Anime Review: No Game No Life

No Game No Life has gained pretty high popularity in the anime community. It is a psychological thriller much like Death Note or Code Geass except with a much lighter tone to the whole experience. But does this show deserve to be compared to such great shows in its genre? Or is it just a failure? Let's find out!

STORY
POSITIVES
The way each situation is laid out and plays out gave me feelings similar to the ones i felt while watching Death Note. A show that is widely considered to be among the best. The different races also add to the show with some being better at certain things and having different abilities that affect they way some of the games are played.

STORY
NEGATIVES
The plot is quite un-inspired. The 2 main characters are dropped into a world where everything is determined by the outcome of games. While on the surface this may seem like a very original idea, it is very similar to a show about a certain "King of Games" you may have watched when you were younger. Also the driving force for the plot is not done very well in my opinion with no satisfying conclusion for the actual anime. (Although i bet there is one in the manga)

ART
POSITIVES
The art is very unique! This anime has a color pallet which even extends to the outlines of the characters. Often being a dark purple instead of just solid black. There is also an excellent use of bloom which isn't present in many other animes.

ART
NEGATIVES
This show resorts to loli fanservice in the first few seconds of the first episode. While usually the fanservice in this show isn't too intrusive and most of the time i didn't mind it, this just sets a bad tone as the first time you see Shiro, you see her panties first.

SOUND
POSITIVES
Intense/Cheerful songs mixed with silence for more serious moments works well in this show as the tone of the whole show is rather upbeat. I also quite enjoyed the intro song.

SOUND
NEGATIVES
Nothing Special.

CHARACTER
POSITIVES
The genius duo in this show are quite entertaining to watch. As the show repeatedly says, the duo are one person known as Blank. 2 halves of the same genius. They are so closely tied together in fact, that one cannot function without the other. I found this a very interesting character trait that i rather liked.

CHARACTER
NEGATIVES
All characters besides Blank are rather bland. Once you get past their interesting appearance, there really isn't much that's memorable about any of them.

ENJOYMENT
POSITIVES
I absolutely loved the interesting games that were in the show along with how Blank went about winning each one of them. The shows appeal is not in whether or not Blank will win but HOW they will win and how their opponents will TRY to win.

ENJOYMENT
NEGATIVES
You are taught very quickly that Blank is not going to lose. This takes away from the enjoyment a little bit. The show also doesn't make you feel very invested in the subplot involving the kingdom. You also don't get a satisfying conclusion to the MAIN plot.

OVERALL
If you are interested in a show about psychological warfare similar to Death Note and Code Geass without expecting an incredibly satisfying ending, this is for you. With the exception of the weak story and side characters, This show was a joy to watch!

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One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 Review (from a One Piece fan)

I am a huge One Piece fan. I read the manga, I watch the show in both english sub and dub and I plan to buy merch when I actually get some money to do so. That by no means indicates that this game will easily impress me. Quite the contrary actually. Being a rather big fan of the show, I was incredibly critical of the game. Especially when it came to lore friendly-ness. So did it live up to the name of my favorite show of all time?

Story

The games Legend Log goes through the main parts of the Straw Hat Pirate's adventure. Once you beat a level in Legend Log, you can use any character you unlocked to play that level again in Free Log mode. Along with that, there is also Dream Log mode where you can unlock characters and coins by playing certain pre-made scenarios.

Gameplay

If you played One Piece Pirate Warriors 1 or 2, you pretty much know what to expect. The basic Musou gameplay of wailing on thousands of weaklings and the occasional strong baddie. They have added a few new features this time around. One such feature is the Kizuna Rush system. The Kizuna Rush System involves a bar in your HUD filling up as you fight baddies and lowering when you receive damage. The bar has 3 levels. level 1 doesn't really do anything special but level 2 allows you to summon a team mate to unleash an attack by pressing an extra button at the end of your combos. If you fill the bar all of the way, you can activate Kizuna Rush. With this active, each enemy you defeat gives you “!” (The means by which your characters level up) and “Beli” (The currency of the game). As you level up, you unlock new combos and more power for your characters. Defeating strong characters also gives you a coin of that character which can be used to increase your stats.
Each character has 2 separate kinds of levels. The first kind of level goes up to level 5. Each level unlocks a new thing with the 3^rd and 4^th unlocking character head shots and voice gallery for that character. A very nice touch if you are a hardcore One Piece fan. The second kind of level goes up to level 50. This is what actually increases your characters stats. The level cap can actually be moved up to 100 if you unlock all of the required coins.

Music

The music was a bit lack luster. The songs aren't bad but they aren't really good either. Just kinda meh. Also, right before you start a map, there is an annoying and unneeded 5 second loop of a song that will repeat over and over until you start the game. Why they didn't use one of the many ACTUAL SONGS I will never know.

Graphics

I wasn't expecting breath taking graphics and I got exactly what I was expecting. The graphics are mediocre with the exception of during the cinematic cutscenes. These cutscenes look beautiful and were a treat to view. Not so say they are stunningly realistic. They are beautifully stylized while still keeping faithful to the art style of the show. However, (and this may be because I have the PC version). The character's skin during the comic strip cutscenes look . . . . . really just awful. What is supposed to be sweat is poorly done and just makes the characters look terrible with the sweat textures phasing in and out of their bodies.

Lore Friendliness

I feel as though it is necessary to add in this extra category for this game. I was pleasantly surprised with how well this game stuck to the One Piece lore. From Usopp not being effected by Perona's Negative Hollows to Sanji being very weak against female enemies. Should not disappoint.

Overall

I enjoyed this game and I still play it with over 90 hours played on it. I still have yet to unlock every single character. I have about 5 more to go. I really wish there were certain people I could play as that were only available as support characters. I will not divulge any of the playable characters because I believe part of the fun of playing is discovering who you get to be. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

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