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jolyneswife-anime-reviews · 2 years

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No game no life anime review

Spoilers for no game no life and tw for sexualisation of minors, death, trauma/separation issues, and mention of suggestive conversations surrounding step siblings with a large age gap

"In every time, in every world, the strong polish their fangs while the weak polish their wisdom," - Sora

Disclaimer: I've only seen the episodes of no game no life available on Netflix

Genre: Fantasy, action, fanservice

Where I watched it: Netflix

Characterisation: 7/10 (I actually really liked the way some of the characters were built - they had fun personalities which were distinct and unique to them, as well as defining characteristics and detailed dynamics in relationships with other characters. Even though they sometimes were not developed enough, I felt like they had potential, with a prime example of this being Kurami. This clearly doesn't apply for all characters- I feel like characters like Izuna weren't really given a personality and were more there for fanservice)

Setting: 8.5/10 ( I really love the maximalist and fantastical design of the game world Sora and Shiro get transported to. It is full of different lands with mystical features, and the human land seems like something from a few centuries ago, which also fits very well.)

Art style: 9/10 (One of the main reasons I started watching the anime was that I loved the way the characters were drawn - everything, from the futuristic and bold colour pallets, the detail in the eyes, and the delightfully personal outfits felt on point. Settings are also drawn with a similar care and attention to detail, which makes some scenes delightful to watch.)

Originality: 8/10 (The concept of getting transported into a game land is nothing new, but there are several characteristics no game no life has that sets it apart. For one, instead of being scared of, or trying to escape said game land, Sora and Shiro thoroughly enjoy life there, integrating and even going as far as wanting to expand human territories by conquering those of other races and challenge god. The way fights work in this anime is also distinct- everything is decided with games, and there are a set of rules each challenge has to meet. Each race has its own "race piece,", which resemble chess pieces (there are 16 races in total); if you defeat all other races and win all the pieces, you earn the right to challenge god, which is Sora and Shiro's big goal in the anime. At the start of the series, humans are struggling to stay on the map - they have very little territory to call their own, because all the other races keep defeating them with their unique powers, but, through Sora and Shiro's strategies, things start to improve for humans bit by bit, with the first big victory being the race piece and territory of the war beasts, which Sora and Shiro defeated in a video game despite their secrecy and sixth sense.)

Plot: 4/10 (The main idea is good- I liked the fact that the step siblings were transported into a game world, as well as the idea of the conflict with the other nations and the rules surrounding that, but, despite sounding great on the drawing board, these ideas were badly executed. The plot moved slowly, with several filler scene, and little progress was often made towards the main goal. Many of the earlier episodes were forgettable and just felt like short stories instead of fragments leading to something bigger. Other issues issues I have with the plot include the way Shiro is sometimes sexualised despite being literally 11 and some of the mildly suggestive undertones in certain interactions between Sora and Shiro, who are step siblings and are 7 years apart in age, with the former being 18. It’s hinted that they’re traumatised due to a difficult past and struggle with separation due to this, but this was not expanded on in the episodes I watched.)

Philosophy: 6/10 (This definitely isn’t a deep anime, or something that can be analysed and picked apart- it makes for a pretty light, casual watch. However, there are some interesting ideas about using tactics, intellect and determination to defeat large powers with unimaginable abilities when you are the underdog, and making this weakness your strength in doing so.)

Addictiveness: 4/10 (As previously stated, the plot was slow and lacked any elements to make it engaging and dynamic. This meant that I didn’t really get hooked, and there wasn’t that necessity to see what happened next.)

Consistency: 6.5/10 (The quality stayed fairly consistent throughout, decreasing when the episodes became less dynamic and more filled with fan service or filler scenes than scenes that developed the plot. However, the games were usually pretty engaging to watch.)

Comfort: 5.5/10 (While it’s a fairly light watch, there’s little comfort to this show- there is a nice friendship between the elf Fiel, and Zell, a human and her family’s former slave- they are clearly very attached to each other and greatly care about each other, as well as a few wholesome moments with the cast.)

The plot

Sora and Shiro are step siblings who dominate all the video games they play together under the username of blank. Their parents have died, leaving them alone to live as shut ins in a world they consider to be something akin to a bad video game. One day, they receive a message asking if they ever felt like they were born in the wrong world. They are then challenged to a chess match by this unknown person, which Shiro takes on. Despite her superior intelligence, she finds the match unexpectedly difficult and her victory is a hard won one. Sora and Shiro are then transported to a strange world where everything is different- they meet the god of that world, who explains he transported them there and tells them the rules of his world, where everything is decided by playing games, a process which must follow 3 concrete rules. Sora and Shiro quickly meet other humans, including Stephanie Dola, the princess of humanity, and learn that humanity is struggling to hold their own against all the other, more powerful, races in conflict, and have lost much territory and a lot of morale. However, her grandfather, who is now widely regarded as a fool, believed humans had the potential to win, and left that legacy behind. Gradually, and after winning the right to the throne in a game, Sora and Shiro begin to fight for humanity, using their intellect, tactics and impressive problem solving skills to compensate for their weaknesses and form successful strategies against impressive allies. After the first victory against Jibril, the flugel who had taken possession of the human library to satisfy her endless thirst for knowledge, humanity grew a bit more optimistic and the wheels were set in motion for more victories to win land from other races, which Soma and Shiro hope will eventually lead them to be able to challenge the god who introduced them to this world.

Masterlist

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