No Game No Life Review

No Game No Life

The spring season of anime is coming to a close. There are many shows that are now wrapping up to make way for the next season. With Heavy hitters like Sailor Moon, Sword Art Online and Black Butler on the way, it’s easy to forget some of the other shows that are already out now and are worth watching. Sitting on top of that list is No Game No Life.


2zqudsi - 03For those who aren’t familiar, No Game No Life is an adaptation of the light novel/manga with the same name, and takes place in the world of Disboard, where all wars and conflicts are decided by playing games. Our two

heroes, Sora and Shiro, are two social recluses who together make up “[     ]”(pronounced: Blank), a legendary online group who have never lost a game to anyone and has the top score to just about any and every game on the internet . After receiving an email with a challenge and beating the god of the Disboard in a game of chess, they get the invitation to be reborn into a new world. There are ten vows set in place by Tet, the god of the game world that everyone in the world must abide by. One of the vows made is that games are used to settle everything, from minor disagreements, to choosing a new king of a country. Another vow that must be followed is that the game is chosen by whoever is challenged, so it could be anything from Rock, Paper, Scissors to Blackjack to simple guessing games. Once the game has ended, the rules of the world make it so that the losing party must pay or perform what was wagered at the start of the game, whether they want to or not. This could be something concrete like a set amount of money to something abstract like demanding the loser to fall in love with the winner.


 

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Animation wise, this show is beautiful. The bright, vibrant colors never cease and amazing visuals are spectacular to look at. Sure there are several scenes meant to titillate you with gratuitous fan-service, but if you take the time to look at the background and the locations you’ll see how awesome the art really is. Also, with how creative the games become, the use of animation helps convey just how fantastical the world that the characters are living in really is. Also, if you are someone who loves to see references to other shows and games in anime, this show has plenty, from Doremon to Persona 4!

There are very few faults that can be found in the show. For one thing, with the way the show finished with the final episode, there’s no way that the entire story was intended to be left unresolved, meaning that you’ll definitely have to wait for another season for the show to return and continue the story. As mentioned briefly earlier, if a random scene of girls in one way or another losing their clothes is not quite your cup of tea, then it’s possible that you’ll be a little annoyed, especially since it happens anywhere between just once or twice an episode to it being a major plot point in another episode.


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In the end, No Game No Life is an incredibly good series. The mind games that the characters use to outsmart each other to come out on top are so fun to watch that it’ll keep your attention from start to finish and  will make you eager for a season 2 (which will more than likely come to happen since not even the light novel is completed yet). In the meantime, I highly recommend watching!

Overall Score: 8 out of 10