No Game No Life

No Game No Life
Cover of the first light novel
ノーゲーム・ノーライフ
(Nō Gēmu Nō Raifu)
Genre
Light novel
Written byYuu Kamiya
Published byMedia Factory
English publisher
ImprintMF Bunko J
DemographicMale
Original runApril 25, 2012 – present
Volumes12 (List of volumes)
Manga
Written byYuu Kamiya
Illustrated byYuu Kamiya
Mashiro Hiiragi
Published byMedia Factory
English publisher
MagazineMonthly Comic Alive
DemographicSeinen
Original runJanuary 27, 2013 – present
Volumes2 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed byAtsuko Ishizuka
Produced by
  • Yōhei Hayashi
  • Shō Tanaka
  • Mika Shimizu
  • Satoshi Fukao
  • Asako Shimizu
Written byJukki Hanada
Music bySuperSweep
StudioMadhouse
Licensed by
Original networkAT-X, Tokyo MX, Sun TV, KBS, TV Aichi, BS11
English network
Original run April 9, 2014 June 25, 2014
Episodes12 (List of episodes)
Manga
No Game No Life, Please!
Written byYuizaki Kazuya
Published byMedia Factory
English publisher
  • NA: Yen Press
MagazineMonthly Comic Alive
DemographicSeinen
Original runMay 27, 2015November 27, 2017
Volumes4 (List of volumes)
Anime film
icon Anime and manga portal

No Game No Life (Japanese: ノーゲーム・ノーライフ, Hepburn: Nō Gēmu Nō Raifu) is a Japanese light novel series by Yuu Kamiya. It is published under the MF Bunko J imprint with twelve novels released between April 25, 2012, and February 25, 2023. The author and his wife, Mashiro Hiiragi, adapted the novels into a manga series for Monthly Comic Alive in 2013. Later that year, an anime adaptation of No Game No Life by Madhouse was announced. It premiered on AT-X between April and July 2014, and was simulcast outside Japan by Crunchyroll. An anime film adaptation of the sixth volume, No Game, No Life Zero, premiered on July 15, 2017. A spinoff manga, No Game No Life, Please!, focusing on the character Izuna, ran from May 27, 2015, to November 27, 2017. The No Game No Life franchise was localized in North America by several companies: Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the manga, Sentai Filmworks the anime, and Yen Press the light novel series.

The series follows Sora and his younger stepsister Shiro, two hikikomori who make up the identity of Blank, an undefeated group of gamers. One day, they are challenged by the god of games to chess and are victorious. As a result, the god summons them to Disboard, a world where stealing, war, and killing are forbidden, and all matters are decided through games, including national borders and even people's lives. Intent on maintaining their reputation as the undefeated gamers, Sora and Shiro plan to conquer the sixteen ruling species and to usurp the god of games.

The series began receiving recognition in 2014, when it appeared in Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! and had its volumes placed as one of the top thirty selling novels in Japan. It was reported in May 2017 that over 3 million printed copies are in circulation. The English localization of the manga and anime were also well received: the manga adaptation appeared on The New York Times Manga Best Sellers; meanwhile, English reviewers were generally turned away by the first episode of the anime, though reviewers who have completed the series generally praised the character dynamics, game strategies, and animation, while disliking the fan service featuring the child character, Shiro.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference AnimeFilm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "No Game, No Life". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved June 11, 2018.