No Game, No Life Zero

No Game, No Life Zero
Theatrical release poster for the film.
Japanese	ノーゲーム・ノーライフ ゼロ
Hepburn	Nōgēmu Nōraifu Zero
Directed by	Atsuko Ishizuka
Written by	Jukki Hanada
Based on	No Game No Life by Yuu Kamiya
Music by	Yoshiaki Fujisawa
Edited by	Kashiko Kimura
Production company	Madhouse
Distributed by	Kadokawa Animation
Release date	July 15, 2017 (2017-07-15) (Japan)
Running time	105 minutes[1]
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥700 million[2]

No Game, No Life Zero (Japanese: ノーゲーム・ノーライフ ゼロ, Hepburn: Nōgēmu Nōraifu Zero) is a Japanese anime film based on the light novel series No Game No Life by Yuu Kamiya. The film was directed by Atsuko Ishizuka at studio Madhouse. It premiered in Japan on July 15, 2017. The film has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks in the United States, Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand, and by MVM in the United Kingdom.

Plot

Izuna and Tet play a game to wager food. As they continue their next game, Tet tells her of a story from 6000 years ago, during the Great War. The Old Deus have driven humankind to the brink of extinction as war is raged upon the heavens and the earth in their quest to become the One True God. Riku, the leader of humanity's last colony along with his sister Corounne, lets another one of his companions die in a Demonia attack while sourcing for information, plaguing him with nightmares and guilt. The colony is at a loss for what to do with their leader in this state, their reducing numbers, and the frequent battles that endanger their lives around the area.

The next day, Riku returns to an Elvish hideout he found to investigate. There, he stumbles upon an Ex-Machina that requests for procreation in order to understand the human heart, an idea that defies logic. Although he initially refuses, his eyes light up at the prospect of a chess game she challenges him to, despite knowing Ex-Machinae' frightening calculation abilities. Riku loses and they agree to a terms of exchange whereby he gets to take advantage of her logical prowess, and in return she will stay with him and learn about the human heart. With only a designation code assigned to her, Riku names her Schwi, as a short-form for Schwarzer which means "black" in German, after her hair.

Schwi accidentally forces Riku to confront the people he made die. While this causes a quarrel between them it helps her gain a deeper understanding into Riku's personality and helps him face his trauma. Through working together, both realize that they make an incredible team. They devise a plan to break into the core of the planet to achieve the Suniaster, a legendary instrument designed to give the strongest the power of One True God, by utilising the powers generated from the spirit circuit of all the races, and Schwi's machinery to shift its direction.

Riku proposes to Schwi despite the differences in their races and the latter previously destroying the former's last home. When he starts to fall apart though, Schwi decides to acquire the Suniaster herself so that he will not die, inevitably meeting Jibril. A vicious battle ensues and Schwi dies, but remembers to lay the last foundations of their plan by reconnecting with her cluster of Ex-Machina and employing them to help Riku.

Devastated by Schwi's death, Riku forces himself to complete the plan, but his body fails at the last second. He prays aloud to a God of Games he used to play with as a child, to take the Suniaster and end the war. Tet, having spawned from Riku's imagination, grants his wish and changes the world forever.

Returning to the present, Izuna notices remarkable resemblance of Schwi and Riku to Shiro and Sora, and their team being the descendants. Together, they look towards the future, ready to begin the game.

Cast

Production

The film was announced during the MF Bunko J Summer School Festival 2016 event on July 17, 2016.^[4] The film's title was revealed as No Game, No Life Zero on March 3, 2017.^[5] The film was produced primarily by staff returning from the earlier anime television series. It was directed by Atsuko Ishizuka and written by Jukki Hanada, with animation by studio Madhouse.^[5] Satoshi Tasaki designed the series' characters.^[5] The film's music was composed by Yoshiaki Fujisawa^[3] and produced by Kadokawa.^[5] Other returning staff includes Eiji Iwase (art director), Tsukasa Ohira (art setting), Harue Ono (color key artist), Kenji Fujita (director of photography), Shuhei Yabuta (3D director), Kashiko Kimura (editor), Jin Aketagawa (sound director),^[5] Kazuhiro Hocchi (concept art), and Tsukasa Ohira (background art).^[3] Konomi Suzuki, who performed the opening theme for the television anime, also performed the main theme song for the film, "There is a Reason".^[6]

Release

The film premiered in Japan on July 15, 2017.^[7] It was initially screened in 61 theaters before expanding to 178.^[2] It then had a 4DX release in 48 theaters across Japan starting on September 9, 2017.^[8] The film was released on home video in Japan on February 23, 2018.^[2]

On June 12, 2017, Sentai Filmworks announced that they had licensed the film.^[9] Azoland Pictures distributed the film theatrically in the United States,^[10] and it premiered with an English dub at the Los Angeles Anime Film Festival on September 15, 2016, and with English subtitles on September 16, 2017.^[11] It was then released nationwide on October 5, 2017 (English subbed) and October 8, 2017 (dubbed).^[12] Sentai will release the film on home video on August 28, 2018.^[1]

Madman Entertainment licensed the film for release in Australia and New Zealand, screened it with English subtitles at the Madman Anime Festival in Melbourne on November 5, 2017.^[13]

MVM has licensed the film in the United Kingdom, and will release it in 2018.^[14]

Reception

The film opened at number 7 in the Japanese box office,^[15] before dropping to number 10 on its second weekend.^[16] It had grossed ¥500 million as of August 18, 2017,^[17] and ¥700 million as of September 30, 2017.^[2]

According to the Oricon sales charts, the film's limited edition Blu-ray sold 29,586 copies,^[18] while the standard edition Blu-ray sold 6,133 copies^[19] and the standard edition DVD sold 4,068 copies.^[20]

Kim Morrissy of Anime News Network gave the film a positive review, writing that "as a standalone prequel, I couldn't have asked for anything better." He felt that the film was more trimmed-down and succinct than the television series, allowing it to focus more its message about the potential of humanity without the "intrusive fanservice" of the original. He also praised the film's animation, and felt that it was the best work that Atsuko Ishizuka had produced so far as a director.^[21]

Rachel Cheung of the South China Morning Post gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, opining that it would satisfy fans of the original material but would leave newcomers confused.^[22]

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• No Game, No Life Zero (film) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia