No Game, No Life – 03
Sora and Shiro’s Bizarre Adventure
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This week, it’s my turn to cover the wonderful piece of nonsense that is No Game, No Life. Losing my internet because of my router spontaneously breaking was an issue, but now I’m back on track. It was only a day without any internet, but it definitely set me back since I couldn’t even download the show -_- |
For any of you that follow the 3 episode rule to a T, you will be rewarded by seeing all that No Game, No Life has to offer. Episode 1 gave us all the details, episode 2 amped up the fanservice and comedy, and episode 3 was all about showing off how interesting the games can really be. Now we’ve got a taste of everything. Most importantly, we’re seeing a true game being played out. This is the first worthy (albeit cheating) opponent Sora and Shiro have faced in this new world. We finally get to see what it’s like when they both reach their limits – and how the two of them work together to cover each others’ weaknesses.
*livestreams his uprising against the King* aw ye
Shiro is a technician – she’s best at executing tasks with textbook precision and expertise. Chess has a finite number of possibilities, and she’s managed to memorize just about all of them. As such, she’s brilliant when her job is to just follow the rules set out for her and come to a calm, logical victory. As soon as cheating and magic gets thrown into the mix, she’s at a loss because she can’t rely on what she knows. That’s not to say she’s not a strategic player and that chess really is easy, but she’s just not used to thinking outside the box. Sora is the one who is great at mind games, bending the rules, finding loopholes, and just about anything abstract that falls out of Shiro’s comfort zone. It’s the perfect combination. Shiro can use her pure skill and Sora will back her up when things get fishy. When Sora gets riled up, Shiro uses her natural calm to bring him back to reality. They each have their own niches. Although when it comes to the wire, they’re both pretty damned good at everything.
They use this impressive teamwork to put Zell on the ropes, but it’s not easy. I like to see the siblings face a little bit of a challenge. And what a great match it was! It’s not even over yet! I’m so happy that there’s a game finally spanning more than 2 minutes in length. I will admit that when the pieces weren’t actually coming to life I was disappointed. Finally seeing them show their own charisma and will really turned the tables and made it interesting. It wasn’t just a game of simple chess, but a game where you must lead your troops into battle and keep their morale as high as possible. Sora does this..in his own way. I’m not sure how he can keep his promise of offering these dudes any girl they want and no taxes forever, but his lies seem to be working well at the moment. I guess it won’t backfire later since they’re only chess pieces? If he had to actually pay up, that would be harsh.
The king of bros
The game itself was very exciting, and seeing the way everyone plays tells us a lot about their personalities. As stated before, we know more about how Sora and Shiro balance each other out now. As for Zell, we know she’s a little more immature than her previous appearances have suggested. She tries to win by giving her pieces an added stat boost with magic. Sora uses unorthodox methods, but at least he’s not doing the equivalent of injecting his knights with steroids. This game is meant to be a reflection of how a king would treat his army – and Zell isn’t making a very good impression. I think Sora will also expand on why he thinks Zell is underestimating the power of humans. She suggests that they use the help of another race to win and then close off their territory, banning games so they don’t lose anymore. If the humans closed themselves off and didn’t play any more games, it would turn into the same place Sora and Shiro just came from. Real life. And Sora and Shiro desperately want to avoid that because…well…No game, no life, right?
WHEN DO WE GET TO GO HERE?
But it all seems a little too hasty. Sora’s going to become the king by episode 3? What else is there left for him to do then? Conquer other areas? Try and fight to elves? Or maybe he’ll actually lose and Zell will be betrayed by the elves, giving rise to an even bigger problem. I’m sure elves have some sweet magic up their sleeves, and I wanna see it. However, the preview for the next episode makes it seem 99% likely that the siblings won’t lose. Eh, as long as they continue to make things interesting I’m cool with it. I wouldn’t worry much about plot for a show like this. Maybe that’s not something a blogger should say, but I’m just here to have a good time.
On a side note, I can’t forget to mention how Steph’s strategizing skills tells us a lot about her as well. Mostly, that she’s terrible at it and exists simply to give us contrast to see how wonderful Sora and Shiro are. If everyone in the show was a genius, they wouldn’t look so hot. So unfortunately, Steph is their stepping stone. She’s the comedic relief and the fool – still clothed in only a makeshift bedsheet while Sora and Shiro wear royal gowns and jackets. She’s definitely the most underutilized character so far, and I hope she becomes less like baggage and more like an actual character that matters some time soon. You might as well replace her with a narrator that just says “Oh Sora, what a genius!!! Just look at how clever he is to figure this out!!!” every time he does something. But hey, Sora and Shiro are pretty amazing and they can carry the show without the likes of a ditzy girl dressed like a hobo who robbed a mattress store.
Not exactly a sign of respect and equality, I’d say.
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
NO CUTE, NO LIFE!!(✿´‿`)
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Damn right!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Initially, I thought that becoming king so early would be kind of like “what do we do now?” But they’ve set up the conflict for the rest of the show by minimizing the reach and power of the Iminaty (if I remember that word correctly) and making them be the underclass of this world. The ongoing struggle will be to reclaim a place in the world. The problem for the kingdom is far in the future, after there’s no more Sora and Shiro.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Imanity. Humanity but starting with an I.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I think that is where the show will go from here. Sora becomes king, then he and Shiro battle to regain Imanity’s lost territory and to advance Imanity’s ranking amongst the denizens of that world.
And I think the elves aren’t just going to accept Imanity not becoming dependent upon them. I have a hunch they weren’t working with Zell just in order to protect Imanity. There has to be something for them in it. Maybe they also realize Imanity can be more than it has been so far and they worry what that could mean for them.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
You thinking processes are not as quite far off here…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yeah, I totally agree. At first I was worried about him becoming king too, but then I realized there are a ton of other territories for him to conquer. Should be fun, seeing the magical powers of the other races.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Shiro is so manly… So manly cute it defies convention.
And it shows that eroge/galge is useful!
Plus the tulips growing from steff’s head is cute.
In short…CUTENESS IS EVERYTHING!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
One more thing…. All the kemonomimi are mine!!! And Jibril too. 0:3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Manly cute? That’s a new one. But I’ll take it!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Those JOJO poses!!! I loved it and I guess the creator is a huge fan of JOJO? Who would have guessed!
Shiro and Sora’s chess match was AMAZING I loved how he totally used his looks to win the enemy queen over LOL
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I think the JOJO references is anime original. I don’t recall seeing the references in the LN.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
In the LN the references are more like… Civ… and more civ, civ, civ and civ!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Guess it’s easier to make a JoJo reference when you can use the same crazy colour schemes that’s happening in the JoJo anime. I love it though! A good choice!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
But…what are the top three references they want to pull off?!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I would gladly kick every elves ass from here to wherever you name in the name of cuteness~
Viva la Kawaii!
This is a good starting point to a political landscape. We get a touch of the relations between races here, and a taste of how that would boil down if either A or B happens.
And that game so reminds me of Nightmare Chess.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
But the elves are cute… and Elf x Flugel sidedishes are… tasty~
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
A kawaii revolution seems to be brewing…
I’m enjoying the drama and political tensions that are building up too. The pacing is going pretty well in that regard.
Haven’t heard of Nightmare Chess before (looks neat though) but it did remind me of the crazy shogi/chess matches in Tonari no Seki-kun =w=
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Kawaii no LOLi! Revolution! Sounds like a calling to me…
As far as the world building is going, I’m quite anxious to see them hit Elvengarde. They need to hit the ground running and learn the rules behind magic.
Yes, Seki-kun is amazing!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Well, consider my mind fouled up by the events the episode played out. Naturally there would be no point to expect anything of a normal scale in the series. Zell’s challenge gave a very Harry Potter-like chess game feel having life sized pawns move by voice command but even those rules eventually tossed out later on. “Unorthodox methods” is an understatement, especially when the pawn is able to betray the player out of their desire. So one has to ask: Is that game grounded by any kind of rules?
Sora’s promises to the pawns in exchange for leading him to don’t seem like they can be fulfilled if he wanted them to. Unless they are of the same kind, I’d say it’s impossible to promise women and mentioned spoils to beings that aren’t technically alive to begin with. They’re sentient molds of hardened clay that shatter with sufficient impact.
Steph’s strategizing skills aren’t only what she needs to work on. She’s far too naïve and trusting buying into Zell’s reasoning in the carriage without ponding why she’s making such statements and offers. If Sora wasn’t there to inject some valid points, everything would be screwed a long time ago.
So Zell’s endgame is a coup d’état within a coup d’état. Assuming it’s the truth, for her sake, I hope she has thought things through by running various scenarios in her mind and has an insurance policy since her attempts at winning over Sora and Shiro have failed. Bringing in a result that will mirror a reality most wanted to avoid will be appealing. Her elf accomplice is surely in the dark of her true intentions but I doubt she’d care if they were revealed. She seems fond of her.