Story:9
The story for No Game No Life Zero is much more serious and grim, taking place in a war torn world. Without going too deep into the story, there were definitely lots of feels and the general flow of the story was smooth enough. The story gets a 9 because of two reasons: (CON) firstly, there is much more explanation and content that could be put in the story, maybe a second movie.(light novel readers will get me). (PRO) The second reason is that the story was adapted well enough such that critical elements of the story are brought into the movie, such that you can watch the movie without having the need to question anything, or feeling like certain explanations or backstories are missing. TL;DR, the story can be fully appreciated without having to watch the series or reading the light novel.
Art:10
I always liked No Game No Life's art style, and the series usually has a much lighter colour scheme. To match the movie's more serious vibe, darker colours were used (like purple or black for outlines instead of the usual pinkish tones), making it look more similar to any regular anime's colouring, while still maintaining a colourful vibe that's distinctive to No Game No Life.
Sound:8
Sure the ED was nice and the theme music was nice, but it was nothing super amazing. The BGM complimented the scenes well, and had the right vibe. But it wasn't so good that I would go out of my way to listen to the OST.
Character:10
I think most may disagree with me on this, but I felt the idea of having the two MCs, Riku and Shuvi be quite different from Sora and Shiro was a good idea. Sora and Shiro are very easygoing and carefree characters who only get serious when it's crunch time, and maybe aside from having the same voice actor and actress, they aren't similar at all. Riku is a fairly grim and emotional character who has a heavy conscience, but is still kind and caring, while Shuvi is a Ex-Machina(robot) who slowly developed her own "heart", so she's mostly close to emotionless. Even though Shuvi is protrayed as a developing character, important parts of her robot persona still remained, which I felt was very crucial in not overdeveloping her "human" side. The personality progression for both these characters are done well, while not being too sudden. Seeing Riku slowly open his heart to another, and Shuvi learning what it really means to be human. MOST IMPORTANTLY, Steph's grandmother, Corone Dola was not a pain in the ass character like Steph was so that's a +1.
Enjoyment:10
There is enough of an emotional rollercoaster to make you want to keep watching. It's not just a whole new mood, but there were several aspects of the humour from the series showing in the movie. Certainly the perverse humour is way less, but the humour is still similar(deadpan retorts from the female MC/making fun of virgins). The atmosphere of the movie was also well balanced, making sure that seriousness and humour was used appropriately in any setting. Maybe it's due to me having read the light novel, but the scenes played out in the movie were exactly as I imagined, which only made me enjoy the movie even more.
Overall:10
Doesn't matter if you didn't watch the original series, or have been put off by how ecchi the show is. No Game No Life Zero takes a completely different look onto the world of Disboard, so you should definitely watch it.
