Liar Liar - Some of the games were really convoluted. Miyuki!

Liar, Liar (ライアー・ライアー) is a light novel series completed in 15 volumes (2019–2023) written by Haruki Kuou and illustrated by konomi. I finished reading it a while ago, so I figured I should write about it before my memory starts dissolving like it always does with long series.

The story follows Hiroto Shinohara, who transfers to Academy Island, a massive island consisting entirely of schools. Everything on the island is determined through Games, which can range widely in nature, and each student’s worth is represented by the number of stars they possess. Several special stars also exist, each granting unique powers that influence the rules of the island. 

Hiroto arrives without any star ranking and soon finds himself in a confrontation with the top student, Sarasa Saionji, a 7-star and the daughter of the island’s owners. Against all expectations, Hiroto wins and steals her Red Star.

The Red Star grants the ability to declare one lie that the island’s system will treat as truth, no matter how outrageous. The effect ends immediately if the user loses the star. This is exactly what happened to Sarasa, and losing it exposed her real identity. She is not the true Sarasa Saionji, but rather Rina Akabane, a girl forced to impersonate her for various reasons.

With the help of the cool-headed maid Shirayuki Himeji, Hiroto decides to fake being a 7-star student by using the Red Star’s power. His goal is to find his missing childhood friend while teaming up with Rina to protect both their secrets.

The story becomes a continuous chain of mind games, battles of wits and high-stakes competitions. Hiroto absolutely cannot lose, because the first star a person loses is always the first special star they ever gained. If he lost even a single match, he would lose the Red Star, the system would stop protecting his lie and his entire identity would collapse instantly.

The main questions driving the series are:
• Who is Hiroto’s real childhood friend?
• What happens if someone gathers all seven special stars?
• Can Hiroto keep his fabrications intact until the end?

Alongside these mysteries are plenty of cute, funny and sometimes intense scenes with the heroines. The main two heroines remain Rina and Shirayuki, but many more characters join the cast over time.

Honestly, there are so many that I struggle to remember all of them, but here are the four most important ones:

Rina Akabane (6 stars)
A brilliant student and Hiroto’s partner in deception. She has red hair and a tsundere personality, though much less violent than the typical kind you see in similar series.

Shirayuki Himeji (4–5 stars)
A calm, elegant maid who is unwaveringly devoted to Hiroto. She has short white or gray hair and a glamorous figure. Her reasons for helping him are not fully explained at first.

Noa Akizuki (6 stars)
A mischievous troublemaker known as the “little devil.” She starts as an antagonist but becomes an ally and heroine after her arc concludes. She uses her charm aggressively to try to fluster Hiroto, although with limited success.

Tsumugi Shiina
Not a student but a young girl who hacked into Academy Island’s systems simply for fun. She eventually becomes a little-sister figure to Hiroto and assists him with various forms of strategic cheating.

And these are only the beginning. The series introduces more than twenty recurring characters by the end, and it never hesitates to expand the cast further.

My favorite is definitely a toss up between Shirayuki and Tsumugi. Shirayuki's looks and dedication are remarkable and really made her the "ideal heroine" in my eyes, but Tsumugi is downright criminally adorable and I would love to head-pat her all day.

The story starts extremely strong, especially in the first few volumes, and I remember being genuinely excited to see what would happen next. But around volumes 8–9, I began to feel some fatigue. Maybe it was just me, or maybe the pacing dragged a little in certain arcs. The series remains above average overall, but it definitely does not maintain the same intensity as its opening.

Even so, I absolutely recommend giving this light novel a try. The early volumes are phenomenal, and the later ones, while not quite as sharp, are still filled with clever moments, fun character interactions and solid entertainment.