LIAR GAME

Y'know as someone who was somewhat put off by the Nao's seeming eagerness and readiness to lie so suddenly last episode. This episode reframes her actions very nicely. She doesn't think that she's deceiving them but actually saving them instead, which means she isn't going against her core values. I like that. Also, for anyone who hasn't yet, please check out the full music video of the OP "Bubble" on youtube. It is genuinely one of the best MVs I have ever seen.

I'll add that breaking said wall also plays to the themes of this series, both with "thinking outside the box" and with Nao's epiphany that the player's enemy isn't necessarily the opponent in front of you, but the gamemaster who put you into the situation in the first place. In fact, the lyrics of the song also very much plays to the themes of Liar Game (a shame we only have shoddy translations online): the despair of being fooled, of falling into debt over the carefree dream of "bubble money" ( abuku-zeni , AKA easy money earned without effort and gone in a blink), of being reduced to a beast who howls into the wind with no one paying attention, left with a hoarse voice and no way out. All just because of a desperate wish for a spark of joy, for something that won't burn out. So then, in this series, is there anything that can be described as "won't burn out", that is precious?

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They never promised that she would be smart as akiyama, that is just ridiculous and impossible. This episode tells what direction nao's development should be. And even when akiyama did most of the jobs his plan wouldn't really work if nao wasn't the one trying to lie everyone successfully and the ending result was purely her decision since akiyama only wanted to win but never cared deeply about other players.

Not even businesses could get as brazen with price gouging as Akiyama did. The inflation rate had gone through the roof. It’s ingenious how a single stratagem turned things around and allowed Nao & Akiyama to assume full control of the contestants’ fates. I noticed that Miura’s by far the kindest towards Nao when she’s rock bottom so it came as a surprise when she made him the loser. Then, it turned out that by booting him out she in fact freed him from the shackles of the Liar Game. Truly the most wonderful gift one could give. It’s refreshing to see Nao shine when she’d been a butt-monkey for pretty much the entire run. That speech purely came from deep within her heart, Akiyama had no role in that.

Akiyama kind of took over the game but honestly seeing him enjoying watching everyone squirm and desperate for votes (especially Fukunaga) was very satisfying. But even if Akiyama helped her win, Nao found a resolve to play Liar Game for herself and a reason for her to be in it in a way only someone like her could. Maybe the way someone should have seen the game the entire time. Although now she has to take that character development and hopefully use it effectively in the third game.

which shows how foolish the others are, but then again, Nao had the reputation of an honest, naive girl, so I would let them pass just this time. I do NOT give them a pass hah; Nao literally just did the "I'll secretly deal with you all" to them... They were 100% foolish to buy votes from her(Akiyama) without a guarantee they wouldn't sell to the others as well! Of course the others would buy votes too. So buying 2 votes and them buying 2 votes means we're still at the exact same point, only with less money. There is zero reason to buy votes unless you have a reason to believe the others won't. (A deal with the others, or a contract with Nao, etc)

not buying votes while in last place leaves you as the guaranteed loser, if everyone else does True, but that's misleading; Let's look at it like a Prisoner dilemma thing; Option A) You don't buy votes. If the others buy votes: You lose. (with 70 million yen) If the others don't buy votes: You lose (with 70 million yen) Option B) You buy votes If the others buy votes: You lose (with 0 yen) If the others don't buy votes: You win (with 0 yen) Of all these scenario, there is only ONE that is beneficial to you; Buying votes while the others don't buy them. Everything else is negative. So to believe that buying votes is a positive, you need to know the others won't buy votes. Becuase if they do, buying votes doesn't make you win, it only makes you lose 70m for no reason. That's why I was saying that he should NOT buy votes unless he has guarantees. If he does not have such guarantees, then the expected outcome is that the others will buy votes too (For the same reason he did) and so he will lose again AND be 70m deeper in the hole.

... while the others don't buy them That's kind of a KEY part you're ommitting. Hypothetical: Scenario A: You lose $1000. Scenario B: You open a mystery box that has a random number written inside from 1 to 1000000000000000000000000000, and if the number is 1297571347961379, you win 1 million $. Otherwise you lose 1 million $ instead of $1000. The only positive outcome is you opening the box and finding 1297571347961379 . So, do you open the box? Of course not; Because the number is almost guaranteed to NOT be 1297571347961379, and you'll lose 1 million $. The best move for you is to do nothing and accept that you're losing $1000. It's negative, but not as negative as what happens if you open the box and you (likely) lose. In this scenario, yes the only positive is "buying votes", but ONLY if the others don't buy votes; If the others buy votes, you should NOT buy votes. Because it won't change anything other than you both lose more money, and you're still the loser. So before buying votes, you have to ask yourself one question: How likely is it that other people buy votes? And if it's likely, you should NOT buy them. Without a guaranteed/contract, I'd say the odds of them buying votes are roughly... 100% .

its seller market where buyer have no negotiation rights at this point, buyer either buy the vote with no string attached or lose. The three could form a pact to not buying unless buyer add the not selling to other clause, but there bound to be at least one person out of the three to buckle, because why would you insist seller not selling to other players and join the other two to lose when it cost you nothing (you are only returning the 70mil yen) to join other winners? the other two could lose if they want while you proceed with no loss.

its seller market where buyer have no negotiation rights at this point But it's not... That's the point; If the buyers stand pat, ONE of the others loses. Meanwhile, Nao and Akiyama have to pay hundreds of millions for all these contracts they signed. Who's getting screwed? If you had to pick between "A small % chances to lose 100 million" (the buyers), or "100% chance to lose 500 million" (Nao/Akiyama) which would you pick? If the buyers team up and don't budge, Nao and Akiyama HAVE to budge; Otherwise they're gonna be the biggest losers, EVEN if they win the game! ONE loser will be in debt. 7 winners will be in the clear (and will still be owed money from Nao, so they're in the black) Nao will be 500 million in debt. So between these two groups of people, which would you like to be in? The group of "7 winners with 70m owned to them, + 1 loser"? Or the "Nao 500 million in debt" group? If the buyers don't budge, Nao is SCREWED on account of paying so much to buy all their votes. Nao will be BEGGING THEM to buy her votes back. Nao's the one who has to blink here... Not them. Yes, 1 out of 8 guys is in trouble if they don't buy. But 1 out of 1 Nao is in MAJOR trouble. But again: The main point is that if you buy votes because you're about to lose, and then the other guy buys votes because he's about to lose, you're STILL about to lose. Only you're also 70 million poorer. So what's the point of buying votes, if you don't have guarantees that others won't buy them as well? Would you rather lose the game with 70 million, or would you rather lose the game with 0? Because if you don't have assurances that other people won't do the same thing you did, buying votes does not make you win, it only makes you lose with less money in your pocket.

If the buyers stand pat, ONE of the others loses. If I, you and fukunaga is three person with the lowest votes, I would easily pay the 70 mils. from my pov I win and stay in the game and there's no consequences, what would you do after I buy the votes? punch me? Meanwhile you and fukunaga are free to standby your "not paying unless buyer not selling to other's" rules and either you or fukunaga would lose.(the more likely scenario is fukunaga stab you in the back by buying/getting votes somehow and you lose) Akiyama/Nao certainly won't budge with the "no selling" rules else they have no course to recover 420mils. You are 100% confirmed to be that one of the others that loses with debt.

If I, you and fukunaga is three person with the lowest votes, I would easily pay the 70 mils. from my pov I win and stay in the game and there's no consequences Just wondering, I don't know if you play chess or any similar game, but when you make a move do you think "This good move, I make it!" or do you think "If I move that, he'll do that, so it's bad for me"? You seem to think the strategy ends at "What I do"... Do you consider "What OTHERS will do"? If "buying votes because you're currently losing" is the right move to do, what do you imagine the next guy to become the loser will do? ...Buy votes because he's currently losing? I'm not sure where the disconnect is, to be honest; Here's an example; You have 38 votes and 70 millions. Bob has 39 votes and 70 millions. Joe has 40 votes and 70 millions. You go "OH NO, I'M LOSING! I HAVE TO SPEND 70 MILLIONS TO BUY 2 VOTES!" You now have 40 votes and 0 $. Bob sees your vote total, and goes "OH NO, I'M LOSING! I HAVE TO SPEND 70 MILLIONS TO BUY 2 VOTES!" Bob now has 41 votes and 0 $. Joe sees Bob's votes total, and goes "OH NO, I'M LOSING! I HAVE TO SPEND 70 MILLIONS TO BUY 2 VOTES!" Joe now has 42 votes and 0 $. Please explain to me how the situation has improved for either you or Bob. And tell me what the next step of the strategy is, now that you're still losing and you don't have your 70 millions anymore. I'm not sure how else to say it, but that's exactly why I said Buying votes doesn't help if others buy them too . You are in the EXACT same scenario as before, only you lost 70 millions. To achieve what? You seem to start from the premise of "Oh no I'm losing I have to do something about it!" but if that "something" STILL makes you the loser, and it costs 70 millions... Is this a good strategy? Your strategy relies on "Well maybe the others will not do literally the exact thing I did?"... In chess they would call that "hope chess" (playing bad moves in the hope that your opponent will play an even worse move so you can win). And it's not a winning strategy.

70m for the 10 votes doesn't exist unless Nao wants it to even if she had the money. Breaching a contract is -100m, Nao has the option to never fulfill her side of the 70m deal and take a 100m penalty instead with the addition of being able to choose whoever she wants to lose an additional 100m if they don't play along. "I will put you specifically into an additional 100m debt right now if you don't buy these votes" (On top of their already ~105m? debt)

Interesting, so it is going down this route! In an earlier episode I commented something along the lines of how the scheme would collapse if the wealth was redistributed at the end of each game, I thought the Liars game profited from the debt interest but I missed it was actually from dropping out of the game. If Nao and Akiyama work through the game to redistribute the winnings then this would be actual peak, Nao's characterization is finally paying off

Nao is now in control of the board with the most votes! It's her game to win and now everyone is left begging HER for votes, and Akiyama is going to make the most of it. Ah yes, Akiyama is Nao's "possession," I guess that's one way to describe their relationship. Not a bad guy to own, eh Nao? Thus begins the the "selling Nao's votes" game! Where players pay to get as many votes from Nao as possible as Akiyama keeps raising the cost for the votes and the players are too desperate not to pay them. Now FUKUNAGA is the one desperate for Nao's votes! How the tables have turned! Sato tried his best to pull a fast one but you can't out-swindle Akiyama, so he ends up begging for votes too. The game began with a pitch meeting and it ended with a pitch meeting...only to end in a brawl. But Nao has had it. No one would listen to her when they started this and she has no intention of listening to them. Not when she casts the last vote and holds someones' fate in her hands. And so everyone reacts to them making it through...even Sato, who managed to outlast everybody surprisingly enough! Even Fukunaga made it. But what about poor Miura? But that's the thing: Miura was the ONLY one who treated Nao with any kindness and empathy and she realized something about Liar Game. That the real winners are the ones who keep playing and help other people get out in a game where people in their desperation and greed keep playing to the organizations' hands. Because the only way the organization wins is if people keep paying them back to get out. But what if someone, like Nao, thought of someone else and bought THEM out while still playing? That's why she saves Miura and that's why she helps everyone else out. Because despite everything she's a good and honest person. Well, no surprise Leronira thought she was just really stupid (because she kind of is) but now Nao has his attention. Even the crooked lawyer didn't see that coming.