No Game No Life: Zero adapts the sixth light novel into a theatrical film. It is a good choice since volume 6 was a standalone prequel story that doesn't significantly influence the events involving Sora and Shiro Set 6000 years before Sora and Shiro entered the world of Disboard, it depicts the events of the Great War and the tale of how Riku, the leader of an Immanity village, sets about surviving from beings with much great power. Zero is fantastic in telling the pain that Riku has to go through with survival and bearing the consequences and responsibility of so many lives under his care. He meets the Ex Machina Schwi during an recon trip and the two pair up together and developed a plan to guide the war to a favourable conclusion from the shadows. Riku and Schwi purposely mirrors Sora and Shiro, from their designs to using the same voice actors and it works really well. There are appearances from a few familiar characters too. The story can get a little bit confusing, particularly in how Riku "wins" the war during the finale but it packs in plenty of emotion. The dynamic between Riku and Schwi is done extremely well. The music is surprisingly amazing, bringing out the full potential of all the scenes. Having watched the anime is a must since there is a lot of assumed knowledge. Perhaps one of the strongest aspects is the fact that we finally see visual depictions of the other races such as Ex Machina and Dragonia, which we have all heard so much about but never seen. While it is a significant departure from the premise of the series being that characters can do actual harm and not many games are being played, this is a strong adaptation.
