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"They say people can change, but is that really true? If they decide they want to fly, will they grow wings? I don’t think so. You don’t change yourself. You change how you do things. You have to make your own way. You have to create a way to fly, even while you stay the same. "
―Sora to Shiro

No Game No Life blew up expectations of many (mine too) and managed to become considered one of the best anime's in 2014. It is an interesting assertion to state and here is my reason of what I think:

Story:- 8 out of 10.
We're presented with the very ... familiar 'trapped in a virtual or game world' setting where we follow the NEET (Not in Educatino, Employment, or Training) sibling duo: blank, Sora and Shiro who have conquered every game in 'real life' by their absurdly high intellect, gaming finesse, strategic prowess and unbreakable affinity with each other.
This new virtual world is by no means your standard generic of games (MMORPG, FPS, RTS and etc), rather it is an open world filled with difference races which must abide by the Law of the Ten Oaths and to resolve everything through 'games'.

Throw those two into this world and you get No Game No Life.

The idea of not being limited to only one archetype of a game genre really contrasts itself from other Virtual/Game World settings. Where you have trivial games like rock paper scissors, and coin tossing that would be an imperative factor for certain situations and even bigger scale games like chess, shooting games and the likes. This broadens the target audience through its variability, and it's likability as a setting.
The concept of having two NEETs who have conquered the real world and are much superior than 'humans' in that respect, to be thrown into an unknown world filled with laws that defy physics (magic, etc), puts the main characters on equal footing to the opponents which help in keeping the characters to stay relatively not over powered.
The games are very nicely executed and are pretty standard - only with the twist in this new setting. They're nicely planned out and explained with logical reasoning afterwards which adds a realistic effect albeit inhumane intelligence. Not to mention, there's almost always a game in every episode which keeps the action refreshing.

I think the plot of the story is easy to figure out - conquer the game.

Art:- 8 out of 10.
This is the definition of different, and refreshing - the style of the art juxtaposes that of the real world's colour palette. Keeping colours sharp and vivid allows the audience to keep in mind the setting is indeed a fantasy setting. The design of the characters and each races are well drawn out and full of moe, remembering it is indeed an ecchi anime. Having appropriate designs for each of the characters, e.g: Sora and Shiro looking rugged as NEET.

The animation quality is of high standards. Keeping the action scenes fresh and innovative where it needs to follow with the protagonists absurd strategic ways.

Sound:- 8 out of 10.
The OP is composed well in conjunction with the animation. It's not a thoughtless opening, it is full of connotations of the anime by introducing characters, the outstanding scenery and a basic idea of what it would be about; suitable for an opening.
The OST/BGM is cleverly composed by adding an 'electronic, gaming' feel towards it supporting the structure of the setting, and having serious music fitting for each scene. It sounds great and is very important in delivering certain expressions of emotion; sadness, resolve - all done very well with respected sounds to achieve the feeling.
The ED is a nice touch showing once again the bond between siblings, sung by Shiro herself which adds a connection and a more personal feel to it. Once again, it's not thoughtless a lot of symbolism about the siblings is integrated into this, and they put an extra touch (you'll see it when you watch it) to it which was very well done - personally one of my favourite parts of the anime.

The voice acting is superb, and each character perfectly fit into each individual role - a lot of well known talented seiyuu's (voice actor/actress). No conflicts here, makes a distinction of each character - voices will be remembered for being distinct.

Character:- 9 out of 10.
This is how you design characters, minus the fan service (but of course thats a +1) and you get nicely designed and lovable characters. The fact that the protagonists are human's let us relate to them especially in a gaming environment as the demographic of viewers are usually gamers as well, and not only that, they have similar interests and references of that we can relate to (moe, moe, moe)

Sora ("sky") - the older brother, half of blank who is more of the strategic, manipulative, out-spoken, intelligent and is very comedic (and sometimes a bit crazy).
Shiro ("white") - the younger sister, half of blank who is more intelligent, has critical thinking and very fast problem solving. Full of moe.

The great thing about the protagonists (blank) is one can't do without each other - this creates the idea that each individual is not over powered at all, but can be when together. (episode 8). Being half-half they complete each other and fill each others lacking aspects, they also have an unbreakable bond of trust with each other which plays a very important role. This especially is true when put into this new world where their oponnents are as insanely intimidating with their powers and experiences, where as individuals they would not be able to do anything.
Their immense teamwork + intelligence play is what makes the series so interesting and fresh (although it does seem very over-powered), they're not powerful through other means of generic power but through what is possible by humans - the greatest weapon: the brain and trust. Certain scenes keep you on the edge of your seats only to be dumbfounded in awe from how it gets resolved, and the best thing? It's logical albeit complex.

Stephanie Dola - she isn't very impactful in action scenes but she's important for creating the base foundation for the story. She's well developed but lacks spotlight and any importance other than what was aforementioned. She's fan service.
The side characters (Jibril, Izuna, etc..) all have likable personalities and serve right as a side-character not having a huge impact but managing to support the plot in their own respected way. Don't forget, fan service.

Enjoyment:- 9 out of 10.
This was my most anticipated anime every week and for the reason of everything stated above. It is definitely a great series with a strong plot, strong character dynamics and development, interesting premise of plot and very nice supportive sounds and art. Not only that but it had very comedic scenes, a lot of fan service added into all the other aspects which really created a package of awesomeness. Definitely recommended for people who enjoy a bit of everything which has been finely refined and well thought out.
In summation, No game No Life was one of the best anime's for me in 2014, with its nicely composed plot and cleverly amalgamating character, sound, art to perfectly create this anime which was a pleasure to watch.


EDIT: Spelling mistakes, grammatical structure, missed out on points. Revised score.

"Pantsu are number one!" -Aito Yuuki

This slice of life - or rather, a slice of a perverted mangaka's life anime contains a wonderful mix of colourful characters, absurd settings and best of all: the erotic, crude humour. Slap all these ingredients together, and you bake up this tasty treat: Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to: The Animation, almost guaranteeing laughter in every episode.

Story:- 6 out of 10.
You really wouldn't expect it to be driven by plot given it's premise and so it follows the main character; Aito, an extremely perverted mangaka; and his assistants in their chemistry of daily happenings. Humour is the central concept that ... drives this anime with some sub-concepts here and there.

Art:- 7 out of 10.
The art is solid, crisp, consistent and sensible. The animation smartly split into sections (to match the manga's structure), which keeps the anime fresh so it doesn't get stale over the 13 minutes. The body language, facial expressions are very well done.

Sound:- 8 out of 10.
I feel like this is one of the winning point, no, not the catchy music, not the beautiful OSTs but the voice acting. They definitely got the perfect voice actors for each of the characters. The way they express through voice is flawless, this is especially true for the main character Aito (Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu or Kirito from SAO, yeah.. I know). A mesh of tone, amplitude and pitch really sets the mood and allows you to properly connect to the anime and its scenes for example: you could just listen to the audio and figure out what they're doing.

Character:- 8 out of 10.
If you could describe the anime's two winning points as a one-two punch: one being the voice acting, then two would definitely be the character chemistry and interactions.
The characters themselves all hold true to the generic band of tsundere, sensible girl, loli, and etc. However with the dynamics being in harmony with the magnificent voice acting, it really packs the punch when the characters interact with each other and differentiates themselves from other anime's by giving each of the characters distinctiveness: e.g. Ashisu's S side. I feel like this gives a better comedic sense in the anime i.e. certain reactions would only work between characters which have built up a certain relationship and this works with Mangaka-to because they communicate well.
This being said, there is almost no character development except for maybe one or two other characters.

Enjoyment:- 10 out of 10.
Despite being 13 minutes long, and something I first didn't think would be worth watching - oh boy was I wrong on so many levels. I would always anticipate for the next episode and would wish the episodes would be longer - and hope for a 2nd season. Definitely recommended for people who love perverted humour in strong small segments. It's very unfortunate this is overlooked and underrated.


So wrapping it all up I think this anime is very deserving of a 8 out of 10, despite its weak plot, the voice acting and character dynamics really pull through an extremely good sense of humour.

(N/B: The scoring system I used is relative to it's genre,)

"How unpleasant" wouldn't be the over-used tag line I would use for this anime, rather I would use the opposite.

Kyokai no Kanta ("beyond the boundary/horizon") is a fantasy/supernatural central themed with some aspects of slice of life. It turns from quirky, light heart episodes to a plot intensified second half. It is definitely worth your attention and even more so to watch the first few episodes to get a gist of it.

NOTE: This review can be perceived as subjective for certain aspects of the review, but I will try to make it as objective as possible.

[Story (7/10)]
The plot of KyoAni is very promising and ... has a lot of potential - a world inhabited by 'youmu' and spirit world warriors. Although it being interesting and holding potential it is unfortunate to say it was executed poorly, given the side "fillers" where it reverted back to its slice of life and comedic scenes, it took away the much needed time to properly depict the many questions that arise with the series.

However the series does give you a kick in the face as the plot thickens the further you go into the anime where everything starts connecting together and makes you think "that makes so much more sense now."

[Art (10/10)]
>Animation: (5/5)
Something which is usually hard to notice is how smooth and fluid the animation in KyoAni is. The fight scenes are very good and once again, consistent which should be a buying factor for any good animations. Even the character interactions contain small things like body language instead of the typical eyes widening. Definitely one of the stronger points, and this point is further reinforced by its outstanding art style.

>Art: (5/5)
The scenery, the characters, the colours and the consistency - KyoAni absolutely blasts away everything and inspires me as a hobbyist digital artist with its superior style of art and the consistency of detail put into all scenes of the anime. It's extremely pretty at almost all points of the anime - given the fact it IS an animation where having 'outstanding' art constantly is something not you see in everyday animation.

[Sound (8/10)]
>Music (4/5)
The music is very fitting to each scenes, although it doesn't make you fall in love and force you to find it and download it - it certainly does its job of setting the mood. Properly matching the composition of instruments to each scene - soft for more emotional, upbeat for action and etc. I also enjoy it when they soft fade the closing of the episode with the opening of the

The opening wasn't too much of a pulling factor for me, it was enjoyable without blatantly spoiling anything major in the plot (something I see a lot of anime's do..)
The ending I found to be one of the most beautiful endings I've seen in a while. This is very subjective but I enjoyed the style it portrayed with the deeper meaning towards certain symbols showed. They really held their head high and showed off what they can do and compose beautiful art, beautiful animation with the support of awesome music. It's worth noting that I'd watch the ending through: something I never do unless it's worth listening/watching.

>Voice Acting (4/5)
I feel like the voice acting has been done very well in the sense that the voices are distinctive in their own rights. They portrayed emotions well enough, when asserting rage or expressing sadness - props to the voice actor/actresses.

[Character (7/10)]
Character's in the series were something that I found to be better than what I've expected. The development albeit minimal due to aforementioned 'slice of life filler episodes', was sub-par at best but managed to get out what they could. But an extreme positive was the character dynamics and interactions. Each character show uniqueness and distinctiveness which branches out from the 'generic' group, where they all have strange, very strange (glasses...) personalities, but still manage to get warm interactions with one another - an enjoyable experience.

[Enjoyment (8/10)]
This is by no means your average of an anime, it has amusing scenes, beautiful scenes, sad scenes and cool fighting scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed the series and if given the chance to watch the sequel I would gladly with no complaints as it holds much potential to the core.