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REVIEW: No Game, No Life Episodes 1-12 Streaming

Cyclone1993 wrote:

One thing that always annoys me in reviews of the series is how the leads are unbeatable. That's the point of the series. The joy isn't from wondering if they will lose... It's how they dominate everyone else. The how is important. Watching them figure out how to win is what makes the series so entertaining.

Because that is extremely boring. There's zero tension when the heroes win all the time.

Thankfully, in NGNL, the heroes aren't actually unbeatable. Blank is actually a good example in my eyes of a duo of well-written heroes--they do not simple roll over the competition without even lifting a finger (like good ol' Tats of Mahouka fame...), they actually are challenged and yet manage to always get by and figure out genius solutions to their problems.

I find it extremely bizarre that you said "The joy isn't from wondering if they will lose", because to me that was the joy. During the spoiler[chess game against Kurami, where Sora was actually near-loss and had seemingly no options], I was actually floored that an anime had actually put its main characters in danger. That's when I knew the show was a keeper. You can see it all over the show--the Shiritori game, the VR game, the spoiler[disappearance of Sora for an episode]...NGNL is that rare LN-based anime where the victories of the heroes aren't cut-and-dried.

Yes, we know Blank will find a way and kick ass. But we know that for most stories--the hero DOES usually NGNL elevates above the competition because we're never quite sure HOW Blank will win, and when they manage to come up with genius solutions on-the-fly, you're like "HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME".

Bottom line, NGNL is good because there's actual suspense, tension, and uncertainty about what will happen next, something a vast-amount of action LN/anime lacks. Which is actually kind of sad in a way given that this is Writing 101, but I've already accepted that LN's are literally the bottom of the bottom of the barrel when it comes to writing quality so when a story that actually even tries to aspire to more like NGNL comes along, I'm stunned and awed.

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What a horribly long post...but it helped alleviate my boredom for awhile. I do wish this wouldn't have of been so long, but I felt like these were points that I wanted to touch on.

Don't worry. It may be really too lengthy but I enjoy reading it especially the part on how well you analysis it everything on DuskyPredator's post.

Maybe because I just happen to be more free - time, silly me. At least, your efforts was not in vain. Hope you take it as compliement.

Keep in mind that Steph *agreed* to the terms every time she went up against Blank. You have to wager something if you want something (which she did). I also think that this is Blank's tough love towards Steph (well, except near the beginning with Sora telling her to fall in love with him). From the very beginning, they've tried to explain to her how she's approaching games all wrong, but she WOULD NOT LISTEN; this is obvious because she doesn't change her tactics, regardless of how many times she loses. And it's not that she's stupid, it's that she is *stubborn*: she simply refuses to see how she's going wrong and clings to her notions instead.

Spleen wrote:

If you can't watch a girl being stripped nearly naked, humiliated, mind-controlled and forced to bark like a dog, well, I'm hardly going to tell you that that's a bad thing. But if Steph was a man, no-one would have any problem at all

I would.

No one says anything because they didn't draw out their humiliation like they did with Steph. People wouldn't be annoyed if Steph was mistreated a couple times, like the people you pointed out.

I have not seen this yet but I heard it was worth watching.

Keitarou (Love Hina)
Chisame (Negima)
Naruto (Naruto)
Shinji (Evangelion)
Watanuki (xxxHolic)
Kawachi (Yakitate Japan)

ALL of those characters (granted, one is female, but was consistently considered one of the fan favorite characters of Negima) pretty much go through the SAME THING as Steph, and aside from MAYBE Keitarou, I don't remember a bunch of people complaining about how those characters are treated.

I'd agree with your 50% fanservice thought, but I'd point out so are: Shiro, Jibril and most of the other female characters. I mean, it has a (IMO) clever hook, but it IS clearly somewhat of a harem show. I'd point out also that Steph is only considered "humiliated" because she gets embarassed by her situation. I'd also point out that during the Shiritori game, ALL the girls (Steph, Shiro, & Jibril) ALL get put naked and Steph is really the only one that reacts negatively.