Anyway, this chapter means Rules. Rules mean searching for loopholes.

I have to wonder what the purpose of the tablet is. On one hand, it nominally looks like a way to prevent cheating, in the sense that someone can’t bid in place of another player. On the other hand, stealing someone’s tablet is a way to prevent them from putting in a bid. I also wonder if we’re actually going to see the physical cards or gold coins, and if so if there are ways for players to trade cards among themselves, not just between the dealer and the players. And this is the Liar Game, pretty much any rule that exists to ensure fairness has something to exploit.

What’s going to be interesting about the card game itself, is that because the lots are shown to everybody, and the winners announced, everyone will be playing the game with their cards face up. That is, people will have to build their hands not just to a mind with getting five cards, but also knowing what hands  the other players may be aiming for.

With 11 people and one deck of cards, at least one person will end up with less than 5 cards, possibly more depending on how many people end up with more than 5 cards. However, it’s not exactly true in all cases that a hand with less that 5 cards couldn’t be ranked. If someone had 4 cards of the same Rank, then it would actually be quite easy to tell where they stood, even without a fifth card.

Not that anyone should actually depend on that being a loophole though.

Provided that someone’s balance is at -50 million or better, it seems possible that purposefully ending up in last place by not bidding would be a profitable move:

(300 million to start – 100 million collected at the end – 150 million for last place – 0 spent on bidding = +50 million)

However, Nao is the only person in Block A who is confirmed (by the reader at least) to be in that position. Depending on the debt of the person Akiyama replaced, he may or may not be. It’s probably safe to guess that anyone who participated in Akiyama’s popularity contest has debt. Harimoto’s group hasn’t given any information one way or another. It would be pretty safe to say though that unless Nao can convince them otherwise, everybody will be playing.

Block B is actually very interesting. Both Fukunaga and Yokoya have positive balances (Yokoya’s taken a LOT of money from other players, and even his losses in the last game haven’t negated that), so this might actually be a more viable move there. That is, if they both weren’t pathologically competitive.

The game seems to be balanced in such away that while it’s possible for everyone to break even and gain money, it’s also possible for multiple people to end up in an even bigger debt than before. In the case of multiple players in last place, if they’ve bid any money over 50 million for their cards, then they end up in the red. I wonder if this is the trap that Nao has spotted.

And Harimoto definitely seems to be setting is sights on Nao, judging from who volunteered to practice with her.

• The splash art is the only part of the chapter that features Akiyama and Nao. I wonder if it’s just for this chapter, or if we’ll have to wait to see what’s going on with them.
• Looks like Kurifuji at least follows Yokoya around most of the time. Is that a special case, or something that happens with most of the players, at least past a certain point?
• Yokoya still believes this to be a competition about control, but he’s definitely moved from focusing directly on influencing other players to getting more information, though still with the end of influencing others in mind.
• Fukunaga is a total troll and she enjoys every moment of it. She also strikes me as really brave here, since she’s definitely antagonizing him on purpose.
• So, it looks like Yokoya isn’t bluffing about having information, or at least his knowledge itself is genuine. I’d think the more important questions are where is he getting it from and how will he use it.
• So, Bid Poker, huh?
• But more big-picturely, I’m definitely enjoying getting a look into the structure of the corporation, including the chief executive.

In less bullet point discussion, I’m looking forward to seeing how this game goes. Yokoya does have an information advantage, but at the same time, Fukunaga’s not someone who gives in easily. I have a feeling that either having the extra information beforehand isn’t as game-breaking as Yokoya thinks it is or we might actually see Fukunaga go double agent on us.

General reactions for 139:  (Spoilers below)

• I’m really happy to have a glimpse of how Nao’s changed in her daily life.
• Makizono and Akagi have left. But Akagi’s final gesture is possibly one of the classiest moves in this game.
• Nao’s debt is paid off and more so. But she’s still not leaving. There’s still people to rescue.
• Akiyama’s left. Uh huh. Not buying that one. But I love how shocked Nao is when he gets there.
• Speaking of, I don’t believe Akiyama at all when he says he’s not there out of concern for her. If nothing else, he deliberately chose Nao’s block to enter into.
• More speaking of, what future use is Akiyama’s little stunt at the beginning.
• Akiyama, Nao, and Harimoto in Block A. Fukunaga and Yokoya, plus new characters in Block B. I wonder how many spots are open in this consolation round.

One final thought, or more of a question really: Is it just me, or does it seem weird how much the some of the players seem to confide in the LGT employees.

This is in Liar Game Invitation, and represents the corporation’s take on who is most closest to being crowned the “Liar King.”

1. Yokoya Norihiko

2. Harimoto Takashi

3. Akiyama Shinichi

4. Fukunaga Yuuji

5. Player 15

6. Kikuchi Shou

7. Akagi Kouta

8. Kosaka Tadako

9. Shibayama Yuusuke

10. Hasegawa Hiroshi

11. Makizono Kazuya

12. Miura Takayoshi

13. Nishida Yuuichi

14. Fujisawa Kazuo

15. Kikuzawa Takahiro

16. Nakadate Yuuichi

17. Ikezawa Teppei

18. Saeki Kiyoshi

19. Kawai Tatsuya

20. Tsumura Akira

… (21-36 aren’t listed)

37. Kanzaki Nao

38. Eda Teruyuki

39. Nishihara Reina

40. Takada Michiko

Though, some of the minor characters were wonderfully cast (Makizono and Nishida, more particularly) and I think I like Eri better than the other dealers.

But enough of that. Here’s an interview with Toda Erika (the actress who plays Nao), it seems older based on the content, but it’s still an interesting read.

This is my position about Akiyama’s final plan: It’s actually really elegant and solves a lot of problems that a Team Akiyama victory would have brought. It might not be what someone would do if they were looking to maximize profit for themselves and their in group, and it’s certainly not what most of the fans would have done or wanted to have seen. But yes, it’s elegant and it fits.

All right, before I start, I’m going to go over some things that was bothering me about a Team Akiyama victory…

How are they going to distribute the winner’s medals in such a way that no one profits at the expense of other players?

And then when Baldy (and Young Jump, to a lesser extent) jumped to Yokoya’s team:

How are they going to win without making sure that a traitor profited from their effort?

So while I assumed (silly me) that either Akiyama or Nao would win, I was wondering how they would set it up so that no innocent  bystanders were hurt, and also that neither of the traitors “got away” with going against Akiyama.

Ikezawa’s victory is actually an elegant way around both those questions. And when combined with the checks Akiyama received from the Pandemic game, it’s not even like their allies lost anything. (And seriously, if someone is teaming up with Akiyama and Nao, who make it a public intention that they want to save everyone, expecting to make a profit…that person is being obtuse).

Here’s my reasoning:

1. The whole point of Nao and Akiyama’s presence in the game is to save everyone. Not to make themselves or their collaborators rich, but to make sure that people can get out without debts.
1a. Therefore, no one who works with Team AkiNao can make a profit, unless it’s coming at the loss of the corporation, Akiyama, and Nao instead of the other players. (i.e. Fukunaga making money in the Second Revival Round is okay, because the Western Army’s debt was paid off, so it was only the corporation that lost out).

1b. Therefore, as nice as it would be (for Team AkiNao) if Akiyama or Nao managed to win, unless everyone agreed to redistribute medals so as few people took a loss as possible, there would be a basic contradiction between what they say, “We’ll save everyone.” and what they’ve practiced.

2. Because of the ending of the Pandemic Game (wherein 300 million was swindled from Yokoya), the three collaborators they could reasonably anticipate at the start of the Musical Chairs game (Fukunaga, Akagi, and Makizono) won’t actually lose money even though they don’t possess any of the winners medals. We actually know that Akagi and Fukunaga are therefore even from this round, and Makizono at least isn’t any worse off than he was.

3. Baldy and Young Jump, who basically played all sides and looked out for themselves, would both profit through a Team AkiNao victory. It goes against Nao’s principle of saving everyone, and Akiyama ends up rewarding people who have betrayed him.

4. We don’t know the actual distribution of Ikezawa’s medals among the Gaya, except that: No one in Yokoya’s group has any. Young Jump may have one or two, assuming he was bribed. But if Yokoya knew that he was the leader, Yokoya might have assumed that Young Jump didn’t need to get trash medals.

4a. We also know that because the 5 people from Yokoya’s team in Round 3 have massive debts from the game, a good amount of the medals are going towards paying off those debts, or at least making sure that they’re not digging themselves in deeper.

So actually, in the sense of achieving Akiyama and Nao’s goals, Ikezawa’s winning is actually better than Nao’s winning.

Okay, there are still a few things that are bothering me:

How the heck did they get Fukunaga on board with this plan? Or did they do this behind her back until it was obvious that both Akiyama and Nao were going to lose?

Now that they have Abe on their team too, are they going to try and set it up so that Fukunaga, Makizono, Akagi, and Abe won’t have debts? Or will one of them have to lose out?

I feel that I should explain what the rules to these games could be.

Let’s start with the simplest of the three I offered there… Miniature Chess. It would be played by two players, presumably under conditions similar to the second revival round. The board is 4*4, and follows rules based very loosely on traditional chess.

There are many changes, however. To begin with, the way the pieces move.

Pawns: Move one space forward, and take diagonally. Thus no initial two spaces forward movement.
Knights: Move as normal: L shape on board, taking any enemy piece they land on.
Rooks: Move one space horizontally or vertically.
Bishops: Move one space diagonally.
Royalty: Move one space in any direction (like a King normally).

But there is another key difference to this game. The players are permitted the unique ability to select any four out of those five pieces listed above, and place them on their own row in any order they wish… and which is which is hidden from the enemy.

From there the game can be taken in a wide variety of directions. Perhaps have a rule prohibiting a player from undoing the immediately previous move? And what’s to keep a player from moving a piece however they will? Clearly a rule will have to be in effect that will prevent a player from doing this. Having a judge be fully aware of both pieces, and prohibit both players from making illegal moves is an option for a balanced game, but this is the Liar Game – that sort of thing doesn’t quite fit here. Perhaps, if a player is able to demonstrate that another player has cheated given previous moves on the board, he is declared the winner?

I believe that in this case, victory should be attainable in a number of ways. The first is to do as above, the second is to simply capture all of their pieces.

A major factor in this game is the size of the board and the limitations on piece movement. As one is not aware of what any given player holds on their field, it pays to be cautious… and yet such action could easily lead to being cornered by a cunning player. On the other hand, aggression will lead to a player falling into a trap just as easily.

You may note that the rules for these games are not fully formed. This is partly intentional, since it leaves more room open for discussion. The other part is out of uncertainty on certain key elements that could make or break the game if dealt with incorrectly.

Battleship next. Unlike the above, this is a game for a much larger group. Each player is granted their own unique grid, on which they are permitted to place five boats of varying sizes. Once this is accomplished, each player is informed of how many other players have boats occupying the same spaces as their own – or at least overlapping the same spaces. With this done, the rounds begin! Each player casts a vote for three other players (but not themselves), and the players are then permitted, in order of most votes to least, to name a co-ordinate that has not yet been bombed. Then, on all grids simultaneously, those squares are bombed on each player’s grid. The only player to know how many players were struck by the bombing is the current turn player. Should he sink a boat, he gets the money the boat is worth (larger boats being worth more) from the sunk player.

There are multiple facets to this game. Manipulating the votes is, as always, a vital part of the game. Knowledge of where other players have put their boats, and what they know of other players makes for useful trading.

The final game I mentioned was the court game. I saved this one for last because it’s a doozy. The game comes in several parts, and the way it would have to work would require the LGT to explain the entire thing, play the first part on that day, and then play the rest on the next. I don’t have a specific mechanism in place for the first game, but it would have to exist for reasons that will quickly become apparent as the explanation progresses.

To begin with, there are three rooms used for this game. These rooms are the “locker room”, “court room” and “deliberation room”. At the beginning of the court game, each player is permitted in turn to enter the locker room, by themselves, for as long as they need to make a decision…

Inside the locker room, there are diamonds – though the LGT is quick to point out they’re not real, merely plastic props used for the game. Specifically, enough for each player in the game. Each player also has a locker, just large enough to fit a “diamond” and nothing else. Each player is given the key to their own locker, and the room is designed expressly so that nobody could hide the diamonds anywhere in it.

Once each player has been given private access to the room, the first player is given a secret glimpse at the number of diamonds left in the room. And then the next stage of the game begins…

Again, the turn order comes into play. In turn, each player takes on the role of accused and each round begins with the accused naming a prosecutor and a defense attorney out of the other players. Those remaining play the role of jury members. The prosecutor and defense are permitted the opportunity to question other players, including each other, in an effort to persuade the jury of the innocence or guilt of the accused. When they are finished, the jury enters the deliberation room and the other three wait in the courtroom…

In the deliberation room, the jury is permitted to discuss the “case” at length. When they are finished, each jury member casts a vote: Gulity or not guilty? The former occurs when the jury member believes the accused has a diamond in their locker. The latter when the locker is believed empty.

Should the majority vote guilty, the locker is opened. If it is empty, those that voted guilty must pay the accused “compensation”. If there is a diamond, those that voted guilty take a share of the money the accused would have gotten had the diamond been taken.

Should there be no guilty majority, the locker is left closed. The accused is thus rewarded with a large sum of money if they did “steal” a diamond. Otherwise, there is no reward or punishment.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor and defense also receive their own reward. For each “guilty” vote, the prosecutor takes a sum of money from the account of the defense. The reverse is true for each  “not guilty” vote.

As should be clear by the nature of this game, the order in which players take their turn matters a lot as regards strategy. It would thus be necessary for the players to play a different game first, which would determine the order they entered the room. To further the strategies involved, the players would be involved of this game’s rules before playing the order making game.

What I expected…

A cleaned up version of the above picture.

What’s actually inside:

I’m sure the Yokoya fans are pleased.

ETA: Volume 12 Cover

“Harimoto appeals to what is called the ‘Heart’.”

-Leronira, Chapter 132 Liar Game Manga

I have been interested in Harimoto for some time now, partly because I have a special interest in cults and also the mystery surrounding Harimoto’s faction has been clouded for some time now. What I can draw about Harimoto stems from my knowledge of cults and what Abe-san says about “demons” and etc.

To understand Harimoto better, we need to know how cults or his cult works. It reveals something about how he ‘manipulates’ his little faction.

So what are cults?

It basically promotes unorthodox ideas that is devoted to radical ideas or new teachings:

1. New Teaching – has a new theology and doctrine.
2. Only True Teaching – often considers traditional religious systems to be apostate and it alone possesses the complete truth.
3. Strong Leadership – often an individual or small but powerful leadership group holds control of the group’s teachings and practices.
4. Asset Acquirement – often requires tithing and/or property transfer to the religious system.
5. Isolationist – to facilitate control over the members physically, intellectually, financially, and emotionally.
6. Controlling – exercises control over the members. Sometimes this is through fear, threatening loss of salvation if you leave the group. Sometimes through indoctrination.
7. Indoctrination – possesses methods to reinforce the cult’s beliefs and standards where opposing views are ridiculed and often misrepresented.
8. Apocalyptic – to give the members a future focus and philosophical purpose in avoiding the apocalypse or being delivered through it.

How about Harimoto?

The Leader of a Cult

1. Often charismatic and is considered very special for varying reasons:
   1. The leader has received special revelation from God.(Does he not claim to deliver a divine message?)
   2. The leader claims to be the incarnation of a deity, angel, or special messenger. (The only “pure” one left in the world, thus the name 10 000 year old one)
   3. The leader claims to be appointed by God for a mission. (He is on a mission to rid the world of demons)
   4. The leader claims to have special abilities. (Has he not done rites to ‘purify’ his cult members?)
2. The leader is often above reproach and is not to be denied or contradicted.

The latter point can’t be confirmed for Harimoto but we do sense that he has a sense of authority that the rest of the members do not question which I believe would allude to the fact that he is the “10 000 year old one”.

If you have noticed, his appearance makes him look like a hobo. Extremely unnoticeable but it deceives. Perhaps it deceives a little too well. The unassuming appearance is perhaps the first trigger point that makes him appear to be the loser when it actually lowers the defenses of others. Like Nao, he has something called “tension reduction”. I may be presumptuous by saying that he makes use of his appearance to execute his ‘attacks’ against the other players, but I believe it is true. Up till now, even the readers have been deceived by him!

I believe that his believers and others place their heart and confidence in him because he knows their feelings:

“After all, human beings are such creatures that that you have better chances of winning if you sway their feelings and their heart and not their mind.”- Leronira, Chapter 132 Liar Game Manga

Personally, I believe that Harimoto is a bit of a psychologist himself. Because he is able to empathise (without having any genuine empathy) with others, he has control over their feelings. He dictates by pulling at their heart-strings.

The exclusivity of the cult also shows that Harimoto knows that humans like to be in power, that they are ‘chosen’ by a higher power. Abe-san’s haughty attitude in the previous chapters already reveals a certain human lust for power. Not control but knowing that they are a notch above the rest. Harimoto has made himself the big honcho, unofficially. His subtle character is perhaps what makes him a pretty formidable person as well.

By targeting the players with weaker wills and hearts (like Forelocks). He has also been clever in making use of the women in his cult to pull at the heart-strings of Forelocks. Having a possible romance is unheard of in the Liar Game so far. The dark and dismal atmosphere in the Liar Game corners its players emotionally and long for some sort of company. Yokoya’s group is probably not ample ground to do that, so getting Mikamoto to do his work is a pretty smart move.

Also, Harimoto realises that Yokoya thinks logically. Logically speaking, it does not make sense for anyone in his faction to betray him or vote for Kimura. However, emotionally speaking, it would make sense if one of his members became fond of another member in a different faction. Harimoto has quite accurately pointed out Yokoya’s weakness with regards to matters of the heart.

If you remember what Fukunaga said in Revival Round 2, he said that girls tend to throw the male players off-balance so it could possibly apply here too. Male players possibly create more suspicion.

Similarly, he also takes advantage of Nao’s soft character to sway the votes. Harimoto is sharp in spotting different types of characters, which gives him an edge.

Do let me know what you all think of Harimoto, and this is all that I can gather from the manga so far. But it would be great to hear what all of you have to say!

Personally, I don’t know how Round 4 will turn out. It seems like anyone’s game now (but I believe that’s the magic of the manga artist)! However, it seems that there are some metaphors and thoughts we can draw from all the rounds so far.

In Round 4, it looks like it is a completely new game, but really, I believe that this round is a culmination of events that has occurred so far.

In this manga, we notice a pattern emerging. The idea of “voting” or a so-called democracy is invoked several times in the Liar Game manga.

Basically, the ideas of “Co-operation” and “Domination”.

Take for instance the Round 2 where a minority rule to eliminate the majority. Perceived as a reverse of a democracy, it actually seems to highlight the idea that there is one and only one leader. For he/she gets everything in the end.

Fukunaga attempted to amass 2.1 billion yen for him/herself . To no avail of course. This could possibly mean that one person can’t possibly dominate everything, going by the flow of things that are going on. Also, as Nao perceives, co-operating with each other would ease the flow of the game. However, the dominating factor of “Domination” eliminates this possibility.

Next, in Revival Round 1, the Downsizing Game also uses the same concept of voting. It looks like only 1 person loses out. However,  it is not so simple. In fact, you realise that a single person emerges the Winner. Notice a pattern already?

Nao and Yokoya represent two conflicting ideas carried out in similar ways but yielding different results. The concept of “Domination” is not particularly alien when Yokoya mentions it in the Smuggling Game. However, Nao recognises this as a strain of selfishness that will never be invincible. Nao emerges victorious in this round.

Lastly, Round 4. The Leader Elections is a good example that captures what the readers are already familiar with. Looking at the three factions:

Akiyama’s Faction

Yokoya’s Faction

Harimoto’s Faction

Other than the fact that these three groups are competing with each other to get the top seat (literally), I don’t think the readers should miss out how these factions are run, after all, they could make or break the end result.

Yokoya’s Faction

Yokoya’s idea of striking fear in the hearts of his members is no longer relevant. For one thing, Fatso and Forelocks are his lapdogs. They depend upon the dictation of a single person. I have noticed that Yokoya hardly considers the opinions of Fatso and Forelocks, and he makes the primal decisions.

Baldy deflected so easily to Yokoya’s faction and we know that this faction does not operate on trust. It operates on greed and money. Fatso and Forelocks are ‘indebted’ to Yokoya because he had saved them in the previous qualifying round.

I have come to the conclusion that Yokoya’s group is run like a pyramid. Everyone else is an underling. As we know, Yokoya reveres Hitler and bears a strange resemblance to Kim Jong Il (*cough* *cough*).

Personally, I have never thought that a dictatorship is a logical way of running a country. Or running anything for that matter. You end up building rather fragile relations, but that’s just my personal opinion.

Akiyama’s Faction

Akiyama denies trust and chooses to work on logic and strategy. However, he has long depended on the trust of Nao, Akagi, Fukunaga and Glasses. This bond is, no doubt, stronger than one fostered by greed and money because the possibility for betrayal is eliminated.

Yes, they have exchanged medals with each other in case it does occur. But we all know that they are pretty noble (Akagi willingly dropped out of the running), because when the rubber hit the road, they were willing to sacrifice for each other without fear of being betrayed.

Also, Akiyama depends on the opinions of the rest of the team. While he runs a slick operation (with relation to the Gaya Alliance), he still depends on the trust of the rest of the members. This is particularly evident when Nao suggests to ‘buy’ satellite members to vote for them. He tells Fukunaga and Baldy to come up with a better idea or co-operate. He displays leadership in a sensible manner. While he does not command them to do anything, he also asserts authority (There is a distinct difference).

As mentioned in “What is the Liar Game truly about” post (not done by me), Nao has rubbed some of her influence off Fukunaga who eventually becomes a comrade they can truly count on.

Harimoto’s Faction

Lastly, this is a tricky faction. It is a combination of “Co-operation” and “Domination”, but I believe it runs on elitism.

Harimoto aside, Abe-san has brought to light the elitist system that Harimoto’s cult uses. She mentions Demons and the Truly Pure people in ‘this world’ to illustrates difficult philosophical concepts.

This so-called philosophy that the cult upholds runs counter to Nao’s belief that everyone is potentially good. Harimoto’s so-called philosophy is not entirely original. Xun Zi’s philosophy is like this:

Xunzi believed that all people are born with natural tendencies toward “waywardness”: that is, a taste for profit and beauty and a susceptibility to jealousy and hate, all of which, if indulged in, would lead to disorder and criminality. In order to attain a oneness with the Way, a dedication to morality, Xunzi argued for the guidance of a proper teacher: only this would allow one to become morally upright. A proper teacher would have been trained in the teachings of the ancient sage kings who saw that human nature was inherently immoral and thus wrong. From this realization, the sage kings developed rituals and regulations to shape people into accordance with the Way.

.

.

.

Xunzi argues that if one associates with gentlemen, one will become a gentleman; if one associates with the immoral, one will become immoral (a similar sentiment can be found in the Analects of Confucius).

Sound familiar?

Harimoto’s faction is thus run on elitism, that they believe that they are better than others. This false sense of superiority (sorry I’m not very fond of them) helps them work together because they have a common goal, which is to rid the world of Evil and Demons.

Nao, on the other hand, takes a pro-Mencius stand:

Mencius asserted the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it was society’s influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – that caused bad moral character. “He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature” and “the way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind”

Again, sound familiar? She believes that everyone is potentially good and takes sympathy with them. Back on topic, Harimoto’s faction believes that all others are doomed and revere Harimoto for his so-called purity.

Harimoto, on the other hand, runs a tight dictatorship which is slightly similar to Yokoya but they have a bond that is likely to be un-breakable unless they see sense in what Nao’s philosophy.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to share with you all what you think. Tell me what you think about my theory, I’d love to hear about what you guys have to share about what is going on so far.

P.S. Sorry again, Quantula, for not posting for so long! I’ve been busy.