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"Nao is an annoying b**ch. If she didn't exist, I'd have loved this series."
Way to miss the point, 80% of the readers. Just think: if anyone other than Nao and - by extension - Akiyama were the protagonists, what would be the point of this manga? The MC would just go around throwing everyone into colossal debt while making off with mountains of cash, there'd be no morality and no character to root for, and Liar Game would, in effect, become the next Death Note. (I love DN, but I don't want to see a non-supernatural copy of it) The entire point of having someone as drastically different as Nao be the MC is because she's an element the LGT organisers themselves hadn't predicted: someone who brings the heart and soul into this soulless game, and who, contrary to initial appearances, is as imperative to Akiyama's survival as he is to hers. Akiyama is the brains and Nao is the heart, so if you're one of those people who think that a female character in a story filling the traditionally feminine role instead of a "stronger" masculine role is sexist, stay away from this series. (And just FYI: there are brilliant people and idiotic people of both sexes in the story, ditto for people who function as the heart/soul of their teams)
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"The plot is so convoluted and contrived. No one can predict things that far ahead."
This is a series with gambling, mind games, lies, cheating, psychological trickery and manipulation at its core. Of course in real life this level of Xanatos Speed Chess is impossible, but what's the fun in a work of fiction where everything turns out just the way it does in real life? If you want to see "real gambling," pay a visit to Las Vegas instead.
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"No character/relationship development."
Nao gets a lot of character development, which according to the majority happens too slowly. I'm of the personal opinion that it happens at just the right pace: people don't go from being naive, bumbling ditzes to cunning manipulators overnight, after all. And what's good about Nao is that while she becomes less gullible and more courageous and determined as the plot progresses, she never actually becomes cruel or cold-hearted like most other "weak to strong" characters tend to. And there's actually plenty of relationship development between her and several other characters (Akiyama, Fukunaga, Akagi, Abe, Harimoto, and even Yokoya). Unless of course by "relationship" you mean "romantic," in which case there is none. Akiyama himself doesn't change, and neither does Yokoya (the primary antagonist), but that's a given, as they're both the kind of men who have matured early and are resistant to change as a result of their strong-willed personalities and unusual upbringing. But at the end of the day, Liar Game is an overwhelmingly plot-driven manga, so if you're the type to prioritise characters and relationships over plot, then it's not for you.
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"It's trying to be clever, but it's actually very simplistic and predictable."
Congratulations, you're a genius logician! Jokes aside, though, if you really are a very clever and cunning person yourself, the games they play here will probably seem childish and obvious to you. But to the rest of us with average to slightly-above-average strategic abilities: sometimes you can see what's coming, but 80% of the time anticipating the players' (yes, even Nao's) next moves definitely requires quite a bit of thought. If you enjoy that kind of mental exercise, LG is your manga.
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"The philosophy of this manga is completely flawed. The two MC's just don't have the guts to defeat anyone, they're not so great."
I don't buy into Nao's personal philosophy myself, and since I haven't suffered through a childhood like Akiyama's I have no personal vendetta against large-scale money-making ventures, but aside from the fundamental error in dismissing anyone's lifeview as invalid simply because you don't agree with it, this isn't a story that pushes forward any one philosophy as such. Plenty of characters in the story disagree with Nao and try to use her views against her, and these people are not necessarily presented as villains but just as individuals who have different ideas regarding what the Game is about. And while Nao does try to bring them to her side time and again, once she realises that this is impossible she and Akiyama will do everything they can to lead by example instead of preaching; ie:, they're very proactive within the boundaries of their own principles, which makes them far from gutless. That said, the author is obviously biased in their favour, but that's true of fiction in general.
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"Since people like Akiyama and Nao don't exists in the world, this is too unrealistic for a seinen."
First of all, seinen =/= realistic. Seinen = aimed towards adult men, and adult men have their unrealistic fantasies just like everyone else. Just because this doesn't feature the typical "sex and violence" fantasy of the majority of mainstream seinen doesn't make it any less (or more) "realistic." And unless you know every single person in this world personally, how can you say people like Nao and Akiyama don't exist? It's unlikely, but not impossible. And if fictitious characters were like your everyday ordinary person, fiction would be very boring indeed.
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"Akiyama's too brilliant, he takes all the suspense out of the story since we know he can think himself out of any bind."
Actually, Akiyama gets cornered a few times, too. The reason he always manages to triumph over his intellectual equals (Yokoya and the Kimura-Harimoto duo, mainly) is because of Nao, which brings things back to my point about how neither of them are "better off having been replaced." Also: unless the story is specifically marketed as a tragedy, the MC's always win in the end anyway, so this complaint makes no sense.
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"The art is horrible, and there's no action or romance.This is boring!"
All true (except the 'boring' bit, which is purely subjective anyway), but since there are quite literally hundreds of romance action seinen with beautiful art out there, this one series geared towards the few of us whose tastes aren't limited to those two genre isn't a terrible loss, imo. And the art adequately showcases the characters' actions and thoughts/emotions, so what more do you expect from this kind of manga?
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"Nao always says "I have a foolproof plan," but it always fails!"
That's actually the point. "If everyone cooperates, the world would be a much better place!" is what Nao believes (albeit a bit too firmly for her own good, imo). And it's undeniably the truth, the ultimate foolproof plan towards creating a better world for everyone. But people are merciless, greedy and selfish; they try to profit on their own while throwing everyone else into hell, and as a result the world as a whole suffers on the long run. You can scoff if you like, and if you're from an affluent country which made all its fortunes this way in the first place you probably won't accept the truth in that statement, but it is what it is.
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"The ending was rushed."
Very true: the last few chapters were sub-par compared to the rest of series, and it could definitely have done with a 20th volume to bring the ship smoothly into port, so to speak. The final arc is also the weakest in terms of plot quality, and caused my rating to drop a bit. I don't believe the series was axed, as it's plenty popular in Japan, but Kaitani Shinobu does seem to struggle with endings quite a bit -- as was also the case with his other long-running series, One Outs.
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"Liar Game is a masterpiece!"
It could have been, but in the end fell a bit short -- not least because of the rocky finale. Nevertheless a very enjoyable read and one of the more mentally engaging pieces of fiction I've read in a while. If you love plot-focused manga, this is very much recommended.
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