No Game No life Anime Review

No Game, No Life is both an anime that came out in the spring of 2014 from studio Madhouse and a summerization of what I do when not writing things like this. The basic concept revolves around a dynamic duo that are really, really good at games. Unfortunately as much as they (and I) would love it to be, life isn't all about fun and games. That is, until they are transported into a different world where everything is a game. I wouldn't want to give away everything (because I'm the sole member of the beginnings-are-just-as-important-as-endings party) but the only way to get anything is to win at a particular game. The winner of the game will get whatever it is that was agreed upon before the start of the game.

Now I know that I usually praise the animation of a show, but this time...I'm going to do it again. Glazing over the fanservice complete with the latest Havoc boob physics engine, the anime looks pretty. Not in the whole Captain Earth style of flashing its budget in your face right before diving into a pile of greenbacks, but more in the style of creating architecture that would give Frank Lloyd Wright a boner and injecting everything with so much color it makes a modern military shooter look grey dull and lifeless in comparison—oh wait.

They also decided to outline everything in red, a choice that not only makes the anime ten times better to look at, but also begs the question;

How the hell did they have enough to color her hair?!

 Plot--While it was no Lord of the Rings, No Game, No Life took me by surprise. It felt...epic. The whole way through it felt like there was a serious sense of progress. This wasn't an anime content with having its characters fish while everybody else is dying. It's not like the characters just faff about until the next plot-point, they're busy strategizing, or conquering territories or

...faffing about

The point is that all this feels one of those grand 4x strategy games. Unlike something like Naruto where the ending could be as far away as the release of a third season of Haruhi or as close as that guy the side of the street makes it out to be.

Instead with every territory conquered it feels more like the duo are slowly building an empire, against overwhelming odds, in order to face an overwhelming threat looming on the horizon.


 Sound---While I'm afraid I can't exactly let you listen to any of it (freaking companies wanting to protect their intellectual property) I can tell you that it is worth it.

       Note; this isn't the original and hence its grandeur is cut into fourths and ground into pieces so  small that EA's dlc plans would look like expansion packs if compared.What does this have to to with anything? Hmmm.

The voice actors really sounded like they were having fun with it. They may not be nominated for the emmys, but they sounded like they weren't half assed and made the characters a lot more likable/memorable.

Characters—Well, hmm. I think the characters are the worst part of the show. Now I'm the singular member of the 'characters-don't-have-to-have-meaningful-development-to-be-good' (acronym in progress), but unlike something like Kill La Kill, I don't think that these characters stand up so well. Kill La Kill had at least one character with some kind of development. The problem here is that none of the characters get any development. They try to introduce some kind social commentary on gamers and those who don't have great social skills, but doesn't get enough analyzation to make it stand out among so many other anime that tackle the same sorts of issues.

That being said the characters are likeable. Especially the main character. He follows the Kamina style archetype of being so charismatic that could make the French run towards a battle. While we're on the subject Shiro (the sister who isn't really the sister) gets so little screen time you'd think she was a transformer in a Michael bay movie.

Is that...

So why should you watch this? It has little to no character development...and I haven't said anything else negative about it. Not the lead-in I was hoping for, but here-goes. 

If there's one thing that anime does that you won't see in any other medium it's the over-the-top crazy ideas that are found in it. Where the hell else are you going to find a war between humans and penguins over porn fought in offspring of hellboy and the Rx-78-2? Where else are you going to see an interdimensional head boner? And how I wish that there was some other place could see more of this.

By the same token where else can you find a word game that literally begins with a nuke being dropped on the playing field. Where else can you find a chess game where moral and ethics are the determining factor of victory. These game are the reason you watch this and are easily the best part of the show. They give it flavor; you always want to see what crazy situation they're going to find themselves in next, and how they're going to get out of it. 

Thanks for reading! As always follows, likes and stuff are greatly appreciated. Still trying to organize a video review of something, but like everything it isn't as easy as I thought it would be.