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There are tons of overrated anime but among those overrated anime, it can be divided into critic recommended (i.e. Steins;Gate), overrated by fandom (i.e. Sword Art Online), and overrated but arguable if the anime truly deserves its high rating or not (i.e. Death Note). No Game No Life aka NGNL is part of the last division of overrated anime. Anime in the last division doesn’t have to be written in a manner where the series is written very outstanding but it should be at least make the watchers agree in a common view and NGNL does that very well. Well here comes my review for ... possibly the most overrated anime of 2014.

Story – 7.5
I’m having a hard time to decide what rating I should give on this part; should it be 7 or 8. Why? It is simple. The story of the anime is simple, nothing special, nothing outstanding, overly used concept but even with all of that, NGNL still manage to be fresh and entertaining which I believe is something hard to achieve.

Anyway, the setting of the story is about a pair of NEET who started the urban legend of unbeatable on every game. Their pair is called “Kuuhaku” or simply blank. This pair of sibling was forcefully transported into a fantasy world where everything is to be decided by games. Everything you ask? Yes, everything. Be it money, people rights, properties, laws, and the like, everything is to be decided by games. Then you might ask that if everything is to be decided by game, then is their some sort of law on this world? Yes or rather, in every game, there are 10 rules/oaths to be follow and must abide and those are the following:

1. All bloodshed, war, and pillage are forbidden throughout the world.
2. All disputes are to be resolved through the outcome of games.
3. In games, wages will be made on what both parties decide to be of equal value.
4. Unless contrary to rule #3, the game content and the things wagered do not matter.
5. The challenged party has the right to decide the contents of the game.
6. “As per the Oath”, the wager will be unconditionally adhered to.
7. All matters for group conflicts will be decided by a representative.
8. If cheating is detected during a game, it will be regarded as a defeat.
9. The above rules are unconditionally everlasting, upheld in the name of God.
10. Everyone should get along while playing games.

The fantasy world where everything is to be decided by games is called “Disboard”. In this world, there are 16 races that live on it and ranking is base according to their magic affinity. But in the adaptation, only 4 race where mentioned namely: human, elf, flugel, and werebeast.

The main focus of the story is how Kuuhaku wins their battle. Sounds normal? Yeah it should be normal but it is not that basic as the games always involved some sort of fantasy element. In every game they do, their always be a factor than will change the common idea of a game. Like the chess game to decide the ruler of humanity, where it should be a battle between 2 sides but the game suddenly have the “third” force which affected the game. To put it simply, every games cannot be considered normal as there will always be additional element that won’t be expected by the watchers.

Characters – 8
Ok for a story where the character development never happened on the main characters but instead to the characters that has connection to them given a 8 for the rating is definitely high but I do think it deserve such high rating for this part. The biggest reason why NGNL has extremely high rating is because of the characters.

As for this part, every characters of NGNL can be considered eye catcher. We have such common cast that blended so well in the concept that made it watchable. Additionally, the cast have uniqueness on each character distinctive and memorable. Sora, the tactician of the Kuukaku duo is the character that decide every action Kuukaku extreme and insane. Shiro, the little sister and the genius of the Kuuhaku duo on the other hand tends to support his big brother. This combination works best due to the trust of the 2 on each other.

Then we also have the other characters that keep mentioned, like Stephanie, Jibril, Kurami, Feel and have a little screen-time Izuna. Stephanie is the daughter of the humanity previous king. She tends to be used for comical relief on this one. She often abuse on the ecchi scenario and treated as an idiot so that the characters will explain their idea. Then Jibril, the flugel is a character that represents loyalty and big interest in knowledge. Her character tends to be the one asking the serious stuff on Sora behind the scenes. Kurami and Feel comes in package. They represent as spy and their role on the story to be the spy of the elves but due Sora’s action, they become spy of the human to the elf’s country. And lastly, Izuna the werebeast. The represents as the werebeast representative in the human race country and represents as someone who wants to enjoy game but not able to due to her responsibility.

Sound – 8
Rather than sound, I should focus on the music. The OP and ED song cannot be considered typical, lovely, attention catcher but simply songs. The songs despite having such element, fits the anime for both theme and story due to the MCs. The OP is about the Kuuhaku duo and their interest. It shows that they don’t care even care what others think of them and simply go with their own pace. Similar to the OP, the ED song is about the Kuukaku duo again but this time around, it is about the relation of the two. Additionally, due to the story progress at episode 8, the song has somewhat a broken version which made the rating for the song high. Even the use of the OP song at the last moment of the final episode provides excitement to the watchers.

Art – 10
This is definitely the key factor for one to try NGNL. Starting from episode 1 up to the last, the visual of NGNL is stunning. It might be true that such visual can be normal for modern anime none yet done such a colorful visual that won’t hurt the eyes of the watchers. What do I mean? 2011 anime had Itsuka Tenma Kuro Usagi where it was colorful but had terrible visual because the color combination somewhat used wrongly but NGNL on the other hand, is so colorful but the colors itself doesn’t make the view hurtful to the eyes.

Additionally, the colorful visual of NGNL help to improve the atmosphere of the fantasy world and the fantasy that happened on every game thus making it worthwhile.

Enjoyment: 10
I just happen to be one of those who totally enjoy the show. It is easy to enjoy, easy to watch but I have to say that this anime won’t be enjoyed by those who want serious and deep anime but even so, once they watch it, chances is high that they would agree that this manage to be fresh despite the concept were overused. Though they might think of the show in the different way, NGNL as refreshing is certain.

Another factor that added to my enjoyment is that I have already tried the LN up to the part of the anime when the anime still at episode 6. Or rather, when it was announced to have an anime, I already tried volume 1 of the novel. A month before the anime aired, I finished volume 2 and before the release of episode 6, I already finished volume 3 which is why everything that happened on the anime totally something I enjoyed.

Overall:8

ETC: Apparently, even the anime already ended, I have yet to see the 4th volume and basing from the light novel readers comment, it might be better if this show not to get a sequel as they said that the story quality dropped. Either way, that didn’t make me stop to look forward to read the novel when I got into the mood of it.

I’m open for any kind of reaction and criticism so I hope that whoever read this will say something on what I lack on this review so that I can improve. Thank you for reading.

[This review will tackle the first 3 volume of the LN and the expected adaptation coverage of the anime]

I once saw a review on NGNL anime saying that it is a guilty pleasure. I won’t deny that as someone who tries both anime and LN because that seems true but it doesn’t mean that the content itself is terrible that there is nothing that can be considered “unique” or “refreshing” from it. NGNL is simply a story that hasa unique setting for a commonly abused theme.

Story: 7.5

Normally, when the story deals with people suddenly transferred to another world/dimension, the plot revolves on how they live ... through the new world while trying to look for a way to return back to their original world. NGNL is other way around. The people who were thrown into another world decided to stay on it because they felt that staying there would be more meaningful instead of trying of a way to return back. The plot simply revolves on how they will live in that world but there is a twist on it. The character that got thrown into the another world is a duo of NEET named Sora and Shiro who holds an urban legend of being undefeated in every games they tried and the world they got thrown into is a world where every conflict is to be decided by games.

The fantasy world where everything is to be decided by games is called “Disboard”.It has 16 races/countries but since it is easier to recall each by races, I will mention them by races instead. As of 3 volumes, the story gives information about human, flugel, elf and werebeast race. Human as simply as its sounds, is a race consist of human. In the world of Disboard, they are in the bottom line in both magical ability and rank by country. Then we have the Flugel would be in the 6th place from the top and are being considered as angel but actually has the strength that can annihilate any opponent if they want to but due to the world rules, they can’t use their power to invade other countries. Due to that, this flugel race only play games where they will gain knowledge or books as they wanted knowledge. We also have the Werebeast race and well known undefeated for their games and already has a big country and technology development due to their unbeatable games. The knowledge about their games is zero as part of the pledges they suggest, the loser will forget the game content. And finally, we also have the elf race that has high affinity with magic. Considered in par with magic with flugel and has hatred to the flugel race due to their war destruction done to the elf’s nation before everything is to be decided by games.

As for how the story goes, it is how Sora and Shiro wins each game they encounter. Starting from an invitation into the coronation game and finally with games that deals with how human race wins back what they lost from the previous king games. The strong point of the story is how the NEET duo wins every games where the games is similar to politics of every nation but the both of them simply think of it how to win each games. The method how they win each game makes the story interesting. After all, games itself are enjoyable but NGNL make it more interesting by adding “additional” elements to make each game worth it. Like how a game of chess can end up in a war between 3 groups when it supposed to be a war between 2 opposing sides.
Additionally, perhaps for the utilization of the ecchi genre, the story has ecchi here and there for explaining things outside the game, ecchi scene in game and even bath scene after every end game once per volume. Though that said, those didn’t happen in the first volume except the bath scene. Im not sure why but that’s probably deal with the story progress as volume 1 does not really have the win an ally plot.

Character: 7

Just like its story, the characters of NGNL are different from the usual stereotype. They are also outstanding on their own way. Some of them are:

Sora – one of the NEET duo. The tactician of the duo and the one who starts everything when it comes to games. If the name of Sora and Shiro is combined, it means “Kuuhaku” or blank which happens to be their name whenever they play against anyone.

Shiro – the little sister of Sora and the genius of the NEET duo. She is the one who understand Sora’s thinking the most. Also, she happens to be the one to be least surprise wheneverSoraproposes his crazy plans.

Jibrel – a flugel that been defeated by the NEET duo and someone who pledge loyalty to them. She also happens to be the one who hold possession of human’s national library something she obtained from defeating the previous human king in a game. Her personality is simply showing that she has a big obsession for knowledge and as long as it is something new for her, she would like to learn it.

Stephanie – the daughter of human race previous king and a character mostly used for comedy relief. Probably the weakest character of the title because she often treated as an idiot. Also, the one that can be treated as heroine in the story due to her love interest to Sora but that is made vague on the story.

Izuna – the representative of the werebeast that stays in the human country. She has a sharp tongue and similar to the NEET duo, someone who has a big interest in games.

Kurami – a human spy from the elf’s side. As of first 3 volume, what can describe her is way too limited to the story setting to the point that adding more than what I mentioned is simply assuming details.

If there is any possible issue for the characters, that is the lack of character development. Normally, that is a big minus to the rating but NGNL proven in the novel that development is unnecessary for the story. If NGNL character were given character development, it would destroy the main attracting element of this title, namely the duo of Sora and Shiro. If ever that they develop and ended up not wanting to take the risk a game, then that would lessen the value of their characters and so does the excitement the story offers.

Art: -

I decided not to count the illustration on the rating as it didn’t affect my rating overall for the title. If there is anything to say, the colored illustration of the novel is way too colorful that sometimes it is hard to look at.

Enjoyment: 10

This is definitely enjoyable. I didn’t find any moment that would bore me and even it has many moments that leave me wanting for more. At some point, this seems to be similar to Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha but instead for magical girls’ genre, it’s for the stories that deal with alternative world.
Any recommendation to NGNL? There are some titles for that. I think some would be the following.

Mondaijitachi ga Isekai kara kuru Sou desu yo? (Light Novel)– The problem children series is without a doubt the best recommendation to NGNL for both anime and light novel. Both are similar to the idea of people transferred into another dimension and the transferred characters were not interested on going back to their old world but simply wanted to enjoy the new world. Additionally, both title shares the idea of solving conflict through “games”. Games on NGNL are simply games with additional element like an FPS game has an additional element of tag but instead of touch, it would need to be hit by a bullet while games on Mondaijitachi are games because they are called that way by system but the content normally consists of war like situation. The big difference on the two is that, the problem children series manage to insert character development without destroying the concept and characters value.

Log Horizon (Light Novel) – concept wise, Log Horizon and NGNL are contradicting titles. So what make LH recommendable to NGNL? That would be the idea of living through on the new world they are with a main character of both tactician. In both story, the tactician is the reason why majority happened in the story progress for the better of their own.

Oda Nobuna no Yabou (Light Novel) – same case with Log Horizon but on this one, the MC for both story are gamers that use their game knowledge for their own benefit. Additionally, the game knowledge they use ended up on their benefit for the war situation they encounter though NGNL is more of game encounter.

Verdict: Be it the anime or the light novel, NGNL is overrated but unlike the usual overrated titles, it is one of the few that actually worth of a try. What most certain, it is very easy to enjoy.

Oh right, the rating I have on this review is not my final rating for the novel but only momentarily until I finish or decided that the novel is already good to the point of receiving a definite rating. There is still the possibility that I lower my rating for this one.

Opinion, suggestion, criticism and the likes? Please direct it to my wall.

I would consider Binbougami as the best parody. Binbougami manage to mix the story and character development to the parody which made things better.

Story - 8

Binbougami story is simple. Beside from whats written on the synopsis, it also deals with everyday life of Sakura Ichiko. While it seems to be simple, that didnt appear to be as simple as it is for the MC of this show is a loner. To put it simply, the story of Binbougami is more like the story of a very fortunate lonely girl learn to interact with other people while being keep in watch by a God of Misfortune. ...

It is also to take note the amount of parody this anime has. The parody on this anime mostly use as a comedy but unlike any other parody, the parody here match the atmosphere of the events like using Dragonball parody for introducing the characters. It is also very interesting that the 2 most memorable anime Spirited Away and Death Note used as well for the parody.

Songs - 8

Catchy. Well the songs on Binbougami has its own merits. Like its opening song, its very catchy and thanks to that catchy song, it helps to improve the atmosphere of the anime.

The ending song of the other hand shows the hate/love relationship between Ichiko and Momiji. Which sounds cute. Yeah it sounds cute case of the beat of the song and even the translation of the lyrics makes it cute as well.

Character - 7

The best way to describe this part is this resemble Seto no Hanayome characters. Yes it totally resemble Seto no Hanayome when it comes to the characters. Even the character development resembles Seto no Hanayome.

In case those who read this review havent seen Seto no Hanayome, its a romcom anime that has characters as one of its strong factor.

Overall - 8

This never failed to make me laugh so I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for comedy anime.

Hope that this opinion of mine is helpful.

Before watching this OVA, you must at least played up to the chapter 4 of the Visual Novel or you wont understand a thing beside this being a prequel story of Corpse Party: Blood Covered manga.

The story of this OVA is indeed a prequel story but from what I see from Corpse Party VN/Corpse Party: Blood Covered VN, the scenes of this OVA is most likely to be taken from Corpse Party: Book of Shadow which is suppose to be the sequel game since that the manga of Book of Shadow is a prequel story of some sort at the same time an alternative story.

The ... sound is rather excellent. They decided to use the same sfx from the game which raise this OVA chance to enjoy by the game fans and Im one of them who enjoyed it. And as for VA, I usually dont care about it since that whats important is that the voice of the character would match the talking for me so I simply ignore VA on rating. But on this OVA case, I cannot ignore it because the VA here is the same from the PSP VN which adds more value for the fans of the game to enjoy it more.

I dont think that I have to say anything else on the character since that this has no character development.

This is a teaser OVA for the game fans. Thats all I can point out but I like it this way. Looking forward to Corpse Party: Tortured Souls and still hoping for a series for this game.

This is my first time writing a review so it is possible to see errors on my writing.

"Another" is one of the most notable series of Winter 2012 anime and might be one of the best this year. But do the OVA is worth checking to get the feeling of the series? Ill try to answer that here

Story:

As a prequel of the series, it deserve to get a praise on showing what to expect on the series if this OVA shown first. The story is simple, more like a prologue to enjoy the series. The story is about the 2 Misaki enjoying their daily lives ... after learning that they are twin. Simple as that. While it is as simple as that, before this OVA ends, it shown some important info about the series story.

Art:

The art is the same on the series. Way too outstanding and bright for a suppose to be horror anime but the art perfectly fits on the OVA cause of its simple story.

Sound:

Same songs used for the opening and ending sequence. No more no less.

Character:

Now this is the interesting part of the series. This shows why Misaki Mei acts cold to the point that being considered emotionless on the series.

Overall:

So it is worth checking? If you totally enjoy the series that you act like a hardcore fan, then it is worth watching. But if your one of those people who keep looking for a story, then it is doubtful to be consider as worth watching.