Review of No Game, No Life: Zero

I watched No Game No Life: Zero. This is the movie sequel to the TV series No Game No Life (henceforth NGNL). Here are my thoughts: This review will specifically discuss the NGNL: Zero movie, not the franchise as a whole. First of all, it's been years since I saw the TV anime. I liked it a lot though and rated it 9/10. I really really liked the art style and colour palette, and overall found it a very fun and entertaining show. Much of this review will focus on how the movie compares to the TV series, since that is the benchmark of my expectations.Although it still looks good, I prefer the colour palette of the TV series. I miss those bright pastel colours; this movie has a comparatively duller colour palette. It still has a lot of visual detail though and is fairly captivating. The visuals are still good, don't get me wrong. In particular, the setting and background frames of this movie look interesting and detailed.

The audio production quality is decent, but I did not like the OST as much as the TV series (Konomi Suzuki sounds amazing in the ED song though as usual). The movie has more of a classical music style; I prefer the electronic OST of the TV anime – it felt much more unique, creative, immersive, and suitable for the anime. Also, for whatever reason I did not like the voice acting of the male MC of this movie.

As is often the case with movies, I find it difficult to feel emotionally invested when I've only known the characters for a few minutes. This movie is yet another example of this – it jumps into strongly dramatic content early in the runtime, and I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by it. I never felt any emotion whatsoever towards the characters and their story. I don't think this is just me being a stick in the mud either – I think a lot of people would agree the storyline of this movie is weak and unengaging. Overall I would say the story is very mediocre, not to mention barely coherent and poorly directed. The pacing was also too quick for my tastes.

There was a stark lack of world building and exposition. I was often confused by the plot. Random plot-critical facts were often introduced out of nowhere. Barely anything is adequately explained and the story basically just feels like "humans fight in apocalyptic setting because reasons."

Similarly to the TV anime, there is a fair bit of sexualization in this. And it is equally as shameless. If shameless fanservice is something that bothers you (or you can't at least ignore it), then NGNL is not for you. It is a fairly sexualized show, even by anime standards. Personally, I don't really care, but I feel like this is a point worth mentioning. In my opinion, the sexual elements fit in with the overall atmosphere and escapist theme of the show. To me, the sexualization is just one element of NGNL's unique personality. Others will find it off-putting though, so I definitely want to address this point. Also, the fanservice fits more naturally into the playful atmosphere of the TV series, whereas it is somewhat out of place when it interrupts the more-serious moments of the movie. However, I also recall the TV series having an erotic tone more frequently, so there is a tradeoff in that respect as well. Like I said, this isn't a big deal to me either way but I know a lot of readers care about this kind of thing (either positively or negatively) so I thought I should address it, especially for a series like NGNL.

The TV series had a more-lighthearted mood overall, and was way more fun to watch. Overall I found the TV series far more enjoyable, both in terms of story and atmosphere, as well as audiovisuals. Also, unlike the TV series, this movie has little actual game-focused content. I thought maybe this movie would explore the lore of the TV series a little, but it didn't even do that significantly.

My overall rating: 4/10
This movie lacks nearly all the features that made me enjoy the NGNL TV series so much. The main reason I liked the TV series was because of its unique artistic flavour, as well as its creative setting and storyline. And also the simple fact that it was incredibly fun to watch. The movie does not do any of these things nearly as well as the TV series, and so my viewing experience was quite disappointing. The only redeeming features of this movie are the visuals, which are good overall.

I would not recommend this movie to anyone (unless literally the only thing you care about is visuals). It's hard to believe it was made by the same people who created the TV anime.