When I saw the first couple minutes of No Game No Life my first reaction was one of annoyance. Sword Art Online and Log Horizon now this?! I was just kind of tired of this reoccurring video game setting in anime. After viewing the first episode I realized that it wasn’t actually about video games, but in general games. Now as soon as I completed the first episode of this series I told my friend Jordan that the first episode was very entertaining. He acknowledged the series existence and told me he had already seen the first episode, he then proceeded to recommend me to “Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?”. Now anyone who claims that this show is better than No Game No Life is in the wrong in my opinion. Not only is the rating difference a huge way to tell the difference between these two shows but this is like preferring Guilty Crown to Code Geass. Now I made a mediocre review of Problem Children so if you want to see my opinions on that series go check it out.
Story - 8
The setting of No Game No Life is slightly original; Problem Children did do it first. But series have done this concept before that as well. Also I’m not so sure the Writer of NGNL’s light novel copied the author of Problem Children’s light novel. So two reclusive hikikomori siblings who are extremely intelligent put that intelligence to use in games, which they happen to be very good at. These two siblings are brought to another world where everything is decided by games. You want my money? Well then play me in a game. You want my property? Well then play me in a game. This world they are brought to there are pledges in which the inhabitants of Disboard must follow. The first three pledges are, all murder, war, and robbery is forbidden in this world, all conflict in this world will be resolved through games, and in games each player will bet something that they agree is of equal value (I paraphrased this so there might be some mistakes). This concept alone had me interested, because its world where literally everything is decided by games. The problem with the whole plot is that its highly predictable, the main characters never lose and since they literally never lose some of the games just aren’t so exciting. I’ve come to realize this show isn’t about the main characters winning because we already know they will win, but instead about how are MCS achieve that win, and how they outsmart their opponents.
Art - 6
I guess Madhouse decided to copy the vibrant color scheme of Shaft because the art feels like a shaft Anime other than the animation itself. I’ve never been a fan of the abstract color scheme style of creating an anime because it usually gives me headaches. The character designs for all characters are ok none of them really stood out for me. I’m not sure whether to put this under Art or Story but this fucking anime has way too much fan service for an intellectual show. If you’re trying to make something with well thought out action sequences like No Game No Life every other scene doesn’t need to be a goddamn panty shot and I don’t need to see the characters bathing.
Sound – 7
Kirito from SAO is the main characters voice actor if you haven’t already noticed. He does well as Shiro from NGNL and none of the characters suffer from a miscast in the voicing department. The OST is really forgettable; I don’t even remember the opening song. The SFX used during action sequences sound cool for the most part.
Character – 6
Ugh, how the **** is blank so perfect? They are goddamn hikkimori shut-ins but in reality they are extremely charismatic and intellectual individuals rivaling that of Einstein. Sora is Gary Stu and Shiro is a Mary Stu. Also Shiro is completely unlikable as an MC, she has literally no fucking emotions, and she is a robot for fucks sake, she’s a goddamn robot who wins games and screams Oni-chan every five seconds. Stephaine only really serves the point of explaining things they don’t know about the world Disboard, like the history. There aren’t any characters other then the main ones really, and which ever character he beats WHICH ARE ONLY FUCKING GIRLS SO FAR join his harem.
Enjoyment – 8
It’s all about the action scenes with this show, pretty much everything else will bore you. The fan service did annoy me quite a bit so it sapped away my enjoyment from the show, specifically because people were behind me the whole time while I watched this and they were like “Are you watching Hentai?”. I definitely would mind a season two if the show has more well thought out action scenes like the first but if you take that away from the show really nothing is left.
Overall – 7
I really can’t give it a rating any higher, it’s good. But worth rank 21 on MAL, definitely not. I feel that the top 100 should be reserved for the best of the best, something which is an utter masterpiece or at least something that people agree is good. This isn’t a masterpiece no matter how you view it, even if your enjoyment level of this series was a 10, you must admit it was lacking in other departments that drag it down.
TL;DR
I liked this series. Would I give it higher than a 7? No. It’s 12 episodes and not enough really happens to make me absolutely fall in love with this series. If there is a season two will I watch and possibly reconsider? I will not reconsider my rating for the first season, but season two could be a 10. Should you watch this series? Yes, it’s very enjoyable at times. Should you watch this series in a family friendly environment? No it’s super ecchi and shows way too much fan service. What is the best part of this series? The well thought out, and well written action scenes. Why do some people gives this a 3? These people are both ignorant and stubborn, and have probably seen a rather generic boring anime like Problem Children.
Sayōnara, my fellow anime viewers.
