Liar, Liar

 Okay, the "cover" for this series gave off a No Game No Life vibe, so I started watching it as soon as it came out.

And put in on my Summer Fantasy Anime League...

Reading the synopsis, I guess I can expect a love child between NGNL and Kakegurui, with a school where games decides the rankings of the students.  Except Hiroto Shinohara isn't that skilled, and by sheer accident defeats the "Empress", the Seven Star of the 3rd District, Sarasa.

His District 4 headmistress decides to make an elaborate rouse, putting him in place as a Seven Star himself, even though it is all build around a big lie, and he discovers the Empress was actually a double for her.  He is supported by The Company, who help him out to win his games and retain his position, by picking out his games and influencing them.

The headmistress reveals her plan to have Hiroto defeat the owners of Unique Stars, that way he can raise his level never the less, while being actually maxed out as part of the lie.  And as such become the first multi-coloured Seven Star.  But for his next challenge, he must face not only his servant Himeji, but in a game that is seriously stacked against him, a game created by Akizuki, one of the Six Stars on campus.  But his faith in Himeji is absolute, so the game ends a draw.

He soon faces his next challenge, a tabletop treasure hunt.  Akizuki is a tough opponent though, but using his cheat skill abilities, and the help of his team, he manages to swiftly catch her thanks to a ruse using the airconditioning system.  But she uses the Alter Fate skill to make the answer never happen, but thanks to Pinch hitter he had changed the conditions of who she'd beat, and infected her with curses on her device instead.  

He realises the girl was forced, and goes to the office of her headmaster, confronting him.  He and Akizuki are the last ones standing for the event, and the final game is one between teams of each division that they are still a member off, meaning that Hiroto not only has to deceive his enemies, but his allies as well.  But then the true Empress turns up again, challenging her placeholder to defeat Hiroto to keep the name and the position.  

At the gathering of the finalists of each dorm house, he meets a variety of opponents, all with their known strentghs.  But he is challenged by the "real" Empress in a virtual reality game.  He faces Kurugumi, and when he corners her, she uses a special skill to escape though.  But for some scheme, he eliminates himself from the game, telling his team this will work for them to obtain victory.  During a pokemon like game, he needs to square of against Shiina, a young playful girl he met earlier.  

But he has managed to gather more players to his alliance to face off "miss Hundred Faces", as he develops a plan to bring her down once and for all.  To that end, he needs to add the Demon Maiden to his list of allies.  But facing off her final champions, top stars from other academies, he also loses some of his friends down the line.  So on the final day, he and Saionji need to face her by themselves.  He concocts a plan forcing the other's to protect him in a game of Crossboards together with Shiina.  

 

He corners Kurahashi as a result, tracking him down and sending Himeji and all the others to confront him in his office and taking the victory.

To be honest, while I thought this series started fun, it rapidly dwindled to a rather average affair unfortunatly.  So while it has it's moments, it won't be a series I'll be remembering for a long time I fear.