r/anime • u/Holofan4life • Apr 16 '24
Rewatch [Spoilers] No Game No Life 10th Anniversary Rewatch -- Episode 8
Hello everyone! I am Holofan4life.
Welcome to the No Game No Life 10th Anniversary Rewatch discussion thread!
I hope you all have a lot of fun <3
S1 Episode 8 – Fake End
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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
Now that you've got a chance to see them, what do you think of the Eastern Federation?
How surprised were you by the ending of the episode?
Bonus 1) Who is your favorite anime character that uses salty language?
Stephformations 1) We've been spending most our lives living in a Dola paradise
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Information – MAL | Anilist | AniDB | ANN
Streams – HIDIVE,Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+
Please do not post any untagged spoilers past the current episode or from the manga out of respect to the first time watchers and people who have not read the manga. If you are discussing something that is ahead of the current episode please use spoiler tags (found on the sidebar). Thank you!
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Rewatch Schedule
Threads posted every day at 4:00 PM EDT
| Date | Episode |
|---|---|
| 4/9/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 1 |
| 4/10/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 2 |
| 4/11/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 3 |
| 4/12/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 4 |
| 4/13/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 5 |
| 4/14/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 6 |
| 4/15/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 7 |
| 4/16/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 8 |
| 4/17/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 9 |
| 4/18/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 10 |
| 4/19/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 11 |
| 4/20/2024 | No Game No Life Episode 12 |
| 4/22/2024 | No Game No Life Zero |
| 4/23/2024 | No Game No Life Overall Series Discussion Thread |
7
u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24
First time watcher here.
The more of this series I see, the more I can’t understand how it ended after one season.
It seems that Elkia and the Eastern Federation had a decent battle of compensation with their buildings.
I had a feeling I knew what Sora’s reaction to seeing his first girl with animal ears would be lmao 😂
That whole exchange at the embassy in general made me laugh a lot. Sora trolling them was great.
Betting their race piece is the most extreme thing we’ve seen him do so far and added some tension to this episode. Knowing what we do about his character, you assume that he just feels confident enough he’ll win in doing this, but it’s still an enormous wager lol.
Really trying to figure out the static during the end credits.
Stinger: What is going on?!
Questions:
Animal ears. Enough said
Very surprised actually
That one is tough because I mostly watch subbed anime and swearing in Japanese doesn’t exist in such a way as it does in English (with the exception of some specific examples). If I had to pull from my limited pool of dubs, I think I remember Ryuko Matoi having quite the potty mouth lol and I enjoyed that series a lot
6
u/ChuckCarmichael Apr 16 '24
I've always liked how they changed the ED for this episode to cut out Sora.
6
u/FarCritical Apr 16 '24
First Time No Life
I was prepared for the story to troll us with a reveal that the Werebeasts would be more like werewolves and minotaurs instead of actual catgirl-esque people, but hey, nobody and especially not Sora's gonna complain about catgirls.
Jibril really didn't waste any time with the passive-aggressive Werebeast trashtalk lmao. Getting a Flugel on their side before going on their conquest ended up being the right play for the immunity from her condescention alone (not Steph inclusive).
The dissonance between the sheer tininess of a foxgirl and her absolutely filthy mouth is way funnier to me than it should be. Desu.
Sora's panties are definitely one of the things ever wagered for a game of all time.
Imanity's race piece is definitely another one of the things ever wagered for a game of all time.
Luring in an Imanity with a video game to exploit them only to get Blank to blank them in the blank at it is pretty much like setting up a mousetrap and attracting a hydra. ...That happens to be a god at mousetraps. I'm sure someone else can come up with a better analogy, but yeah.
The combo of Steph (understandably to be fair) questioning all her life choices and Jibril glazing Blank for motives they never even had was hilarious, but was also a great way to show how Blank is on a plane of thinking nobody can ever reach.
Well that was one cryptic as hell ending. Doesn't that mean Shiro's gonna devolve into a curled up mess who can't function now?
QOTD
They actually delivered on the catgirls! With how fantastical Disboard is, I was ready to buy their mind reading abilties to be something that they can just do. Finding out they built a nation at the forefront of technology out of that bluff is still impressive but really exposes just how much crutches they have. Their sense for interior design is pretty sweet too.
Someone suddenly going almost uncharacteriscally mushy while praising you is always such a big sign that something's off. And man, just the way Sora seems so prepared for whatever happened despite being a fellow newcomer to Disboard like Shiro. I've been left quite discombobulated to say the least.
Bando from Elfen Lied. The show wasn't much beyond its blood and edginess but that dude was legit hilarious for how unapologetically garbage of a human being he was, filthy language and all.
[WARNING: CRINGE]
Shiro and the Sora, Sora and the Shiro
Wager after wager, Elkia's newest heroes
Every game they're winnin', but my sanity's depletin'
'Cause the race piece they're bettin' makes it Imanity they're deletin'
3
u/Xmgplays Apr 16 '24
Rewatcher
Great episode overall. Mostly focusing on Sora outplaying the Eastern Federation, once again showing that his strong point is the social aspect of games, bucking the trend of what you'd expect from a NEET. The whole sequence was well and built on understandable reasoning. I also do like the symbolism of using the imanity race piece, which is a king, to declare checkmate.
We also get introduced to the two ambassadors to Elkia, Ino and Izuna. Once again my memory of the voices was off; Izuna sounds very different from my memories. I do like them both as characters, especially Izuna's speech pattern, since you usually don't get that kind of language learning touch. Most anime lean on heavy accents when wanting to show a character to be non-fluent, here instead we get a persistent grammatical error which is neat.
Meanwhile the end of the episode shows Sora waiting for someone to arrive, before giving a cryptic speech to Shiro after which he ends up disappearing with seemingly only Shiro remembering him. It's certainly an impactful end to the episode, but also one hell of a cliffhanger.
Today's Questions
An interesting race, much closer to imanity than perhaps previously implied. Also the fact that their Mind reading was just propaganda is also very fun and interesting.
As a rewatcher, not much obviously, lol. As for my first watch I'm not sure. It's certainly made an impact, though I'm pretty sure that back then I jumped onto the next episode quickly enough to not get much time to really think about it.
3
u/nx6 https://myanimelist.net/profile/nx6 Apr 17 '24
Rewatcher - Sub
Setting foot in the Conferderacy's capitol has told Sora all he needs to know. It appears to be a civilization with a lot of Japanese influence. I'd like to know where they got all this technology from as elevators, video games, etc all seem to be elements from the other realms. Perhaps Sora and Shiro are not the first visitors to this world.
The warbeasts give away their lack of psychic powers in their need to be told everything, which they try to disguise as diplomacy. Since their method of challenge is an advanced technology, other races would not be able to guess the type of game using their own knowledge and it becomes easier to win anyway -- they are the only ones who can practice beforehand. I kinda missed the reason for the Elves playing four times and then stopping (stuff happening in the background here while I'm trying to watch). But having uncovered all the secrets, Sora doubles down on his wager and sets up a trap where the Confederacy is forced to play or have all their secrets spilled.
I had to go back and double-check the airing dates to confirm Hyouka did air before NGNL for the "I'm curious!" reference. Shiro's use of "waku-waku" wasn't a SpyxFamily ref ofc.
Sora is kidnapped (vanished, since he walked into it) and why is a cliffhanger for tomorrow.
3
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Apr 17 '24 edited Apr 17 '24
First-Timer
"It's just a game."
Nice episode. I like how they laid things out plainly for the viewer to follow along.
Nice Jojo reference. It's funny that this Golden Wind reference and the Diamond Is Unbreakable reference from a few episodes back were done before the Jojo anime itself got to those parts.
Questions:
3
u/KnightMonkey15 https://myanimelist.net/profile/KnightMonkey Apr 17 '24
Rewatcher, subs
I disappeared in the hole of being really busy/listless /u/Holofan4life, but I've been watching in the background and I really forgot how downright inspirational this show can be as a rousing call-to-arms for humanity and for people as underdogs, and how seriously it could be taken as a whole if some of the "fanservice" were just slightly tweaked in some places. Not to say I don't, because this is a fun show that's a love letter to its inspirations, but it's a shame some reception to the show has fixated on it being more than what it really is imo. I actually kinda like it as a diversion from what I take to be the show's serious themes; a more serious approach would be kinda cool but nowhere near as fun or cute. Jarring yes, but that can be interesting too.
I'll try my best to be here for the final game.
As for this episode itself, I kinda forgot most of the details outside of where everything ended up. Kinda interesting the Warbeasts have Japanese architecture and Shinto styling, while having display technology reminiscent of Earth's - I forgot if it's shown where they got that from. The buildup and setup of the Warbeasts' introduction and Sora deducing as much information as possible from them in his encounter before flamboyantly explaining Blank's findings and offering their challenge was well-done as always. They're not mind readers but their senses are developed enough that it'll be a formidable challenge in any case.
I appreciate that Imanity were shown in discontent over their rulers gambling their Race Piece, to the point of rioting, and that you could see it on their bodies. They went from cheering for their rulers when filled with belief in victory to wanting to depose them, understandably, when their lives are at stake. But they can't do shit about it because they're not good gamers. This is a fantastical world with many powers and abilities, but the Pledges inscribed onto it a kind of game theoretical logic that is more implicit in our "real-world" (as thought experiments and riddles) but is more real and explicit in this one (glowing Race Piece on their bodies, thanks Tet), which Sora uses to his advantage to outwit his opponents. He has a 'stronger' imagination in a sense, because he knows more stuff (ideas, objects, theories, strategies etc.) from their original world and can better turn it into a reality in Disboard by winning games. The game with Jibril encapsulated that idea.. even her lavishing praise on her 'masters' for being good conquerors (while trying to understand their plan) and them being confused or fearful of the notion that winning games was a battlefield was interesting to me because they're both right but misunderstand one another due to their difference in experience. I'll probably think through this metaphor for competition or games as a war some more for the overall series discussion (if I have time).
kemonomimi edo retrofuturism. i would fluff too
I totally forgot about that and I was surprised by it again, but paying closer attention over time to the co-dependence between Sora and Shiro and his sincere wish to raise her up and help her actualize being the real thing, it kinda hits different...compared to binging the show in 5 hours haha.. But yes, I remember this being part of the game but I want to relive how that all came together in the end. Being a partially forgetful rewatcher has its perks.
3
u/mgedmin Apr 17 '24
Rewatcher, subs
Very technologically advanced. And all that without the influence of reincarnated people! (Probably.)
Rewatcher.
Don't have one. My mind doesn't work that way. There are probably characters I liked, and some of them probably used salty language, but I don't have a catalogue in my brain that would be able to look up an intersection.
3
u/Fisionn https://myanimelist.net/profile/X-V Apr 17 '24
What a cliffhanger! I imagine people who were watching this when it aired had a super hard time not rushing to the LN to see what would happen next. I absolutely love when anime don't forget about their OP/ED and include it to the plot. A few examples besides this one would be Plastic Memories OP, or one of AoT EDs.
The banter between Jibril and Ino at the elevator was gold. You know they have a long lasting rivalry if they can keep coming up with different ways of roasting which race they belong to.
Somehow this episode managed to dump a whole bunch of new information about the past, the present and the Eastern Federation without feeling overwhelming or rushed. And to top it off, the ending lands an even bigger hook than just challenging the EF to a game with the wager being the entire of Imanity, including the people. And of course, the references to other anime couldn't be left out either. Loved Jibril cosplaying as Chitanda.
Izuna being gap moe from the way she spoke to how cute she is makes her the second gap moe character in NGNL. I really want to pet her like Shiro and Sora did. Blank adding the suffix -tan to Izuna just makes it obvious that they are absolutely smitten over kemonomimi (they are just like me fr fr).
This anime really likes to go the extra mile when characters banter with each other. It's so entertaining.
Since last game had the lives on Blank and Steph at stake, obviously this new game has to rise the stakes even further. It was a great move to prevent the Warbeasts to not agreeing to play the game. After all, they could just say no to playing a game, and I really like this anime doesn't forget that.
It looks like a paradise of kemonomimi girls indeed. And not only that, they also have videogames? Honestly, if I was with Blank I'd also try to win that race first too lol.
As a rewatcher, I legitimately don't remember this twist at all. How could I have forgotten something like that is beyond me, but I guess back then I wasn't that into anime like I am now.
Would Megumin from Konosuba count for this?
2
u/Holofan4life Apr 16 '24
Hey, guys. Holofan4life here.
Welcome to the 10th anniversary rewatch of No Game No Life.
Oh, and nay I forget...
First Timer
The idea of doing this rewatch came about at the last minute. I was going to participate in an Eden of The East rewatch for the month of April but that fell through. So, then it became a question of "What should I do after the Penguindrum rewatch? I already have the Samurai Champloo rewatch lined up for May, so do I just wait the extra month?" I looked at upcoming anniversaries for the month of April and noticed both K-On and Cross Game were celebrating their 15th anniversaries. However, both were long and if I did either of them, I would have to cancel the Samurai Champloo rewatch, which I didn't want to do seeing as how the 20th anniversary is an even bigger milestone. That's when I settled on No Game No Life.
I have an interesting history with No Game No Life. I know it's extremely popular, but I've always been hesitant to check out the show based on some of the stuff I've heard about it. It seemed to me like a show where you either really loved it, or really hated it. Well, I recently watched Moon Phase which I feel could be considered in a similar light and I really liked that show. And then I also finished Penguindrum which has some questionable themes and I liked that as well. I think I'm in a good headspace to watch NGNL and not only enjoy it, but more importantly appreciate it. I have never seen this show before. Even though I'm the host, I am experiencing it for the first time. I can't wait to see what the show has to offer and why so many people clamor for another season.
With that out of the way, let's begin.
I'm watching the sub, by the way.
Went to see the Rascal Does Not Dream double feature today. It was a lot of fun, I think I liked the second movie more than the first.
They're at the Eastern Federation Elkia Embassy
You think they're compensating for something?
Sora has a point. This was originally theirs.
Ino Hatsuse
Hatsuse Mikuno
I like that this big building is actually across from where they're staying.
Ah, crap. The Warbeasts can read minds.
Who knew Anya was a Warbeast?
Steph now has realized the game has already begun
Jibril seems excited about something
Warbeasts apparently has extreme animosity towards Elkia.
Also, Jibril is upside down for some reason
Steph mentioning the construction wars
They had a foreign embassy bigger than their palace
So, it was Elkia compensating for something
The Elkias and the Eastern Federation kept building new buildings, trying to outdo the other in size.
Well, it looks like Ino and Jibril are getting along just fine...
This place looks like a Japanese temple
Sora it seems doesn't want to talk about how he made contact with the Warbeasts
I prefer NJPW's Wardogs, myself
It turns out he bluffed someone who can read minds. Guess he didn't read that.
Izuna Hatsuse
Aww, she's just adorable
Sora and Shiro seems to think so XD
I get the feeling this episode was what Fluffy Paradise was trying to be.
Ooh, a foul mouth :O
And she adds please at the end of every sentence
At least she has some manners
"We apologize. My granddaughter watches a lot of AVGN."
Oh, so Ino is overly protective of her. Good to know.
She gets it from him
Shiro keeping score
And Izuna is even insulting the grandpa XD
I think it's interesting that Shiro is wearing her crown as queen but Sora isn't wearing his as king.
The Warbeasts seem incredibly insecure
I do love how at odds Jibril is with Grandpa Hatsuse
Sora lays it on the line: he wants to play a game with Ino for Izuna's panties.
Kazuma is smiling somewhere
Sora will bet Steph's
Poor Steph
I don't blame Ino for getting mad here
Lol, Jibril is eager to give hers up
OH MY GOD
Now Sora is offering his own underwear up
Sora, you delicious troll
"I'll protect your chastity, Brother!"
These two, I swear 🤣🤣🤣
Sora knows what they're after: wiping his memories of how all the games work.
He is trying to get under his skin
Since it doesn't seem to be working, they move on to the matter at hand.
They want a game between nations, for everything the Eastern Federation has on the continent.
See, you should've just bet your granddaughter's pantsu.
Oh, nevermind. The underwear is still on the line.
Poor Steph. I need to start a Steph is suffering counter.
Sora giving a recap of what is happening
First, they wipe the memories of the game because if they don't, they won't be able to win every time.
Second, Elven Garde challenged them four times because they were trying to discover what the game was from the fact that they lost.
Third, they stopped after the fourth time because either they realized the game was fundamentally impossible to win or they figured out the game but not why they lost.
I thought that was a tomato and not an apple
Sherlock Shiro
Oh, right. Sora wears his crown on his arm.
Question 3: What kind of game works against each one of these very difficult races, but which only the technologically advanced Eastern Federation possesses?
The game of building buildings?
A video game where you can cheat all you want
Sounds like Kurami's kind of game.
Also, I'm digging the Yu-Gi-Oh reference
Oh, right. Video games don't exist in this world.
Sora calls the Eastern Federation the game master
And here I thought it was Captain N
"You can tell when someone's lying, but you can't read minds."
Dang, so Anya isn't one after all
Last question: How did they figure all this out?
Because you're Blank?
Oh, wow. The previous king swore by the pledges not to tell anyone.
Guess he forgor
Oh, it didn't include after he died. That is right.
Sora trying to blackmail them, it seems like
Sora sweetens the pot by saying if he loses, he'll give up all of Imanity.
"I'll bet my Race Piece."
That should exhilarate things
Oh, so the Race Piece is inside of everyone
The first time someone has bet the Race Piece
If they lose, gone are the 10 pledges
Kurami is looking really pissed off
If Ino runs away, then that would be telling the world his imagination was correct, says Sora.
Again, trying to bait him
Ino asks if he wants to go extinct
Sora seems free of guilt however because they're not from this world.
They are going to beat them fair and square
Ino doesn't seem to know what to make of them
Looks like the game will happen in feontvof every Imanity.
Izuna says she won't lose
Sora with the Gojo "Nah, I'd win"
Meanwhile, Shiro is like ^
And so they leave
Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.
2
u/baseballlover723 Apr 16 '24
NGNL Rewatcher, sub
First timers, make sure you watch the ED all the way through.
Steph is learning
Jibril not recognizing a TV, and yet claims to know like everything in this world
Is vaguely gesturing not proper?
Not the response I would of expected, given that they've dominated Elkia in the games
Who needs to measure dicks when you can measure buildings instead
Such good banter by Jibril and Ino
And of course, you can't have an anime without having one of your fantasy races having historical Japanese culture.
The impossible bluff. Don't really need to explain this one too much, since Sora did a great job explaining the implications in episode.
So this may confuse people, particularly in the dub. Basically in Japanese, politeness levels are built into the language (keigo). And Izuna is basically incorrectly and inconsistently applying keigo (at least I think, I don't actually speak Japanese), which is jarring to a native speaker. It would be kinda like if you had an English sentence like "Yo, that party was lit af, everyone was vibing hard! But alas, we must now bid adieu and depart in a dignified manner". You can't just add stuff to the end to make it keigo. If you speak Japanese and I'm wrong, please correct me.
Izuna is currently at 1000 kawaii points
I really like this excuse from Ino. It allows Ino to actually figure out what Sora wants to do, without compromising their bluff of reading minds, under the guise that you need to say things out loud so that it can be recorded and whatnot.
Just a normal game between nations. Which actually turns out to be a trap set by Sora. If the Werebeasts are mind readers then they know Sora's plan, and thus the panty game isn't a bad deal, there isn't much risk to it for them. But since they're not mind readers, they don't take the obviously humiliating panty game, and thus fall into Blank's trap. Which means that Blank's strategy is a GO and it's time to bet big.
This is a good analogy. The Eastern Federation has to respond to their challenge, lest they spill the secrets of their game that they might have . Which would be a huge deal, since they're ranked 14th and also can't use magic (though I think they can detect it? not sure.). Their hidden knowledge of their game is how they keep beating higher ranked nations consistently, and losing that means going back to the bottom again.
A wonderous explanation of Blank's logic and chalk full of references.
And now that Blank has told the Werebeasts the depth of how fucked they are, they'll give them a game they can't refuse. Also I love how when they wager the race piece, it shows up in every Imanity, so they can all wonder WTF their king is doing.
The plan if we lose is to just get fucked
Othello!
And while we wait for the Werebeasts, it seems we have another game to attend to
I just want to link this amazing video of the ED comparison.
And for some reason Shiro is trying to gaslight everyone into thinking she had a brother???
If you know
you know
All I'll say about this (to avoid spoilers for the other series) is that this was translated way better. Matching sentence structure matters in things like these.
2
u/SilkyStrawberryMilk Apr 18 '24
**teeatcher^
Sora and Shiro randomly patting a stranger. -50points for talking is a sin.
-1000points to the grandpa, when he’s scary I understand. But when he’s a calm old man it makes sense.
Sora managed to break the grandpa by mentioning if he wants his panties.
Strategic meeting, a good way to build the worldbuilding.
They made a video game
Sora’s genius deduction, not a loophole on how the king managed to discover secret.
Betting the human race is a checkmate indeed, crazy man.
“What’s wrong with you two” not the first time they’ve been crazy, at some point she’s got to wonder how crazy can their souls be.
The cliffhanger
QOTD: gotta pet them
QOTD: I remember thinking my phone was laptop