Liar Liar is a Japanese romantic comedy light novel and it has been written by Haruki Kuo and illustrated by Konomi. The anime adaptation of Liar Liar is directed by Black Clover‘s director, Naoki Matsuura, alongside Satoru Ohno at studio GEEKTOYS. Liar Liar is the exploration of a story about bluffs and games and is similar to the fan-favorite Kakegurui. While it follows much of a similar plot idea, let us explore and understand if Liar Liar is a potential candidate to succeed Kakegurui.
Liar Liar Anime – A basic plot Synopsis
In a world of competition and conflict, it is Academy Island where everything is settled through games. These games are waged for a certain amount of stars and the winners are awarded accordingly. It is the position of the strongest student which can be acquired through the highest number of stars, that being seven.
Hiroto is a transfer student at Academy Island. She accidentally beats the strongest empress of the school and her unexpected win triggers a wave of events. Her pseudo-strongest position can be maintained only if she manages to hold her position. In an attempt to dethrone her, a series of bluffs and lies in the form of games begin at Academy Island!
What is the story of Kakegurui and how is it similar to Liar Liar?
- The story of Kakegurui is set at Hyakkaou Private Academy– a high-class elite private housing school that houses the children of Japan’s most influential and wealthiest families.
- Many of these students are set to become leaders and professionals in the future. But the student hierarchy at this institution is not determined by academic ability, but by gambling.
Students at the school make contributions to the Student Council in the form of money, and it leads to high-end gambling among the students. They bet their fortunes and those who win are able to earn prestige and popularity, while those who lose are accorded with the title of slaves.
The anime thus follows the life of one such student named Yumeko Jabami, who recently transferred to the academy and is extremely intelligent. But she is a compulsive gambler and the environment of the school allows her to disrupt the existing hierarchy of the school.
What makes both of them different?
Liar Liar is similar to Kakegurui in the sense that both of them explore the themes of games and gambling and connect them with gains and popularity, ultimately relating these ideas to the idea of power. While Liar Liar explores the acquisition of power through games and stars, Kakegurui does it through gambling and a gambler who becomes an anomaly to disrupt the system and the hierarchy, much like the story of Liar Liar.
Is Liar Liar a successor of Kakegurui?
Liar Liar is similar to Kakegurui but it cannot and is not ready as of yet to overcome the standards set by the latter. Kakegurui is extremely volatile and hostile in the sense that it explores extremes and extremities of human fear and compulsion. Liar Liar on the other hand only manages to explore these ideas through an accidental case, which in itself is not enough to disrupt the norm completely.
Liar Liar anime holds the potential to overtake Kakegurui, but it has to do so very strategically. The plot must be portrayed in a manner that viewers can draw parallels of it with Kakegurui. Only then it is possible that the viewers might observe a window of change and succession in Liar Liar, otherwise, this remains a vague debate.
Conclusion
Liar Liar is undoubtedly a classic story of power politics in school, but Kakegurui has set standards that are fairly tough to overcome. The art of Kakegurui is its madness, and Liar Liar can only be a successor if it manages to counter madness with more madness!