The Series (2/5)

    The Japanese government has implemented a law that states that all 16 years olds must be automatically paired off as couples for marriage (how does that work do all odd-numbered people get killed off?).  Of course, forcing people into arranged marriages means people who have real emotions and real relationships will undoubtedly be upset. 

     Love and Lies focuses on a love triangle between an arranged couple, with one member who is in love for real with someone outside of said couple. We have Nejima, a young man who is in love Misaki, but is arranged to marry Ririna. Also, in the background is the mysterious Nisaka. Nejima is the sort of every man character in this situation, and Misaki is a sort of girl next door type, while Ririna is sort of a cold beauty.   The first part of the series establishes the situation, the characters, and relationships.  As it stands Ririna is fine with the relationship between Nejima and Misaki, but ends up in love with them both, and that's just the beginning.

   Loves and Lies is sort of interesting as it feels like a show about blank slate characters that were set up to explore a theme. That theme is love, and their reactions to it. The character I believe we are not supposed to relate to Ririna, is oddly the one most fascinated by love, and thus finds herself in love with both of the mains, even though she started the series inside a forced relationship with one of them, and outside a true loving relationship. It's moments when the series writing feels like a natural exploration on the love theme, that it feels solid. However, most of the time it feels kind of like an exploitive romance scenario, and at those times I just couldn't click with it.

Audio/Video (4/5)

    Sentai Filmworks presents Love and Lies in a solid 1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer.  The animation here is quite solid, nothing spectacular, but it works. Detail is good throughout, colors are stable. and I could not find many issues at all.

    Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track in Japanese.  Dialogue and score is crisp and clear.

Extras (1/5)

    There is a clean opening and closing, and trailers.

Overall

    Love and Lies is an interesting romance anime. The Blu-ray looks and sounds solid, but is limited in extras. RENT IT.