Review of No Game, No Life: Zero
Story: The story of NGNL Zero follows the unnamed race, and their struggle to survive in the harsh world of Disboard. The story itself was your basic war movie survival kind of film, but the actual underlying details were what set the mood and showed exactly how great this movie was. You follow Riku and his ex-machina waifu on a journey not only of alliances between races, but also a journey of finding purpose and meaning in life. What this movie did amazingly was balance the two, showing us the lengths that someone would go through for survival, but also reminded us that the charactersare only human. Nobody was the outright antagonist, and the struggle at the end of the movie with the Star Grail showed that desperation that people would go through to fix what they've started. In a sense, this movie was about the struggles of life, but with the NGNL setting.
Art: The art stays true to the NGNL series, being extremely detailed, and with colors that contrast but are also colourful and a delight to the eyes. Everything looks smooth, and the battle scene with Jibril was a highlight not only in story, but in art. I can't say much else about the art, but if you like NGNL's art, you'll definitely enjoy the art style here, since it's faithful to the source.
Sound: Voice acting in this was greato daze. Like all my other reviews, I say voice acting is amazing, but this movie's voice acting not only was something that would appeal to old NGNL fans, but also new. The usage of old voice actors not only tells you exactly who is supposed to be who from the old main series, but they also hook you in with the voices. Now, onto the music. The music in NGNL is basically fully orchestrated, although I'm pretty sure it isn't live. Anyways, the music's orchestral feel allows it to work into scenes and basically complete a scene. Heartfelt moments that require that extra violin get what they want, and intense battles get an equally intense song. The ending song is also superb, wrapping everything up with the feel from the original series' OP. Overall, the sound was something that I myself enjoyed to the fullest extent.
Character: The characters in this film were done amazingly, but there were some minor things I could point out. Main character Riku was shown to be our Sora, but a Sora that had dealt with more loss, and the fact that they were losing a war. He showed development, starting as a leader who only had the option to lead his men to death, and became someone who could lead Immanity to victory. Riku's character showed the most change, although I did also like Schwi's character with her change. Schwi went from a generic ex-machina, having no knowledge of the human race, and eventually being basically human, in emotion. Now, Corone, on the other hand, is someone I have just one question about. I liked her character and how she was the big sister archetype who didn't get in the way of Riku, but I have to ask. Why did she permit her brother to marry a loli?
Enjoyment: If you haven't read this review, it's pretty obvious I enjoyed it.
Overall: This movie was something that I felt to be one of the best films that I've watched so far. It had some moments that could be said to be lacking, but it made that all up (and more) with scenes pouring with emotion. It was lifelike in character and personality, and honestly, I might rewatch it. Now, if you are a NGNL fan, or just someone random, I don't care. You need to watch this movie if you're someone who watches anime films.