Fiction exists as a distraction. There exists many kinds of fiction: comedy, adventure, drama, etc. This applies to all different mediums, including anime.
However, there are certain works that are unpopular for specific reasons. For example, the Twilight series is widely disliked due to it including several tropes people dislike about young adult literature, most notably its romanticization of an abusive relationship. Basically, it alienates certain people due its use of elements they dislike about its medium or genre.
No Game No Life is one of those series for me.
No Game No Life is the story of two NEET siblings, Sora (18 years old) and Shiro (11 years old) who form a team known as "Blank". One day, they get sucked into another world called Disboard, where every conflict is resolved through games, including political affairs. Thus, when Stephanie, the princess of Elchea, loses her inheritance to the throne after losing a game of poker, Sora and Shiro decide to compete in order to claim the throne for themselves, and eventually conquer Disboard.
No Game No Life is one of those stories where the main character is a loser in this world, and then they go to another world and turns out to be a total badass who wins at everything and never loses at anything. Every single time Sora and Shiro play a game, they always win, even if it's a game which is based purely on luck.
Of course, from other shows in this genre, like Death Note or Code Geass, or even Kaiji, we already know that the main character is going to succeed with their mind games, and the fun in that is seeing how the main character wins. But at least in those shows, there is actual dramatic tension. They actually have moments where we think the characters are going to lose, and even if they don't, their actions still have consequences. Even if they win, they lose something in doing so.
In NGNL, there is little to no dramatic tension at any point. Even if the audience is reminded of how high the stakes are in the games they play, we already know that the characters are invincible from the get-go and will never have to cut their losses, the only reason for that being Sora and Shiro's catchphrase "Blank never loses." I feel like this makes the show pointless to watch, because why should I care about whether the characters win or lose if there is no tension because they never lose? Late in the show, they bet the lives of everyone in Elchea, and at that point their victory is a foregone conclusion.
There is validity to the argument that, as long as the show is fun to watch, it doesn't matter if the main characters are invincible. However, my biggest complaint about this show is not about the characters being invincible, but rather about their personalities. As to why: Sora is your typical cocky-as-fuck and smug-as-shit lead character. Shiro is the generic borderline-emotionless younger sister character with white hair and wants Sora's dick. Stephanie is the dumbass-more-often-than-not love interest who is the former princess and wants Sora's dick. Jibril is the lolrandom yet knowledgeable one, who wants Sora's dick. Do any of those characters sound familiar? If so, that's because they're the exact same fucking characters that you would find in this type of anime. The only difference is that they have little-to-no positive or admirable traits about them to balance out. I would be able to overlook the characters being invincible, as that is not by itself a flaw, if it wasn't for them being unlikable, Sora most of all.
Episode 5 in particular is a good example of this, consisting of Steph continuously challenging Sora and Shiro and predictably losing. Not only do our heroes make her walk around wearing dog ears and a tail and make her remove her clothes every time she loses out of spite for her having a better social life (and Shiro out of jealousy because Sora made Steph fall in love with him due to the pledges), but Steph is stupid enough to keep challenging them, even though she keeps losing. This makes the show further frustrating to watch, because the characters are so unlikable that I don't want them to win, making episode 9, where Sora disappears and Shiro has to find a way to bring him back, the only time where there is actual dramatic tension, unemotional. Why should I be sad about a character disappearing and excited about him reappearing if he is a jackass?
It also brings me to my next point: the fanservice. I don't mind fanservice that much if it's in small doses, but this show goes overboard. Disregarding the aforementioned episode 5, the very first shot of Shiro is a panty-shot (keep in mind, she's 11). Every time the characters are falling, or flying around, there's panty-shots. Several times throughout the show, the characters go to the onsen, giving us yet more tasteful fanservice involving a shampoo bottle which sprouts tentacles. The final game in the anime depicts a video game where they have to hunt their opponent across a large city while avoiding enemy catgirls, and of course they use their guns to shoot off their clothes. Not to mention the OVAs, the third one consists of Steph getting tentacle-raped, and I am not even joking. I know this is an ecchi, but even other ecchi shows I've seen don't shove the fanservice in your face as much as this, nor are they as mean-spirited.
Even the excuse I've seen some people make for the fanservice being sarcastic doesn't cover this, the fanservice has about as much purpose here as in any harem show. They say that it's meant to be satirical, to make fun of all the other shows in this genre for having pointless fanservice. So it makes fun of pointless fanservice by having pointless fanservice? That would be like if I made fun of terrorists by blowing up a building: it defeats its own purpose.
Regarding the animation, it looks pretty at times, and the show is very colorful. However, it is also too colorful, the color palette is oversaturated with pink, and the show in general uses colors so bright that it causes eyestrain. If you watched this show in the middle of the night with all the lights turned off, you'd probably have a seizure.
In conclusion, I dislike No Game No Life in practically every aspect. There's no problem with a show that doesn't take itself seriously, but there's a difference between that and being so idiotic that it becomes a chore to watch. I'd rather watch a bad show that takes itself seriously and ends up being boring than a show that doesn't take itself seriously but fails because of its unfunny humor to the point where it becomes obnoxious.
If you don't have a problem or even like any of these aspects, then go ahead and watch it and you'll probably like it. If you're anything like me though, you most likely won't like it. I mean, I watch anime and play video games, but even I can see what masturbatory nonsense this is.
This show is practically indistinguishable from a crappy self-insert wish fulfillment fanfic. This could have been an okay show if the characters were actually likable, if there was actual dramatic tension, and if there wasn't so much fanservice. As it is, though, this is my least favorite anime I've ever seen.
