Akiyama Shinichi

Akiyama Shinichi is a participant of the Liar Game Tournament and the male lead of the Liar Game series.
==Appearance==
In the manga, Akiyama's hair varies wildly across the colored pages, between blond, orange, and even black. The styling of it morphs as the artist's, Shinobu Kaitani, art style changes. Initially, it is spiky and medium-long, blown towards one side. It gets cut shorter and becomes tidier as the series progresses, but he retains the long bangs that fall between his eyes. His eyes tend to stay a certain shade of yellow-brown. These are both represented by white in the normal pages. Long eyelashes (that shrink slightly later on) give him an owlish appearance. Akiyama is also afflicted by a case of particularly dark eyebags. Often, he is pictured wearing long-sleeved shirts and turtlenecks with tight-fitting pants. His posture falls between a relaxed upright stance and a slouch, but is never fully either. He is noted for being quite attractive.
In the drama, Akiyama is acted by Matsuda Shota. His hairstyle seems to be an interpretation of the style shown in the latter chapters of the manga. Initially, it is short and falls over the face, but is later styled as being medium-long and side-parted with one side tucked behind an ear. He often wears jeans and a collared shirt, and sports a piercing in his left ear.
==Personality==
One of Akiyama Shinichi's most intriguing charms is that his character still has a lot to reveal and can be interpreted in several ways.
Akiyama graduated from Teito University with a major in Psychology. He is thus imbedded with extensive knowledge and aptitude for analyzing and assessing the human mind. The first time that Akiyama utilized those abilities in the real world was to swindle a major MLM company into bankruptcy. The action was motivated by revenge for scamming his single mother, who had committed suicide in order to ensure her son's tuition through all of college. As a result, he spent 3 years in prison, giving him the in-game nickname "Ex-Con". The general public considers him a professional con-artist and a genius.
When he first appears, Akiyama seems to be a very sly and confident man, tricking reporters into leaving the scene so he can leave the prison without a hassle. During the Liar Game Tournament, he displays exceptional proficiency in tricking his opponents through his intellectual skills; his biggest forte is being able to predict and manipulate people's minds, which lets him get cooperation from other players as he presents them a logical and brilliant plan and to get the best out of their opponents by predicting their train of thoughts and actions. He is not unwilling to lie or deceive others in order to achieve his desired results.
Through the series, his character becomes less introspective and more sociable, even showing subtle signs of Kanzaki Nao's influence. He is self-described as Nao's right hand man and seems to be quite protective of her (most likely initiated by her resemblance to his deceased mother). It is hypothesized that he acts that way as atonement for not being able to protect his mother from the cruelty of the world before her death.
==Abilities==
When he first appears, Akiyama seems to be a very sly and confident man, tricking reporters into leaving the scene so he can leave the prison without a hassle. During the Liar Game Tournament, he displays exceptional proficiency in tricking his opponents through his intellectual skills; his biggest forte is being able to predict and manipulate people's minds, which lets him get cooperation from other players as he presents them a logical and brilliant plan and to get the best out of their opponents by predicting their train of thoughts and actions. He is not unwilling to lie or deceive others in order to achieve his desired results.
Category:Manga Heroes
Category:Anime Heroes
Category:Male
Category:Masterminds
Category:Liars
Category:Pragmatists
Category:Chaotic Neutral
Category:Leaders
Category:Charismatic
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:False Antagonist
Category:Strategists
Category:Tricksters