No Game No Life

[contains spoilers]

Make no mistake, No Game No Life is built to be a blockbuster. Madhouse adapting "one of those" wildly successful isekai light novel series made sense considering their generally poor commercial performance as of late. And NGNL, a blitzkrieg of dastardly clever action and outrageous gags, as unsettling as it is original, certain delivers a worthy blockbuster, but not without significant shortcomings.

The anime centers around the Blank siblings - Sora and Shiro: brother and sister, two shut-in NEETs on Earth, but certain victors in a new absurdist world, whose ambitions and exploits, leave their adversaries confounded and awed at the same damn time. Ostensibly, ... the pair could be written off as a simple gary stu/mary sue pairing. By technicality they are, but they’re far from boring or cliche characters like many that fit that designation due to how the series presents their NEET qualities. Both brother and sister come off as legitimately fun leads, with flashy traits that resemble iconic characters from other well-known anime, novels, or games without feeling like standard self-inserts.

In the first episode, our pair of gaming prodigies are whisked into a new isekai world, Disboard, by its enigmatic God, Tet and by the fourth, they are the rulers of Elkia, the last kingdom of Imanity, the human race. NGNL hits the ground running and doesn’t let up for a second. The worldbuilding and plot development resembles the progression of an RPG: minor games precede major ones with interludes in between. Nearly the entirely of the seasons’ 276 minute runtime can be neatly categorized into plotting, games, or "breaks in action" - which generally involve harassing Steph or all the females taking baths while Sora sits back on the partition as hilarity ensues. This oversexualization and fanservice is responsible for some of the funniest moments of the season and serves to enhance the over-the-top, volatile energy of the show.

NGNL’s framework makes it easy to overstate the otaku and gamer escapism and gratification, which itself is offputting for those who have anathema to the common isekai mainstays of "wish fulfillment" and "fanservice" while indiscriminately associating these to inherently tasteless anime without a second thought. This line of logic downplays not only downplays the consistent insanity of the action, but also the nuance of the overarching premise behind the parodical, ludicrous nature of the series.

There is a certain poetic justice captured by NGNL in its portrayal of how NEETs and hikikomori, who Japanese society would deem outcasts or losers regardless of their gaming talent, become monarchs, harem ringleaders, and ultimately winners. Much of NGNL’s charm is more readily appreciated by seasoned otaku, who embrace, and even long for, the taboos that could potentially come with an isekai power trip. After all, it’s a show for them. There are many NEET isekai series, some tone-deaf edgefests and others indiscernible carbon copies of each other, but NGNL separates itself with minutae that captures the essence of what it means to be a NEET. The jokes, including the hypersexual ones, border on gut-wrenchingly hilarious for them and uncomfortable for almost everyone else. The chemistry between cast members generates at least a few memorable one-liners and interactions every episode. The constant stream of clever allusions ranging from Skyrim to Laputa to Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei to ICO are bound to elicit grins when noticed.

Despite being an underdog story about NEETs in disguise, but from the beginning it’s evident that all Blank does is win (no DJ Khaled) in this new world - because after all, to beat a RPG you gotta win against every boss. Thus the goal of the series develops into a making the viewer hooked on HOW they win each and every game. While there are brilliant highs, towards the end of the season, the state of the games have gotten to the point where the constant victory really does begin to dull the suspense to the point where the result of the final game itself came of as anticlimactic, bordering on deus ex machina. Nonetheless, it would be ingenuous to not expect gaps of logic, plot armor, and minor plot holes, but none of them are particularly questionable or bothersome enough to reduce the quality of the series at large.

On the other side, the highlight is the sudden Shiratori game with Jibril, unsurprisingly the only character who can keep up with the Blank siblings' craziness, where the intensity and cleverness of each response ratcheting up to another level. It was the first and only moment where it felt like our heroes could actually LOSE while we watch hydrogen bombs and stars explode because of a fucking simple children's word game - all while laughing (hysterically, I might add) at the sheer preposterousness of it all. Blank’s other challengers haven’t had the same spark as Jibril (who, in classic RPG fashion, later becomes an ally) - and it makes one think they really could use an equally insane foil or antagonist to bring out their best.

The substance of NGNL itself is its style, and it works wonders thanks to its burlesque tone. The balance is extreme, but not much of a departure from Imaishi and Masaaki-directed works. What makes NGNL is different is how specific it is, how every stratagem is explained and everything happens for a reason. Which is why for NGNL to truly connect on an emotional level, it has to specifically dedicate time towards making the viewer care about the characters and the world they find themselves in. It struggles in this regard. Much of the direct characterization throughout these first twelve episodes of NGNL suffers from ubiquitous lack of meaningful development. To an extent, this was to be be expected due to the nature of the series, but some of the attempted subplots fall flat because of this.

Steph is the most prominent contributor, because she serves as a foil for Sora and Shiro and should be an easiest character to relate to on a basic level (basically she's a fucking normie). However, her sobbing about her grandfather, the disgraced former king of who gambled his land away in hopes of future prosperity, is sappy at best and annoying at worst. Her inner back-and-forth of whether to trust Sora as a leader or not was painfully half-baked, contrived, and thoughtless. Moreover, it’s difficult to care too much about Izuna’s inner struggle about her sense of duty or Fiel’s bond to Kurami when they’re explored for a few scenes and pass by like a floating piece of debris in a hurricane. This can even apply to NGNL's more compelling and fun characters: take Jibril for example, a deserved fan favorite who shifts between (literally) drooling over the prospect of gaining precious knowledge to reminiscing about the days where she could indulge in her psychopathic tendencies of slaughtering anyone in her way. Sora and Shiro themselves have a quirk where their usually badass, composed personalities become useless and complete wrecks when they’re away from each other.

This tendency to just throw schizoid personality traits out there and hope they stick is the most telling sign that thus far, NGNL has abandoned even barebones exposition. Random behavior is dismissed with the notion that every character acts with some form of inherent spontaneity instead of possessing a fluid train of thought. These developmental aspects are double-edged swords that inject off the wall personality to the series that adds to the fantasy, while also hinder the viewer from taking NGNL's actual narrative or the aforementioned subplots too seriously. We’re left in the dark about relationships, individual vulnerabilities, and motivations. By consequence, a lot of the details dull the quality for this individual season but set up for reveals and more backstory later on.

Much of the worldbuilding and characterization itself is represented through the heightened sense of verticality, with rapidfire cut changes. This, along with Madhouse’s high-contrast neon color palette and quirky artwork distinguishes Disboard as one of the most picturesque, eccentric, and effervescent isekai settings I've ever seen animated. Often, right after heavy action sequences full of zooming movements and aerial shots, the cinematography shifts to juxtapose our larger-than-life characters to an even more larger-than-life world. This imbalance creates a lingering sense that the characters are small and caged, giving the viewers the sense that someone (remember Tet?) is constantly watching, and there is much much more to the game that is yet to come. Furthermore, the voice acting especially for Sora, Shiro, and Jibril is bonkers and felt incredibly fitting for their characters. The BGM itself isn’t a highlight, but it’s solid throughout - playful or intense when it needs to be, whereas Konomi Suzuki’s opening, This Game, with twinkling pianos and soaring vocals sets the mood, and I’m definitely going to try to learn (and fail) how to play it.

It’s undeniable that NGNL has the scope and potential to be truly massive in every sense of the word. Seriously, the setup has every indication that this world-building could lead to a inordinately expansive and nuanced universe, much like other long-running light novel series such as Index, Spice and Wolf, or Mondaiji (similar premise also withstanding). Sora and Shiro are bent on challenging god, and you have every reason to believe they will. Still, it's disappointing that the season peaked at episode six, the shiratori match with Jibril and by the twelfth episode, much of the novelty has already begun wearing off. Yet despite the minor speed bump, the sense that there is so much potential with the world of Disboard never fizzles out and we’re reminded of that with how the first season ends - with a cliffhanger materializing from thin air. Zero fucking warning on that, by the way. With many more volumes to adapt, things can only get bigger; whether they get better has yet to be seen.

TL;DR: read the whole review pussy btw it’s a ostentatiously fun/bizzare show that’s probably not for everyone if they just don’t get the gratification/fanservice/always winning/self-parody/otaku power fantasy stuff. still, mostly it’s functionally a prologue and maybe the first few bosses of this bigger NGNL rpg that sets the script for following seasons/volumes so don't expect it to have any real juicy plot meat if you know what I'm sayin because it's served up undercooked here. but i can’t say this enough: the shiratori game with Jibril was fucking awesome.

No Game No Life is a clear example for the anime community of overconfidence. It's a story of Sora and Shiro, an expert gaming duo, sent to another world where everything is settled through games. While this may appear to be simply following the hype of Sword Art Online as other animes have done, this is actually a much more advanced and original premise than meets the eye.

Unfortunately, the shows only aspect in its favor is the story's usage of different and unique games in order to settle disputes. The rest of the anime leaves much to be desired, simply applying clear attempts to ... gain popularity and providing poorly written characters to drag along the plot.

Considering there is not much to discuss as far as the story without providing spoilers, the most important reason as to why I do not recommend this anime would be due to its excuse for characters.

Starting off, we have our 1st protagonist, Sora. Sora is Shiro's older step-brother who is practically designed to be unlikable. While many anime characters are perverted in nature, Sora is just down right despicable. Using his skill as a gamer he forces a girl to fall in love with him and with the help of Shiro, proceeds to provide her with belittling comments and sexual harassment on a level that can never be justified. Furthermore, rather than actually establishing a unique and developed character for Sora, he's written as a clear Lelouch Lamperouge copy, mimicking the star of Code Geass' intellectual prowess without having the same charisma that makes a fan of Code Geass love the protagonist. It's this sloppy writing that exposes the empty characters we are seeing on screen.

Moving onto our next gaping flaw in No Game No Life we have Shiro, Sora's younger and impressively less likable sister. While Sora at least had some semblance of a character, Shiro is just a part of the show. She does things that help the plot sure, but she's not deep in the slightest. Her only noticeable trait aside from being a gamer is that she is overly protective of her brother. She constantly gets worked up when another female interacts with Sora, going as far as to take one girl's clothing, including underwear, and having her dress up as a dog before being tied to a pole in front of the townspeople. It's these types of moments that make No Name No Life so mediocre. It's having our main female character be abusive to another relevant member of the cast without any sort of reprimanding that makes her painful to even watch. Such actions on her part make her extremely unlikable and unfortunately this is her only aspect to her character with noting. Other than this, she's just a piece of cardboard that can somehow speak.

No Game No Life is not the greatest anime of all time; in fact its not even good. Quite honestly, this is one of the most overrated animes I've ever seen. If you want to see people have an engaging battle of the minds, watch either Death Note or Code Geass. If you want to watch overly unnecessary fan-service and some of the worst written characters in anime, only then can I ever recommend No Game No Life. While the games themselves are an engaging part of the overall experience, the rest is a train wreck that shows that a good concept still needs strong writing to be successful.

It's not uncommon for one to wish themselves out of a certain situation. Whether it be from an instinctual desire for a grander lifestyle or the pursuit of happiness, one's desires vary from person to person. This may also be what appeals to many who are fans of roleplaying or out of body experiences. The desire for what one cannot have has driven many to madness, and this topic has been used by many forms of entertainment over the years. What No Game No Life does with this topic is shows what can be accomplished when the main character takes what he has learned and ... applies it to a world devoid of impossibilities. And when it comes to a world of impossibilities, there's no one better qualified to conquer it than those who follow their head instead of their heart. Actually, it probably wouldn't matter either way.

To accurately pinpoint exactly what No Game No Life is, one could describe it as two siblings trying to overthrow the god of a fantasy world after beating him in a game of chess. But overthrowing a god is no easy task. Firstly, they must overthrow the entire world. Whether taking over the fantasy world will even accomplish their goal is based on a presumption the main character conceived. But he's never been wrong once since entering the fantasy world, so it'd be better to go along with it. The presumptions of anything logically possible play into this world of impossibilities. No Game No Life makes it clear early on that anything worth thinking about doesn't belong in the games played in the fantasy world. Games can be won through ridiculous means. The games that are played are all conveniently geared towards the main characters' strengths. With each and every game, the characters inch closer and closer to their goal of overtaking a god. Despite everything, No Game No Life's progression is very straightforward. It doesn't try to take itself beyond the stars and it doesn't try to meddle in any unnecessary sub-plots. Most attention is dedicated to one singular mission, as stated above.

As one of the rules of the fantasy world, the denizens of said world must have fun and play games together. At its core, No Game No Life is just fun and games. When the characters aren't plotting for world domination, they're making jokes and pop culture references. The attempts at comedy during the course of the series are mostly reliant on exaggerated reactions and gratuitous fan service. While they can produce a snicker at times, it mostly feels like a cheap trick more than anything. The fan service usually comes at the expense of the female members of the cast, as a majority of the cast is, indeed, female. Whether it be from the results of a game or a part of the games themselves, it's safe to say that clothing will be removed in some fashion or another. The balance between silly and serious tends to lean more towards silly more often than not. This doesn't harm the validity of the plot much, as the plot is hard to take seriously regardless.

It doesn't take a veteran to be able to recognize the faults within the characters. With almost each and every character, there's something off about either their presentation or personality, something that goes deeper than how it appears. With a character such as Sora, the main character and only male among the main cast, you get a lanky, angsty kid who's supposedly too smart to appreciate his own world, so he does whatever he can to entertain himself. Once in the fantasy world, he quickly applies the rules to his situation and takes full advantage of them with one fell swoop. With every challenge, he dominates the opponent with the arrogance of a true king. By being nothing special socially, he acquires the admiration of all of his suitors without even trying, yet was unpopular in the real world. This implies that he could be the world's greatest human being, he just didn't care to put in the effort in his original life. Every quality of his character screams of a self-insert and moans of wish fulfillment. They combat this by giving him faults, like being a pervert or being unable to handle the outside world. But by doing this, they're making him all the more perfect. No one is perfect, so let's make him pseudo-perfect. It's perfectly despicable.

Other members of the major cast aren't as loathsome as Sora, but still fall under the category of cliche or fan service, especially Sora's sister, Shiro. She's small, cute, quiet, and has an abnormal hair color. She also has an insatiable appetite for her brother's affection. All of these traits were manufactured especially for moe. And the icing on the cake is that she's adopted, so her desire for her brother's affection is excused, but still unwelcome. Shiro is essentially walking fan service. Stephanie Dola, the klutz, is one of two major characters born in the fantasy world. She is constantly teased for lacking the intelligence that all other characters share, despite being fairly intelligent in other matters. She is the source of most of the comedy and the fan service in the show, which makes her role within the show feel more shallow. As a character, she contributes little and goes nowhere in terms of growth, making her little more than a stock character. The last of the major characters is Jibril, a fairy-like creature who's thirst for knowledge is as creepy as Sora's expressions. She's more useful than Stephanie, and has a more likable personality, too. Of all the characters, she feels the most human, despite not being human. And as a member of the female race, she's subject to more fan service than one could ask for. Whether this matters is strictly based on the individual viewer's taste.

The first thing that was apparent with No Game No Life was its style of presentation. The artwork is reminiscent of Kamisami no Anai Nichiyoubi, whose creamy atmosphere created an effect of dreary depression and bubbly optimism. No Game No Life's art style is similar to a degree, as the brightness is on par with the sun's rays. The palette of color seemed to favor those with a calming, yet alluring power. Purple, maroon, light blue, and dark red are the colors that stand out most while watching this title, and their combination makes for a stunning outcome. Unfortunately, this type of presentation can be a little overbearing at times, as the lighting can sometimes make the characters blend in with the background or appear a tad too bright. The animation itself is one to be praised. It's charming, efficient, and bold; three things that can make an average anime look fantastic.

If anything, No Game No Life is interesting. The plot isn't anything as spectacular as it presents it and the characters are atrociously written, but it at least looks like a modern epic. The characters may be flat, but their interactions are humorous at times, granted they aren't playing games. Regardless of all of the flaws, it's entertaining to the highest degree, granted those who view it aren't too cynical. It has the qualities to succeed, it just uses them through means of popularity rather than quality. If anything, if one doesn't care to continue viewing No Game No Life, they can imagine themselves in a world outside of their grasp, similar to those within the series. It wouldn't hurt.

NEETs are usually referred to as people who take a long break from society to do whatever they please, causing others to view them as “lazy” or envy them for having freedom. But if NEETs were born with superhuman intelligence and prove to be more noteworthy than your average student or professional, they deserve a lot more respect.

Meet No Game No Life, Madhouse’s new light and playful production, featuring NEETs with an objective to become God of a new world. It’s understandable that NGNL is a fantasy where you can use your wildest imagination and can’t possibly go wrong, but a common mistake that ... fantasy anime like NGNL fail to do is abide by its principles. A fantasy still needs some sense of logic for slamming two geniuses who are capable of doing anything into its story. NGNL presents itself as a brilliant, captivating series but progresses to show little-by-little how it moves away from intelligence, proving how the protagonists are not as invincible as portrayed to be.

Blank, a brother-sister duo named Sora and Shiro, is quite peculiar. All of their wins are accomplished by teamwork, and one brain cannot function well without the other nearby. They make their debut as a couple who’s unbeatable and leaks intimidation. NGNL presents these protagonists with unexplained abilities, which makes their brilliance invalid. You learn nothing about Blank besides the fact they’re undefeatable and possess genius-level intelligence. They both suffer from a social disorder that causes them to freak out when separated and gives Sora enough reason to sit outside the girls’ bath to stay within a certain distance of Shiro. Besides a vague backstory of their first encounter, NGNL reveals nothing about their parents, their lives in Tokyo, or any kind of self-narration to back up their intelligence or social disorder. This results in NGNL’s inability to follow through on its brilliance. Despite being undefeatable, Blank faces dead ends, admits defeat, and gets miraculously saved at the last minute. Even if there were changes in games or situations entirely, you’d expect clever approaches from super intelligent protagonists besides raising the white flag. Like always, NGNL disguises such inconveniences with gag comedy references to please jaded views.

One of the aspects noteworthy in NGNL are the games ranging from as simple as rock-paper-scissors to majorly complex and fun like a simulation game. Blank’s immediate drawbacks and impressive comebacks make it more watchable. The explanations of game plans were interesting. This makes Stephanie Dola a great add to the series, because someone has to play the simple-minded character to dumb down the complex moves and game rules for everyone else to understand. The games have their flaws though. Blank arrives into a world decided by games, ran by 10 pledges, and ruled by a little boy who only became God by default because of incompetent adults. The 10 pledges are a nice gesture to keep world order, but it is just another excuse to make Blank seem intimidating. There’s a pledge that denounces cheating, giving gamers an automatic loss if caught. Most of the games consisted of someone cheating or trying to overcome a cheat. Still, this brings two conclusions. Either Blank is indeed genius, or everyone in the new world is incredibly stupid and uses cheats to hide the fact they lack wisdom and the appropriate skills to win. Blank faces every opponent with a confident attitude, expecting a 100% win. Then the show becomes predictable, because Blank is always right. None of their opponents are challenging enough to take them on. The pacing was just right, so 12 episodes was not enough to fulfill the primary objective and ends with a cliffhanger.

The majority of the cast is female, giving Sora several chances to play the dominate male and open pervert. This makes characters appear as airheads or suffer high risks for Blank's purposes. The characters vary in personalities and abilities, and NGNL did a great job dividing their abilities based upon their race. Some had their own fetishes as well. Each of them played a role in Blank’s overall objective, so each one has his or her own unique trait whether it’s attractive or vice versa. Since this is a comedy, characters freely act outrageous after a serious moment in an attempt to get a laugh. It is only regarded to a certain extent, because they do not always act appropriately to certain situations, making it hard to distinguish the comedy and seriousness. Their sudden reactions to surprises are mostly hilarious, especially Blank’s reaction when Stephanie says something bright for a change. Some of the characters share backstories and relationships that can possibly give viewers a different impression of them.

NGNL takes ecchi over the top with its fanservice. Awkward cliché scenes of falling and landing into boobs make it annoying and close to a harem. Most games consist of girls losing clothes or undergarments sometimes as an excuse for virgin Sora to get his feels. However, I disregard this a little considering that NGNL is clearly within the ecchi genre, so this is expected. I mainly mentioned it as a warning to those who despises the abuse of ecchi fanservice. The only flaw is how this makes every game predictable, because each one seems to need fanservice for strategic purposes or solutions.

The pastel colors are initially what makes NGNL so lively, and I applaud Madhouse for taking a different approach with unique artwork and animation. As someone who is not a big fan of ecchi, I found it to be tolerable because of the pastel colors. The settings and character design were unbelievably gorgeous, and it is greatly necessary to distinguish the vast races and their territories within the world, including the elves and warbeasts. Except NGNL seems to care more about their appeal than abiding by the law of gravity. Clearly, you cannot hold onto a floating cloth in the sky as if it’s an airplane wing or Aladdin's magic carpet. Characters hang upside down and their hair doesn't follow their lead. Even if gravitational failure is not a big deal, it makes NGNL misleading considering that an arc touched on the concepts of science a great deal, including gravity.

The background music was suitable for the game theme of NGNL, but there are music references from other games to make the OST seem unoriginal. Sometimes it was confusing. NGNL seemed to have a hard time differentiating between comedy and seriousness, and the music gives it away. Something unexpected happens, characters make a big deal out of it, and yet the music is just as cheerful as ever. The OP and ED were very good, and the lyrics fit the show’s theme and Blank’s relationship quite well. There are no complaints about the seiyuu either, because they all switched their tones appropriately during certain situations, especially Blank. They succeeded with the sound effects, too, and it brought out the comedy more.

NGNL was a fun show to watch, and I looked forward to seeing a new episode every week. Impressive strategic gameplay, clever comebacks from Blank, and the beautiful animation with pastel colors are a few things that intrigued me. Despite how much I loved it, NGNL doubtlessly lacked the maturity and logic it needed to achieve the pursuit for powerful, undefeatable characters. The fantasy genre can be imaginative, as long as the show supports their ideas with some kind of explanation like NGNL failed to do. If you want to introduce super intelligent NEETs with an objective to take over the world, perfect. But to make them into something overly invincible with unexplained abilities without any backstory or presentation of evidence? That’s a tough cookie to break. Since NGNL won as the hype of Spring 2014, there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s a sequel awaiting us in the future.

Everywhere I go here on MAL I see people praising this show. 10s are almost the standard since this show aired. Almost impossible to escape to the hype surrounding this anime I found myself watching the first episode even though I am against fan-fiction like stories such as this one. So, what do I think of the show?

Well, it has been quite a bumpy road with No Game No Life for me. A surprisingly weak start with almost every cliché in just two or three episodes a pandering show like this could ever contain and more headshakes I ever did when watching anime since Sword ... Art Online were part of this experience. It got gradually more bearable though as the series reached its end to say the least.

Well, let's take a look in what the alleged "Anime of the Season" has to offer.

When reading the synopsis I was already shaking my head in disbelief. Yet another fan-fiction premise, yet again super cool NEETs living the life 90% of the people here would gladly kill for? I am certain it is unnecessary to tell what No Game No Life is all about since most of you guys reading this are already watching it as well.
Let's rather talk about the problems I had with the story.

Also note, so far no second season has announced. I will treat the story section of No Game No Life as if no second season is announced when coming to the ending. Yes, I know there is a light novel of the show but we are reviewing the anime here. Not the light novel!

First of all, No Game No Life tried to achieve so much in just a twelve episode run-time it felt rushed at times just to squeeze in as much as possible. They want to take over the whole world but how much could they possibly get my just twelve episodes?
I guess it may be just me but the whole set up and how it was handled is way too convenient for me to overlook it. Yes, "Blank" consisting of Sora and his super-intelligent-NEET-hikikomori-loli imouto providing regular panty shots Shiro are unbeatable, literally unbeatable. The story part of No Game No Life felt like watching a newcomer play Dark Souls for the first time with god mode enabled because just as Blank (I guess I figured out why the name's "Blank". Which makes it easier for self-insertion!), he'd be undefeatable no matter how big the challenge may look or what there is at stake. There is no sense of tension because you can predict that Blank will win no matter what. All you do is wait for the resolution on how they did it which is unpredictable because the main characters are alleged geniuses which - for me - was nowhere near this fascinating. Not saying this is all bad, it really is entertaining and gets you by surprise being exposed to their kind of play for the first few times, but most of the explanations just felt like Deus Ex Machina which again could be excused by them being geniuses.

In terms of world building No Game No Life did an average at best job as well. Yes, humanity is now called "Imanity" and is on the bottom of the food chain amongst other beings inhabiting this world. But yet again this is hardly explained in detail to make me personally attached at all. Also the other species are as original as it gets with your average elf-like beings using their magic, the war beasts having super-human speed and agility, there is no originality to be found here either.

The games they play are also not seemingly flawless and even contain plot holes in how they were executed by the show, for example the game of Shiratori in episode 6 where every player had 30 seconds to make their next move. Because Blank is so perfect though it just takes them almost a whole minute just for one. How things like those get past a quality check seems incomprehensible to me.

The general pacing was also one of the things which bugged me. Most of the time there just wasn't anything meaningful going on and time got wasted for nonsensical reference humor or blatant fan service which is a thing I highly dislike in anime.

Regarding the visuals No Game No Life scored way better at me. I like it when studios try out new stuff and come out as daring especially at something crucial as the visuals. No Game No Life kept an overall decent standard of quality and used an interesting if even maybe unusual and surreal art style as well as fluid animation. To be honest watching the first few episodes it seemed way too surreal and almost unpleasing for me personally. As the time went by though I found myself getting attached to it as it fitted the show’s theme quite well. As said, credit where credit is due, the makers dared to stand out from the norm and delivered a more than solid job in my eyes even if I ended up hating how they made Shiro and her facial expressions with her tiny mouth. This surely is just me but I couldn't stand some of the character designs at all.

Coming to the acoustic performance of No Game No Life I just have positive things to say. Starting with a strong and catchy opening theme the series never failed to convey a certain feeling of tension during moments when Blank once again had triumphed over their mentally inferior enemies. The soundtrack is literally what kept me hoping for more to come, being composed very well and used even better in the right scenes. If I had one thing to complain about the soundtrack it would be that some of songs got used to often and lacked in overall variety. Considering their quality this is a thing I am willing to forgive.
The voice acting was also top-notch and leaves barely room to complain, except the characters which they voice acted.

The characters are actually my biggest complaint alongside the not really original and sometimes even rigged by plot holes part that is the story. Blank may be perfect but this is just the thing which won't sell me for No Game No Life. They are too perfect, every of their moves in unpredictable it almost comes off as a downright ass pull - speaking only of the main characters Sora and Shiro though. The rest of the cast is entirely female and besides one tear-jerking moment of Stephanie it gets completely downgraded to pure fan service which is a shame because since later on they threw some other races into the bunch as well which could have been used for great character and world building but was cut to the most essential things and once again fan service because since the "Flugel" is a flying race they have their erogenous zones on their wings. Ha-ha, so clever. Not. And of course every female which gets to meet a smelly and skinny NEET is most likely to want to explore his erogenous zones. Totally what would happen in real life! And besides the main cast there were barely important characters which could be used even if only as plot devices.

Despite the problems I had with the show, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy No Game No Life the slightest bit. The atmosphere was right during the moments it should have been to grab my attention even when just for a little moment longer than it managed before. The conclusions weren't always the most logical or the most likely ones but satisfying nevertheless if you take the show what it's supposed to be; an entertaining pseudo-intelligent comedy. Regarding the comedy No Game No Life consists of solely two parts of comedic "attempts". One would be referential humor and the other being fan service. What I personally missed where clever jokes and not just some sexual slurs or innuendos alongside some deadbeat jokes. The most entertaining parts for me where not the ones others would consider to be funny but for how Blank would manage to achieve the next goal. Not if they would but how - because Blank can't lose.

Summing this up No Game No Life was a decent entry of the wish-fulfillment-genre which must include beautiful women, a super cool and flawless main character, games, video-games, a world to escape to. It stood out using a rather unique art style and underlining it with a very good soundtrack but lacked in story and characterization. Too much time was wasted on fan service which could have been used on actual development of the over sexualized almost all-female cast. While I didn't expect much after reading the synopsis I wouldn't even say I got disappointed but the hype surrounding it seems similar to the one Sword Art Online experienced back in the day. Unlike Sword Art Online No Game No Life is self-aware most of the time and at least does not take itself seriously to a level where it comes off as forced drama. It knows what it wants to be and pulls that off quite nicely and confident, ending up being entertaining but nothing of outstanding quality.

A lot of popular shows have plenty of problems that are often ignored because they pander to their intended audience and NGNL (No Game, No Life) is no exception. The impressions one would likely get from the hype surrounding NGNL are it’s “an amazing show with an original premise and spectacular story-telling.” Though this is mostly exaggeration, as this show is far from amazing, it’s also far from awful for plenty of good reasons. NGNL’s glory stems from how well it knows its audience and that is a point in its favor, but there are definitely issues with it that should be addressed.

It’s easy to ... argue that a show with good characters is a good show and NGNL has this aspect covered, whether the former is true or not. A very serious person might laugh at that statement, but that laughter is coming from the ignorance of the characters’ purpose. Each of the characters do their apparent job well and that is to be distinct and interesting as well as appeal to the target audience. The excellence of the cast is thanks to the way the NGNL allows it’s intended audience to relate to it’s main characters and that is a sign of competence from the creators (or that they are lucky).

However, though the characters are a high point of NGNL for being interesting, and in a way fun, it’s hard to deny their flaws. For one, our two main characters, the siblings Sora and Shiro, are nearly perfect (ironically, considering I’m saying this is a flaw), and it sucks a lot of the anxiety you might have, and even some of the fun, out of the show. They do seem to be self-aware, but it hardly excuses this problem. In fact, their aptitude in nearly everything is ridiculous considering their circumstances. It’s clear that this probably only to give them “cool points” and cheat its main audience into thinking the characters are well designed (I use cheat loosely). All this is only compounded by how the other prominent members of NGNL’s cast of characters, such as Steph and Jibril, only help boost Sora and Shiro’s ego as they seem to only compliment their incredible skill, both indirectly and directly. Also, it’s unbecoming for the cast that most of the characters are there solely for “fanservice” and other appeal. As such, even though this anime’s characters are “fun and cool”, they aren’t nearly realistic and have exaggerated abilities (and personalities too).

With all that said about the overall above average cast, it’s unfortunate the premise isn’t as original as plenty claim because similar stories have definitely been conceived and written. That isn’t foretelling of an uninspired plot though, is it? The answer to that question is subjective, but it doesn’t matter that much. The story almost entirely focuses on the siblings, brother and sister, Sora and Shiro as they are brought to an alternate world after beating the god of said world in a game. In this world, everything is decided by games (not violence, debate, etc.) so you’d think this would allow for some creativity involving all the games they will likely be playing. Unfortunately, whoever authored NGNL seemingly always uses a likeness to a Deus Ex Machina as the solution for the siblings inevitably winning the games they play. The way the games are played are less intelligent than they are presented. To be honest, for a show about games, the games aren’t exciting at all because you know the outcome is always that the siblings will win. Also, the story itself isn’t very interesting anyway, as the things that mostly happen are playing games and cracking jokes so NGNL heavily relies on “fanservice” and references which isn’t a strong foothold. It’s good the forced drama is rare though.

This might put NGNL down a bit, but beneath the unpolished story is a nice setting that is not fully explored. Because Sora and Shiro decide to try defeating and uniting the intelligent races in the new world they arrive in, we get to explore many of the interesting places that said world contains. NGNL doesn’t feed us with a lot of adventure and exploration though, so this could be a missed opportunity.

Not only is the setting very nicely designed, the animation compliments it too. The animation quality is not top-notch, but it is unique. It’s nice to see something different as the art uses some uncommon colors and has a nice hue of orange.

Other than that, the voice acting is good as the voice actors do their jobs well. There aren’t any performances of immediate note though. Also, the music is fine, but there is better out there

Overall, even though NGNL will likely leave a positive impression on you, its also good to consider its undeniable flaws. It’s something you’ll definitely like if you land in its target audience range. That means you like random fanservice and the predictable outcome of the games. If you don’t like it, you’ll probably find this anime poor for trying to act smart and tripping like a fool. While NGNL may have an uninteresting premise, its characters and setting make up for a good portion of it. And though it’s not as good as some may claim it to be, it’s an exaggeration to say it’s bad. NGNL is a fun experience, but it’s not all it’s praised to be and not a must watch. You may want to watch it for that orange hue though.

5/10

"Contender for anime of the season"
"No doubt the best series currently airing"
"Anime of the year"
"Best thing I've ever seen"
"11/10, it was okay" -ign

This is just a sample of the plethora of praise No Game No Life (NGNL) has garnered as of recent. Undoubtedly loved by many and raised up by fans to no end, calling NGNL hyped would be an understatement. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, however, whether or not it can live up to the countless 10/10 reviews and its 8.87 rating making it the 16th highest rated anime on MAL is a whole different matter.

Enjoyment-9/10
I'm beginning with the enjoyment ... of this show because this is without a doubt the most alluring aspect of the show and probably the main cause of the ceaseless acclaim this series continues to earn. And it is for good reason; this show essentially has something for everyone. There are few things that NGNL fails to incorporate into itself and the resulting audience it can pertain to encompass many. With video game and anime references alike, accompanied by what seems like an infinite amount of anime tropes and cliches, it definitely entertains the general audience.

The show is entertaining almost all the time and for the most part does not bore bar the irrelevant scene every now and then (I'm looking at you random bath scenes). Really if anything, the enjoyment you can get out of this show is absurd and makes the show what it is more than the characters, plot, or the art. However what makes the show a lot less enjoyable is the abundance of ecchi material within it. You are constantly bombarded with fan-service each and every episode and while some say it does not detract from the show, it certainly does even if a little bit.

So if you like being entertained and want to watch something you really enjoy, this is it. There are very few other anime that can entertain as well as NGNL and if you want to just sit back and relax, turn off your brain for a while, and just have a good time this is all you'll need. No need to read the rest of my review if that's all you want in an anime.

Story-6/10
If you want to read a summary of the show, there is a synopsis section so go read that before all the reviewers put it out of a job.

That aside, the story is somewhat interesting. The world building and overall setting are absolutely well executed and come together very well to create a whole fantasy world that does not seem lacking but is rather quite well developed. The entire world that is presented with the many interactions and conflicts within it are extremely well done and although it is definitely unrealistic in a sense that it is fantasy after all, it is still extremely close to reality.

Onto the actual plot itself, there are very few, if any, plot holes throughout the story and because of this viewers will be able to feel that although it is just a fictional world, it really could exist. The pacing is almost perfect. It rarely feels rushed (there was only one episode) and so every event is given enough time to occur and watchers thus given enough time to comprehend and follow the story. However the plot does slow down at time to create intermissions between major plot events which intentionally relieves the tension and keeps that light-hearted touch yet at the same time relieves a lot of the tension within the serious parts of NGNL causing the plot to be a lot less serious and weaker.

Yet the weakest part of the plot and what makes it so weak is easily its predictability. Although the many puzzles and games make it seem complex or intelligent, it is at the core really just a simple plot that makes it very easily appreciated and enjoyable. The ways in which each problem is solved are at the very least creative and definitely fun to experience but are in no ways complex or mind-blowing. So if the methods to their winning is definitely unpredictable to some extent then what is so predictable? The outcomes. UnfortunatelyIn the end, the aftermath of each conflict is easily anticipated. The plot is essentially just a repeat of finding enemies, challenging them, winning, and becoming friend and this is what makes NGNL so much weaker in this regard. The one thing they utilize very well though is cliffhangers. The sheer amount of cliffhangers is absurd and most episodes to end off with one leaving you craving for the next.

Although many will claim that the story is a masterpiece, there is very little that is deeper within it. A good story contains underlying themes which the story then pushes to convey to the audience and incite change or at the very least discussion and conflicting ideas. Thankfully NGNL does contain an argument but unfortunately it is the execution of them which is off the mark. Whereas good writing would establish its themes early on and continually build upon the themes subtly through imagery and symbolism as the story progressed, NGNL ignores its themes and is void of them for the majority of itself only to suddenly remember that it had a message to present and then suddenly shoving the theme at you near the end in hopes that you would have caught on to them.

Definitely though, it really is difficult to take the plot seriously because of just how plain silly it is and that in itself is not a bad thing but with all the fans of the show raving on about how great and genius the story is, it will no doubt leave you disappointed.

Art-9/10
The animation style used by Madhouse in NGNL is unique or at the very least uncommon. It has a bright and vibrant colour palette that is very nice to look at and because of how separated the colours are from reality, it compliments the fantasy world they live in and only makes it more beautiful. The gags pulled in the show and references made to other media is also very well expressed and their ability to switch from style to style makes each reference so much more fluid and recognizable. The colours are a little bit tiring on the eyes however as a result of all the bright colours (think a bunch of neon signs).

Sound-6/10
The voice acting is good; memorable voices that express the personalities and emotions that express the characters well. The music is lacking however and unfortunately is unmemorable (I literally cannot remember if there was any to begin with). It's definitely not bad enough so that it subtracts from the show, but neither is it good enough that it makes it any better.

Character-4/10
People seem to believe that the characters in this show are somehow amazing and unique yet how is that possible when each and every character in the show are built upon popular anime tropes. You have everything in this show from NEETs to tsunderes, to animal girls, demons/angels, and even elves. The characters are likable, that's for sure. After all, with such a wide variety of overdone characters, how could you not like one of them. But what makes the characters the weakest is not their lack of originality. Rather it is the lack of proper development for most of the characters. Perhaps this is a result of the show only being 12 episodes long, but any form of development within the main characters is completely absent. They can probably be described best as super computers with personalities. Although they have traits that take them outside of the regular character molds, any type of change in personality or even ability is absent throughout the series. They start as geniuses and end as geniuses and that's all they are. You learn little about their past and see no changes in their character whatsoever.

Then you have the supporting characters. Fortunately these characters have development over the course of the show but it isn't enough. As each conflict begins with finding an enemy and then beating and befriending them, every supporting character that joins the main cast as the show progresses actually changes but as soon as they do, the plot moves onto the next order of business and their development is put aside for these new "villains" to appear. Hence the only characters with advancement in the entirety of the show are those few supporting characters present from the very beginning. Regrettably even those characters are set aside continuously and then made to serve as either eye-candy or comedic relief for episodes on end.

Overall the characters are for the most part flat and two-dimensional. Who they are can be taken at face value because the characters of NGNL undoubtedly have only one layer to them. They never stray from what they establish themselves as when they are introduced, never showing any signs of actually being complex characters but rather show how simple and one-sided they all are. As beautiful as those one sides are and as entertaining as they can be they are in the end still one sided and become repetitive before long.

Overall-6.5/10
Does NGNL live up to the hype? Definitely not. Certainly the enjoyment of the show there and it has a wide audience with simple plots and characters that aid in how easily people can appreciate it, but the enjoyment of the show seems to have caused a bias in which those weak characters and predictable plot are all but ignored in favour of its entertainment value. All in all it is a good show overall; definitely above your average fantasy show but not as much as people make it out to be. It is far from the masterpiece people like to think it is. I'll admit, the mood of the show and its overall fun feeling makes it very easy to forget about its flaws but in the end those flaws are still there and should not be overlooked. The plot is far from serious and is nowhere close to being as complex or stunning as people make it out to be and although the characters may be lovable and are all fun to watch, they are at the same time flat and unfinished, leading you to become bored of them at times. If you're looking to be entertained and have fun watching a show, this is it, but don't go in expecting anything deep or intelectual.

TL;DR: BEST SHOW OF 2014! WHAT A MASTERPIECE THAT WILL NEVER BE SURPASSED IN ALL OF ANIMUS!!! BEST THING SINCE SAO, BOKU NO PICO, AND SCHOOL DAYS!!!11!!one!!!1!! 6.5/10.

Does this show have any sense of tension? Hell no. Curveball plot-twists? Not any that aren't made meaningless in a near instant. Well written or developed characters? Not on your fucking life. So why the hell am I not flat out panning No Game No Life? The answer: It was a wild ride.

I would be lying if I said this show had anything resembling good writing in regards to story, characters, or humor (which is 90% anime/manga references anyhow). What it does have is a premise that gives everyone and their grandma in the universe the license to go full ham. A world where everything ... is decided by games, even criminal acts such as mugging, lends itself well to the spirit of, God help me for being so casual, "fun". The reason to watch is to see just how inane and stupid shit can get, and boy howdy, it doesn't disappoint in keeping an audience entertained. Chess turning into a real-time strategy game? Shiritori: Batshit Insane Version? Sign me up!

Tragically, NGNL does have its shortcomings, mostly character related. Sora and Shiro might as well be renamed Gary Stu and Mary Sue with how infallible they are despite their agoraphobia and separation anxieties. There's a difference between having a knack for something and being omnipotent, and they blaze off passing the latter as they vanish into the sunset. While Yami Yugi from the original Yu-Gi-oh! manga also had a very few number of losses to his name, the games were more dangerous, giving them more suspense despite the outcome being obvious. Meanwhile, at the end of every single big match played that MIGHT have looked close, the strat explanations of the Perfect Duo could be best summed up as "Close? Hell naw I will tell you all 108 reasons why this was actually a curbstomp". This is ESPECIALLY bad in the shiritori game where they in a mere 20 minutes managed to reinvert the metagame of a word association game. Jibril is not someone who is too terribly interesting on her own, but possible stories of her past in the later seasons (trust me, there will be since this averaged 9K+ sales and even breaking the Manabi Line is like Christmas for Madhouse) may prove for some interesting world-building. For the time being, Steph's purposes including acting as a punching bag first and a plot device second. I guess the big problem with the cast is that their personalities are, in a word, lacking, and you remember them for their gimmicks than any innate traits that aren't linked to a gag or a steadfast maintaining of status quo.

Many of the gags are of the aforementioned sandbagging of Steph, and references to anime, manga, and video games, ranging from JoJo to Yu-Gi-Oh! to Hyouka to Phoenix Wright along with many more. However, they are hit or miss, with the Castle in the Sky reference being the crowning jewel. Aside from that, the rest are pervy jokes with occasional metahumor. Visually, this anime has more bloom than a 7th+ gen FPS title, which is a tragedy as Madhouse is on the high-end when it comes to visually appealing anime. It flattens out everything on the screen, making nothing pop out at you or leave a lasting impression. It's almost a sin to have so much of the background details hidden and drowned out behind an abundance of effects and filters.

One's ability to enjoy the series hinges ENTIRELY on how much they can put up with characters that wear 50 suits of plot armor before going to bed at night. If wish-fulfillment characters with flaws that fail to attempt to balance them out is enough for you to make you drop a series in an episode or two, stay the hell away from No Game No Life. If you are willing to put up with the asspulls for the concept, sit back, relax, and have fun.

**SPOILER FREE REVIEW**

If Death Note and Code Geass have taught us anything, it is that there is something intoxicating about protagonists who are too smart for their own good. There is an undeniable and indescribable appeal to watching someone psychologically destroy all opponents in their path regardless of how questionable the logic they use to do so truly is. However, unlike its two predecessors, No Game No Life is not a show that demands to be taken seriously. It is light-hearted, comedic, and fun as opposed serious, dark, and intense. This approach, in theory, is a much better way to tackle the “super-smart” protagonist concept ... because it avoids any possibility that the show comes off as pretentious or overly-serious, which were big knocks DN and CG. For this reason, I was very excited for what has become the most hyped anime of the season, and while I found certainly found it to be entertaining, it has a large number flaws that prevent it from living up to the unreasonable hype that the fan base has created for it. It does many things well, but for every thing that it does well, there is something it does poorly.

Synopsis: Two siblings named Sora and Shiro are brilliant NEET, hikikomori gamers who have become legends on the Internet due to how good they are at playing video games under the codename “Blank”. One day, they are summoned by an androgynous being named Tet to an alternate world. Tet, who claims to be God of this world, has prohibited war and declared this to be a world where everything is decided by games, and I mean literally everything. In this world, humanity is only one of 14 other races, all vying for world domination though the act of challenging each other to games. Sora and Shiro, excited by the concept of the world, set off on an epic journey to see just how far their gaming abilities can take them.

The appeal of No Game No Life comes in the form of how fleshed out and imaginative the setting is, but it is the depth of the world that ultimately also creates significant flaws in it. To elaborate, the plot of this anime can easily be described as tedious; there is SO much explaining that needs to be done. There are 14 different races, some of them can use magic and some of them can’t, they all have a designated “rank”, they play games with each other to decide everything, they can’t murder or cause physical harm to one another, what constitutes a game needs to be specified, the games must follow 10 rules, those rules are called the pledges, some of the pledges have loopholes, some of them don’t, also there’s (*MIND EXPLODES). Top all of this exposition off with the fact that each individual game played in the series has its own unique set of rules that you need to remember and the logic that Sora and Shiro use to win the games they play also needs explaining and what you have is one massive information overload. It is 100% impossible to coherently follow everything that is happening in this series, and that is a fact that has both pros and cons. The cons are obviously the fact that the oversaturation of explanations make the show feel hectic and chaotic at times, but on the pro side, they make the show a lot of fun. Watching Blank massacre their opponent’s using ridiculously unreasonable logic never gets old, and while there are many words to describe the games played in NGNL, “boring” is not one of them. I applaud the show for establishing key plot points and never seeming to lack direction; this is a show that knows exactly what it wants to be in terms of tone and themes, but I’m not a very big fan of the themes they chose to include. At times, the show feels like it is nothing more then shameless otaku pandering and fanservice filler. I cringed as the show used one contrived plot device after another in order to incorporate as many anime fetishes as it possibly could and took every chance it got to throw in a pop-culture reference. The fanservice is also gratuitous, albeit mostly harmless considering the type of show we are dealing with. Overall, NGNL’s plot can best be described as mindless fun. That may sound weird for a show that is grounded on the concept of logic, but it is the simple reality. The series can be flawed and stupid times, but it’s effective.

The characters of NGNL are fun, but horribly unrealistic. Our protagonists, Sora and Shiro, are too overpowered and not good representations of socially inept NEETs. Drawing comparisons to why I am not a big fan of most shounens, the MCs are obviously protected by plot armor and that takes away from the suspense of the plot; they are simply too perfect. To be fair though, the show does a good job of giving Sora a personality and making him entertaining, but he is a mary-sue. How are these protagonists supposed to be anti-social? If anything, they are charismatic! Sure they have a 10 second comedic panic attack every now and again, but the show does a very poor job of representing what their characters are supposed to be. Shiro, for example, did not impress me at all; her only real traits are that she’s cute and unreasonably smart, so again: mary-sue. She can be funny with her bluntness every now and then, but her entire presence just feels unnecessary; it’s like they wrote this show with Sora as the only protagonist and then the editors added in Shiro to provide loli appeal. The side characters are nothing spectacular either; the only one that I think was well done is Steph because she successfully provided two things that are instrumental to the show’s tone and themes, those being comedic relief and fanservice. Then you have characters like Jibril who are just awful and unbelievably one-dimensional. Jibril is a walking plot-device in every sense of the word; she serves no purpose other than to advance the storyline with her seemingly unrestricted magical powers. Oh, and she also provides fanservice (shockingly). The strange thing is that even though the NGNL characters aren’t all that special, they work decently well. The reason for this phenomenon is that they have good chemistry with one another; you can really sense that Sora and Shiro legitimately care for one another and the show is filled with funny interactions between Blank and the side characters, especially Steph. So in short: the cast of NGNL is far from perfect, but they turned out all right.

Does NGNL live up to the hype? No, not at all actually, especially considering the fact that this show has been hyped to the point where it is dubbed as a masterpiece for the ages that will be talked about for decades. It’s still a solid anime, but I can’t fathom why this show has become so beloved. It’s funny, over-the-top, way too convoluted, yet fun: nothing special. It’s probably worth a watch provided that you disregard the hype train and go in with reasonable expectations.
Aschente!

Things I like:
- Original Idea (Not that I care too much about originality)
- Interesting and Colourful World
- Races are cleverly designed
- The plot -> Its an intriguing premise; conquering and banding together nations like its a giant chessboard

Things I hate:
- Too much fanservice -> comedy = fanservice. Can't get over it
- Characters are too OP -> I literally don't fucking care about any games because I know that the main characters are going to win. They are always in FULL CONTROL of the situation. Oh and they never lose in the entire first season. As a matter of fact I often end up cheering for ... the other team.

- Characters piss me off -> Characters have exceedingly annoying personalities. They also tend to act like complete douche bags (especially to Steph). I want to punch them in the face in every frame.

- The War -> Why does this back story even exist?
- The theme -> What theme? Playing games 24/7 and being a NEET despite having almost godlike cognitive abilities and capacity for knowledge is a good thing?

-The plot -> They harass Steph, Excessive fanservice, Play a game, Excessive fanservice, They Win the game (No surprise), They harass Steph.
And whenever they don't do this it comes off as awkward.

That's basically it. If I can't appreciate the protagonists, comedy or even the plot. There really is no theme. Everyone except the protagonists are weak and a pushover (Even Tet gets wrecked in the first episode at chess). Everything is too colourful and it gives me cancer. Fucking overrated. Damn hype train.

Following the adventures of two genius gamers in a fantasy world where everything is decided by games? That sounds interesting, but unfortunately, it's not as good as it could seem.

Story:

The main focus of the story is obviously the games played by Sora and Shiro, our main characters, to come closer to their objective. And while it seems interesting at first, it quickly becomes clear that they will all be solved in a similar way, which is without much logic at all. As the protagonists will state several times, they win as soon as the game starts, because they are that good. So, what happens during ... the game doesn't really matter. There is no real tension, because even if it seems like Sora and Shiro could lose, you know they won't. You know that after some time, they will pull out of nowhere an explanation of why they had won since the beggining and why their opponent is stupid.

The time between the different games is spent on discussing the politics of the world and the tactics that should be used to conquer it, which is in fact not bad. It would be even better, though, if it wasn't punctuated by awfully long and frequent bath scenes.

Characters:

We officially have two protagonists, but it's not long before we figure out that one of them is a main character in name only.

Sora, our first main character, is extremely arrogant and always trying to show how much better he is than any other character. Indeed, he is very smart and good at bluffing, and his attitude could probably be understood if those two qualities weren't the only one he possessed. Instead, this permanent tendency to show off for no good reason makes Sora a very unlikable character. But we haven't talked yet about what could be Sora's most important trait: his inability to make a mistake. Everything Sora says is true and if someone thinks otherwise, they'll be proven wrong sooner or later. If Sora seems to be loosing, it's only an illusion, because he always wins. Convenient, right?

The other main character is Shiro, Sora's younger sister, who handles the more mathematical sides of their games. Or at least, once in a while, to remember the audience she's supposed to be the main character alongside her brother. Most of the time, Shiro is actullay just there for the loli fanservice and to show her unbreakable love towards Sora, without doing anything of much importance.

Gravitating around our two protagonists, are various female characters who are either forgettable or annoying. Indeed, my favourite character is actually Stephanie, which is saying something since the poor girl's only purpose is to look stupid in comparison to Sora and Shiro and, of course, to be used for fanservice.

Visuals:

When it comes to the visual aspect of the show, the first thing that catches the attention is the colour palette that has been used. Primarly composed of blue, pink and purple, it really brings out the feeling of being in an other world and creates a dream-like atmosphere. The are times, however, when I felt like it was just too bright to still be pretty, so while I think using those colours was a very good idea, slightly toning them down might have made everything a bit more agreeable to the eye.

As for the rest, some sceneries were really pretty, and the animation and art were generally fine.

Sound:

Both the opening and ending were very good, as was the voice acting. The ost was fine, but not particularly memorable.

Enjoyment:

I enjoyed No Game No Life, to a certain extent. If you try to forget about the lack of logic in the winning of the games and simply focus on the immediate action, trying to immerse yourself in it, you will probably find this anime extremely entertaining, like it seem many people do. But as soon as you stop caring about what happens, and just sit there contemplating Sora's arrogance and Shiro's lack of emotion, waiting for the explanation of how they won their game to come out of nowhere, you will get bored.

No Game No Life Review:

Mindset:
Made by the studio Mad House and watched with no expectations except that it is definite that the original manga was made in Brazil.

Synopsis:
Two fabled NEET sibling gamers get conveyed in a fantasy realm when all what you do is play games then soon purchasing the bed for Your Harem and triumph everything as a crazy empowerment fantasy never to be taken a tad seriously with convuleted strategies that is potentially metalogic by the intelect of the human psyche but proviedes a smirk- consequently making you hallucinate fluffy rainbows- consequently ... making you feel like its the epic journey of life.

REVIEW:
Indeed it is a necessity to notify that you do not watch this show for the story, it tries to convince you to think deeply but the reality is that the show is mostly dependant on woeful moments. And I might as well state that is the best show that made itself as a pure empowerment fantasy pandering over the Otaku audience because it got a majority of corrections. It was much more self-aware, the characters (as how much I want to bash them) served there purpose for there entertainment value. The story however; is to be described bluntly, was to move along everything and it is the entertainment variable which has transformed as the driving factor, not the plot! Which is not disappointing, on the other hand it really gives you the feeling that the world DisBoard is actually magical, majestic, golden and it makes you think that you just ate the burnt tobacco leaves mixed with purple shrooms and whisky, the Animation is the best I've seen from mad house (personally I find it better than wolf children) being definitly above average, oh how much You and I will love the extra effort by giving it a large range of colours making you love magical LSD. The fanservice is rahter extreme and some scenes are sitting next to the border line, You have clothes completely oblidarted, plot devices for female cosplay or even taking advantage by the laws of Disboard to show feisty fetishes. If You are not into that, then be prepared to be lashed out.

The characters were fairly well done overall as how much as I want to bash the archetypes, it seemed fittting for Sora's conquest to also increase the population density of he's Harem and in the critical eye it seemed to be a tad more tolerable, but archetypes, are still archetypes.

And this is how we should split the cake, everything to the sound, animation, (okay maybe not the sound) but the overall narrative and presence of the show reflects towards the fact that this show is not for everyone! Its pandering purely over the Otaku demographic as the whole thing seemed like an Otaku's fantasy realm and it was there to be a destination when one seeks out the deviating and guilty pleasure piece of fiction. For those who are not too much into anime and would rather hunt down for plot and characterization then it all boils down into a bad show. Either You call this “The best thing next to Shrek” Or “A piece of nude rubbish”

Replicated towards the reflection of the characters, they can become rather likeable at a short time span because of there silliness despite being archetypes and are not at all deep and four dimensional and are idealized by the Otaku mind thus making them undefeated. They are goofy at almost everything else but when playing a game there on Godmode, they do not develop and change through out the duration while simultaneously staying virgin. Nothing is “Ever” to be taken seriously at any specs of the imagination. In the world of Disboard, everything thrives by Idealism and Imagination, doing the impossible without difficulty and not being able to wash the dishes in our mundane reality.

LEGACY:
It's dum entertainment, erotic, overall very idealistic and delusional. Only stated and viewed as “Magical” by again; your local Otaku and intentionally not targeting the minds of those who watch too much Disney and Pixar. And I suppose you could like it if your eyes on fan service has reduced into saying that this is the new rule of cool.

CRITICAL SCORE:
6/10 – Epic-ish story of Otaku fantasy
6/10 – Archetypes used well to further emphasise the escapism
7.5/10 – LSD visual animation, further immerses You into another world.
7/10 – Orchestras FTW.

The most well known tenant of psychology is that human are tremendously social creatures. The most powerful motivation to see an anime is that you're friends and all the people in MaL are seeing it. Consequently, word-of-mouth is the most important marketing tool. There is no question that for this season NGNL was the most talked about anime of 2014 thus far. It was more than a show. It was an event that could not be missed. A second tenant of psychology is that viewers want to relate to the protagonists situation and see him 'suddenly change/succed'. Sora (the protagonist of the show) is depicted ... as honorable, independent, moral, selfless, sensitive ~ positive traits that appeal to audiences. Also he is uneducated, socially anxious, burdened and a NEET. Wait, what?? Where did this traits come from? I'l tell you. These traits came orientated towards the second tenant I mentioned. From the description of MaL any Grade 6 can articulate the fact that this show transforms a NEET into a hero. It provides an 'escapism' to the users telling them in any hole you are in whether your a NEET, beta or alpha, there will be a place where you can expose your untapped potential (granted this place doesn't exist).

A true "underdog" story.

This review is directed towards anyone who is planning or considering on watching Madhouses' new production 'No Game No Life' AND WHO HAVE READ THE SYNOPSIS. (I capped it because it is crucial for this review) I won't include spoilers or leak plot lines, nor make it my personal mission to convince you to/not to watch this show.This is a completely unbiased neutral review.

Take a second and press Ctrl-T and head over to Google. Press images and type in "No Game No Life." What do you see from those neon over-saturated pictures? You see the hype everyone is talking about. Do you know what I see. Pictures resembling other pictures of anime that are ranked from 1000-5000 on this site. So why is this anime #19? Let me answer this. It certainly isn't the background art that took 30 minutes to make for the first 3 episodes, it isn't the soundtrack that splintercell or Origa isn't making.

It's what I call U~ōrusutorīto' [ウォールストリート]. When you take an underdog and grant him the ability to to the impossible. No Game No Life works on the two tenants I mentioned with an added element. It surprises the audience by the sheer intelligence/gambling the protagonist makes. NGNL involves a protagonist who bets large objects, and when shit hits the fan and he is about to lose a suddent element is added that makes him win.


//Formula Program for No Game No Life

#include
#include //deprecated. Need larger breasts API

int story()
{
int harem = 0; //girl count
Person protagonist = LightYagimi;
protagonist = protagonist - success;
protagonst.name ('sora');

realityworld.throwin(protagonist);

harem.add();

while (more_episodes == true)
{
harem.add();
harem * 2;
harem = (bigint) harem; //convert int to big integer to allocate more memory storage for bigger number

*//NOTE TO NEWMAN - QUALITY/ASSURANCE CODE TESTER///////
Upon program runtime a buffer-overflow for variable harem
may occur due to large population on vector 0x80. Avoid Stack Trace.
*//2014-21-05
}
}

Jokes aside you will enjoy this anime.

Not because it is good...

But because it uses the best practices for production both emotionally and physically.

Smart, fun premise. You’ll keep watching to see how they solve the problems, but there’s too much fan service and not enough tension.

★★☆☆

Imagine a fantasy world where there’s no war or crime. All conflicts are solved through games. You have an issue? You bet on it. This was the first episode, and it had me hooked. What a great idea. I’m going to watch a smart show about smart characters who use smart ideas instead of powering up for 10 episodes and punching the shit out of each other.

And what I got was some of that, but mostly fan service.

The two main characters declared they ... would never lose at any game. So naturally the most interesting direction you can that take is to put them through situations where they can or will lose. You should always have bigger obstacles than your characters can handle. This is character development and makes stories exciting.

They’re also described as NEETs and hikikomori. NEETs are young people who are “Not in Education, Employment or Training” while hikikomori are adolescents or adults that are extremely withdrawn from society, shutting themselves at home for years. This would’ve made for interesting character development except it never has any bearing on the plot. There’s no growth or change from being a NEET or hikikomori. It’s just tacked on as a shallow way to relate to its audience.

There’s also too much fan service. The other characters aren’t much more than wish fulfillment and are there to look good. Except there’s nothing inherently wrong with fan service. The issue here is that it’s taking the place of genuinely good story telling and character development. If the characters had more depth I wouldn’t have minded.

Look, I get it. You can make really interesting, unique works, but it’s risky. Or you can make something with proven appeal and pulls in revenue. Anime is already a struggling industry where only the hardcore fans (otaku) command the market with their money. It’s capitalism, and there’s nothing wrong with that. So I have hard time faulting No Game No Life for pandering. It’s a struggle between letting the work stand on its own and taking into account external factors like the consumer market.

What I do have issue with is people overrating it. The fun of the show comes from the main characters solving what seems to be impossible challenges. In their fantasy world, humans are the lowest ranked civilization. This was a good choice, but each episode’s puzzle or conflict isn’t solved in a satisfying way. It only SEEMS clever, and the way it’s solved isn’t natural. It felt like the writer worked backwards instead of building off progressively harder obstacles.

This is the same issue I had with the TV show House M.D. There’s a medical mystery, the show spends an hour dancing around it, House has an epiphany, and it’s solved. The medical issue is solved when the writers say it’s solved. The show is still fun, though, and House is a great character.

I do love the premise as it invites stories around tactics and strategy instead of who has more chakra or the higher power level. The art is vibrant and colorful. Everything has a dreamy glow to it. Even with all my issues with it, the show was still entertaining, and I don’t regret finishing it.

I just finished watching this at the time of writing this review (literally several minutes), so its pretty fresh in my mind.

The first thing that you'll notice about this series is the art. It has a strange color scheme, giving it a very fantasy-style vibe, but also gives it the air of a dream sequence. The colours are bright and smooth, and quite unique. You might be put off by this, by I felt that it was a nice attempt at something different.
The set pieces are quite nice, with huge chess pieces in the background and vast kingdoms and buildings. On a smaller scale, however, ... the designs for all the characters are quite bland and unoriginal. The art and animation is good quality, but they aren't really special, and Shiro's mouth shape just seems weird to me.
Another thing is how most of the women happen to have very large breasts (one character's breasts appear to grow after she removes her top). There are plenty of bath-scenes, and although the nudity isn't that graphic, I would not recommend watching this series in front of anybody who respects you.

I felt that the characters were a big pitfall in this series. The two MCs that are introduced at the start come off as arrogant, and unbelievable. They go on about how all games they participate in are 'won before they even begin.' They are then spruced up with Shiro being superhumanly intelligent (being able to perform ridiculous physics calculations in seconds, and learning a new language without instruction through reading a book that she picked up), and even Sora being insanely intelligent.
At the other end of the scale is Stephanie, another leading character, who seems to be unbelievably stupid. She is stated to be very intelligent, yet she falls for obvious tricks, even after deep analysis.
Throughout the entire series, there was only one character who I did not dislike/hate.

My one big gripe about the story is how everything has to be so convoluted. Its not very difficult to follow, its just so unnecessarily complex. Imagine Death Note, but without the back-and-forth plays between Light and L, instead just having one side going 'I'm a genius! Check out how I planned everything! I'm better than you!!' That's pretty much what happens in every conflict, with the MCs essentially giving out that speech every time. This problem is only made worse when you (very quickly) realise that all that deep thought and master-planning wasn't actually necessary, and could have been achieved far quicker, or that the losers lost because that were just too stupid to (fairly easily) not fall into the trap, or just too arrogant to win quickly and simply. Not only that, but a lot of the seemingly deep planning is actually really predictable an d obvious. Honestly, the show just tried too hard to seem smart.

In terms of sound, I thought the voice acting was okay, but I'm just not really a fan of that cheery pop-music (which happens to be in most anime). If you like that music, you won't have a problem with this.

Personally, the problems with the characters and the plot, and the resolution of every single conflict made this a drag for me to sit through.

Art: 7
Sound: 7
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Enjoyment: 4
Overall: 5

Games come in many forms. Some take the shape of a guy in a horned helmet that shouts people off cliffs and talks to knee injured guards. Other types involve moving a bunch of pieces to capture a specific piece called a King. But no matter the kind of game being played, what’s most important, is knowing how to boost that gamerscore. After all, nothing beats having a stupid high number and being called Godlike.

Well, except for becoming an actual God. And as far as No Game No Life’s setting—Disboard—is concerned, a really high number isn’t needed either, because the magic number is 16. There ... are 16 races called the Exceed, but if one race can conquer the rest (whatever that means), the leader of that race will then have the right to challenge, and become, the God of Disboard. Of course, 15 to 1 isn’t good odds, but for gamer siblings Sora and Shiro—also known as ‘Blank’—the smallest chance for a win is a guarantee for victory.

Ironically, I come up with a blank whenever I try to think of any reason to care for Sora and Shiro. Their story is the old tale of a zero in the real world who becomes a hero in another world. They jump at the chance to leave the real world they hate so much, to live in Disboard where gaming skills are what matters. Unfortunately, it’s hard to care for them when their backstory is so scarce. There are only a few glimpses of their time in the real world, meaning there’s little development of any reason they closed themselves off from others, to foster complete faith in each other.

It’s unfortunate too, because Sora and Shiro’s trust in each other surfaces several times throughout the story. These moments, from lip-locking to survive their own gambits, to literally putting their existence on the line for each other, aren’t as powerful as they can be. Because outside of those moments, they’re a comedy duo without much transition between their antics and adoration; they swing from humor to drama, to jarring effect. Said another way, Sora and Shiro lack the sincerity and the development needed to make their relationship compelling. To make them worth caring about.

On the bright side, Sora and Shiro still have some semblance of a story, to cover how simplistically archetypical they are. Sora is sarcastically charismatic, while Shiro is the emotionless little sister. Jibril follows suit on simple archetypes, being the perverted knowledge seeker but with even less story than Sora and Shiro. Then things get really weird with Steph, whose backstory is actually touched upon more than Sora and Shiro’s, at the expense of her having no personality at all. Unless I’m willing to count ‘being a love slave,’ but that’s not even her own doing. Seriously.

Seriously. With the characters being as choppily written as they are, I almost forget what it is I like about this show. Well, underneath the slough of barely developed backstories being pushed aside for random antics, is something legitimately good when the show stops messing around. See, No Game No Life can be divided in two parts. One is the mundane, normal parts, and basically centers on the characters doing whatever, from walking around town, to negotiating with another faction, to messing around in the bath (of course…). They’re character centric, but the characters are bland, and these scenes are throwaway.

Then, there are the parts of the show that represent half of No Game No Life’s namesake. Remember, Disboard is a world where your gaming skills are what will carry you. And in order for Sora and Shiro to become the God of Disboard, they must use their gaming skills to conquer the other races. Because in Disboard, all disputes are resolved through games. Said games can be anything from blackjack to virtual reality shooters. There’s often magic involved, and Sora and Shiro usually have to outthink their overpowered opponents.

And it. Is. Glorious. Chess pieces will have loyalty, words can create the universe, memories are played piece by piece, and mathematics make for very tricky bullet shots. Indeed, the reason to watch No Game No Life is for its crazy games. Or, more accurately, to see how what crazy plan Sora and Shiro come up with to try and win each game. Much of what they scheme for—like the insane amount of calculations needed to predict where and when someone will show up right when they need it—is both confounding and amazing.

Now, all of these plans seem impossible, but that’s what that stands out about Sora and Shiro the most. Their sheer intellect lets them do the impossible, notice what others cannot (the card is a lie!), and fight the powers that would otherwise overwhelm others. It reflects the (still scarce) story of Steph’s background that partly deals with wisdom VS power, so the ridiculous gambits in these games have mythos behind the madness. A reason in the story to happen. Sure, the characters themselves are still bland, but what they do in the games and the games themselves are something else to see.

Though speaking of things to see, now’s as good a time as any to talk about the aesthetics. But to be honest, I’m not sure whether I love how this show looks because of the amount of pink, or whether I hate how this show looks because of the amount of pink. There’s a pink hue everywhere in the show from the castle town of Elkia to the forest of the Eastern Federation, but at least it makes for something uniquely vibrant and almost neon-like in its colors. It’s almost to the point where ‘outlines’ on characters or backdrops don’t exist.

But slight hints of pink aside, the backdrops are varied and play with the fact Disboard is a fantasy world. The 18th century houses, cobblestone streets, and brick castle at the apex give Elkia a distinctly medieval feel, which won’t be mistaken for the classical, oriental design of the Eastern Federation’s buildings. The games themselves also take on a life of their own, sometimes literally through words, other times through virtual simulation. Unfortunately, the character designs leave a lot to be desired. Except for Jibril, whose design fulfills desires I never even knew I had.

AHEM.

Moving on, I’d think better of the music if I counted the opening and closing numbers of any show. After all, This Game by Konomi Suzuki is quite energetic while Oracion by Ai Kayano is like a fast paced lullaby. But since I don’t, that leaves only the music within the show. That said, while none of the pieces are distinct, they do what they need to do in setting the mood from the everyday to the faster pace of some games, especially the last one. It also has a surprising amount of quiet grace, where little to no music in some situations—the first major game comes to mind—creates a real feeling of tension.

It’s just a shame that tension in any of the games isn’t as authentic as it could be. The lack of development, personality, and backstory among the characters—anything I could use to call them compelling—falls short of even being decent. Of course, when a game gets going, the bland cast is overshadowed by the crazy games that are carried well by the aesthetics. And yes, No Game No Life could be worth watching for the crazy games alone. Keyword being ‘could.’ Just think real carefully about what you’re looking for, or it might be game over before you can say ‘Aschente!’

“I’m sure you know what this means.” - Jibril, Episode 6.
Me: Actually, I have no idea.

I know that the unimaginable hype surrounding this anime has long since passed its prime, but let's just ignore that.
From what I've seen so far, everyone either hates or adores this anime. In fact, so much that it's almost black and white. I found that, as a whole, it is neither as bad. Or as good as most people make it out to be. It had its fair share of flaws, and wasn't something that left me sitting at my computer in amazement, but I will say that it ... is enjoyable and a decent anime.
The plot of NGNL is a plot that we've all seen countless times in the past, yet the makers of the anime were still able to squeeze in a touch of originality, such as violence is forbidden (as opposed to being encouraged in similar situations in other anime), and that everything is decided by games. That even, upon further thought, leads me to wonder whether it even is a game world, since no one in there apart from our main protagonists have the slightest clue that our own world exists. Also, the two MCs are glad to be in this world.
Apart from this, there was frankly nothing worth mentioning in terms of plot. Sure, now and then there were some plot twists (a partly accurate term) and cliffhangers, but other than that, there was no particularly evident plot line. Most of the aforementioned twists came seemingly out of nowhere and ended just as suddenly with a sudden burst of epiphany from the part of either Shiro or Sora. Most of them had no further consequences or effects on the story line.
Furthermore, it was another one of those annoying cases that despite being rushed, it was incredibly slow-paced.
My poor soul also didn’t realise that it was an Ecchi until it was too late. I would expand more on it, but let it suffice to say that it did nothing for the plot line. Coupled with this was a sense of forced and exaggerated comedy element, full of exaggerations (such as characters bashing the walls with their heads), somewhat sexual and shallow jokes. Dialogue goes hand in hand with this - for instance how Sora is constantly obsessed with underwear, or how he promises the soldier chess pieces the right to ‘bang’ any woman that they want.
Overall, I give it a 6/10, because despite it’s flaws, it’s safe to say that I found it interesting and watched a number of episodes in a row.

The art is possibly the weirdest that I have seen. Whilst it’s not actually that bad, the colours are way to vivid and weird.
The main thing I didn’t like about the art was that often, physical traits were much too accentuated, such as Shiro’s numerous huge ahoges as well as cat-shaped mouth and the bags under Sora’s eyes. Also, when it came to other characters, the shape and size of their breasts was often very evident - not to mention that their outfits were often very revealing.
Still, I guess it is commendable that the art style is fresh and new - it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. Just saying that perhaps some must have to be careful. 6.5/10.

Music was possibly one of my favourite aspects of the show. Some of the themes were quite… epic (in terms of genre, I mean) and totally befitting of the show. Whilst they weren’t my favourites, I really liked the OP and ED of it.
Voice acting is another story. In order to suit the characters perhaps, the voices were not all that pleasant - for instance Shiro’s was almost always monotonous and soft. Sometimes, different character’s voices sounded so similar I questioned whether or not it was the same person voicing them. To summarise, it was as if they were trying to use the voices for the character’s personality to come across better.
I would give it an 8, if not for the voices. As such, it stands at 7.5/10.

And, onto the element that I disliked the most of this show… characters.
The characters essentially brought down the entire show. They might have been a little interesting if not for the fact that they are entirely unrealistic (in terms of personality) and that I’ve seen them so many times before. We’ve got the usual girl-oriented gamer brother (Sora), along with the genius, not-understanding-human-interactions kuudere little sister (Shiro) - the two of them make up the very stereotypical NEETs who stay at home all day and are scared of the sunlight, outside world and being more than 10 metres apart from each other - the typical idiotic fan service character (Steph) and Jibril. I’m not entirely sure what category she would fall into (perhaps the bookworm), but let me assure you that her character was not fresh.
I will admit that the character’s little quirks did provide for a little entertainment, but they were just much too stale. I give ‘character’s a 4/10.

As a whole, this anime was okay. I wouldn’t really watch it again (or recommend it to my friends), some scenes made me feel plain awkward, some of it was ridiculous, some of it was funny and some of it was interesting. In the end, it would be wrong to say that I disliked it. In fact, I liked it more than I thought I would.
I might just add that this is an anime that shows that you must not judge by first episodes. If it had kept up the same standard as the first episode all the way through, it would have been a 4 or a 5. However, it comes to:

Story: 6/10
Art: 7/10
Sound: 7.5/10
Characters: 4/10
Enjoyment: 7/10

Overall: 6.3/10 (rounded to a 6)

Such a score means that whilst it was a little below average, it was still enjoyable. Just don’t start watching it with huge expectations.

One more note: This review was really hard to write. I would expect that it would be below the norm of my other ones. Sorry!

Abuse recent gaming oriented anime mania add tons of fun service with good plot that is served through backwards rationalization and you get NGNL. NGNL doesn't bring anything new to the scene, actually copies quite a lot from Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo. If you are just average otaku enthusiastically waiting for next dose of titties, ecchi, nekomimi, loli with better than average plot {masses explains the overrating}, taking place in visually unconventional but interesting environment... Here you go this is the right stuff for you. However, "All that glitters is not gold", and same goes for NGNL. Under very appealing cover ... hides just an average anime{for more demanding ones even pathetic} with few unique games in order to settle disputes, poorly written characters{except godlike Shiro and Sora} and right pacing. If you are into NEET stuff go watch NHK ni Youkoso!

No Game No Life is an anime of our age. It has solid animation quality, catchy opening song, and escapism-flavored generic story and characters. Anime has to succeed at least one of four main departments to get viewers' attention: characters, story, animation and escapist fantasies. The last one is the cheapest trick in the book. Therefore the market is inundated with isekai genre, where characters are thrown into a fantasy world to realize their daydreams.

No Game No Life succeeds in animation and escapism. Additionally, the staggering amount of fan service, references to other successful anime, and overused jokes try to make up for the ... lack of a good plot.

CHARACTERS: they can belong to any other mediocre anime
The two super smart main characters can defeat everyone with their intelligence. This is probably the most universal escapist daydream. Their super brain power reveals itself in games. Other characters are there to get impressed by our heroes or defeated by them. They are usually girls, and they have over-sexualized bodies or cat ears, or both. What they lack in character depth is compensated by fan service. Nevertheless, the anime fails to conceal the lack of any meaningful character development.

STORY: let me sing you the song of my daydreams
No Game adds intelligent shut-ins to a completely new world but fails to develop any kind of interesting plot. The idea of traveling to an alternative universe is not new, but not bad either. The problem lies in execution. No Game is about being smart and defeating everyone. It is being awesome for the sake of awesomeness. The viewer is intended to get impressed and identify with our heroes. Their overpowered brains can overcome any obstacle, which means that there is no serious conflict in the story. From the very beginning you know that the main characters have indestructible plot armor.

ANIMATION: take this eye candy and stop asking for good characters and story
I have nothing but praise for the animation and sound. It succeeds at creating its own atmosphere. Music is also good and catchy.

OVERALL: escapism and fantasies can save the anime industry
No Game No Life is a great success story of an average anime. Although it uses pretty cheap tricks, it can grab the attention of many anime fans.

Ever since Masao Maruyama and some of the other founders left the studio, Studio Madhouse has had an interesting time trying to recuperate. 2014 in particular was a bit of an interesting year for them. The critically acclaimed Hunter x Hunter came to a close, and they decided to adapt two Light Novel series to mixed effect. At this rate, I'm sure that some of you are aware of how much of a dumpster fire Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei is, but what about this show? Let's cut straight to the chase:

Games are fun. They are really, really fun, especially video games. Unfortunately, the real ... world isn't always that fun, nor is it as vibrant. Isekai Light Novel series seem to be the epitome of dull, but it seems that this series (No Game No Life) wants to give it a gaming edge to make it vibrant and fun, as well as become a contender in the "stuck in a game world" anime market. I'm not necessarily familiar with the LN, but Madhouse decided to adapt this into an anime. Back to the series' goal. Did it fulfill? Did it make a vibrant and fun Light Novel adaptation that stood out from the rest? Did it make a good "stuck in a video game" anime? Well, let's find out, shall we?

STORY: 5/10

Long ago, 16 races took part in this grand war, until a new god named Tet barged in and made it so that all conflict is decided by games rather than violence. Now, onto the present. Aside from how the process of being transported into this fantasy world (without an official name as far as the anime's concerned) being unexplained and probably akin with the trappings of other anime that try this stunt (without proper logic attached to the actual act of trapping), there isn't a lot horribly wrong here. After Sora lands (with his sister, thanks to their gaming prowess in the real world), he slowly starts his non-violent conquest of the world, from Elkia to the Eastern Federation and hopefully beyond. It doesn't really go that far in 12 episodes, so, with any luck, there might be a continuation to adapt more of the story, especially since the finale so far is rather meh, cool final fight aside. The quality of the events in the 4 major games varies, but is generally a bit rough, but I'll get to that once I talk about the rules of this "world".

The rules of the world are poorly explained, despite how incessantly Sora tries to shove them down our throat, as if we forget after every episode. Later on, it ends up turning into a plot-hole addressed by a companion named Jibril (via the power of semantics), only for it to never be rectified. The way the first big game is won (in episode 4) is a total ass-pull as well, with there being a reference to how tyrannical kings are assassinated, only for the girl playing as king to abruptly lose for the sake of letting that statement be relevant without anything making it happen. Episode 5 is mainly infuriating filler sh*t that's truly meant to drag Stephanie (the very first female companion Sora receives in the new world) into the dirt. With game 2 (episode 6), you can name any word you want, and with that, there are so many possibilities (and both competitors come up with some creative strategies), but with every possible word at their finger-tips, inevitably, so many easy solutions to end the game are unused for the sake of entreatment value. Sure, it would't be fun to end important duels immediately (Right, Mahouka?), but if there are plenty of easy solutions either side can use to win, it makes no sense why Sora needed to come up with this convoluted plan to win, as cool as it is.

Episode 7 is some forced drama and development between the bond between Sora+Shiro, and Stephanie, even if the bond is quite a vitriolic one, and episode 8 is set-up for the final 4 episodes of the anime. Game 3 (episode 9) is convoluted as hell in every way imaginable, and it comes across as ridiculous in all the wrong ways, to put it lightly and in a spoiler-free light. The forced backstory for Shiro (Sora's sister and gaming partner) doesn't help matters either. The final game (episodes 11-12), minus a few holes in how Sora's plan is meant to be executed, is actually pretty entertaining and full of twists that lead up to a crazy climax, even with a cheesy as hell moment afterwards and a poor attempt at narrative stakes for the final competitor to hold which pushes her to win. Now, if only the finale after that was as interesting, but when there is a "READ THE MANGA" ending, is it even possible for that type of ending to be satisfying?

CHARACTERS: 6/10

Sora is quite the bombastic OP gamer with a burning passion for video games, perverted stuff, and weeb sh*t. It's sort of fun seeing what scheme he comes up next, as if he were a lighthearted gamer version of Lelouch from Code Geass...with none of the depth. Still, some occasional and hilarious moments and flaws get shown front and center to make sure that he isn't just some Mary Sue (or Gary Stu in his case). He's easily the best character in this show. His sister, Shiro, is an 11 year old who gets a disturbing and unpleasant amount of panty shots for her age, and is generally more stoic and deadpan. She is equally perverted, but is far inferior to her brother in terms of everything, and the forced backstory doesn't truly boost her character. I do like the quirk abut the two siblings going into withdrawal when separated. Stephanie s a beautiful and studious woman who is cripplingly poor with games. Too bad the anime only really treats her as an idiotic sex-doll meant for ecchi moments, considering her personal baggage with the life she spent with her now deceased grandfather. It's infuriating how horribly Sora and especially Shiro treat her.

Jibril initially has this quirk of being turned on every time she gets the chance to seek out new knowledge, but is immediately a total kiss-up to Sora and Shiro following their victory. Still, this beauty has some vanity and funny moments. Zell is a mediocre character that puts up this mysterious aura before being revealed as just an insecure and borderline snobbish character, who only truly gets along with Fil (or FI, as she calls her), who despite seeming and acting like a delicate person (she is to Zell, anyway), she is surprisingly cold and full of grudges against Jibril due to actions in this grand war prior to Tet showing up and making everything solved by games. Speaking of Tet, he's basically an indifferent child who finds Sora's antics fun and wait for Sora to earn the right to challenge him. Everyone else is honestly even more plain than some of the weaker ones here, and with how may there are, there really is no point in mentioning them. Not bad cast, but there was room for better development over the course of the 12 episode run.

ART: 9/10

There is so much going on in so many of these shots, the art often looks very compact and busy, which is a real feat to pull off. The world is vivid and vibrant as well, with a bright color palette, and lighting that often compliments the shiny colors, even if it can be borderline blinding at times. What makes the lighting work here instead of in Mahouka is that unlike Mahouka (which slaps on bright lighting despite it being ill-fitting), No Game No Life uses it with a sense of style that truly compliments the fantasy video game world, giving it some character, unlike, say, the fantasy world in Re:Zero or Sword Art Online. There are spectacularly beautiful moments here in terms of pretty visuals, and the animators at Studio Madhouse deserve to be commended for it. Sure, it has that bad LN default character design look, and there is one scene with horrendous CGI, and the character models can look off in some moments, but this is overall a commendable work in terms of visuals.

SOUND: 6/10

This Game, by Konomi Suzuki, is a pretty engaging OP that truly captures the vibrant and fantasy-like setting the characters are in, and it's a strong OP overall with impeccable visuals to match. The ED, Oracion, by Ai Kayano (voice of Shiro) is honestly a mediocre ED despite the semi-interesting beginning. The actual OST is pretty mediocre as well, with not even one song standing out at all. As for the dub, it's an alright one. Sure, not every voice fits (especially for the lolis), but it's an acceptable dub overall, with Scott Gibbs giving a surprisingly fitting take on Sora. Neither the dub nor the music is impressive though, so that blows.

ENJOYMENT: 7/10

I can appreciate an anime that is mainly there to entertain, which is a trait not commonly seen in anime nowadays. I especially loved the references, even though I haven't been affiliated with their franchises. There are multiple Jojo references, an Evangelion reference, a Yugioh reference, an Ace Attorney reference, and judging by the way the ships in one moment in episode 11 look like, even a Legend of the Galactic Heroes reference, too. There are even more (including a Skyrim reference), but you get the point.You can legitimately make a game out of this, and I can appreciate an anime for doing this for us. Plus, it makes fun of some of the "trapped in a video game" and Isekai tropes. The games were also pretty entertaining and some of the comedy worked pretty damn well too. Unfortunately, nothing truly grabbed me despite this, not even the crazy and imaginative second game. Plus, the treatment of Stephanie ranged from comedic, to, more often, infuriating, and the one touching moment in episode 7 cannot truly make up for that. Still, I cannot deny I had fun with this anime, even if its more aggravating moments bog it down since it never truly captivated me.

OVERALL: 6/10 RAW SCORE: 6.34/10

Inevitably, this anime would be compared to a similar series called "Problem Children are coming from another world, aren't they?". Honestly, that one was overall, about as entertaining but with none of the aggravating moments or characters. On its own, this anime was a decently fun and visually captivating ride, even if most of the characters weren't so great, and the plot didn't stack up so well. The anime isn't great, as the weak stability of the story has proven. Either way, this anime clearly succeeded at playing up its references and just having fun, and I bet it got a lot of people to check out the original Light Novel. Well, with that said, I bid you adieu.