Jun 24, 2014
Recipe for No Game No Life: 1: Start with your typical kingdom plot where the underdog kingdom takes over the entire world. 2: Create a main character who you can wholeheartedly believe would do that. 3: Turn it into a harem anime. 4: Take that harem anime and make the main character into the exact opposite of the stereotypes. 5: Have those characters take part in extremely complex and unfair games like in Gamble Fish or Hunter x Hunter, with literally anything on the line. 6: Have them win those games with insanely complex strategies, a la Death Note or Code Geass (all while grinning
...
and being their usual pervert selves) 7: top it all off with a beautiful art style and flawlessly integrated music, both of which are used and changed intentionally and to great effect. 8: Voila, you have the masterpiece that is NGNL!
TLDR: It tries to do and be a whole bunch of different things, and succeeds phenomenally.
Story: 9.99
This is the only spot where NGNL fails to knock my expectations out of the park. Instead, it just scores a regular home run. Each episode is filled with turnarounds, upsets, and twists galore, but the overall plot of the anime still is, "Let's beat all the other countries." The thing that keeps it from being knocked down a point is the fact that I really could see the characters doing that. The main characters really are the types who would conquer the entire world just to prove they can and win. If you enjoy that type of kingdom-based plot, this is a straight 10 for you.
Character: 10+
This is where this anime really shines. Out of the entire cast, there's only one character who acts like anyone I've seen before, the comic relief/fanservice punching bag/unfortunate soul, and even she is superbly executed, with enough plot and conflict to keep her from feeling like a total prop. (Instead, she just feels like a comparatively dim girl.) The rest of the cast seems to be mold-breaker after mold-breaker. Discovering the characters is a big portion of the fun of this anime, so I won't spoil it, since if I give one amusing anecdote I'll have to give them all, and leave you with a summary of the entire series, because I could go to any moment with a character on screen, and they would be in the middle of a funny story.
Art & Sound: 10
Firstly, the character designs are beautiful. Second, the settings are stunning. Third, the soundtrack is subtle and perfectly accentuates the tone of the moment. Fourth... Do I really need a fourth? The art knocks just about everything out of the park (Though I admit I like the Korean art style a lot and this reminds me of it), the sound track isn't intrusive or absent, the opening and closing themes are amazing, and when they flash the screen to a different color scheme, it's because the entire world changed, not just because someone noticed something.
Enjoyment: 10
The best way to describe what I thought of it overall is to say that I needed to take several breaks because my throat hurt from laughing so much. If you like perverted things mixed in with the regular plot, epic battles of the mind, a lighthearted tone, and characters that feel like they came from Alice in Wonderland, you'll love this show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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