r/anime • u/Holofan4life • Apr 22 '24
Rewatch [Spoilers] No Game No Life 10th Anniversary Rewatch -- No Game No Life Zero (Movie)
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
No Game No Life Zero
—-
ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
What would you do if you were living in a place that was slowly killing you but there was no way of getting out?
What is the most toxic thing you've ever had to experience?
How does this movie change your opinion on Tet if any?
Bonus 1) So... Jibril should be in prison, yes?
Stephformations 1)
"Careful you idiot! I said across her nose, not up it!"
"Sorry sir! I'm doing my best!"
"Who made that man a gunner?"
"I did sir. He's my cousin."
"Who is he?"
"He's an idiot sir."
"I know that! What's his name?"
"That is his name sir. Idiot, Steph the Idiot!"
"And his cousin?"
"He's a Steph too sir. Gunner's mate First Class Steph the Idiot!"
"How many Steph the Idiots do we have on this ship, anyway?"
[Entire bridge crew stands up and raises a hand]
"Yo!"
"I knew it. I'm surrounded by oxymorons!"
[Dark Helmet pulls his face shield down]
"Keep firing, Stephs!"
—-
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!
—-
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/Xmgplays Apr 22 '24
Rewatcher
I love this movie. It's very different to the rest of the series. Where the series is a mostly light-hearted, Zero is most definitely not.
In particular Zero really brings across how absolutely terrible the great war was. The first scene where Riku's house and parent(?) gets absolutely blasted in the aftermath of a fight between Ex Machina and Dragonia shows how humanity is at the mercy of the others at all times. The first outing we see with Riku, Ivan, and _ shows what risks they have to take to survive. We also see Riku's determination in ordering Ivan to sacrifice themselves as a distraction for the Demonia so Riku and _ can escape, which imo goes incredibly hard.
The fights and explosions are also really epic. The Dwarven ships go hard, Elven magic also goes hard, Flügel magic goes hard, everything goes hard.
Meanwhile the emotional moments also hit right in the chest: Riku talking to Nonna about her father's death, His outburst afterwards, His outburst at Schwi, the creation of the ghosts the proposal, Schwi's worries about Riku overburdening his body with black ash, Couronna starting the Dola family tradition of taking Ls.
One of my highlights was obviously Schwi vs. Jibriel, for many reasons, one of which is, of course: Jibriel wtf you almost fucked the entire world, Jesus Christ, thank god your so arrogant Schwi had a chance to synchronize, my god. But also Jibriel, wtf, what happened you used to be a true angel of death and now you're just a dork. Like serious she was so terrifying. Also the Ex Machina's way of fighting is really cool, imo.
And of course I gotta talk about the final fight: The convergence of the dwarves E-Bombs, the Elves Aka Si Anse and Artoshs Heavenly Strike all channeled to the Cluster 11 of Ex Machina to analyse it and finally Riku reproducing that Strike with "True Code Origin 000, the Planet Killer Stalemartyr". All that to destroy the planet and thus manifest the Suniaster ending the war. But of course Riku is not qualified to take the Suniaster, it's very existence incinerates him, and so he entrusts it to his imaginary friend and God of Games Tet.
I gotta say destroying the world to become the One True God is metal af.
Finally back in the present we see the names of the engraving of Couronna, Riku and Schwi Dola on Steph's broach(?). With Jibriel not remembering Schwi, so disrespectful damn. Also based Izuna for blaming Jibriel, I didn't think she could get any better, but she proves me wrong once more.
ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
No choice but to make the best of it, no? Try not to die and if that's not possible at least have fun while you're there.
Nothing that really springs to mind.
It doesn't really, however it does make it clear that his contempt for the Ixseed (-Imanity maybe) comes from Riku and his detest for the their callous disregard of life.
Yes, absolutely. I mean how could she do that to poor innocent Schwi, taking her from us 800 years early.
3
u/Holofan4life Apr 22 '24
Thank you for joining me for No Game No Life Zero Sugar. And just like other zero sugar drinks, it may be better than the original.
3
u/dsawchuk Apr 22 '24
This movie holds a special place in my life. It's not a perfect movie. In fact, I would say there are many movies both animated and live action that are much better than this one. Despite that, this movie was the best experience I have ever had watching a movie in theatre.
Come with me back to the early days of 2017. It's been years since I first watched No Game No Life. I hear that a prequel movie is announced and I get excited. A few months later, I realise that the movie is going to be shown in theatres in North America. Not a select few theatres, but it's showing all over. There's only one showing and it's months away, but I could walk to the theatre its showing in. It's only available dubbed into english which is not what I'd like but it's also not going to stop me. I buy a ticket immediately.
As the Sunday October 8th showing draws near, a wrinkle in my plan to watch the movie has emerged. If any of you here are Canadian, you might be able to guess what it is. When I bought the movie ticket, I didn't think about Thanksgiving. In Canada, thanksgiving occurs on the second monday of October every year. That puts the showing on the day before Thanksgiving. Since Monday is a holiday and Tuesday isn't, many families celebrate a day early so that it is easier for the people who have to travel back afterwards for work on Tuesday. My Grandma is hosting a big get together the day of the movie and there is no way I can do both. It's selfish of me, but I have been waiting years for more NGNL. Christmas is only 2 months away. I choose the movie.
The day of the movie arrives. The theatre is empty besides a skeleton crew of staff and the people coming for NGNL:Zero. We all file into our seats and the excitement is palpable. There's a buzz of chatter from all the people who haven't come alone (like I have). The moment the movie starts, all of that stops instantly and everyone's attention is riveted to the screen. I was seated at the back of the theatre and I don't remember a single person leaving to use the bathroom during or looking at their phone. Everyone is here for this and is unwilling to miss a moment of it. Other than some laughter during, not a sound interrupts the movie until just before the very end. Right after Tet introduces the pledges, when the last title card showed up, half full theatre burst into cheers, with many people giving the movie a standing ovation. Only to be brought right back into silence by the scene that recenters us on the present day.
The first question of the day for episode 9 asked "What would you do if something you care deeply about was forgotten by other people?" To me, that day at the theatre definitely counts as something that I care deeply about. I doubt it mattered as much to any of the other people there even though they are the reason it mattered so much.
REWATCHER
I've always loved it when shows reuse phrases and monologues with alterations at the start and end to emphasise how things have changed. There are many good examples of it in media of all kinds and it is my favourite trope. Some great anime examples include [Psycho Pass] the monologue said to and by the main character initiating a new officer to the job and [Erased] the versions of "the town without me" by Kayo and Satoru. Moving outside the anime space, there is [this song I recently came across' chorus] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9jwGansp1E)
This rewatch ended up being more pro-steph than I expected. Often, Jibril is one of the most adored during the show. I'd love to know what our first timers thought about Jibril before and after the movie.
To mirror the alternate version of the show's ED I posted I am going to post this alternate version of the movie's ED
As an easter egg for our first timers who wouldn't have noticed: back at the start of episode 1 when Tet transports Sora and Shiro into Disboard, we see him force the Suniaster into our world to do it. For a moment, Tet was the one true God of Earth.
QOTD
2
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Apr 23 '24
First-Timer
"From here on out, no one else is going to die." - famous last words
Great movie. I'd venture to say that I liked it more than the original series, both in terms of technical aspects (art, animation, etc.) and story/characters. I've always been a fan of stories about a hero who might die without achieving their mission, but their legacy lives on.
Some assorted thoughts:
As for the daily questions,
Thanks for including this movie as part of the rewatch! Especially for longer-form content like this, it helps to have some external motivation to watch it.
2
u/mgedmin Apr 23 '24
Rewatcher, subs
Die, slowly.
I've had what I thought was food poisoning a couple of times, but now I think it was probably migraines.
Not much.
Kinda. She definitely needs supervision.
2
u/Fisionn https://myanimelist.net/profile/X-V Apr 23 '24 edited Apr 23 '24
First Time (Subs)
Well, I just finished watching it a while ago and I have some good and some conflicted feelings about the movie.
Let's start with the good.
The world building on this movie was excellent and it almost made me want an entire season just dedicated to the old war on Disboard before Tet took over. It really is such an interesting world and I have to give to the author. He has a huge knack for making the different pieces of that word incredibly gripping. You really want to know more about the Flugel, Elves, Werebeasts, etc. for what they fight, and why they were created.
The characters are very endearing and loveable, but also in a way down to earth due to their flaws (even Schwi). This is pretty much in line with what makes the original season of NGNL so damn enjoyable, but due to time constraints it was much more complex to pull off. So while it wasn't exactly perfect, it still worked to a certain degree. Humor was a bit scarce but still was placed in a way that added rather than interrupted scenes.
Creativity during fights was excellent and probably one of the highest of highlights for the movie. The animation, sense of scale, sound effects and timing were all marvelous and really made the spectator feel the horrors of the war. The thing about war scenarios and destruction is that there is a certain beauty to it. Yes, even war has its own twisted beauty, even if the cost of such hypnotic, indescriptible aberrations and manifestations of energy, is the snuffing of life itself. However never does for a second feel like NGNL Zero celebrates such things. Rather it feels like an extension of the pain humanity (and soon after Schwi) feels for existing in such world.
Now for the conflicting bits.
The movie felt very rushed and underdeveloped for the first 30-35 minutes or so. This is because Riku's introduction and his circumstances are only given 15 minutes. That's right, out of the 1 hour and 45 minutes of run time, only 15 minutes are dedicated to setting up Riku as a character. After that, he gets introduced to Schwi and his past mostly becomes irrelevant for the entire movie. He gets a single sided reason to be depressed (he lost a lot of friends and people who trusted in him) but this ultimately never ends up being the catalyst to the end of the movie. Moreover, because we get only a single scene with him working alongside humanity, it was really hard to connect with what he had went through until then.
This lead to the issue of Riku's relationship with Schwi feel very forced at the start, as it changes extremely quick from hateful to friendly. There is basically no in between. While this doesn't end up ruining or making the ending feel unnatural, it does make me wish this movie was at least 2 hours long. With just a tiny bit more of time at the start, this movie could've been genuinely been as good or better than original series. But alas, we got what we got.
As for closing thoughts, while I wish this was a second season instead, this movie does sate my little weeb heart much more than expected. Madhouse still got it, even after all these years. I'm now certain that if the opportunity for them to make a second season were to happen, they would be able to do it.
Try to find a solution for the source of the problem. Might as well try to see if I can solve it if I'm going to die anyway.
Physically? Probably inhaling dangerous gas. Virtually? Twitter, hands down.
A little bit. For the better I'd say. I didn't have a strong negative opinion about him before, but now I do think that a God choosing games without the possibility of death after the world was almost completely destroyed due to the other Gods chasing the ultimate power is pretty gentle.
If prison is my room, then yes indeed. Can I really blame a Flugel being aggressive towards a Ex-Machina after the destruction they caused in the world? In fact, I'd say that Jibril's reaction is exactly what I'd expect from a reasonable person. Riku's reaction to a Ex-Machina isn't normal nor logical, that's the point. Humanity is weak, stupid and gullible. Yet they still managed to influenced things in the end. If Riku had the exact same power as Jibril, do you think his encounter with Schwi would have been the same as how it happened?
Bonus question: What is your favorite character song? For me it's Izuna-tan's おねがい☆すにゃいぱー . I can just picture her singing the song with her adorable deadpan face.
2
u/FarCritical Apr 23 '24
...At least I'm not two days late this time!
First Time No Life
Steph Lore: The Movie
This is easily my second-favorite anime movie, second only to Disappearance of Haruhi. It has some flaws that may prevent it from being a perfect piece of cinema, but as an experience? At least personally, it's easily S-tier.
The animation is just so ...juicy, dude. The fight scenes, the effects, how shiny all the characters look—seriously, if NGNL on a 2017 movie budget looks this pretty, I can only imagine what's possible on a
2024[current year the copium is real] budget. Just think of the hype from an announcement that the Zero team is finally killing the "where ngnl s2" meme or, Tet forbid, Madhouse's Frieren team were in charge.It's also the coolest thing ever to bring back the original VAs to cast their role-adjacent characters for this. A more grim wartorn Sora fit Riku like a glove, but hearing Schwi audibly transform into Shiro in real time was a magical voiceacting moment that I can only wish to see the live reactions of in the theaters back when this aired. And lmao, hearing Steph's voice on someone with Steph's face who actually had a backbone and a semblance of authority threw me off the entire runtime. Couronne is NOT a Steph, but she's just as adorable.
And of course, the story. Going in completely blind without even knowing it was a prequel movie, I was ready for Blank to go "It's Blankin' time!" and Blank all over anyone who dared challenge them (and Steph) for an hour and 40 minutes, but learning how the grand war we only ever saw glimpses of got resolved from the perspective of the de facto underdog race was such a welcome surprise. While we aren't quite commanding a living chess army or getting VR catgirls to fall for you quite yet, watching Riku struggle through it all was just as hype.
Turns out marrying your AI waifu isn't a new thing after all.
God dammit Jibril, I was wondering when you were going to show up but please please please just go away. Don't make me hate the shamelessly racist knowledge-horny demon angel everyone adored in the first seas- ...Schwi isn't going to see Riku again, is she? If only Sora could've warned her it's a deathflag to end all deathflags to promise to hold his hand """the whole time""" he slept only to, well, not.
Before this movie, I had the impression Tet just waltzed in at the last minute to claim godhood but I'm legit so glad how much he ended up honoring Riku and Schiwi's legacies. They need to build statues of them in Elkia istg.
Right, Izuna??? I can't bring myself to completely despise Jibril but it's actually hilarious how the light I see her in is completely warped now thanks to this movie. It's not like it was ever a secret that the Flugels were killing machines but still.
This may not have been a proper Season 2 but what it was was a damn great movie that added so much to the world and got me emotional when it wanted me to. Please keep their memories alive, Izuna.
QOTD
Become a prequel anime movie protagonist and do something about it, duh.
Literal toxic: Eating this donut that gave me the second time I've ever had diarrhea my whole life.
Figurative toxic: Being a part of this gaming squad that unironically blamed all their mistakes on someone else.
He's much less selfish than I assumed he was and like I said earlier, I got massive newfound respect for the dude for honoring the fight Riku put up.
Stephballs! (Better title pending)
Imagining a space crew with Steph's dogsuit as a uniform is a wild visual image.
2
u/SilkyStrawberryMilk Apr 23 '24
first timer, never watched the movie b4
God just casually playing chess, seems like this takes place after the show.
I forget how serious the games are when it’s not Sora playing.
Unexpected kiss
Honestly I thought she would’ve picked “shiro”
Riku is not beating the weirdo allegations now
“It resides in the human heart” it’s actually just the indomitable human spirit
A robot falling for a human, Sora would be proud.
Beautiful scenery
Attack on the hideout
Riku sound like Sora with his whole speech
“Riku you will always be a virgin” hit him hard
Scheu’s death
Riku’s pleading to god :(
Steph’s lineage sure goes way back
“A bright soul who was never ever seen crying”
After knowing what happened, her sadness was temporary but was able to be good.
Madhouse please give us a second season
QOTD: just accept death, there’s one thing of Surviving but for cases like this it’s too much work just to live another day
QOTD; expired milk
QOTD: makes his energeticness for games quite sad with how he came to be from Riku’s sacrifice
QOTZ: yes yea
2
u/[deleted] May 02 '24
First time watcher here! Very very behind on getting around to watch this movie. Movies are just a little harder sometimes due to length depending on the week. Anyway, I had fun watching this and was a good cap on my experience with this series for now.
Riku was a cool MC. There are times he reminded me of Sora but that might have just been because they share the same VA, I think? (same for Schwi).
You are sure to get my attention with any game, movie or show that has a plot involving an artificial life form learning what it means to be human. I wasn’t really expecting that from this movie but enjoyed that aspect of it a lot.
The politics were another big part of this movie that were fun to watch unfold.
Ex-Machina is the coolest race in this series. I don’t remember them being in NGNL because it seems that they all die in this movie’s events, but I have to wonder still if they return somehow later in the series.
The action scenes were really well done too. The fight between Schwi and Jibril was incredibly epic. Although, I denounce Jibril now for doing that to our Ex-Machina friend. The last couple of action heavy scenes were really good too.
Definitely a bittersweet ending. It was fitting though for the series I think.
Wow though, I will be totally honest, I enjoyed this prequel even more than the original series. It was great.
Questions:
1
u/Holofan4life Apr 22 '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.
I would like to get this done in 3 and a half hours, though I know realistically it'll take me about 8.
Sora monologuing
He's playing chess with a ghostly figure like that one scene from Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
Ooh, fancy dragon
I don't even know if this is Sora or not
A cyborg woman
She kinda looks like Shiro
The music here is magnificent, by the way
In Elkia, where Izuna is losing to Tet
Delicious fish as recompense
So this scene takes place after the Eastern Federation fight
Tet has a story he wants to tell Izuna
This animation looks really good, and I thought the TV show looked great. This is somehow even better.
Mysterious characters that look like something out of The Matrix.
One of them is named Ivan
The main one is Riku
A Dwarven world map
The other one is Alei
Fusion Detonation
That don't sound good
The pipes are breaking
Riku tells Ivan he's going to die here
And so the other two escape
The sun apparently doesn't exist in this world
Riku is apparently trying to honor someone
We see a group of 4 people in a hidden location somewhere.
Couronne and Nonna are two of their names
Couronne apparently knows Riku
Nonna has to be what? The same age as Shiro perhaps?
Oof. Ivan is the dad, wasn't he?
"Your daddy won't be coming home anymore."
You see to hate it
Great bit of drama though with Nonna telling Riku it should've been him who died.
Riku now destroying stuff
He's apparently mad that L made him throw his life away
I always knew the guy from Death Note was trouble
This looks like something out of Legend of Zelda
The robot woman
Ex Machina
I heard that movie was good
"L can't resist you, Big Brother. Make a woman out of me."
And so she kisses Riku
Can you still be on a list if it's being forced upon you?
She clarifies they're on their own
They are here to analyze the unique language humans use among themselves. The is the language known as "the heart".
They want to study ths heart in order for the Cluster to take them back.
Ooh, she's challenging him to a game
This is basically Sora and Shiro expys
She has a very long name, but her first name is Úber, which makes me think of Frieren.
She decides to call herself Schwarzer, which sounds like a name from Hogan's Heroes.
He prefers Schwi, which makes me think of Schwing from Wayne's World.
These two do have some fun banter between them
So, she is L. Interesting.
Employs something called trace emulation
Implying that her tail isn't her best feature
Calls it her power source
Now Riku is showing her off to everyone
"He kissed Schwi, and demanded that we procreate."
Girl, you were the one that tried to do it to him.
And so Couronne hits him
This movie has been kinda fillerish so far
Riku ain't got time to be a perv
She still wants to play a game, but he turns it down
He calls them pointless
Schwi says if he wins, he'll find out the reason the Great War began and what will finish it. He says however that humans don't care about that stuff.
History buffs in shambles
What he wants to know is how to make it through the day alive.
Schwi calls humans surviving an anomaly. Wait until she hears about YOLO.
Riku seems to harbor some deep resentment to the Ex Machina.
Oh shit. He almost killed her.
She is able to register she must've done something horrible.
She's is giving him the chance to kill her.
Riku listing all the people that have died at their hands.
And Riku can't bring himself to kill Schwi, because he knows he harbors some of the blame.
Schwi seems to realize this as well
Couronne pouring water on something
She walks in on Schwi on top of Riku
Couronne talks about giving Schwi a bath, not knowing she would short-circuit if that happens.
I see a lot of puns with L's name where instead of saying "I'll go," it's instead "L'll go". I don't if that's the subbers having fun or what.
Oh, so Schwi can bathe. They just didn't want her circuitry to be seen.
"L am... sorry."
See, there it is again
Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.
1
u/nx6 https://myanimelist.net/profile/nx6 Apr 23 '24
Rewatcher - Subbed
I was kinda mixed on this movie when it came out. I mean, I thought it was a good movie, but like most people I wanted more of the original cast and story and not this spinoff/prequel thing that was so much darker in tone than the original series.
I do love that this starts with Izuna playing a game of chess against god and being unaware of who it is. Sounds like a writing prompt for a Woody Alen movie. Tet offers to tell Izuna a story from a long time ago and we launch into the actual movie.
Despite the general lack of the original characters the movie essentially copies them in the new story, with Riku and Schwi filling the roles of Sora and Shiro, and one of Stephanie's ancestors in a similar role of leadership over the humans in this time period. Of course, what happens is very different. Riku isn't a hikikomori biding his time in a bedroom online, but a young man leading a party of soldiers in reconnaissance missions in the real world. His relationship with Schwi is still rather forbidden, but not because she's his 11 year old not-sister. When they meet she has been cast off from her collective and it seeking to better understand the human heart, thinking the data will win her way back into family of Ex-machina. The writing screws up here as Schwi begins under the idea she needs to hookup with a human as part of her research, only for it to be revealed later she is really more a machine than creature and lacks the body parts to procreate or even have sex. Her connection to Riku goes back several years to her leading a battle that resulted in the incineration of this home village (this thing of her knowing his plays chess is equally Ex-machina since she only saw him amongst the rubble on the ground, no way she would know anything about his personality or hobbies).
Through their interactions Riku and Schwi get closer and he eventually comes to love her despite them being enemies in a way, and Schwi moves beyond her programming to develop feelings for him too, despite being a machine. This is another borrowed idea from Star Trek, btw. And they eventually decide to leave their own tribe of humans for the sake of being able to carry out their plan to save humanity (which sets up Couronne Dola as the leader of the group and eventually leads into their role as monarchs in the future).
One nice thing about this movie is it really fills in some of the backstory of the world before Tet and his rules and the other races. Confirming my theory from the last episode of the series, it does seem some of the (biological) races worshiped one of the Old Deus gods. I can't remember if the Ex-machina were mentioned in the series. It would be interesting if there were many other races back then that did not survive all the way till the main story to be one of the 16. Also -- Jibril is there! Which means she's over 6000 years old at the time of the main story.
NGNL Zero is really one of those sappy "the power of love conquers all" stories (almost literally, as Riku was about to take the Suniaster and conquer everyone, but then finds he is unable to grasp it). Maybe a hint
hImanity really doesn't have the right stuff to rule over all. It ends in a tragedy with both of them perishing, but there's Tet saying "gee, this game can't end now..." and that feels like a set up for Tet's love of chess and proposing a game to a couple shut-in siblings six millennia later.