No Game No Life Zero

This story takes place 6,000 years before Sora and Shiro, set in the alternate universe of Disboard. It is a world where, as declared by the God of Games, Teto, all disputes and problems are to be settled through games, and even national borders are drawn not through war but via gameplay. Six thousand years before Teto established the rules of the Disboard universe, the gods leading the various races of this world engaged in constant efforts to become the strongest deity and dominate the world, working alongside their respective races. These endeavors, along with the resulting chaos and wars, severely affected humanity, the weakest race in Disboard, forcing them into a perpetual state of fleeing, hiding, and fighting merely for survival. Riku, who leads the human race in battle, and his companions are constantly forced to track the preparations made by other races for war and seek ways to avoid them. During these expeditions, Riku loses many friends and comrades, leaving him desperate and unsure of what to do. During another expedition, he encounters a member of the ex-machine race. The ex-machines are an extremely powerful race, equipped with robust hardware for both combat and survival. However, they are quite unsuccessful at understanding emotions. Therefore, the ex-machine Riku meets asks him to teach it how to understand emotions, expressing its wish to comprehend the heart, which it believes is the reason such a weak race has managed to survive for so long. Initially stunned by these requests, Riku gives the ex-machine the name Schwi and then accepts its request. Together, they will strive to understand emotions and make this universe more livable for humans. Will our duo succeed? What events will befall them?

Production

The film is directed by Atsuko Ishizuka, just as she was for the anime series. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka voices the main character Riko, while Ai Kayano voices Schwiy. Additionally, Yoko Hikasa voices another main character, Couronne Dola.

Review

The fact that the film depicts events set long before the No Game No Life anime is an important detail, and the absence of Sora and Shiro as the main characters is another element that distinguishes the film from the series. You can access the promotion for the No Game No Life anime here. Thanks to this anime film, many of the questions we had about the series are resolved. The film's execution is truly excellent; the intertwining of drama and action deeply moves the audience. However, I should note that instead of following an event-driven approach like the anime, they chose to drive the story through the characters. Even though the intensity of the action is high, I would say they handled focusing attention on the characters very well. In short, you can expect a full 100 minutes of content.