No Game No Life (Season One)

Two undefeated gamers known as Blank are challenged to a game of chess by someone claiming to be a god. When they win, they are invited to a new world run by gaming. They accept, but are surprised to find it’s real!

What did you watch?

I’ve been meaning to watch No Game No Life for a while now, which seems to be an ongoing theme with my A to Z Anime Challenge. I’ve seen some shows that I wasn’t planning, but it sure has been nice to check off parts of my to-watch list. Sadly, I am aware of the desperate pleas for a second season which is a troubling thing going into it. Obviously, that means it is well-loved and people want more, but it also tells me that there are some things left unresolved. Either way, I am going to watch it and see what all the fuss is about. You can expect spoilers, but as I’m the last person on planet Earth to watch it, I’m sure that won’t matter.

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What happened?

Sora and Shiro are step-sibling, hikikomori and as such have shut themselves away from the world and spend all their days playing games. They’re also exceptionally talented and never lose. Together they compete as Blank and are feared across the gaming platforms. One day, they receive a message from someone claiming to be a god who wants to challenge them to a game of chess. When they win, as they always do, he offers to bring them to his world where everything is decided by games. They accept believing it to be a prank but are surprised to find out he wasn’t lying.

This new world is split into sixteen species all with different skills and abilities and at the bottom is the human race. There are a number of rules that are magically enforced and every conflict must be decided by a game. It can be any game as long as the rules and prizes are determined ahead of time. Sora and Shiro head to the human land of Elkia and attempt to turn the fate of the race around. With their gaming skills, they quickly rise to become rulers and are then able to challenge other races. But can they retain their undefeated title?

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What did you think?

Can someone explain to me why there isn’t a second season of No Game No Life? Seriously, what the hell is going on? This series was incredible. I loved how bizarre it was and how intricate the games were. It was just a non-stop ride that entertained from the beginning to the end… well, the end of the season… Where is the rest of it? There are ten light novels, so if I can find the time to jump into those, it’s something I am really considering. Did I mention that I loved it?

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What was your favourite moment?

How do I choose? If I’m completely honest, while I loved the Love Gun game against the Eastern Federation and how that played out, I’m actually going to go with the game of materialization Shiratori with Jibril. It’s a word game where you take turns to say a word that begins with the ending of the previous word. In this version, whatever you say appears if it’s not already there or disappears if it is. This leads to some pretty hilarious moments which mostly involved Stephanie Dola running from various monsters. The way the game ended with them basically destroying the universe was insane. I loved how Sora is always planning so many moves ahead.

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What was your least favourite moment?

I can’t believe it ended with Sora and Shiro going up against a former god! Like how have we not had a continuation of that? This is insane and I see people constantly demanding more. Well, you can add my name to whatever petition is going around. Other than that, I felt like Sora and Shiro were unnecessarily mean to Stephanie. Sure, she wasn’t on their level, but they really didn’t seem to let up and I ended up feeling quite sorry for her.

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Who was your favourite character?

As much as I liked Sora and Shiro, Jibril was my favourite character. She was interesting because her race was incredibly powerful before the ten rules were put in place and could literally wipe out entire nations with ease, but now she was a recluse living in the library she won from Stephanie’s father. Jibril had a fun yet sinister feel to her and she definitely knew how to enjoy herself. She is obsessed with knowledge which led to her wanting the library and so when Sora offered up his tablet packed full of trivia and non-fiction ebooks she jumped at the chance to get it. Of course, in losing she gained access to it anyway.

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Who was your least favourite character?

For the most part, I found Kurami Zell to be fairly annoying, but then she was constantly cheating or at least in a way that we all could see. Sora and Shiro may have been cheating, but they also used logic to calculate the likely outcomes. Kurami came across as quite arrogant and while her heart was in the right place, it wasn’t enough. I liked that they all finally managed to come together and it was clever how Sora manufactured the trust between them, but he had to beat her in a game and share their memories for her to trust them and even then, she wasn’t happy with it.

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Would you like some more?

Did someone say more? I would absolutely love some more and when I see other series getting a second season when this one has been overlooked for so long, it’s quite disappointing. Like Highschool of the Dead, however, I will not give up on the possibility of a second season. I need to see more and I will continue to wait until that happens. There are sixteen species and we’ve only met a couple of them. This story has only just begun and I love the game mechanics that come into play and how everything has endless possibilities.

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What have you learnt?

This may seem like an odd one, but I’m going to talk about setting rules for your world. In this series, the rules play a very significant role and are part of what makes it so unique. It’s what makes it believable. Without these rules, the world would fall apart and the same goes for any world you create. They don’t need to be as limiting as these as long as everything that takes place within the world adheres to the rules. You don’t even need to tell the reader the rules as long as you know them. After enough time, they will work them out for themselves and if you break them, they will know.

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Other Posts in the Series

• A to Z Anime Challenge
  • Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero
  • Blood-C / Blood-C: The Last Dark
  • Cat Planet Cuties
  • Dragonar Academy
  • El Cazador de la Bruja
  • Freezing / Freezing Vibrations
  • Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions
  • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
  • Is It Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?
  • Jormungand / Jormungand: Perfect Order
  • Knight’s & Magic
  • Lord Marksman and Vanadis
  • My First Girlfriend is a Gal
  • No Game No Life
  • Outbreak Company
  • Punch Line
  • Qualidea Code
  • Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
  • Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign
  • The Testament of Sister New Devil
  • Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle

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