Sora

Shiro

Stephanie Dola

Jibril

Chlammy Zell

Fiel Nilvalen

Izuna Hatsuse

Mahakoht Dola

Queen

Miko

Azriel

Ino Hatsuse

Koukan

Touzoku

Senshi

Sakaba no Onna

Nourin Daijin

Keizai Daijin

Bored with life and considering the real world to be just a “crappy game,” savvy sibling shut-ins Sora and Shiro have withdrawn into their own fantasy world filled with video games. 
<br><br>
However, one day they find themselves summoned to another world by a boy who calls himself “God,” their abilities are about to be put to the ultimate test! Now not only their fates — but the fate of all of humanity — will be decided by a series of games that may just be the hardest these super-geniuses have ever faced!
<br><br>
(Source: Sentai Filmworks, edited)

No game No life is a rather overrated anime. 

NGNL is about Sora and Shiro - two legendary gamers. They go by the name "Blank" (represented by a blank space) and unbeatable in any game. The genre doesn't matter, the rules don't matter. As long as the game isn't impossible, blank never loses. Then some mysterious emails happen and they land into a world where everything is decided by games. EVERYTHING.

and Blank never loses.

 img(http://i.imgur.com/S4epjLA.jpg)

  Story (15/30) and Characters (11/30) 

It is based around NEETs and gaming, so you can probably guess where all the high ratings are coming from. However, I don't really see it in comparison to others of its supposed genre, say, BTOOM! or SAO. I consider it more of a fantasy series than one based around the "drawn into a game" one. This is because of its lack of any "survival" whatsoever and the fact that the characters don't really care for their own world any more. The only similarity is perhaps the overpowered main character(s).

That said, NGNL isn't exactly unique in its premise. It has been done plenty of times before, examples being Ixion Saga or Dog Days or even Zero no Tsukaima or the countless others of its type, all of which relied on calling people from a different world into a different world for the sake of ensuring the underdog's survival.

Still, the execution was quite new. But, that does not mean it was good. The biggest reason for this is that blank never loses. The overpowered main duo just pretty much walk through everything. But before they win, the plot decides to throw a lot of thrills in and overall spice it up. Now that would be a good thing if not for the fact that the thrills are cheap. Almost below the belt. In every single game blank looks like they are going to lose, but end up winning through a needle's edge, but if you look at it clearly, there was really no reason for it to be so, since blank pulls something out of their ass to win the game (which they supposedly set up before the game even started). The story then downplays its earlier shocked characters by saying "They ACTED like they were losing, you know, to trick their opponents! To trick them I said!"  ~!Like in the shiritori game, it wasn't needed for the game to be played for as long as they did, even if the first thing Sora had played was Coloumb's force, they would have won, since there is literally no way to counteract it as it stood in the series.!~

Which is quite opposite what the characters actually do. Sora LOVES boasting about how he beat the other person by explaining why and when they lost to him and is just good old cocky. For such a person to act defeated....it just doesn't sit right.

 img(http://i.imgur.com/35PUdch.jpg)


The main characters pretty much just walk in the world, read the rules and start taking out one person after the other. Which is conveniently addressed by "they are geniuses". They beat top dogs in a world where gaming is literally everything and they don't even break a sweat. After all, the game is over before it begins. Sora also has the uncanny ability to cold read others. Now, while good cold readers can usually figure out a good bunch, they still can't psycho-analyze others from half a mile away without ever looking at them. Sora can do all of that -because, once again, he is a genius- and then even know what knowledge they get fed and what decisions the person makes without so much as batting an eye. Which is, once again, quite convenient - especially considering that Sora has mental breakdowns when he goes near another person, so he clearly lacks any practice on the subject. 

This brings us to the "faults" in the characters as seen from the story's perspective. The major fault in Sora and Shiro is that they can't socialize or even be apart without totally collapsing. Which might sound limiting, but its effects are seen nowhere in the entire (non-comedic side of the) storyline. After all, Sora can give speeches to make armies defect, make the entire city cheer for them and walk into a bar and chat up some girl into a game just fine despite having done any of the above before. The story once again excuses this by calling them geniuses.

 img(http://i.imgur.com/YjevTRl.jpg)

A major component of the entire series are the games being played. The question here isn't whether blank wins (since they never lose) but about HOW they win. Not counting all the "thrills" I mentioned earlier, there isn't anything terribly wrong with the games. The first game (rock paper scissors) was interesting, chess was just fine and most other games were more or less fun.Exceptions being, the shiritori game and the FPS. They just abused the artistic license to get away with absolute bullshit. Now, I usually don't question physics in any anime. Girl wants to hit a nosebled guy across the earth with an umbrella? Be my guest. But if the story decides that it suddenly wants to take use ACTUAL high school physics, I expect it to carry it out properly without looking like a dumbass. I really don't like bringing up science as a standpoint against a series, but if the series is going to use actual science as a plot point and pretty much the decider of a game of wits, it can't use BROKEN science as a winning condition.

 ~!In the FPS, Once again, the story saw fit to play the genius card by making Shiro (for a change) into an absolute godly gamer. She can make her shots bounce off off a gazzilion walls and hit a target miles away from her. This is after all, because she is good at FPS games. Wait, back up, back up. I'm good at Call of Duty. Can I -in real life- snipe a guy across the dessert while falling from a water tanker? I doubt it. Just because I'm good at a game doesn't mean I can achieve jack shit in real life. The story mentions time and again that even though the players aren't physically transported into the game, the software doesn't modify the players and they pretty much remain as they were in the real world (like how Sora starts panting after running a while). Shiro still plays the game like she was in an assisted simulator. Other than that, Shiro is also able to track where NPCs will walk (and bets the entire game on this) despite never having looked at the code and not even knowing all the interactions that the NPCs are capable of. Once again, this is conveniently explained by "She is a genius". !~

 img(http://i.imgur.com/VTTpHH1.jpg)

After that comes the comedy. I can't really say the comedy is actually even funny, its more like a "stupid people doing stupid things" sort of a comedy. Where the only comedic relief is that someone is doing something totally crazy, or when other characters are humiliated. Stephanie Dola usually ends up being the butt of both the comedy and the ecchi side of things. Sora deems it fit to utterly humiliate her so that the audience can have a laugh. He (and his elite sister) see it fit to strip her of all her clothes, walk her around town, treat her like a literal dog (chain and all), then make her dress in a revealing dog costume after which they tie her to a pole and leave her there for the entire town to see. This is what passes for comedy and the plot completely agrees with it. After such an act towards one of their friends, I just couldn't bring myself to like Blank. I never liked them anyways, but after this I hated them. There is a limit that you can just brush off with a "this is comedy". That said, NGNL did make some clever jokes every now and then which made me chuckle. At the same time, there were references and overused memes (arrow to the knee) that made me want to punch the screen.
 img(http://i.imgur.com/wtvQLsZ.jpg)

Ecchi is probably one section where it delivers what it says. Of course, it would be better without it, but that's besides the point. Even without the BDs, NGNL has a fair amount of fanservice which bypasses the censors by downright not drawing nether region and nipples. So it can still give a lot of fap material without actually being a mass of floating pixels. Then again, the ecchi dominates large parts of the show (in ep06, ten minutes or half the episode is just blatant fanservice) and it ruins the series a bit, but since it said ecchi on the tin, can't really argue against it.

 img(http://i.imgur.com/OaB4P12.jpg)

On the other hand, the world and its creation were rather interesting. After having read so much fiction and LOTR rip-offs, NGNL created a fairly nice world and its lore was quite interesting. While my interests were more towards the Flugels, I really liked pretty much everything except humanity's history, which was just personal preference. It was pretty interesting overall. I did find the lack of revolts or actual problems of the realm rather quite disturbing, but the story does provide some (no matter how half assed) reasoning to it. 

With all that said, I don't think that the plot was anything above average. Not because it was generic, but because every froward move it made was usually accompanied by a step backwards. Despite being interesting, it wasn't able to be anything beyond that. I think NGNL is one series that is best viewed mindlessly and after just "going with the flow". Dedicated watching is just gonna wreck it. But even with the benefit of doubt on having a S2, not closing the first season even half-properly was just terrible.

The main characters on the other hand were despicable, but I still graded it higher because at least Steph was pitiable and Jibril was kind of fun.

 Artwork and Animation (6/10) 

The artwork was rather unique with its bright vibrant colors and freely drawn landscapes. That said, it wasn't anything spectacular. It was just....fine. There wasn't anything that made me go "whoa check THAT out!" and the background was  a bit sparsely detailed but it made up for that with character shading. It doesn't really handle saturation boosts too well, so it was a bit annoying having to revert my monitor to normal setting every week just to watch this.

 img(http://i.imgur.com/EV2zZiC.jpg)

The animation was more or less fluid and the conversion to slapstickiness is just fine and ecchi is abundant.

I think the art is fine, there isn't really anything more to say, if you like the freaky colors, then good for you, if you don't, then too bad.

 Sound and Music (8/10)

The VA cast was pretty solid. But considering how little the emotions are worth in the main series, I think this was a bit of an unratable area for me. I mean, I suppose they did a good job, but I don't really know.

That said, I do know that the BGMs were intense and enjoyable. The sound of the surrounding world was raised to give a more 'epic' view, and I think that part was just fine. 

 img(http://i.imgur.com/OZ0ir1P.jpg)

The music is and always has been a matter of taste, and while I thought that the OP1 was good, its long version is pretty average. This could either be because the OP01 has a great AMV to support it, or it could be because the long version is good old meh. The TV version was more than fine and I listened to it every time. The ED01 was also quite good, but nothing I wanted to download the long version of and listen to.

That said, despite being overall fair, I don't think it was good enough to join the league of 17/20 sound series like say Durarara or Kyoukai Senjou No Horizon.

 Enjoyment (14/20)

To be perfectly fair, NGNL was quite fun to watch. Not because it was a good piece of writing or even had half decent storytelling, but because it was interesting. And then there were the games that kept you wondering. After all, cheap thrills are still thrills. That said, NGNL isn't anything more than that, its just....fun. If you can switch your brain off and just watch it as you would some cheap knockoff cartoon, then it certainly can be quite good. Sadly, I can't, and feel it necessary to analyze the story. But even with that, NGNL was pretty enjoyable from start to end, but only if I lose myself in it.

 img(http://i.imgur.com/EQgmKCa.jpg)

Its fun-ish. Not really though. In reality it blows. But its not downright boring, so that's a plus.

Ok to start the world itself is fun and the fact they follow their own law is nice to see. This has made the world feel more immersive as a whole. Though the way that characters refer to threats such as war is baffling as war doesn't actually exist and people can just choose not to play a game or fight if they don't want too with no actual consequence.
 
The characters themselves are best summed up through the 2 main heroes. Sora & Shiro are 2 people bent on world domination who constantly abuse the only moral character in the story.
Both fortunately and unfortunately all the characters are lacking in any form of depth.
The main moral character Stephanie is bullied then given small praise leaving her open to then bully her again (For what I assume is meant to be comedy). She is put down to such an extent she would have likely taken up a more consistent form of self harm if it wasn't for, as said, the lack of depth in her personality.

The plans are interesting and entertaining mostly in explanation and like many shows it makes an art out of forming convoluted schemes that use the smallest of rules to win a fight. However these victories are almost completely empty as they come from superpower like intellect given to them before the start of the show making them completely in every fight unbeatable. This goes so far as to give them the power to beat a god in episode 1.
 
Overall the show is entertaining in parts and certainly unique however the comedy tries to make light & fun of abuse and the characters and story are completely hollow.

The show is entertaining in parts and unique, however make fun of abuse and the characters is hollow.

No Game No Life is an anime by the studio Madhouse famous for works such as “Hunter x Hunter” and “One Punch Man”. It’s about two NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) siblings named Sora and Shiro (A.K.A. 『　』or Blank) who are the best game players in the world. It doesn’t matter which game it is, they’re probably great at it. The show starts by them getting thrown into another world that basically runs on playing games after beating a computer in chess. In that new world they immediately crush their opponents just as successfully as they did in their world.
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webm(https://sakugabooru.com/data/cdcb8095ce337335262e141c7026155b.webm)
From the main duo we have Sora, who understands a person’s psychology better than that person does themself. He’s the one that does all the manipulating of the other characters. This is where I have a problem with him. I hold a distaste for anime 4D chess players because the majority of them feel like incredibly unrealistic pseudo-intellectuals. And Sora is no exception, every time he has a match with someone in the show he is instantly able to understand whatever emotions they might be feeling and what their thought process is. I have no idea how he is able to do this, even if he spent every minute of his life from the morning he was born studying others, he still wouldn’t be able to instantly understand everything about a person just from a quick glance. That isn't smart, that's just witchcraft. Also for some reason the creators gave Sora an “arrogant and prideful” personality even though that sort of contrasts with the whole NEET thing. You’d think that a NEET would be depressed or irritable, but instead Sora acts just like how a regular person would. 

On the other hand we have Shiro, the human computer. She does all the calculating in the duo and happens to be a genius at it, better than anyone in human history. And she’s even more unrealistic than Sora because she’s an 11 year old. I’m not saying child prodigies don’t exist, but this is just ridiculous. Apart from her whole brocon thing she really doesn’t have many other important character traits. I don’t know why they made her 11 even though she doesn’t act or think like an 11 year old would, they could have just as easily made her a high school student and that would have fit her character better. She’s pretty clearly just a loli who “loves her onii-chan” for those guys out there that are into that kind of stuff. 

There are also some other characters besides those two, but they’re all pretty much irrelevant or useless. Like Steph shows that she has the knowledge to run a country, but that’s completely useless when you’re in a world that’s run on games. Something which Steph notoriously sucks at unless aided by someone else. And Jibril is supposed to be super smart for her race, but ends up just being a jobber for the entire show after she’s beaten by Mr. and Mrs. Sue.

Now I’m going to tell you why Sora and Shiro don’t work as characters. When you’re writing a smart character you want to give them some realism because when you don’t, you get characters like these who are practically indistinguishable from omniscient gods. They don’t actually look in as smart as they're made out to be and if anything seem ironically less intelligent. It also doesn't help that they have no flaws. I guess the "can't be in a public place without breaking down" trait could be a flaw, but it's not like that actually affects them or the story, so I don't think it counts. And this is especially clear when we get into the games and how they’re played.

(This next part is going to be taken directly from a forum post I made a few days ago)

In high stakes gambling shows like NGNL (even though there really are no stakes), usually the creators would have their characters put into a situation where they’d have to find a way to beat the odds through realistic means while playing within the rules of their show, which is where NGNL fails. When Sora and Shiro play chess you'd think that they’d study their opponents playing style, strategize, and find/exploit weak points like in a regular chess game, right? Instead they decide to make a speech to the chess pieces to encourage them and boost their ability. This writing is in no way smart and seems to come out of nowhere. And it wouldn't be a problem if it were only 1 time, but it happens all the time throughout the entire show! Like during the coin flip at the end of the season, Sora got the coin to land on its side by moving a tile on the road backwards. How did he know the tile would be loose and what would he have done if it wasn’t? In fact, why didn’t the miko lady just ask Sora to flip the dang coin again in a different spot? I'll tell you why, because the writers tried to make Sora and Shiro seem smarter than they really are. I think I've said that to the point where it's redundant. 

The animation isn't anything special either. Take for example the fight between Shiro and that wolf girl. Breaking it down we get: panning shot, rotating camera, and shaky camera over bright gun fire in that order. They animate it in a way that creates the illusion of good animation when there's barely any. But it didn't look good, it just looked awkward and distracted me from the actual battle. A large portion of the "animation" in NGNL is just slow pans across the screen with minimal detail. And it get's worse once you realize this show is made by people who are capable of making good animation.
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TL;DR: No Game No Life fails because the writing is lazy and the animation is subpar. 


No Game No Life attempts to fool people into thinking it's smarter than it really is.

(Spoiler free review, TL;DR parts added)

__The story: 4/10__
The synopsis and the general idea are very interesting. A brocon loli and her 18 y/o brother, with absolutely no parental guidance get thrown in a world of games with no explanation, everything is settled by games then. I ignored the no background build up or explanation whatsoever because the idea of two 'geniuses' playing games to take over the world and beat that world's God seemed more than interesting. The characters, together as 'Blank,' never lose, so the 'thriller' or 'excitement' isn't on whether they will win or not, it's on *how* will they win. (Though there's sometimes the 'What if Blank loses' idea, but you'll let go of that idea later on) So there's that, it's how the idea was executed that dropped the rating. Some of the games were intriguing, but others were incredibly, abnormally idiotic. Especially the final game. The pace of the story is, as well, a reason why the rating dropped. It's a mess. One of my main problems, as well, is the excessive usage of fan service. This anime will sure teach you what 'fan service' really is. There is not a single episode without at least one 'fan service', there's a whole character existing just for the sake of fan service, it gets *too extreme.*

__TL;DR__
+idea seems interesting.
+some games are good.
-execution is very bad.
-pace is all over the place.
-some games are horrible.
-Too much fan service, disturbing loli scenes

**The characters: 2/10**
Holysh*t, this is a horrible set of characters, the least unbearable character was Sora, an 18 y/o shut-in NEET with a lot of sexual frustration. That being said, he's not so much of a great character, either. But my main problem was with Shiro, and Stephanie.

**Shiro** is another average loli that's in love with her half brother. First, I do not understand why she's 11 years old? There was no reason for that. It made everything much, much more disturbing. **I don't know about you, but seeing more than a couple of scenes of a naked 11 y/o is not that very pleasing.** She also seemed much, much smarter than Sora was, but for some reason he __always__ got the spotlight.

**Stephanie:** The worst possible character I've ever had the displeasure of watching. An annoying character with absolutely no dignity whatsoever that exists for the sole reason of fan service. Pantie shots, nudity, having a collar tied around her while walking all around her country as a freaking dog. Later being **tied to a tree while almost naked in front of the town as well.** There's all kinds of fan service going on here, 99% of them on Stephanie. The character has no self-respect, dignity, and not a single brain cell. This anime is the first to introduce me to stupid characters existing just to be made fun of, and for extreme fan service.

The supporting characters weren't any better, either. It seemed like Jibril only was there for the purpose of worshiping Sora just because he's a genius and would do irrational things like licking an ex-enemy's foot because her new God told her to do so. Izume, though an annoying character, would knock some sense into their world by constantly being suspicious about the main characters and their intentions.

**What I somewhat liked:** The relationship bonds between the characters. Sora and Shiro's mutual trust was very nice, and Izumi's realisation at the end of the anime was also a bit heartwearming. That's all the positives that could be there.

TL;DR
+Relationship bonds and mutual trust between characters
-2/3 main characters are appalling
-Stupid character with no dignity existing for fan service

**The Art: 8/10**
Animation is nice. The colours are too bright and neon, too much pink and purple is used which I expected not to like but ended up liking a lot, made the anime stand out. What I didn't like was the drawings of the characters (Especially Shiro. Seriously, what is wrong with her mouth?), and the clothes.

**Sound: 5/10**
Mediocre forgettable music, voice acting wasn't bad but I had a problem with Shiro's voice.

**Enjoyment: 5/10**
In spite of all what's mentioned above, the anime succeeds in not being a boring one, and excluding the disturbing loli scenes, mindless fan service, and the shitty excuse of a character Stephanie, it could entertaining. 

Interesting neon-like anime art and lovely concept. A little disturbing with very bad characters.

# __~~~---My History With No Game No Life---~~~__

I've said this all before, but I never got the chance to give it a proper review. So, it's about time that I share my history with this anime. (Spoil free for those that wanna watch it. =D )

~~~__2016.__~~~
Back in 2016, I was watching some standard stuff and I was enjoying myself watching them. I was willing to give a look at whatever was something new. It was around spring (or summer) of 2016 when I discovered a jumping square game called "Geometry Dash" and I still do play it today. There was this one level called "Horizon" made by Mylon, and it was a great level to play. I mostly loved it for the song, which was "This Game, off vocal, rmx" by Dj-jo. It grew into me and I got invested into it. I wanted to know where this song came from. I checked over at Soundcloud and gave it a search. That's when I discovered the origins of the original song.

__~~~And that's when I discovered No Game No Life. ~~~__

I watched this anime at the age of 12 (Was a sincere mistake doing so). And at the time, I thought it was absolutely amazing. In terms of visuals, plot, writing, voice acting, sound effects, and songs, all of them are amazing. Even to this day, I still find it amazing.

__~~~Allow me to elaborate a bit of No Game No Life.~~~__

Sora and Shiro (The Blank) are a set of shut-in's that do nothing but games. You saw in the 1st episode how those two manage to beat 1200 players with only 4 characters. People think it's nothing but cheating, but to be fair, it was playing smart. A brief moment, they receive an email from an unknown user, sending them a link to a chess game. They eventually win the chess game and are now given questions as to what they think about the world they live in, the two calling it a "crappy game". Eventually, the unknown user, soon to be revealed Tet, asked them if they we're to live in another world with games, what would they think? Sora replied with, "If there was such a world that exist out there, we should've been born there instead." And thus the two are both reborn into the Dis-Board, a world with no war, no chaos. All it takes to play games to win it all.

With Sora and Shiro reborn in their new world, they are now in set to plan goals, but their main focus is to gather all 16 races together and go up against Tet once more. Thus, "The games have begun!"

Let me tell you, despite it being somewhat of a serious atmosphere, when you actually watch the anime, it does tend to get it's serious moments, but when it doesn't, it's a good anime to get a laugh at. I was never bored when I watched all episodes. There are it's serious times and there are it's stupid times. No Game No Life has some good humor to laugh at. There will be a time when you might notice some references from other anime/games. 

The voice actors even gave it a good laugh. This was the first anime that I discovered the Matsuoka & Kayano combo. Both voice actors are great at what they voice, with or without the two paired up. The same goes for the other voice actors. 

__~~~Why is this anime important to me?~~~__

No Game No Life opened the doors for me to discover what anime is. Even at a young age of 12, the doors were opened. There were many possibilities that anime can turn out to be good, bad, or just plain cringe. But in the end, I can happily say "It was all worth it". 

Despite me only having to watch 3 anime in 2016, I returned to it this year all because Co-Vid shoved Pokemon (2019) off my face and told me to wait for another one to come out soon, do something else while waiting. I guess because of Co-Vid, the doors to anime truly started for me right here, all thanks to No Game No Life.

__~~~Is it worth the watch?~~~__

Absolutely. But let me warn you, No Game No Life has some Ecchi moments, and if you hate that, then do not watch it. (There's not much of Ecchi, but there is an episode that has all girls butt naked. this is a warning for you)

And hey, if you don't like it, there could be something that you possibly didn't like that I couldn't see. But that's ok, everyone does have different taste after all.

And with that, it gets a 100/100 on my case. It even gets a spot on my top 10 favorites (Which is still a WIP by the time I made this review).

That's it for me, and if your gonna watch it, then I hope you enjoy it. More reviews from me? Idk, this is my first time giving an anime a review. 

Adios. =)

This was the anime that led me to watch any anime possible.

[ENG]
What do you think of your life? Do you think it's fun? Do you think the World you live in is fair? If I give you a single opportunity to change all that, so that you are finally valued and recognized as you deserve, would you accept it? Interesting...so, let’s play?

No Game No Life is an Anime produced in 2014 by Madhouse Studios, original work by Yuu Kamiya, or Thiago Furukawa Lucas, in it we especially accompany Sora and Shiro, two siblings who spend their days locked in their room and gaming all day and, thanks to all the time dedicated to this activity, they're unbeatable in any game that exists, causing fear and admiration in the hearts of all gamers, where they're known simply as "blank"

Sora and Shiro also received the same proposal made at the beginning of the video and, after winning a simple game of chess, they’re transported to a new world, called Disboard, which was created by Tet, the God of the Game, and everything from simple discussions to even conflicts between nations, must be resolved through games, whichever they are, and follow the 10 pledges, which are the only rules that keep the control of this world

Right off the bat Sora and Shiro are introduced to this new madness, because upon arriving in the kingdom of Elkia they discover that the King not only died, but he also declared that his successor wouldn't be anyone in his family, like his granddaughter Stephanie Dola for example, and announced a major card tournament among the three million inhabitants, and the winner would be declared the new king, or queen, of the Imanity, and it's obvious that, since we're talking about games, isn't difficult to imagine who won this tournament....No, no, it was Sora and Shiro

Now, declared king and queen and representatives of Imanity, they're in charge of saving this kingdom that's on the verge of destruction and, through the most unusual games, face all the 15 races that exist in this world, ranging from Elves to even Gods...everything said so far seems very promising and interesting, doesn't it?

Not only the rise of Sora and Shiro, but the Anime itself is very light and relaxed, however, if we look behind its vivid and extravagant coloring, the humor of the world and its characters and even its Ecchi theme, No Game No Life is an extremely philosophical Anime, and forces us to question not only about the society in which we live, but what's truly important in our lives, especially the strength in being weak.

That's one of the main messages in No Game No Life, there isn't a single way to live your life, everyone can and must follow their own path and explore their limitations and qualities and, if you're being called as "weak", let the "strong" speak whatever they want, you, more than anyone, know what your true value is, after all "A weak person can be a King at the right place"

So now, what I want to know of you is, will you continue following the same path as everyone else and giving up of your potential, or will you get up and make your own path, following the "blank" that only Kings have the courage to walk?

Bellow there is a video link, entitled “Weakness in No Game No Life”, which better analyzes the Anime and its premise as a whole, making this review even more accurate (Please turn on the English Sub for it).

[PT-BR]
O que você acha da sua vida? Você acha que ela é divertida? Você acha que o mundo em que vive é justo? Se eu te der uma única oportunidade de mudar tudo isso, para que enfim seja valorizado e de fato tomar o seu devido lugar ao sol, você aceitaria? Interessante...então, vamos jogar?

No Game No Life é um Anime produzido em 2014 pelos estúdios Madhouse, obra original de Yuu Kamiya, ou Thiago Furukawa Lucas, onde nós acompanhamos em especial Sora e Shiro, dois irmãos que passam os dias trancados dentro do quarto jogando o dia inteiro e, graças à todo tempo dedicado a essa atividade, eles são imbatíveis em qualquer jogo que existe, causando medo e admiração no coração de todos os gamers, onde são conhecidos simplesmente por “blank”, ou vazio

Sora e Shiro também receberam a mesma proposta feita no começo do vídeo e, após vencer um simples jogo de xadrez, são transportados para um novo mundo, chamado Disboard, que foi criado por Tet, o Deus do Jogo, onde tudo, desde simples discussões até conflitos entre nações, devem ser resolvidos através de jogos, independentemente de quais sejam, e que sigam as 10 pledges, que são as únicas regras que mantém o controle desse mundo

Logo de cara Sora e Shiro são apresentados a essa nova loucura, pois ao chegarem no reino de Elkia descobrem que o Rei não só chegou a falecer, mas o mesmo declarou que o seu sucessor não seria ninguém da sua família, como a própria neta Stephanie Dola por exemplo, porém anunciou um grande torneio de cartas entre os três milhões de habitantes, onde o vencedor seria declarado o novo rei, ou rainha, dos Imanity, e é claro que, já que estamos tratando de jogos, não é difícil de se imaginar quem venceu este torneio...

Agora, declarados rei e rainha e representantes dos Imanity, estão encarregados de salvarem esse reino que está à beira da destruição e, através dos mais diferentes jogos, enfrentar todas as 15 raças que existem nesse mundo, variando de elfos até mesmo deuses...tudo falado até agora parece muito promissor e interessante, não é mesmo? 

Não só a ascensão de Sora e Shiro, mas a obra em si passa ser bem leve e descontraída, porém, se olharmos por trás de sua coloração viva e extravagante, o humor do mundo e de seus personagens e até mesmo a sua temática Ecchi, No Game No Life é uma obra extremamente filosófica, que nos obriga a questionar não só sobre a sociedade em que vivemos, mas o que é de fato importante em nossas vidas, em especial, a força em ser fraco.

Essa é uma das principais mensagens em No Game No Life, não há uma única maneira de viver a vida, cada um pode e deve seguir o seu próprio caminho e explorar as suas limitações e qualidades e, se você está sendo tachado como “fraco”, deixa os “fortes” falarem o que quiserem, você, mais do que ninguém, sabe qual é o seu verdadeiro valor, afinal “Uma pessoa fraca por ser Rei no lugar certo”

Então, o que quero saber de você é o seguinte, vai continuar seguindo o mesmo caminho de todo mundo e abrir mão do seu potencial, ou vai levantar e trilhar a sua própria caminhada, seguindo no vazio que só os Reis têm coragem de trilhar?

Segue o link do vídeo, intitulado de “Fraqueza em No Game No Life”, que analisa melhor a obra e sua premissa como um todo, tornando essa review ainda mais precisa.


[Link of the Video](https://youtu.be/N33CupN29D8)

_NGNL is my favorite title of all time, so please read on being fully aware that this is purely subjective and almost certainly biased point of view._

I love isekai genre, mainly because it's so perfect at setting up something I like to call "care-free adventure". While you can have something like that in traditional fantasy (i.e. Majo no Tabitabi), I just love how isekai lends itself to letting go of your everyday worries and giving in to wanderlust. But every title is different, so what makes NGNL so good? 

Firstly, lets talk visual style. Yes, today there are many visually impressive titles, but back when this came out, I distinctly remember being blown away. Art here has a nice modern touch, clean graphics, tight animations and great use of after-effects to add a style and character. Although I do think this style suits a more modern day setting, but that just ends up making opening scenes and city battle at the end even cooler.

Now, the setting... On the surface it looks uninspired: yet another parallel world where main character gets wisped away to, fantasy races, magic, dragons and villains. Oh and there's a princess, who falls in love with main character, but she's kind of a tsundere. And they end up living in her castle. But here lies one of the strengths of the title: the ability to take the most overused and unimaginative setting, so dull, that Le Blanc de La Vallière, Louise Françoise might confuse it for her homeworld, and make something interesting out of it.

So the big gimmick this time is that everything in the world is decided by games. And yes, we had anime about games before, be it SAO, Log Horizon, Ragnarok or //hack, but they all tried to bring real life in to game, while NGNL does the opposite: it brings the game back in to life. If anything, it's closer to Kaiji, just less depressing. And NGNL manages to appeal to gamers as a whole, not just the Asian MMO and/or VN players. 

I also love the MCs. It's a fantasy of any gamer to be unbeatable, so it makes it easy to relate and understand their motivations. The duo get right to business abusing the world for their own gain and enjoyment, and it's a breath of fresh air from typical "hero" MC. Well, at least it was back when it came out, now we have more anti-heroes in the mix.

And then there's the humor. Probably the most subjective part of any show, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly what made me like it so much. Probably the combination of verbal humor with spot on body humor, references, selfish attitude and in-jokes between the siblings. I just find their, frankly incredibly codependent, relationship to be utterly fascinating.

Something I do have to mention though. Sound, overall, was serviceable, but what annoyed me the most was soundtrack. It felt... uninspired. Both in terms of opening/ending and music during the show itself. One would think that by this time directors understand the advantages of memorable music, but here it was mostly generic fantasy/fighting anime scores, completely alien to the nature of the show. 

One final thing I need to cover is fan service. To be completely honest here, first time I've watched the series, I did not notice it at all. Considering that I'm not a fan of it normally, it was rather strange. It took me a second viewing to realize what was different. It felt organic and not forced/out of place. Both MCs lived in a world exposed to ungodly amounts of it, to the point where it became somewhat of a background thing. As a result they were using it for their own entertainment, as opposed of ham-fisted "accidents" that plague ecchi anime. It was also employed by them for their own need, be it to tease or to distract, as well as a nice addition the their, honestly, rather unhealthy relationship. I can only wish that more shows would put so much though in to their fan service. 

As a conclusion, I would say that NGNL is often mistaken for mediocre anime riding on popular tropes, but I see it as an amazing melding of Asian and western gaming cultures. If you consider yourself a gamer, it's a wonderful treat, but it still has a lot to offer for everyone else.

_P.S. Now that you've read it, I would like to apologize. Technically, this is a "remaster" of a review I wrote about 6 years ago. I did my best to reign in my old idealism and cut the dated references. And, obviously, I still stand behind all that I wrote. So hopefully it's a good read._

NGNL is often viewed as mediocre anime riding on popular tropes, but I see it as an amazing melding of gaming cultures.

No Game No Life is one of those anime where you can tell the producers were throwing ideas at the wall to see which one stuck. And this is the one that ended up sticking. It is the worst anime I have ever come across. I completed it back when I would force myself to finish every show I started. Because of this anime and this anime alone, I no longer force myself to complete shows if I fear that they will end up this awful. 

Art: 1/10
I have heard many people rave about the art, but I fail to see the appeal. It IS different, but in the worst way possible. My eyes hurt after about two seconds of this baloney. Character design was also a notably awful aspect, and I hated how gross and weird these people looked.

Story: 2/10
This is a premise I was slightly interested in, since it seemed pretty original. Turns out, it isn't as original as I thought, and there are plenty of other shows that involve going into a video game or similar. There's probably about a billion movies about this as well. But the difference between those and this show is that this show is an embarrassment to everyone who enjoys video games. More on the story, there were these 15 other races that were stronger than other humans or whatever. That was super boring. I forgot all about it too. Why'd I watch this? I'm racking my brain to think of something positive to say. Oh, here: the concept of playing games was kind of OK. Honestly, it was pretty boring anyway but I guess it's a start. 

Characters: -63/10
By far the worst part of the series were these sorry excuses for characters. We have the older brother, What's-His-Face, a pervert and all-around shitty dude, and the younger sister, Annoying Girl, who has the personality of a bowl of oatmeal. They seem to have a very disturbing sibling relationship due to spending literally ALL of their time together. This was elaborated on in the specials they released, which on a side note, was a complete mistake. I would rather watch a guy have sex with a horse than ever look at that again. Because it says I need to write more I'll talk about the third character, Boobs Girl, whose contribution to the plot was, you guessed it, zilch! This show should be retitled "No Fanservice No Life". 

Soundtrack: 0/10
Was there a soundtrack? If there was, it was forgettable as all hell.

Enjoyment: 1/10
Surprisingly, I'll give one point only because I managed to actually stay focused throughout one of the episodes without getting distracted. After that, I had no such patience. Thank God this was only 13 episodes instead of 20-something, but even 13 episodes felt way too long. Don't watch this show. Unless you reallyyy like graphics that will give you a seizure and borderline incestuous relationships.

No Game No Life fails at everything it attempts to do

No game no life... It's amazing! The characters, the structure, the art... It's so good! 

The characters doesn't really develop in the anime but you get to know more about the main characters and their background story. It doesn't hurt the rating for this anime in my opinion since the story development is more important in this anime.

If I need to say some words about the anime, I would probably say: Amazing, Action, Awesome! Tripple A! Let me say why:

# 1. Amazing:

The anime "No game no life" is basically which many people dream about... or at least many of us "weebs". Being kicked into another world, where only games are important. When you are good in games, your life in "No game no life" will be easy. It is at least for Sora and Shiro. They both got hardships in their life but stick together till the end. It is very cute how they both cannot live without each other.

img220(http://i.imgur.com/dyxGcxx.jpg)

Let's play a round of chess, shall we? Cheating is allowed as long as nobody see you cheating. The winner can wish one thing from the other person. I mean, what can you lose, right?! 
The life of Shiro and Sora started with a game of chess. Both characters have their own weakness but with each other they fill each other weaknesses and beat the oponnents. It is amazing to watch how they both try to grow bigger in the world of "No game no life".

# 2. Action:

Who loves action but also games?? This is how "No game no life" is giving you. You can try guessing what the both of them are thinking but in the end fail because their thoughts are different than yours. It will not tire you out in between and you stop watching. 

img220(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7f/2f/74/7f2f7414f8251e5d344c121d73aa0624.gif)

Ah, I forgot to say, the anime (sadly) contains some fanservice parts (Like you can see above). It doesn't make the story bad or anything. At some parts it is annoying but you get used to it.

# 3. Awesome:

Look at this art:

img220(https://images7.alphacoders.com/567/thumb-1920-567634.jpg)

Isn't is awesome? The art is incredible and the soundtracks are beautiful. The games for each episode is different and it is fun to watch the both protagonist winning the hearts from the city. You cheer for them when they win and fear with them when they got into hardships. The anime think about female and male equally, Shiro and Sora are both "big brains" who are trying to lead the world into a better point. 


# 4. Conclusion

If you like games and increadible art as well strong characters, you need to watch "No game no life". What are you waiting for, go watch it if you haven't! 

I give the anime a 98/100 because I really liked the story, the characters and the artstyle. They lost the 2 points because I personally don't like that much fanservice.

___SPOILERS BEWARE!___

No Game No Life is a very well known and highly popular show from Spring of 2014. I can safely say its popularity is well deserved as it’s a show with a very vibrant and a colourful virtual world on top with a pretty interesting setting and story along with some pretty great OST.

The characters are great as well, our pair of NEET siblings Sora and Shiro are geniuses who always strive to be #1 in any game that they play and the way they show off their knowledge in the show is straight up badass. For example, the game that they played against Jibril in episode six is simply so good, and the way it ends just blows you away no pun intended… On the outside they may seem socially awkward and probably are but deep down they are the smartest inhabitants of the virtual world that they get thrown into. Both have great personalities which differ from each other but when they are together then they compensate for their weakness for the most part. We have Steph who essentially becomes their plaything with the sheer amounts of games she loses which has to take consequences for. Dressing her up as a dog and walking on the lead probably isn’t alright but it was damn hilarious regardless. The last of the main cast would be Jibril who makes her first cameo in episode six in the duel to reclaim the library. This game was pretty chaotic, wild and incredibly over the top with how it was showcased but that’s what makes it great as although it didn’t really have a serious side to it, in the end the game is serious as everything in this virtual world is decided by games. That’s the four main characters of the show covered but the side characters which appear are also great along with the humour that they bring.

This is a show which has an ecchi tag but it handles this genre well as its not over the top fanservice while it can still be appreciated and most of the time its done to emphasise the great comedy of this show because I tell you NGNL is a comedy, there are countless times and scenes which had me laughing cause of how over the top something was or how the show handles its ecchi side. I touched on it briefly in the previous paragraph but let me extend on it. When Steph loses yet another game and is forced to become a dog for a day, she has limited clothes on but what makes it worse is that she still challenges Sora and Shiro on a few occasions during this day which lead to her losing even more clothes to the point where there’s almost nothing left. The show does things like this to the point where its so overly stupid it becomes gold. NGNL has a real charm for its comedy and it thrives in this genre. In the end the ecchi genre isn’t for everyone as they may not enjoy seeing panty shots, bath scenes or near enough nude scenes but like I said already, the main goal of this show isn’t to be a pure ecchi, that’s just an added bonus if you’re a fan which brings along a lot of comedy with it.

I have to touch on the OST of this show because there is one song which easily stands above the rest of the soundtrack and that isn’t discrediting the other songs in any way but the song “All of is All of me” is easily one of my favorite BGM/OST’s I’ve ever heard in an anime. This is a song that is likely to fit for so many different situations which can emphasise any scenario and make it sound badass and epic. This song is used in at least half of the episodes and every time it starts playing I already knew something incredible was about to happen. It’s a really simple song which lasts around 2 mins and 30 seconds, is purely instrumental but holy shit did it leave a mark on me and has definitely became one of the most memorable songs I’ve ever heard in an anime. There is simply something really special about this tune which seems to resonate inside my brain. I’ve always loved this song ever since I watched the show back in 2018 but rewatching it now I love the song even more and can easily leave it playing in the background for hours without it getting tedious. Moving on from the masterpiece that was “All of you is All of me” we have the OP “This Game” which is also another masterpiece, this song is easily one of the catchiest and memorable OP’s out there to the point where people may know the song without even seeing the show, its just that huge. Music from this show doesn’t disappoint in the slightest as it delivers two absolute masterpieces which I adore and love so much.

The main plot of the show was very enjoyable to follow, from the moment Sora had set his eyes on being the king of Imanity to taking over the world and challenging Tet the God of this virtual world, I already knew I will like the concept and idea of this show and it doesn’t disappoint as it’s a really thrilling ride with great comedy and a bit of ecchi as an added bonus for even more humour. That’s not mentioning the games that take place are super creative, unique, and honestly mind-blowing at times in the form that some of the games conclude. Madhouse did a really good job with this anime and made it really cool and original. I only touched on the art briefly but its fricking amazing and the world is full of so many bright colours which are just a treat to the eyes to behold. All the animations and art for the games that they contest in look really polished and well done and overall, the show from the art point of view looks really fantastic.

Overall this show is a ton of fun and super enjoyable but it seems like the story isn’t quite finished and there has been no sequel in six years which is safe to assume that there won’t be one, I’ve heard it was dropped due to plagiarism accusations I believe, needless to say I really like NGNL and the story continues in the LN as it was only the anime adaption which was dropped so I’m sure to read that to find out how this series finishes. For what the anime has to offer, its very promising and its quite unfortunate that any more adaptations past this season have been cancelled as this has the potential to be a masterpiece. I will simply have to read on to see if its get better as the anime finishes at the point when Sora and Shiro have only conquered one of the races and there are still 14 more so surely there must be a lot more content still waiting to be discovered which I am very excited for!

Vibrant colours, incredible art, breathtaking OST and immersing story. What more could I ask for?

Summary:

No Game No Life is a comedy isekai anime that is entertaining and funny, if you are willing to close your eyes and not to think too much. While the animation and visuals are great, the writing is average, with numerous relatively cheap tricks. The plot conveniences, while some are actually the point of the plot, are often felt slightly cheap and lazy. The generic fanservices, aiming to acheive comedy, actually reduce some of the characters into comic reliefs. In addition, the questionable soulmate relationship between the main characters adds the distaste to the series (the soulmate implication is actually made worse by the movie).

Nevertheless, a second season would still be anticipated, if the time will ever come.......................................

What I like: clean visuals and animations, relatively funny and entertaining
What I dislike: cheap fanservice, plot conveniences, and questionable romance

Details: POSSIBLE SPOILER BELOW
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- We already started the series with the OP protagonist duo Sora and Shiro (username: []), 
which is actually a red flag to character development, considering there is little to no character development between them (I suppose the episode when Shiro was temporarily separated from Sora could be consider one). On top of that, the incest implication between the "siblings", although reasonable with backstories, is questionable in personal morals, not to mention Shiro is about 11 years old (extra mention: stop using the "not related to blood" cliche)
- Then we have Stephanie, who actually also serve as the main cast, but since 
she was used as a target for fanservices (breast and panty shots), it strips her
from her relevance to the story, even though she actually has a decent backstory.
While the characters in the story acknowledge this fact as inside jokes, the fact that Stephanie is actually kind of useless harms the writing quality regarding Stephanie's character. A good comparision would be the "Aqua is useless" running joke in Konosuba where Aqua actually contributes to the storyline other than serving as a comic relief
- Extra dishonour for fanservice: Kurumi flat chest joke is cheap
- Speaking of Kurumi, she is actually fairly interesting, her backstory and her interaction with Fil is also decent
- The animation is generally clean, the visuals are great, I like the colour aesthetics of "this world"
- Both [] vs Kurumi ("chess" game) and [] vs Jibril (wordbank game) are basically characters making up plots as the game goes on, which is hilarious 
- The music scores, although decent, nothing particularly memorable
- The JoJo references, while definitely a nice addition, are sometimes out of place, like the King Crimson reference.
- Lastly, the ending is very fast and felt rushed (that coin toss scene is quite nonsense)

- Best characters: Stephanie's grandfather
- Worst characters: Stephanie

An comedy isekai with enjoyable plots and comedy for those who are willing to close one's eyes on its flaws

The apex of degenerate escapism. If you're rich, popular, or just generally happy with how your life is going, this anime won't hit you with the same spark it does for others. This anime caters towards the degenerates and losers that spend all day playing games, and wasting their time goofing off. I'm not ashamed to say I'm one of those degenerates, and like me, I'm sure there are others who were bullied or at the very least scorned for these traits, and in return, resented the way the world treated them.


This idea of distaste towards the way people treat those who they deem lower than themselves. The complexity and unfairness of this confusing world, a world that many have come to hate and resent. These are the very concepts No Game No Life builds upon.


The very first episode showcases this foundation in which Sora says: "In this game, there's no way to know the rules or how to win, yet there are 7 billion players all making whatever moves they want. If you win too much or lose too much there are penalties, you can't pass your turn, and if you complain, people look down on you." He goes on to say that this world has no parameters and he calls it a shitty game.


Sora and Shiro honed their skills at something near-useless in the real world. Gaming. They don't know how to cook, they don't exercise, and they dropped out of school. And with no other skills to help them in the real world, naturally, they come to spite it. I know several people who were put down and told "that's a waste of time" when they were just pursuing their passion. Art and Music majors in college getting ridiculed by their colleagues, the list goes on and on of people who hone their skills at something society deems unimportant.


No Game No Life sets the stage in a world where the skills Sora and Shiro honed, that were once useless, now serve to benefit them. It's a dream world for all the people who feel like they've wasted all of their time in a passion or craft. No Game No Life brings to the table a blend of both realism and escapism that I've never seen done before.


The messages that the anime sends makes it amazing already but what really brings it home is the things that happen in Disboard. From the games they play down to the very race and magic system. 


The first 2 games are arguably the most important, as they show the viewer a demonstration of the 10 pledges. 


First, they play cards against a woman just outside an inn, and they win by cheating. This demonstrates to us that the 8th pledge ("Being caught cheating during a game is grounds for an immediate loss") only comes into effect when you get caught, and this is extremely important for every single game they play afterwards, because cheating becomes almost guaranteed to happen.


As for the 2nd game, rock paper scissors against Stephanie Dola, ends in a tie. They actually demonstrate 2 important details here. 1st, is that by asking for a "favor" (or anything vague) they can exploit the 6th pledge ("Any bets made in accordance with the pledges must be upheld") and 2nd, they showcase that the loser of the bet has no say over whether or not they want to fork over their side of the deal. Reality itself will bend to make the bet possible. This is important because it lets the reader/viewer know that gambling with abstract concepts like memories and emotions are possible.


The rest of games they play don't exactly show us how far the rules can be stretched, except for maybe the materialization word game with Jibril but other than that, the other games are more-so for progressing the story instead of teaching the viewer. They don't just leave us in the dust though, they instead use Stephanie Dola as a means to explain the games/strategies to us indirectly. That's not the only time they slip information in discretely though. For example, not a lot of people caught on to the fact that Sora and Shiro's parents were abusive and neglectful because the show is so subtle about it. It's really important to look between the cracks so you don't miss all the hidden pieces of information.


The 16 Ixseeds are also very well written, even though they don't tell us much directly. I can't go too deep into this topic without spoiling things for either the movie or the novels but in general, each race feels like a whole new obstacle or challenge the siblings have to face. Almost as though each race is a Super Mario level with the Old Deus being World 8 - Bowser's Castle. I absolutely recommend reading the novels and/or watching the movie so you can get to understand the races more.


The music, art, and animation are truly exceptional too. Especially the music. No Game No Life has one of my favorite OSTs of all time, of all forms of media, that being "All of you is all of me" by Super Sweep. But that's just personal bias. The animation however, is something I've not seen a single person argue over. The animation during their game against the Eastern Federation is riveting, and the colorful candy-like artstyle of the series helps contrast the difference between the dull old world and Disboard.


Now, this wouldn't be a review without looking at the cons. I see 2 that can understandably turn people away.


1.) The sexualization of Shiro, a minor. and the incest dynamic with her brother

2.) The lofty amount of bath/nude scenes


These both fall under fanservice but I'll go into them individually. 


First, the incessant amount of panty shots of an 11 year old is insane, and if this factor alone makes you hate the anime, I wouldn't blame you. However, the incest dynamic is actually a common misunderstanding. Shiro has feelings for Sora, but Sora does not reciprocate them. Though, he does love her as one would love their own family—not romantically. Shiro's love towards her brother is the prepubescent and immature type of love that little siblings develop before they really understand what love is. 


Secondly, the bath/nude scenes. Sure, there ARE a lot of ecchi scenes but they never intrude on the important scenes of the anime. Ecchi scenes are fanservice—specifically made to make the viewer happy, and if you don't enjoy that, you can always look at it as filler, and just fast forward, though I don't recommend it because you get to know the characters a bit more and how they interact with each other, and they only last for a fraction of the episode.


Personally, I've watched the anime and movie several times, and I'm currently reading the light novels. The movie and light novels are phenomenal too but those aren't what this review is about. It's about No Game No Life, and the messages of realism and escapism it tells. If you can't overlook Shiro's panty shots, it's just a flat 0/10, but if you can look past it and see all the other things it has to offer, it's an easy 10/10. Quite the "love it or hate it" anime.

Yuu Kamiya's unseemingly escapist masterpiece

~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/no-game-no-life.jpg)~~~

Flourishing aesthetics come a long way in holding a show up from just being average or forgettable. Sometimes loving a show for its robust and energetic personality can be a blessing and a curse. Then again, it all comes down to the show’s purposeful existence to help distinguish how an anime should be viewed. It wants to be a fun and stupid show with the only intention of being provocative or a thought-provoking show with a deep narrative. Now that shouldn’t be said to excuse it entirely on the numerous faults it might have, but with a show like No Game No Life, it is one of the instances where you can’t help but admire its silliness.

With that all said, No Game No Life is not what you would call a “masterpiece,” as many would love to build this up to be. While the entertainment factor pulls through the most out of any experience, it cannot be forgiven for how low-quality it tries to implement a story. That, in turn, comes from the fact that there’s not much of a story to digest in No Game No Life. It is just a plot that follows two NEET MMO players thrown into a virtual reality where they play games to become rulers of this virtual world. There is hardly any suspenseful pull in getting invigorated in it because it is insanely predictable in every game outcome. I know from the beginning that Sora and Shiro will win all the way through, so why should I be invigorated in it to begin with?

~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/no-game-no-life-0501.jpg)~~~

It is a real shame that it does not bother to create a cohesive narrative to follow from point A to point B. Especially with the amount of creativity, it brings to the overall cast. Granted, they are not, what I would call “magnificent” in development, but what makes up for it is their significant energy and charm. This all comes from their witty dialogue and fantastic designs that have unique styles to whatever emotion they are portraying. It would be easier to dissect the main cast individually because it will put my argument into context with my feelings about them.

Our main protagonists, Sora and Shiro, are inseparable siblings on who the writers are pulling the brother and sister relationship card. I will argue that, by themselves, they are incredibly bland and atypical in their archetypes. However, they are quite an entertaining duo when they are together, thanks to their chemistry and hilarious interludes between one. It helps more on Sora’s side that he does pack in great charisma thanks to Yoshitsugu Matsuoka’s fabulous voice acting. On the other hand, Shiro has Ai Kayano on her side, which is mostly just playing her as Shiina 2.0; nothing special in the slightest.

Then we get to Stephanie Dora, and it may be controversial to say this, but she is by far the most entertaining of the cast. The main reason is Yoko Hikasa’s voice acting, who is having such a freaking ball with voicing for this character. Her exceptional ability to show great dignity to her voice and suddenly become a raving maniac in the next second shows her talent in full throttle. Many people may have a point in criticizing Steph for being both an intelligent girl and a stupid one in other scenarios. My response would be how No Game No Life has so many silly elements to its comedy that it fits perfectly with the tone. This makes her archetype more forgiving since we often see female characters of this magnitude several times, but these two great qualities make her all the more lovable. Also, she dresses up as a puppy, and we get to hear Yoko Hikasa bark like one. Need I say more?

~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/no-game-no-life-anime.jpg)~~~

Finally, there is Jibril, who was hard to get into at first glance. But once she went on and more funny moments came along, she later became on par with Steph in entertaining qualities. This is Yukari Tamura at her best. We don’t ever get to see her voice females with perverted personalities. When she does, she is just heavenly every time. What eventually led me to like her more was how she seemed to possess the same fun qualities that Steph had in personality shifts from time to time.

What does stand out for No Game No Life’s credit to make it more interesting than most shows of its caliber is its art and animation. The extreme usage of over-saturated colors gives it its look from the original creator and character designer, Yuu Kamiya. His name under the cast and crew had me hesitant initially, seeing he was also involved with Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi, one of my most hated shows. Luckily this was not anything that levels awful, and the artwork stood on its own. However, it could’ve worked better if the color palette had been emphasized less and made more consistent for a better viewing experience.

~~~img1000(https://gonzonyan.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/nogamenolife-10-650x365.jpg)~~~

Now, do you like fun entertainment as much as I do? If yes, then No Game No Life is one show that only cares about being a fun show from beginning to end. Is it perfect for bringing forth these enjoyable moments on full display? Not necessarily, but if anything, No Game No Life is at that level of entertainment to be respectable in giving forth reasonable effort. It incorporates fun action sequences with flashy animation and delivers incredibly hysterical comedy in one package. Not many anime can achieve the difficulty of balancing both aspects to significant effect, which No Game No Life accomplishes this feat. Though the action and games can be predictable as to who’ll win in the long run, the journey is at least fun for the ride.

With the advent of VRMMO anime being in full force at the moment, it is likely we won’t see the light at the end of the tunnel for this phase in anime history. The popularity of No Game No Life clearly shows this. While its qualities do not come on par with its impact, it is by no means wrong by its very nature. Once you can find some great substance in entertainment that in and of itself justifies it as being good, if it comes to showing off these same instances of cliches without any significance in the future, I would be hugely worried.

Grade: B

Super ADHD comedy that has some good humor to keep it from being boring.

I have a very simple method for determining if an anime show is gonna be good or not. And that method is: If the protagonist is male, and everyone else is female, it's probably a sucky ass show.

No Game No Life is exactly that. On top of this, it's also an isekai type show, and then on top of that, the two main characters are fucking overpowered. Here we have a classic recipe for some hot garbage shit for the socially inept to gobble. Yummy yummy. 
I was also one of these people, cuz I was like, 17 at the time when I had no game and no life.

But what's funny about all of this is that No Game No Life kind of doesn't care. It's like the pompous smart ass kid in class that snitches and gets away with it, but also he's funny so we can't help but like him. A bit like Tony Stark from Iron Man.
I'm not certain if this is the result of MADHOUSE wearing this IP like a badge of honour, or the creator Yuu Kamiya (AKA Lucas) just not giving a fuck and deciding he wants to make bank for ~~tracing~~ making his perfect reality.

Either way, you can't help but feel that this anime was made with 110% commitment to its sexually depraved plot. A shut-in dude and a shut-in sister are both so ridiculously good at video games that they can beat anyone - even if they use fucking cheat codes cuz WHY NOT.
Then they 1v1 a god, barely win, and then the god's like "Aight, rematch but this time you're coming here you little shits and you're gonna have to make your own way" cuz WHY NOT.
Become the ruler of an entire race cuz WHY NOT. You get the idea.

And I wanna say this is just turn-your-brain-off content, but at the same time, part of the fun I had with this show was wondering how they are going to bullshit their way through the next obstacle. Every time it's a new, creative solution, that will sometimes blow your mind, and sometimes make you laugh with its absurdity. They tease us with occasional exposition, but also not everything is told. You will not understand everything in your first watch, which ends up accidentally increasing this show's replay value.

The girls of the show aren't really significant beyond fan-service. In fact I would call it Kamiya-service, because there is so much fucking panty-viewing tousatsu shit that Lucas really did think "WHY NOT". Some of these girls do actually pose a threat, until you realise that you're watching No Game No Life.

Now can we talk about the visuals? Because oh my god... this show is fucking pretty. Using red outlines is such a simple yet effective way to breath life into this show. Everything here is sparkly - even Sora's hair, and he's a brunette. And then we have some of the sexiest choreography I've seen in a game of snap, that creates so much tension.
I'm telling you. If Kaiji had this art direction, I would be nutting in anxiety, dead on the floor.
Placing a card has never happened with more impact than in this show.
For me personally, visual arts alone can turn a 5/10 into an 8/10, which is why r/earthporn is my favourite subreddit, and why I desperately need to watch more Makoto Shinkai.

So to summarise:
If you're a 16 year old, you'll look at this show as if it's a masterpiece.
If you hate the cliches of anime, you might still surprise yourself with this show.
It is shameless in its outrageousness, and I can't help but look back at this with fond memories - cuz, you know... I saw this as a horny teen. If I were to watch this again for the first time now, I would probably still enjoy this acid trip.

img220(https://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/37100000/cutesy-Sora-no-game-no-life-anime-37119047-1280-720.png)

No Game, No Life Series Watch Order

No Game No Life Zero

Season 1