No Game, No Life – 11

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I can see how even a loli would be a better girlfriend than a mass of faceless white blobs.

I don’t know how time has flown by so quickly, but we’re already reaching the end of Nogenora. Instead of just squishing the finale into 1 episode, we get a two-part game battle that takes its time to provide a lot of laughs and a lot of action. It’s everything you could want for this show to go out with a bang so prepare yourself for this nonstop adrenaline rush!

If this show was nothing but game battles, I’d give it a 9.5/10. So what if it made less sense because of that, the games are cool enough to be their own thing! Episodes like these are absolutely incredible! There was a wonderful mix of genuine, brilliant strategy and stuff so ridiculous I couldn’t help but laugh. Shiro pretending to be controlled by Izuna was a great plan that you could reasonably expect to happen in a “real life” situation. It’s logical. Shiro being such a genius that she had near-precognition level powers was more like an ability ripped from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. It’s silly! Shiro should be physically uncoordinated since she has the theory but none of the muscle memory. But that’s what makes the show fun. It mixes in clever strategies with nonsense (such as magical creatures who can jump up buildings) to make the game that much more interesting.

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The Persona reference made me unreasonably happy

I’m usually kinda “meh” about the comedy, but I was giggling quite a bit this week. First of all, I loved all the video game references. Although I haven’t played it, I’m familiar with Galgun and I thought it was amazing how they ran with that concept so hard it bordered on being plain stealing. The fake game opening song really sealed the deal. My only regret is that they used shitty CGI instead of totally going for it and at least making it look good. But then again, maybe it wouldn’t be as funny if Steph didn’t look so ridiculous like that. Anyways, the shoot-shoot-fall-in-love concept was perfect for this situation since it’s not weird for any of those weirdos to start drooling over one another. My favourite pairing is definitely StephxSteph though. She was hilarious this week!

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That is one hella cute bra and panty combo.

This whole post could be me just gushing about this is my favourite episode of the series. However, that wouldn’t be much for so let’s take a look at what we’ve learned about those tricksy Warbeasts instead. Izuna in particular. We hadn’t seen much from her before now, so it was hard to get a reading on her personality except for the fact that she uses relatively impolite speech and tries to fix it by throwing the more polite “desu” at the end. It doesn’t work that way, but it’s a moe point since she tries! Now we know she’s got a lot more to her than being a quiet loli with a lack of manners. She is incredibly powerful, as most Warbeasts are. She also loves battling, especially if her opponents are tough. The problem is that with the responsibility of a whole nation on her shoulders, she feels guilty that she’s having fun in such a serious situation. So she tries to suppress it in order to be a good ruler.

However, she can’t hold in her excitement at finding a worthy opponent. It looks like her seals(?) break and she unleashes her “true form”(???I’m making shit up) once she accepts how fun the game is. It’s likely that Sora saw this weakness before the game even began and that asking her about having fun in games is going to be his key to victory. After all, they win all games before they’ve even begun. Although I could be horribly wrong because that leveled up Izuna looks a hell of a lot harder to beat than the vanilla version. I think the match is almost over since the preview didn’t show us anything from the game world, but it’s still going to be intense to see how the siblings manage to beat something as powerful as that.

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She’d kill you in 3 seconds, but she’s still adorable!

I’m definitely enjoying the battle with the Warbeasts because they have really interesting abilities. The Elves have magic, sure, but we didn’t get to see anything cool aside from making chess pieces slightly stronger and a game that took place where we couldn’t even watch it. Not much to write home about for the Elves. But I like the Warbeasts because they’re real underdogs (no pun intended for the ones with dog ears). All they have is brute strength and strong senses. They don’t even have a 6th sense. They manage to get through life by tricking everyone else into thinking they’re stronger than they actually are by cheating as much as they can and wiping memories after every lost game. Izuna gets an edge not because she has a 6th sense, but because she’s being told where her enemies are. That info wouldn’t be very helpful for someone with zero physical prowess, but it’s still a big boost. In other words, the Warbeasts are strong, but not as strong as they try to make everyone believe.

The Warbeasts are an interesting bunch for sure. I hope they tell us more about what the heck happened to Izuna and if she’s been suppressed in some way or form before now. Also, I wanna see if she joins Sora’s harem as the new loli, completely leaving her kingdom behind. Not that it’ll be much of a kingdom if Imanity wins. All in all, I’m looking forward to seeing how this ends. Fosh and I will tag team the finale (unless something incredibly tragic befalls me) so we’ll see you then~

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A comfy way to end the post

About

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.
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24 Responses to “No Game, No Life – 11”

  1. skylion says:

    It’s all is fair in love and war and video games. I knew something was up when Sora was experimenting with the love-gun. I mean, it’s all well and good to induce fan-service, but have a point! Oh, he sure did. I knew someone important would end up without pantsu…just surprised that it was actually Shiro.

    It looks like her seals(?) break and she unleashes her “true form”(???I’m making shit up) once she accepts how fun the game is

    Making shit up is half the fun! And you know, the bigger they get the harder they fall down.

    • belatkuro says:

      Remember last episode before everyone hit the bath? Kurami mentioned something of an ability called Blood Destruction. This was it. It’s less of a true form and more of a “hissatsu waza.” There’s a reason why she only used it at this point. If it was a move that was easily used then she could have used it early on to finish the game.
      I’ll leave it at that. It ties in to the conclusion of the game after all.

  2. HannoX says:

    I loved how Shiro immediately tested the “love gun” by shooting Sora in the back.

    This was a great penultimate episode–funny, action-packed, doling out some fan service and most importantly setting things up for a slam-bang ending to a fun series.

    Or rather, a slam-bang ending to the first season of a fun series. With all the other nations yet to be taken on, it’s open for more seasons to follow. Let’s just hope it’s popular enough in Japan to warrant more.

    • Overcooled says:

      Everyone’s immediate reaction was to use it for their own gain. Even Jibril got in on the action!

      It seems like a popular show, so a season 2 wouldn’t surprise me. But I’m horrible at guessing these kinds of things. All in all, I’ve definitely enjoyed this show and am glad it’s ending on a high note. :>

  3. Di Gi Kazune says:

    My only regret is that they used shitty CGI instead of

    It is supposed to be cheesy. Very cheesy. Deliciously cheesy. Did anyone notice that the kemonomimi main characters actually appeared in Sora’s imagination back in Ep5? 😛

    For now we shall end on: “You don’t mind if I defeat her, do you?” (with pose) “That’s a death flag right there…”

    • Overcooled says:

      Good CGI would be pretty but yeahhh the bad CGI kind of has its own charm in being so bad.

  4. BlackBriar says:

    This is definitely the best episode yet. If it’s not outrageous comedy keeping me glued, it’s the all-out action. It was really a lot of fun.

    Whoa, I just went sadistic a bit there. I would’ve to see Sora and Shiro writhe in despair a little longer and let them find out it was a simulation of Tokyo on their own just to indulge in their hopeless expressions. A treat for all that NEET arrogance that was flaunted around. Psychological warfare, indeed.

    Being Steph is suffering. She truly is nothing but the show’s butt monkey. Well, at least she does a good job of making you laugh thanks to her misery. 😉

    Sora testing Izuna by goading her to find enjoyment may prove detrimental. Some self-discoveries might open a door that should remain closed. That new form of hers was out of pure ecstasy.

    • Overcooled says:

      Don’t know why you’re surprised at your own sadism at this point lol. The siblings got out of their mess quickly so we could move on to the real action, which is nice. I’d love to see them thrust into more situations where they become useless nerds who can’t function properly though.

      We get our fix of human suffering from Steph, who just can’t catch a break. Oh Steph! She does make a wonderful butt monkey.

  5. Kyokai says:

    Oh Steph, yo! Even after EVERYONE steps on you, you still remain adorable. What a miracle!

    On another note, can’t wait for the finale and I hope there’s another season.

  6. BlackBriar says:

    My favourite pairing is definitely StephxSteph though.

    Is there such a thing as selfcest? It’s definitely yuri on the other hand, though. Hehehe….

  7. Di Gi Kazune says:

    Forgot to mention: Who gave Izuna IDDQD and NOCLIP?

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