English Dub Review: No Game, No Life The Movie: Zero

Possibly the best of the year.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS BELOW):

Set 6000 years before the series itself, No Game No Life Zero has an interesting premise. Set in a world where multiple races vie for control of the world, and their leaders desire to become “The One True God” and rule with absolute sovereignty, humans are on the brink of extinction. Riku, a young man who leads the remaining humans in their fight seemingly hopeless struggle for survival in this hellish world, is trying to find a way to do just that. Survive. He also enjoys playing chess even though he continually loses – an important note. While out exploring this neigh-apocalyptic world Riku comes across some Elven ruins. Inside, he stumbles upon an Ex-Machina, a machine that looks like a young female named Shuvi. Shuvi immediately devotes herself to Riku and asks him to help her define what a heart is. I immediately thought, “Oh great… another story about a machine without a heart attempting what it means to have a heart”. I call it the Pinocchio syndrome – but I digress. On top of that, Riku is searching or a way to end “The Eternal Great War” between the citizens of the planet, a neigh insurmountable task that seems impossible when you see the types of beings that inhabit this land. From Dragons to Elves, even a sort of celestial entity, just to name a few, this world is inhabited by strange and marvelous creatures.

Set 6000 years before the series itself, No Game No Life Zero has an interesting premise. Set in a world where multiple races vie for control of the world, and their leaders desire to become “The One True God” and rule with absolute sovereignty, humans are on the brink of extinction. Riku, a young man who leads the remaining humans in their fight seemingly hopeless struggle for survival in this hellish world, is trying to find a way to do just that. Survive. He also enjoys playing chess even though he continually loses – an important note. While out exploring this neigh-apocalyptic world Riku comes across some Elven ruins. Inside, he stumbles upon an Ex-Machina, a machine that looks like a young female named Shuvi. Shuvi immediately devotes herself to Riku and asks him to help her define what a heart is. I immediately thought, “Oh great… another story about a machine without a heart attempting what it means to have a heart”. I call it the Pinocchio syndrome – but I digress. On top of that, Riku is searching or a way to end “The Eternal Great War” between the citizens of the planet, a neigh insurmountable task that seems impossible when you see the types of beings that inhabit this land. From Dragons to Elves, even a sort of celestial entity, just to name a few, this world is inhabited by strange and marvelous creatures.

I knew based off their first interaction that the inevitable would happen. Eventually, Riku and Shuvi would fall in love. How cliché. But what I didn’t count on was the story that came along hand in hand with it. What presented itself to me during the movies near two-hour runtime, was a story that was not only filled and fueled with emotion but compelling and motivating to watch. Yes, that one part of the story was predictable, but the rest of the action that led up to that point and followed it is extremely well grafted and placed together. You see, Shuvi is an outcast of the Ex-Machina machines, who decided she needed to research what a heart and emotions were. Only through the teamwork and bonding that took place between Riku and Shuvi were they able to come up with a plan to bring about an end to the war. I have to say that when I saw the amount of sacrifice that Riku went through to execute the plan and becoming “a ghost”, I felt a shock only compared to when I saw Griffith’s withered body after he had been subjected to countless hours of torture in the anime Berserk. All I could think at the time was “Damn”. You see in this catastrophic and turbulent world, a deadly black rain falls from the sky and the mist hangs in the air. When humans are exposed to it, it literally eats away at and rots their flesh – its toxic stuff that is REALLY bad for your health, to say the least. At one point Riku subject himself to two hours of exposure to the effects of this rain and the results were horrendous, yet he was able to make that sacrifice and obtain the information he needed in order to keep executing the plan for the greater good. Perhaps it was an act of repentance, as he obviously felt responsible for sending others to their deaths as sacrifices earlier in the movie.

I must say that the animation and graphics used in this movie definitely drew me in. I was entranced by the world I saw, and even more so when I saw the design of such places like the Elven Ruins that were mentioned earlier. Every scene flowed and transitioned smoothly, and the characters and world were designed with a crisp feel that stood out against the screen. While there are a few action scenes in the movie, the plot felt very cerebral and definitely emotional. When paired with the music that was used to fuel the movie itself, it all came together stupendously. The voice acting is executed almost flawlessly, however, I will say that when Shuvi was first introduced she felt very robotic. I mean… she is a robot but I literally had to ask myself if I could put up with her monotone vocal range and speech patterns when she first started speaking. However, it wasn’t long before she adapted and spoke in a manner which gave, even more, feeling to her character.Even though I felt as if part of the plot was predictable, No Game No Life Zero kept me interested from beginning to end. Not only is this definitely a movie I would watch again and recommend, but also a great premise for the entire series as a whole. This movie has actually motivated me to watch the series itself in my spare time.

OUR TAKE

No Game, No Life The Movie: Zero is a great film. It not only delivers an amazing story in an entertaining medium but it is easy to digest. While certain aspects of the film felt predictable, the creative team kind of made fun of themselves for that as well, noted by when Shuvi tells Riku that he will remain a virgin, as she has no orifice for procreation. This is just one example of a scene that caused the entire theatre to erupt in a fit of laughter. This movie is also about the human will to live, as well as discovering the hearts true desires. When the movie was finished, I overheard quite a few other audience members – both men and women – saying how they teared up at different point throughout the movie. I personally felt motivated to live life by my own rules – which was prompted by a scene where Riku comes up with certain rules to abide by while coming up with his master plan of how to end the war. I personally think that everyone should see this movie. It made me think about the world we ourselves live in and the lives we choose to live. It made me question myself “What does my heart desire? What is my wish?”

SCORE
10/10