The Great Pretender Season 3 release date is confirmed for 2024. The official title for the third season is Great Pretender razbliuto.
The Great Pretender sequel will have Makoto Edamura, Laurent Thierry, and the gang return for a new adventure.
Rather than being a Netflix exclusive this time around, Great Pretender will be streaming on Crunchyroll in most of the world except for mainland China. In the Middle Easter and North Africa it will be streaming via Manga Productions, and in Japan it’s streaming via DMM TV.
The Great Pretender anime is an original story by WIT Studio, best known for producing the Attack On Titan anime series (but not Attack On Titan Season 4) and the Vinland Saga anime (the director has teased Vinland Saga Season 2).
For the first two seasons of Great Pretender, director Hiro Kaburagi was helming the anime series. During a December 2020 interview with Anime News Network, the director discussed the possibility of Great Pretender Season 3.
“If you want to see a [Great Pretender] sequel, do be sure to tell your friends and acquaintances about it, so that you can increase the viewer count on Netflix!” Kaburagi replied when asked if he had a message for international audiences. “Now then, let us see each other again someday!”
Evangelion and FLCL artist Yoshiyuki Sadamoto was the Great Pretender character designer. Parastye movie writer Ryota Kosawa wrote the script. Vinland Saga composer Yutaka Yamada created the music.
The release schedule for the Great Pretender TV show was abnormal by any standard. Technically, the original Great Pretender anime was a two-cour anime with 23 episodes that was divided up into five story arcs called Cases.
Not familiar with that terminology? A “cour” is a three-month unit of TV broadcasting based on the physical weather seasons. Most anime seasons are composed of 12 or 13 episodes per cour.
- Updated November 21, 2023: Great Pretender sequel confirmed!
Updated December 16, 2020: Added quote from the director about a Great Pretender sequel. Adjusted Season 3 release date predictions.
This article provides everything that is known about Netflix’s Great Pretender Season 3 (Great Pretender Season 2 in Japan) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Why we predicted a 2024 Great Pretender Season 3 release date
As of the last update, WIT Studio, Netflix, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the exact Great Pretender Season 3 release date except for the year. However, the production of a Great Pretender sequel was announced on November 16, 2023.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Great Pretender Season 3 premiere date will occur in the future.
WIT Studio certainly has a financial incentive to create another sequel. Anime industry insiders have stated that Netflix pays far better than Japanese anime production committees. And since WIT Studio created the intellectual property for Great Pretender they stand to make much more money out of any success.
And it’s definitely been a success. Reviews from both critics and fans have been generous, although Netflix hasn’t revealed the exact view rankings.
Regardless of the TV show’s success, anime productions are scheduled years in advance. Not only does the main animation staff need to be gathered, but the voice talent also needs to be available.
Despite taking on massive projects like Attack On Titan, WIT Studio is a relatively small animation company. Historically, they only take on two to three projects per year at most.
For 2021, WIT Studio is working on Netflix’s Vampire in the Garden, which is another original story. They’re also working on adapting the Osama Ranking (King Ranking) manga series in 2021.
Considering how Episode 23’s ending directly teases Great Pretender Season 3 it’s obvious the studio left the door open for a sequel. However, since the director stated that the first two seasons need more Netflix views in order for the sequel to be greenlit for production it’s likely they didn’t secretly planned out their production schedule to include the sequel.
Since their production schedule already seemed filled at the time, and productions are planned out years in advance, Anime Geek predicted way back in 2021 that the earliest we’ll watch a Great Pretender sequel is in 2024.
Since the announcement was made in November 2023, Anime Geek is now predicting that the Great Pretender Season 3 release date will be in Spring or Summer 2024.
Why The Great Pretender Season 3 is actually the second season
Netflix Japan streamed the Great Pretender episodes as they aired on Japanese TV stations. But Netflix U.S. delayed the release of new episodes by months and labeled Case 5 (episodes 15 – 23) as Great Pretender Season 2.
Considering that Wizard of Far East was the big finale, Great Pretender Season 1 Part 2 would have been more accurate.
Thus when the Great Pretender Season 3 anime is announced in Japan it’ll come officially labeled as the second season.
The Great Pretender Season 3 Netflix U.S. release date will also be at least several months after the Japanese premiere. Not only does Netflix U.S. like setting up Americans for binge-watching, but it’ll also take time to record the Great Pretender Season 3 English dub.
Great Pretender Part 3 story predictions
The first season was designed as a self-contained story where the backstories of all the major characters were revealed and the major conflict between Edamura and his father Oz (Ozaki) was resolved in spectacular fashion.
Most of the characters have moved on from con games. Ozaki visits his dead wife’s grave and says he will dedicate his life to finding and rescuing kids from human trafficking. Cynthia takes on a teen named Kawain, who appears interested in painting. Even Eddie Cassano, Sam Ibrahim, and James Coleman are now business partners.
At the same time, the story felt incomplete since several threads were left hanging as loose ends.
One aspect of the first season that stood out was how no one died, was caught or identified, or just plain betrayed by the ending. The main characters were even buddy-buddy with the first three villains by the end!
While some of those character outcomes might be excused by plot armor, most writers try to raise the emotional stakes by providing actual consequences like real death. That is… unless you’re a studio trying to make a name for itself by creating an ongoing series where the main characters need to be alive for the sequel.
While the ending offered plot resolution the story writers left the door open for the Great Pretender Season 3 anime in several different ways.
After recreating the heist that had failed with Dorothy, Laurent is shown to have moved on emotionally from his dead wife by removing his keepsake ring and dropping it into the ocean. But audiences learn that Dorothy is alive and is living on an island near Taiwan.
Miraculously, Dorothy’s ring makes it back to her. The scene implies that she is suffering from amnesia since she now goes by the name Xeingxeing. While the past trauma of most of the cast has been resolved it’s possible that Dorothy’s memories returning could trigger a new conflict.
The after-credits epilogue on Great Pretender Season 2’s ending with the president explained how the Great Pretender Season 3 could begin. Laurent is shown at the U.S. president’s inauguration and it’s implied he’s planning a new heist since he calls Edamura and asks if he’s bored yet.
The biggest issue is what would realistically cause Makoto Edamura to desire to join Team Confidence again and not be forced. Mere boredom wouldn’t fit what we know of Edamura’s character.
Arguably, Makoto never fully conned Laurent and beat him at his own game. He tip-toed to the edge and surprised everyone in the middle of the final con, but instead of jumping off and stealing all the money out of revenge, he did what Abby advised and released all the anger and tension he’d been hanging onto for years.
So, revenge as the motivation for rejoining the con game would seem out of character since Makoto is not a vindictive person. After all, once the first con concluded Makoto wasn’t interested in conning people for money. He only joined Team Confidence out of concern for helping people.
We do know that Abby (Abigail Jones) is rock climbing in Nevada and still in contact with Makoto while he is traveling the globe. Most fans are probably shipping Makoto x Abby and it wouldn’t be surprising if Great Pretender Season 3 develops a romantic relationship.
And it’s possible that Abby could be the entanglement that pulls Makoto back into Laurent’s scheming. After all, we know from Abby’s backstory that she suffered in a war involving the United States.
And if Laurent is targeting the U.S. president, what benefit could he hope to gain. Perhaps, stopping a war? Such a goal would be certain to draw in Abby and therefore Makoto by extension.
Whatever the case might be, WIT Studio can’t just tease Laurent conning the President of the United States, and then not deliver. Let’s just hope the wait for the Great Pretender Season 3 release date isn’t too long. Stay tuned!.