Review of No Game, No Life: Zero
No game no life: zero is the prequel film to the pretty amazing series of the same name. Although no game no life is in the title, this is incredibly different from the series. STORY 8/10 The story takes place thousands of years before the show; before Tet became ruler and made things fun. This world is engulfed in a giant war that kills many people. It follows Rikku, a general ad his new robot girlfriend. The story heavily relies on the 2 main characters' relationship growing, which is really emotional, well-done and touching. When the movie wanted me to care for either of them, oh lordI did! There is a war aspect to this movie, though. Most times, the situation that the humans are in reminds me of your average dystopian future story like hunger games or divergent. Not only were aspects of this movie generic-feeling, but also really dark from a tonal perspective. The first 2 thirds of this movie focuses on the relationship, and the humans hiding from war. These thirds of the movie were really slow and dare I say - boring at times. The story picks up very well in the last act, when things get exciting! The climax is when the real action, feels and intensity strikes better than a lot of other things.
CHARACTERS 9/10
The characters in this movie are really unique. Most of them have the same voice and similar design to a character from the original series. Every main character from the movie is a counterpart to a main character from the original. That is really good, and seeing their similarities and differences from the original characters I also though to be creative. As said before, the bulk of the movie is seeing the 2 characters' relationship grow, which besides the action, was no doubt the best part. Although the 2 main characters are the only ones with real focus on them, they were developed perfectly! There are some characters that I wish had more screen time, one of them was recurring from the original series.
ART 10/10
Beautiful! This movie is a joy to look at from beginning to end. Although this movie lacks the bright colors and atmosphere of the show, this still manages to be really well-made in an animation and cinematic perspective. The sound was also beautiful. The voice cast returns from the series, which just as always, there really good. The sound effects, music and all that stuff was pretty chill too.
OTHER THINGS
Don't get me wrong, I loved this movie a lot, but my biggest and most apparent complaint is the tone of the movie. This movie lacks any of the humor, fun and clever-ness of the show. It's not a grand story about people conquering races to face God, nor is it about the clever strategies used to beat people with simple games. What made the show so great were these things: humor, fun and cunning. Those things are clearly replaced by feels, intensity and a darker storyline, but I just prefer something fun and optimistic over a war story. It's this that stopped me from enjoying this movie as much I should've. But that's just me, don't let that stop you from enjoying this.
OVERALL 8/10
This movie is really good! Yes, it's really dark and slow at the beginning, but these flaws are over-shadowed by the really well-animated action, touching story and everything else that makes movies good. It's when you realize that this is part of no game no life that makes you see the flaws. Regard this as a standalone movie, that'll make it seem a lot better than it already is.