Review on 'No Game No Life'

First, before we dig in, let's talk about how I got into this anime. It was recommended to me by a friend (like more to come) and I was curious because she told me it was like an epic chess battle-and as a lover of strategy I eagerly went to check it out. I will tell you now, I give the anime a 10/10. It would have been 9/10 because the ending—but as of now there is news of a second season so I will give it that extra point.

As always, I will start with its opening. The song is very game-like and spirited (fitting of the anime) and shows, in short, of how the two main characters fall into this dimension and single-handily strategically conquer the dimension. It introduces some of the people in the anime, but through their actions in the opening, shows more of how Shiro and Sora are more like one conquering entity—which is reinforced throughout the entire anime.

That claim is the skeleton and heart of this anime—so with an approval of the opening I shall dive into the anime itself.

You go in watching these two kids—Sora and Shiro—smash through games without even cheating as the legendary character "Blank" which is a video game character that destroys every competitor in every game known to man. AKA Sora and Shiro.

After killing another game and its participants, they are challenged to a game of chess by what would be known as the god of Disboard—or the dimension they are soon sent to. After winning, they are asked if they want to live in a game and they agree—landing them in Disboard.

When they come to this world, its god tells them they can challenge him whenever they're ready, giving the two their goal for the entire series.

Once they come into the world they automatically befriend the King's granddaughter who loses against an elf because unlike the magical creatures in Disboard, Imanity, her race, holds no magic. After hearing that the King is hosting a tournament for someone to become king, Sora and Shiro compete and after a long and hard game of emotional and oddly romantic chess (one of the weirdest chess games I've ever seen) with a fellow Imanity being helped by an Elf, and they become King and Queen of the race Imanity—the lowest and most bullied race out of 16—and start to fight back against the other races and tend to win every game and gamble they take, eventually stopping at a god ranked two next to the god of Disboard himself on the last episode—the very reason I would give it a 9 instead 10 But again they say that will be fixed so I'll give it that 10.

I tried not to be so revealing, so if this wasn't what you were hoping for know that I'm just trying to avoid lots of spoilers. The amount of story I didn't cover is EXTRA astronomical this time. It's an incredibly comical, heartfelt, strategic, and slightly psychological anime that has art very unorthodox for this day and age of anime.

Would I recommend it? Yes. Totally. To all ages? Yes. There is slight sexual humor, but not enough for it to be explicit. I really enjoyed it and I hope if you watch it, you'll enjoy it too!

I hope you enjoyed this review and see you next time!