“DID YOU JUST TAKE 7 EPISODES AND PUT THEM IN ONE BLOG POST?” ~ EVERYBODY (THEY SCREAM EVEN WHEN THEY CITE THEMSELVES AND MAKE IMPLICIT DECLARTAIONS!!!)
Ok, enough screaming. So how was no game, no life? /a/ hates it, right? That probably means it’s shit – /a/ has great taste after all! Haha, ok, but seriously, how was it?
Interesting. Crazy. Sometime a little nonsensical. But the best way to sum up the experience is with the following word: Entertaining.. To those that know me, they know I am willing to put up with extraneous bullshit if it’s in the best interest of entertainment. Does this mean that NGNL has a lot of bullshit standing in its way? Honestly, not really – there are a few asspulls here and there but they’re so largely entertaining and pulled off with such spectacular bravado that I hardly even care that they’re asspulls – don’t forget, after all, that this is a work of fiction!
The show takes us from Sora and Shiro’s rise to power amongst the Imanity, taking advantage of the late king’s information he left for them and even conquering the 14th ranked race, the beastmen. The beastmen are notable for being the only race other than the Imanity unable to use magic – however, they have keen senses and supernatural strength / speed, still giving them an edge over our heroes on paper. Could you imagine what Sora would make of these people on an even playing field? In any event, Sora and Shiro enlist the aid of a flugel (Who remains powerful and terrifying even after her defeat) and defeat the beastmen at their own game, never letting themselves be taken advantage of. It was all extremely cool.
If there was any part I rolled my eyes at, it would be the part where Shiro was filling out a formula on the ground leaving the answer blank before “pretending” to be shot. The “whole pretending to be shot” bit was brilliant – the fact that she felt the need to waste massive amounts of time just to give us an implicit answer was really silly.
NGNL ends on a promise for more and an unsure implication (Am I dense? What does being a shrine maiden have to do with summoning the old deus?) Hopefully sometime next year we’ll see a continuation. I fear for Sora only because his gambits tend to be costly and heavily ride on the fact that he won’t lose. Bravado is not something in short supply – but pride goes before the fall.
