INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
In NGNL's world, everything is regulated by games. There are no wars, robbery or fights and 10 rules determine this world's order.
In my opinion, NGNL is a bad anime packed of cliches and plot twists without much sense that I wouldn't recommend to anybody unless you are a big fan of isekai and ecchi stuff.
Tet, the god of Disboard transports 2 siblings ,Sora and Shiro, to his world in order to challenge him. This could be a summary of this show. However, a better way to summarize this anime comes to my mind: 2 OP main characters that cannot lose a single game due to their pockets being full of plot armor machines and deus ex machina devices.
No game no life has been one of those shows I have know since I started to watch anime, as it showed up in a lot of "anime you should watch if you are starting" type videos. Nevertheless, I never gave it a chance because I have been always more interested in other genres such as action or mistery. After 3 years and a lot of bad and good reviews, I decided to watch this show without any expectation.
And, what was the outcome? I didnt have to finish the first episode to start regretting my decision.
STORY
There are a lot of anime where there is no action, but the plot put ourselves in tension as if it was an action shonen show. This is the case of shows like Death Note, Bakuman or NGNL, where characters "fight" following their own world's rules (the death note in death note, manga in bakuman and games in NGNL). This way, as in every action show, its very important to follow those rules and if it isnt done properly, it will cause a lot of plot holes to appear.
And NGNL is an obvious example of that.
After trying my best to ignore the horrible amount of similarities between NGNL's world and other fantasy anime's one (Medieval period appearance, dragons, kingdoms...) the already mentioned plot holes started to appear. In this type of anime, plot holes have a massive impact.
In order to defend my opinion as best as possible, I will provide you with some examples and comparations:
→ "She is cheating": We know both of our MCs are very smart, but they just need a quick look at the people which are inside the inn to know that Kurami is cheating. We have to assume that both of them have an excellent observation abilty (because its needed to play a lot of videogames), but they dont know until the second episode that humans share the world with 15 more races (they also dont know they can use magic). This means that is IMPOSSIBLE for them to know that there is somebody using magic in order to help a player. And its even more IMPOSSIBLE for them to discover that person because she is hiding her elf ears behind a cap.
→ The first important game: Until now, the MCs have only played games they knew, but when they challenge the main contender for Elukia's crown, they play something that seem to be chess, but which ends up being something competely different. Sora and Shiro managed to go through their opponets with ease because they knew the rules of the games they were playing and they could use Disboard rules in their advantage. However, this time, they dont know the limits of the game and they almost dont take advantage of the already mentioned rules.
So... How do they win? Easy answer: PLOT ARMOR
Shiro starts losing (obviously, as she doesnt know shit about this game) but her brother steps up and starts to take the decisions. This is when I lost my hope in this anime, as Sora - who has NEVER played this game before - is able to overcome every movement of his enemy. This game has a bigger amount of deus ex machina than a fight between 2 super saiyans. Everytime one of the players manages to outperform the opponent, the other one surprises us with a movement that was not part of our plans nor respected the rules of this world (Sora being able to break elf magic).
→ "I know more than 40 languages, but I decide to play using words of a language that I DONT KNOW while I still think Im going to win": Nice joke Jibril, I thought you were part of one of the smartest races.
→ War beasts and their technology: Why are they the only race that lives in 21st century while the other races that were showed used magic or lived in the Medieval period. They are known for their sixth sense, not because of their intelligent.
This is just dumb.
> I bet you all remember that time when Kira lost his memories in Death Note, and then he get them back when he touches his death note. Well, thats a plot twist we didnt expect and it also respects the rules stablished by the show. Thats what im looking for in these type of shows. But when Im watching NGNL, it feels like Im watching a hurdling competition and a runner starts to fly over the fences.
And the best part is that the comedy steps up as the more important genre of this show, in detriment of the historical and military plot this anime could have developed.
Jibril is known for killing hundreds of elves in a war that occured in the past, but Fii (the elf that helps Kurami) doesnt hold any resentment to her and she forgives her if she agrees to lick her feet. Horrible.
I dont think that everything is wrong with the story. For example, NGNL doesnt resort to the typical isekai resourse wheer the MCs are the saviors of the humanity, as their objective is to be the best at every game they play. This way, their final objective is to unify the other 16 races so they can challenge Tet.
I enjoyed the last arc (leaving aside the fact that they dont explain why the war beasts have that 21st tech) more than I expected tbh.
About the comedy, I wasnt persuaded at 100%, but I have to admit I laughed at the references.
Summarizing, I consider that NGNL story has a big and wasted potential, but as the author tried to fulfil the requirements of every isekai (comedy, ecchi...), he got rid of it. What is the result? A flat and awful story.
CHARACTERS
Both Sora and Shiro are two flat characters. The author didnt insisted enough on the backstory for me to be invested in and I dont like incest jokes (b-but they are not real sibl-SHUT UP!) so I couldnt stop myself from hating them.
They are both smart and timid while in they are in front of a lot of people (I will return to this fact later) but aside that, what non-cliche characteristic defines them in order to make them more enjoyable? The answer is zero, at least for me.
Shiro is a kawaii 11 years old girl which excels at chess and shooters. She has no appeal aside from his physical (if you are a lolicon). Even if that didnt disappointed me because it was what I expected since I watched the first episode, a question popped up in my brain: Was it necessary for the plot to have a 11 year old kawaii loli? There are lots of 500 years old loli, why would you want your loli to be 11 years old?
I would havent been disappointed at this if it werent for the age which Shiro started to be considered as a genius: 1 YEAR OLD!!!! It was not necessary a 11 years old kid for the plot. If she would has been 18 yo (the same as Sora) she wouldnt has been that useless. It was Sora who moved the plot forward almost everytime.
I loved Sora's reasons to believe in humanity but I didnt liked how similar he was to other isekai MCs. He always had to be the coolest guy in the room and that doesnt match his social disorder case. This way, the author contradicts himself, affecting the building of his most important character. Why cant an isekai MC be shy?
When the siblings are introduced to us in the first episode, the author states that both of them have a social disorder but... do they? I expected them to be extremely shy, but they werent at all. They also didnt have any type of difficulty meeting people they didnt know.
But, in episode 4, they remember they have a "social disorder" when they are holding a speech in their crowning moment of Elukia kingdom. But they just needed to hold their hands to forget again about their mental disease. We almost dont see more about this in the rest of the anime.
I would like to point out the bad use of the female characters this show does. As in every isekai I have seen , females are relegated to a second level, where they only do the job of being ecchi machines. Take as example Steph, Jibril, Kurami or even Shiro. Wait, thats almost every important girl of the show, isnt it? Cool.
ART AND DESIGN
Another isekai, another Medieval world. Im tired of this and I didnt even watched a lot of isekais xd.
I dont tend to criticize Madhouse works, but in this case, I dont like the palette used. It seemed that I was watching the show through a red tinted-len.
I dont have much to say about the designs, as the most of them were similar to other isekai anime designs.
SOUND
The soundtrack is the best part of this show. It has a nice variety of themes and they all fit the topic properly. However, that epic theme whose name I dont know was used over and over again so I got a little bit bored of it.
In general, I enjoyed the seiyuu but their job wasnt spectacular. Was it intentional to have Sora voiced from the same guy that voiced Kirito?
The opening song is great and the visuals are pretty but I dont think the ending matches the theme of the show properly, as I find it a little bit slow and sweet, while the show's charm relies on comedy and ecchi.
In conclusion, there is no excitement in watching a show where you know that the MCs will always win. What if they lose a game? that could help them grow as characters, but thye author prefered the easy way and went for a comedy-ecchi show.
I would have enjoyed more a darker and deeper plot, but I guess this is too much for an isekai anime? In the end, there is still no better isekai than Grimgar.
Thank you for reading my review!!!
