No Game No Life

Summary: >

Sora and Shiro are sibling game addicts who've shunned the outside world. Together they form the gaming team "blank", remaining undefeated in ANY game. One day they receive an offer to enter a world where everything is determined by games. They accept, and are thrown into a land of fantasy they'd only thought possible in the virtual world. Together Sora and Shiro intend to take over the world, eventually challenging even the god who rules all, and possibly conquering the Warbeasts faction as well (better known as the land of hot animal girls in Sora's mind).

Thoughts: >

Watching No Game No Life is much like listening to a smart beautiful woman talk about the time she was abducted by aliens. It's like you're caught in her spell, even if what she's talking about is crazy but intelligent sounding nonsense. What you get from No Game No Life depends on what you want. A filling meal is good, but sometimes all you want is fluffy cotton candy - if you're in the mood for clever fluff, No Game No Life is the title to watch.

No Game No Life is focused on having a good time the anime way, including fan service, and gimmicky comedy. Characters are basic, rarely going beyond their needed function, but work well for what they do. The story is very strait forward, although sub plots get "complicated" in game competitions. Games are presented as requiring strategy and skill, although it's so far fetched that explanations border on incoherence. End results are as expected, but how it gets there is unpredictable enough to make it fun to watch. (Note: my higher depth score isn't due to mechanics of game plots, it's because of the well thought out world environment).

Visually No Game No Life looks beautiful. Colors are oversaturated with an odd color pallet, giving things a vivid yet surreal look, perfectly suited to the fantasy game land setting. Added to that is the ambient techno soundtrack, which compliments the anime very well. The dub is tolerable, but not my preference. Considering the exceptional Japanese voice cast performance, I'd say subtitles are the way to go on this one.

There's a lot of fan service in No Game No Life, but it seems to fit this show strangely well. The way one girl is treated gets pretty degrading, which some might find offensive, otherwise the fan service is standard fare. No Game No Life is "in progress", but I really didn't care about the story. Just watching was enough fun; where it was going became a minor concern. While I'm looking forward to seeing more, I'd say anyone who'd enjoy No Game No Life would be satisfied watching it at the point it's at right now. It's not for everyone, and you'll probably need to be in the right mood, but if those things come together it's good stuff.

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