the queer community. This is an original anime that has been very nicely written by Ryota Kwasa and fittingly directed by Hiro Kabugri. It received several praise-worthy critics and was rated a solid eight out of ten by IMDb. The show is a bender between comedy and mind-boggling plot twists. The plot is divided into several cases that revolve around a con man and another swindler.
There were four major cases which are the episodes that started airing in June 2020 and ended in September 2020. The visual effects are also very compelling and hence have attracted a huge fan base. If you are one of those fans who were also in absolute awe of The Great Pretender and kept wanting for more then here are a few suggestions of similar anime. These anime resemble the Great Pretender concept in their individualistic way and even apart from that, these will be an exciting watch for all the viewers.
1. Jing: King Of Bandits
Jing: King Of Bandits was based on a certain part of a manga series created by Yuichi Kumakura. It was turned into an anime by Studio Deen in 2002 with the help of director Hiroshi Watanabe. The series went on from May to August in 2002. This anime series also has great action scenes with an amazing art scheme that builds an adventurous aura. Just like The Great Pretender, this anime is also a line-up of several missions that need a lot of smart work and hard work. The main plot revolves around the character of Jing who usually takes the lead in solving the mission. It also has a heavy comic element from the start as it starts with showing how the powerful main character is a kid even though he considers himself to be a king of the bandits.
2. Death Note
Another thrilling anime with a surprising psychological chase is Death Note. Currently available on Netflix, this show was originally launched by Madhouse alongside multiple producers. The director of the show was Tetsuro Araki. It was also inspired by a Japanese manga series called Tsugumi Ohba. How similar is it to The Great Pretender? Both the shows have a light-hearted comedy lining and a plotline based on planned schemes and exciting turns. Death Note is even more gripping as it talks of a person named Light who owned a notebook called the Death Note which allowed him to see the God of Death always floating behind him against his will. By chance, if you think this anime is thrilling in the sense of spiritual horror you must think beyond. There’s another catch that makes the story interesting which is that the notebook gives him the power to end someone’s life just by writing their name on it. The boy uses this secretive capability to kill the bad guys till he becomes a bad guy himself.
3. Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop is another adventurous anime show that has close reference with The Great Pretender. This show got a very rating of 8.8 out of 10 by IMDb It is science fiction series that has come into creating with the Sunrise media house and the fabulous direction of Shinichiro Watanabe. It was launched on several channels from 1998 to 1999. It has a total of twenty-six episodes that are very compact and amazingly framed to portray the entire concept.
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4. Kakegurui
Kakegurui is also about gambling and the irony of fate in our lives. It also plays with the psychological bends and flips. It uses several gripping events to keep the viewers hooked. This is also available on Netflix. This has been inspired by a manga series called Homura Kawamoto and illustrated by Toru Nomura. The story takes place at a high school called Hayakkaou Private Academy. It is not like the other academic institutions. It has a special feature where the hierarchy is purely decided by an individual’s worth at Gambling. A new transfer student called Yumeko Jabami has joined who has an extremely layered personality because as innocent as she seems she has a scary addiction to gambling that stirs things up in the high school.
5. Banana Fish
Banana Fish is also an anime that helps promote awareness and shows support to the queer community that is struggling to gain acceptance in the world. It is an action anime series that has been based on a manga series with the same name created by Akimi Yoshida. It is directed by Hiroko Utsumi and produced by Yuka Okayasu and Kyoko Uryu. MAPPA studio brought the series as a visual anime launch in 2018 from July to December.
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6. No Game No Life
No Game No Life is an anime in a futuristic set-up that has been incredibly gaining more and more fans as it keeps airing. Though it talks of virtual reality, unlike the great pretender which talks of the real scheming plans. They have an adventurous mission that they have to conquer with skill, patience, and well-thought strategies. This anime is adapted from the Japanese light novel created by Yu Kamiya. Director Atsuko Ishizuka directed twelve episodes that launched in 2014 from April to June. The center of the story is about how a pair of siblings get teleported into an alternate reality of gaming where they have to survive by their own will and wit as they defeat the God of Games.
7. Super Crooks
Super Crooks is another anime that somewhat resemble the Great Pretender. The genre is similar as they both show different types of cases or heists.s It is inspired by the action comic book series written by Mark Millar and artist Leinil Francis Yu. It has been released on Netflix in 202 with thirteen brilliant episodes that have been incredibly directed by Motonobu Hori.
8. Lupin The Third
Lupin is a very renowned anime series that has been stealing the show since 1971 and it has a very similar genre with The Great Pretender. Lupin The Third also has a storyline that will fill you with fits of laughter and also keep you racking your brain through the investigation of various cases which is exactly what one does when they watch The Great Pretender. It is also inspired by a manga series created by the Monkey Punch. Yuzo Aoki has amazingly directed the series with stunning fifty episodes.
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9. The Daughter Of Twenty Faces
The Daughter Of Twenty Faces is an adaptation of a very well-written manga series created by Shinji Ohara but the anime was written by Michihiro Tsuchiya and directed by Nobuo Tomisawa. The Daughter Of Twenty Faces brings up the issue of harming women and young girls in toxic households but gives the concept fresh and hopeful as the main character Chizuko figures out the façade of the members of her household and joins a gang led by a famous thief called the Twenty faces. One can say it is one of the most representative of the proverb that the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. Where in all of this does it resemble the anime of The Great Pretender? As the story of ‘The Daughter Of Twenty Faces’ proceeds, we will see how she tries to secure the spot of the Twenty Faces amidst all the challenging situations and threatening events. Hence, it resembles the show in question with an adventurous sequence of events.
10. Terror In Resonance
Terror in Resonance is an original anime series produced by MAPPA that has threatening situations that might seem like an imprint of The Great Pretender. It is also directed by Shinichi Watanabe alongside the commendable character designs of Kazuto Nakazawa. It pulls fiercely at our mental strings to process the plot just like in The Great Pretender. It has an addictive run of eleven that launched in 2014 from June to September.
11. Black Lagoon
Black Lagoon has quite a similar initial narrative to Black Lagoon. If are someone who wants to alter their reality and like that aspect of The Great Pretender then the show is also a perfect fit for you because the main character is kidnapped and taken to a different place followed by a character development which builds the focused plot.
12. Durarara
Durarara was released in 2015 with a successful run of twenty-four episodes. The humor element in Durarara is much more layered than the obvious humor of The Great pretender but they both belong to the world of unconventional tricks and illegal exchanges.
Where to Watch These Anime?
The trailers and several other short scenes from all the animes listed above are available on YouTube, Netflix, and Crunchyroll. To know more about these anime you must go and watch them as soon as possible. You sure will enjoy a visually entertaining run! There are several other lists of anime suggestions on this website you can go through them too.
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