The premise of the story makes itself very clear: there are no games in this movie. Although it’s not explicitly mentioned, this movie is truly a devoted sci-fi romance anime carried out in the setting it was selling. It is not the usual glorified fan-pleasing story with no meaning but to bring back your favorite characters, but a movie that serves to contrast the world of Disboard you are used to. No Game No Life was one of my gateway animes, and the movie’s unique take truly touched me as I presume for many of you too.
No Game No Life: Zero had some interesting tools to work with. The audience already knows what’s going to happen in the end; various races and characters were already spelled out. In short, you know a lot more than the characters, and seeing their distinct motives and how they work towards the expected eventual end is the true selling-point of the story.
If you are here for some action and backstory for Dis-world, don’t worry, you will get it. Although, despite all the pretexts to set-up this world and its promises, the story is truly just about the Shuvi and Riku. You will spend at least 70% of the time watching how the relationship between these two unfold. The world is by no means a happy place for the two, and you are sure to feel the same way. By leaving out distracting fan-services, the relationship between the two truly develops in the most serious of tones.
Sci-fi romance (or romance in general) can often feel forced, and I say this with it being my favorite genre. NGNL:Zero gave me sufficient reason to truly believe WHY the characters (or at least Shuvi) come to appreciate each other’s company. This sense of realism in their relationship only makes it more appealing to those of us who are here to see more of Shiro and Sora (replicas).
Another problem often faced by the romance genre (and avoided by NGNL:Zero) is un-smart pacing. There are quite rushed relationships where you do not feel any change until the last few episodes, and there are ones that drag relationships so needlessly long that they become awkward (e.g plasmemo). For me, NGNL hits just the right mix. You don’t need every bit of the screen time to make a relationship “well developed,” good story-telling is all it needs, as I’m sure those of you who watched “Shelter” would understand.
This movie will leave you with a distinct sense of closure (or the lack thereof, if you feel that way) almost similar to ones you’d get watching touching films such as Kimi no Na wa or Ghibli films. It is partly due to the plot, partly due to the messages we get at the end, and I would say mostly due to its drastic difference from the conventional premise of NGNL. It may not be a “happy-ending” for some/many/all of you, but I’m sure it will leave you at with at least a “happy message,” almost like Shigatsu did for me.
As a returning fan, many people are probably here to look for references to what’s in the anime. You will get plenty of them, and they are carried out in the smoothest way possible. There are comedic references that will definitely make you laugh, yet the ones I love are the powerful references that you will surely recognize the significance of when you see them. You’ll probably find that there are almost too many references, but they all somehow fit into the context of the movie without seeming too awkward.
For me, the biggest reward from watching this movie was a different answer to a particular question reiterated many times in the anime. “How did Imanity survive, despite being the weakest?” The original anime goes a long way trying to show you that our “Human Intelligence” is why humanity survived (hence all the games played). NGNL: Zero offers a drastically different answer. In fact, it explicitly answers the question for you in the exact same way the anime did. If you catch on to the answer like I did, remember it and finish the movie with that in mind, and the experience will surely be different.
TLDR: Watching this movie in the theater during the Canadian release was an amazing experience, and I hope this anime does the same thing for you. Obviously, the movie isn't perfect and there were logical errors or progressions that were CLEARLY set-ups for the plot. I would look over them if I were you. I disagree with looking for flaws and picking on them for shows you probably will enjoy, just because you'll get too bogged down to enjoy the show.
