Liar Game

Plot summary

A scrupulously honest college student named Nao Kanzaki receives a package containing 100 million yen (about 1 million USD) 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, with the losers forced to bear a debt proportional to their losses. When Nao's first opponent, a trusted former teacher, steals her money, she seeks assistance from a con man named Shinichi Akiyama. Though they manage to defeat him, 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 defeat the Liar Game organization from within.

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 firmly believes that all people have value and, though not very bright, makes unique observations due to her naïvety and emotional sensitivity, which the others in the game notably lack, for better or for worse. She gradually learns to question others while maintaining the ability to trust her allies. Although Nao has had several opportunities to leave the Liar Game, she continues to play, wishing to "save" the other players who have fallen into debt. Nao's only known family member is her father, who is hospitalized with terminal cancer. She has no close friends other than Akiyama, who saves her from her self-described lonely life. In turn, she develops an exceptionally strong attachment to Akiyama, who becomes like an older brother to her.

Shinichi Akiyama (秋山 深一, Akiyama Shin'ichi): Akiyama is a graduate of Teito University with a master's degree in criminal psychology. He became a con man in order to take down the Multi-level marketing corporation that swindled his mother to the point where she committed suicide to "save" Akiyama from debt via her life insurance. After being released from prison, Akiyama reluctantly agrees to help Nao win the Liar Game after she despairingly cries out, "Save me!" Mitsuo Tanimura later suggests that Akiyama consented to help Nad because he saw a resemblance between Nao's and his mother's situations. Akiyama enters the Liar Game in Round 2 by substituting for another player, and by Round 3 is seen as an unofficial leader among the Liar Game's contestants. Akiyama utilizes Nao's ability to make sincere, emotional appeals to sway other contestants, making Nao Akiyama's most powerful weapon. Nevertheless, he continually tries to pay off her debt to get her to leave the Liar Game and never lets her come into harm's way. Nao thus becomes like a little sister to Akiyama. Akiyama's motivation for continuing in the Liar Game is to find the real motives behind the Liar Game Tournament organization and bring it down.

Yuji Fukunaga (福永 ユウジ, Fukunaga Yuuji): A trans woman who first appears in Round 2 under the pseudonym "Hitomi". Sly, calculating, and a 5th degree black belt, Fukunaga is a skilled yet short-tempered manipulator who participates in the Liar Game to try to amass wealth. Fukunaga alludes to being noticeably older than she seems, though her age is not given. During Round 3, Fukunaga cooperates with Nao and Akiyama. When Fukunaga finishes the round debt-free, she chooses to continue in the tournament. Nao bluntly tells Akiyama that Fukunaga is romantically interested in him, at which Akiyama expresses discomfited disinterest. After this episode, Fukunaga is always seen wearing a wig and in feminine dress. When Fukunaga is forced to confront Yokoya and his allies almost alone, she is eliminated from the game with over one billion yen of debt after transferring all the money acquired in the game to another player out of goodwill. As the game progresses, Fukunaga notes Nao's improvement and grows a little fond of her, although she still believes she is incompetent and aggravatingly stupid. After Fukunaga is identified-as-male-at-birth 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.) However, in English translations, the feminine pronoun is usually used when referring to Fukunaga. She often alternates between personas - an ultra-feminine cold and superior mature femme fatale; a bullheaded boisterous and physically intimidating man in obvious drag; a seemingly none-too-bright loud young delinquent girl; and gradations in between - whichever currently best suits Fukunaga's own needs, both in the game and outside of it. She is absolutely convincing, no matter what role she plays. Also stated to have managed to play a convincing non-descript male to orchestrate a con (not shown), despite having prominent "real" cleavage, said to be the result of a combination of female hormone injections and breast augmentation surgery with saline implants.

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 told her that 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 trans woman who first appears in Round 2, as a woman named Hitomi. Possibly an in-transition or post-op transsexual, she still has breasts when not dressed in female clothes. 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. Age unknown; alludes to being noticeably older than she seems. 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. However, Fukunaga is forced to confront Yokoya without their help in the third revival round and is eliminated from the game with over one billion yen of debt. In later chapters, Fukunaga recognizes Nao's improvement and starts to get fond of her, although she still believes she is incompetent. Nao also observed that Fukunaga may have a crush on Akiyama. After Fukunaga's identified-as-male-at-birth 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). Alternates between personas - an ultra-feminine cold and superior mature femme fatale; a bullheaded boisterous and physically intimidating man in obvious drag; a seemingly none-too-bright loud young delinquent girl; and gradations in between - whichever currently best suits Fukunaga's own needs, both in-game and outside of it. She is absolutely convincing as a female when she so desires and regularly has everyone fooled. Also stated to have managed to play a convincing non-descript male to orchestrate a con (not shown), despite having prominent "real" cleavage, said to be the result of a combination of female hormone injections and breast augmentation surgery with saline implants.

Norihiko Yokoya (横谷 憲彦, Yokoya Norihiko): A character obsessed with domination, Yokoya first appears in Round 3. He is a calm, eerie dark-haired young man, who is often shown carrying white mice in his pockets, he dresses in vaguely militaristic suits, admiring and seeking to emulate notorious 20th-century dictators, most notably Adolf Hitler. Nearco describes Yokoya as Akiyama's greatest rival, and Nao sensed something odd about him early in the game. Yokoya comes from a wealthy family, and his strategy frequently involves bribing other contestants into becoming his pawns. His team is depicted as Yokoya's complete dictatorship, as opposed to Nao's cooperative team. Although Yokoya initially planned to drop out of the Liar Game with his Round 3 winnings, Nao taunts him into proceeding to the next round, and Yokoya swore to bring down Nao and Akiyama in revenge. After losing Round 4 to them, Yokoya decides to keep playing to the end, aiming to become the ultimate winner of the Liar Game. During the Third Revival Round, Yokoya was able to accurately predict the name of the game to be played by the contestants; this is not even told to the hosts and other LGT Office Employees. Yokoya claims to have deduced the name because he has determined the true meaning of the Liar Game, but he actually had read a foreign book from which the Liar Game was inspired, including the games played on it by order. After being outsmarted by Akiyama in the final game, Yokoya finally admits defeat, claiming that unlike Hitler whom he admired, he must know when to quit, much to the happiness of his father, who is also revealed to be one of the hosts of the Liar Game.

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, both of whom 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 Heaven (also: 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 mankind descends from humans and demons as well, claiming that his mission is to gather those like him with little demonic blood under his guidance, in a quest to restore a (nearly) pure human bloodline and work to overthrow the demons. It is later revealed that he used cold reading to "rescue" the three women when each was in her lowest emotional state, thus seducing them into joining his cult. Once defeated in Round 4, Harimoto and his cultists return for the subsequent revival round, and moved by Nao's incorruptible spirit, they withdraw from the Liar Game, giving away the money they had previously collected to pay other players' debt.

Liar Game Tournament (LGT) Office

The purpose of the LGT Office is revealed in the last chapter. At the head of the office are those who wished to recreate the conditions in a radical political work whose last volume was confiscated in order to surmise its contents. The other members with patterned masks had participated in an initial attempt to conduct a simulation of the radical work, i.e. a first Liar Game Tournament. They agreed to return to help in the second (successful) attempt at holding a Liar Game Tournament. This second tournament is what is described in the manga.

"Handlers" manage individual contestants and provide information on upcoming rounds, and "hosts" carry out the actual rounds of the Liar Game and observe the contestants.

The identities of some of the LGT Office members are revealed:

Mitsuo Tanimura (谷村 光男, Tanimura Mitsuo): 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). He does not wear a mask.

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 participates in the games. He is apparently one of the smartest and cleverest among the hosts. He admits near the end of the manga that he understands the way Akiyama thinks well, a subtle indication that Leronira held the same "role" as Akiyama during the first Liar Game. Early in the game, he correctly predicts that Nao would be the one to change the dynamic of the game. 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 who wears a mask with a long moustache. First appearing in Round 3, Nearco admires Yokoya, describing him as a fearsome individual, and cannot understand Leronira's confidence in Nao as a player. Nearco is analytical and intelligent, although not up to the standard of Leronira or Rabelais. These qualities suggest that he may have held Fukunaga's "role" in the first Liar Game Tournament.

Solario (ソラリオ, Sorario): A third host of the Liar Game, Solario wears a mask with a sun drawn on the right eye. Solario is impressed that Nao is able to realize the objective of Second Revival Round before any of the other players.

Forli (フォルリ, Foruri): 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 the least intelligent of the LGT Officers.

Kurifuji (栗藤, Kurifuji): A family agent assigned to monitor Yokoya to ensure his safety. She wears sunglasses and a surgical mask across her mouth and nose, effectively concealing her face. Kurifuji is able to comprehend and predict Yokoya's plans and schemes more accurately than the other members of the LGT Office. She majored in psychology.

Alsab (アルサブ, Arusabu): A fifth host of the Liar Game, who hosts Round 4 and its qualifier on 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. In contrast to Leronira, he doesn't seem consider Nao a serious threat in the Liar Game. He passionately declares that human beings are slaves to greed and unable to work together for the greater good only to be proven wrong by Nao and Akiyama's alliances.

Silien (シリーン, Silien): A sixth host of the Liar Game who is the dealer for the Revival Round III for Group A.

Rabelais (ラブレー, Rabelais): A seventh host of the Liar Game who is the dealer for the Revival Round III for Group B. He is Yokoya's father. He is rich and famous; in the previous Liar Game, he won in almost all the games that were played, according to Leronira.

Altair (アルタイル, Altair): Called the "Chief Executive". He appears during Revival Round III.

Manga

Liar Game started serialization in 2005 (September 16, 2005) in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump. As of December 2014, the series continues with 18 tankōbon released, the latest on September 17, 2010. Shortly afterward, the serialization begins 1.5 years later with chapter 139. A short story "Roots of A" has been published as the title piece of a Shinobu Kaitani's anthology released in July 2008.

Live-action television series

Liar Game was adapted into a Japanese television series: Liar Game, a 2007 Fuji series broadcast, followed in 2009 by Liar Game: Season 2. In 2010, the full-length film Liar Game: The Final Stage was released as a continuation of the TV series. A sequel, entitled Liar Game: Reborn, was released in 2012.

A 2014 Korean drama adaptation also titled Liar Game aired on cable channel tvN.

Half a Million Dollars Game: Two opponents possess half a million dollars and must try and steal money of the other before a set deadline. How to win Half a Million Dollars Game: Fool your opponent into thinking the deadline is sooner than it is. Have colleagues pretend to be game officials and pick up your opponents cash for “checking” at the fake deadline. Your colleagues then pass the money to you before the real deadline.

Minority Game: A game for 22 individual players. A Yes-No question is asked. (The question itself is irrelevant.) Players vote their answer of either yes or no. The answer with fewest votes wins. Those players continue to the next round where the game repeats until a tie between two players, or one player winner remains. How to win the Minority Game; Answer 1: Form a team of 8 players; 4 vote yes and 4 vote no. Thus irrespective of the outcome, 4 are guaranteed to give the correct answer and continue to the next round. In the following round, 2 of the 4 vote yes, and 2 vote no. Thus irrespective of the outcome, 2 are guaranteed to give the correct answer and continue to the next round. In the following round, 1 of the 2 vote yes, and 1 vote no. Thus irrespective of the outcome, 1 is guaranteed to give the correct answer. This could result in either an overall win or a tie with a non team-member. This strategy will enable you to know one of your team will win, but you will not know who it will be. How to win the Minority Game; Answer 2: This strategy will enable a specific person to win. Let’s call that person, X. X approaches 7 other players to form a team of 8 and convinces them to play as per strategy 1. X also approaches 7 other players to form a second team of 8 and convinces them to also play as per strategy 1. X also approaches the remaining 7 players to form a third team of 8 and convinces them to also play as per strategy 1. No team knows of any other team apart from player X. In each round, X tells each team s/he will cast a vote for yes. Due to X effectively playing the part of 3 players but only casting 1 vote, X will always be voting on the minority side and will ultimately win the game.

Restructuring Game: Players must cast three votes for other players. After 10 rounds of voting, the player with the least votes is eliminated. Votes can be bribed and bought. How to win the Restructuring Game:

The Card Bet: (as shown in the Korean version) Two playing cards placed in a bag. One is the Joker. The other is a double backed card with no face. A person must reach into the bag, retrieve a card and place on the table face down. Then the card is flipped. If it is the face card one person wins, if it is the double backed card, the other person wins. You let your opponent to choose light or dark for their card choice. You let your opponent remove and flip the card each and every time. You point out that if the face up card is placed directly on the table before it is flipped then the result is already known and therefore is invalid and does not count for either person. First person to 7 wins. How to win the Card Bet: This game gives the illusion of a 50/50 chance for both players. However, the double backed card will win 66% of the time. Therefore, the trick is to force your opponent to choose the face cards as their winning card to put the odds in your favor. Offer your opponent to choose between the light or dark card. If they say light, tell them they have chosen the face up cards. If they choose dark, tell them they have chosen the dark, shifty Joker to represent them and you will have the light blue backed cards. Thus irrespective of their decision you force them to choose the Joker. If your opponents card is drawn, half the time it will be face up and will automatically be deemed voided. If your card is drawn, it will always be flipped and yield a win for you. Your card will never be voided. Ultimately you almost certainly must win.

The President’s Game:

The Smuggler’s Game: A game for two teams (nations). Each nation has 5 million deposited in a bank account in the opposing nation. A player must go into the opposing nation and withdraw nothing or 1 million or any amount in between. The money (including nil if so chosen) is placed in a suitcase. When returning to their own nation with the suitcase, they are stopped at the border by customs. The opposing nation must choose to allow the player pass without checking the contents of the case, or stop them on suspicion of smuggling money. If they stop the player they must also announce the amount of money they suspect they are smuggling. How to win the Smuggler’s Game: Bribe border guards of the opposing nation to act as mules on your behalf.

17 Poker: A deck of 17 cards. Four Aces, four Jacks, four Queens, four Kings, and a Joker (Wild Card). The deck is shuffled and four cards are dealt to players. Winning hands are one-of-kind, two-of-a-kind, three-of-a-kind, and four-of-a-kind. Joker is a wild card. How to win 17 Poker: Each hand must start with a newly opened deck. Thus the deck will begin ordered by suit. Rifle shuffle the deck (perfectly) twice. This will mathematically order the deck by picture (A’s, J’s, Q’s, K’s, Joker). An opponent can cut the deck wherever they wish. The starting card will change, but the order remains the same. If your opponent has cleverly figured a way to get the Joker, then the following cards will always be four-of-card. Problem with the winning strategy of 17 Poker: It requires the dealer perfectly rifle shuffle the deck twice. Your opponent must figure out how to get the Joker, then get the Joker and no further cards, and that no other subsequent opponent get any cards before you. That is to say, you must get the very next four cards after the Joker is received by your opponent. Reality of 17 Poker: Whomever gets the Joker by whatever means has the highest probability of winning any given hand; unless sleight of hand is involved. The winning strategy as presented in Liar Game is unlikely to work.

Last Man Standing Version I: Each player has a (toy) gun. This gun is initially loaded with one bullet (blank). Each player takes a turn in a given round. At their turn, a player may opt to shoot, load, or avoid. If a player chooses to “Shoot”, they may shoot an opponent of their choice. If the gun successfully fires, they may continue to shoot until the first empty chamber. If a player chooses to “Load”, they can add another bullet to the chamber of their gun for use in a subsequent turn. Thereby increasing the number of bullets in the chamber and increasing the likelihood of a successful shot when they subsequently choose to shoot. If a player chooses to “Avoid”, they do not get to Shoot, nor Load. However, if any opponent chooses to shoot them during the round, they avoid a successful shot and may select any other opponent who is shot instead (as if by ricochet). Each player has 5 lives. Thus they must be shot 5 times before they die and are eliminated from the game. The person who fired the killing shot is awarded their gun. Thus that play then has an additional gun to play with per turn. How to win Last Man Standing: You could benefit by suspecting who wants to kill whom, and have excellent mental math skills to calculate chance throughout the game. Your chances are not significantly increased unless you are able to gain a second gun.

Last Man Standing Version II: Players have 15 lives. Avoiding is not option. In each round, all players shoot or load at the same time.

The Well Game: (as shown in orphanage in the Korean version) Three players stand in a circle holding hands. Players facing outward from the circle. On the count of three, each player pulls the hand of a neighboring player. If two people people happen to both pull the hands of the third player, the third player is toppled off-balance and loses (falling into the well in the center of the circle).

Background

Shinobu Kaitani was inspired to write Liar Game through the idea of the 'Minority Rule'.