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REVIEW: No Game, No Life Novel 1

She loves him against her will, and she's waging a constant war with herself as she remembers that, unable to tell what her real emotions are and what she is being manipulated into feeling.

The director, Roger Christian, has learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he has not learned why.

This seems like a pretty fair review all in all. While I haven't dipped into the novel yet, my strong impression of the first handful of anime episodes was that the author had built a really interesting world and a rock-solid premise, but then didn't have enough trust that its merits would carry the work and chose to supplement things with heavy doses of occasionally-unsettling fanservice. I don't feel like it actively detracts from the work (though I wouldn't fault anyone who did), but it just feels wholly superfluous to me.

I remember something in the novel about how such a vague command shouldn't have any force, perhaps implying that she really is falling for him but doesn't want to admit it (like every other tsundere out there).

Shiroi Hane wrote:

I remember something in the novel about how such a vague command shouldn't have any force, perhaps implying that she really is falling for him but doesn't want to admit it (like every other tsundere out there).

I read that as more of her inner turmoil as she tried to grasp what was going on rather than part of the rules, but I could see it either way now that you mentioned it.

It has been a while since I saw the anime or read the novels, but I do distantly remember there being mention that while his command would make her love him that it would only last about 5 minutes and then she would go back to whatever she felt previously since there was no mention of the amount of time she should love him was my understanding/remembering of the situation.

Actually no, she doesn't love him against her will. His original command was "fall in love", and that worked. Staying in love was not part of the deal, and the "fall in love" faded away.

I'm kind of disappointed to find out that the fanservice carries over so well to the light novel. No Game No Life has one of the best ideas for a fantasy world in ages (and I really think more people should capitalize on the idea). The whole idea of taking a high fantasy world and making it into an environment where games of all sorts determine the outcome; as a writer I kind of want to take the idea and play with it myself. It's just too bad that the fanservice (particularly Shiro's fanservice) is prevalent in the novel. It's really distracting to what is really good about this setting.

As to Sora and Shiro, I personally found they have moments that make them pretty likable. However, the treatment that they give to Steph is definitely pretty harsh to stomach and is a real detriment to many of the series' characters. Too bad it sounds like it's a bit worse off here. I was kind of hoping for another repeat of The Devil is a Part-Timer (where the novel really adds to what makes the anime so charming). Granted, I'll still probably support this one as well as most others that come out over here. Need to form more of my own opinions by reading them after all

I've been following it avidly and I think it all plays well into the super-otaku characterizations of the siblings really. They are just trying to have fun the only way know how. And it actually works to their advantage in bamboozling their opponents as well. If there's a proper way to use fanservice, I would say this is it.