I wasn’t a fan of No Game No Life volume 7. Manipulated dice rolls + the non-explanations explanations + whining characters = not a good read.
Well, good news: volume 8 wasn’t a chore to read. The bad news is that I’m still lost…
While the last volume was about the characters’ long journey through each space and completing various challenges, this time around, the focus is more narrow. First, Sora and Shiro take on Jibril in a Civilization/Sim City-type recreation of the Great War. Jibril is intent on winning, and Blank knows that their Immanity forces have limited skillsets compared to the other races. They also can’t pause the game at any point, so Blank, who are currently in the form of toddlers, have to write commands around the clock. After that, there’s the final confrontation with the Old Deus. Meanwhile, outside the game, Fi, Chlammy, Ino, and Plum are battling it out as well.
The theme of this volume is “sacrifice”. The light novel opens with an analysis on the familiar situation where one person needs to be sacrificed in order to save the world. The narration (and Sora) ponders whether if that person’s beloved steps up and offers to be the sacrifice instead is really cursing the one they love, and what should they do instead? This and other questions about sacrifice pop up again and again in volume 8. Izuna, for example, is stuck on a space where she can’t advance unless she names someone to die. Jibril is worried about losing her identity if she loses the game she’s playing with Sora and Shiro. The novel even looks at sacrifice from the opposite point of view: Ino and the rest want to get ahead of each other, no matter what. Whether you agree with the characters’ actions or not, having a theme other than “Sora and Shiro always win” helps keep the narrative connected and interesting.
Unfortunately, there’s still a healthy dose of overly-complicated plans. Even though Sora and Shiro admit they made some errors during the games, in the end, they’re still miles ahead of everyone in strategy and puzzle-solving. I still don’t know how they managed to lay traps even before the beginning of the game. It’s just much easier on my brain to just go along with things rather than analyzing all the twists. The Great War recreation, on the other hand, was a bit more straightforward until Sora and Shiro decide to change tactics to make it more challenging. It was also kind of fun to follow along as their capital grew from a small hodgepodge to a powerful country.
The other downside is that the story is adding yet another loli to the story. I guess the genius and slightly sadistic Shiro and the foul-mouthed animal-eared Izuna isn’t enough. Obviously, since the goal is to unite the sixteen Ixseeds, there’s going to be a harem surrounding Sora (and Shiro, technically), but do we need another young-looking girl hanging out in the hot springs? And yes, there’s a color illustration of that. Even Chlammy, the only small-busted teenaged girl, is still getting teased repeatedly about her chest size. Maybe the next race won’t be the subject of perverted jokes.
…Who am I kidding. It’s No Game No Life after all.
Regardless, this volume was a significant step up from the poor volume 7. There are still some drawbacks with trying to keep up with Blank’s long thought-out, previously set up plans and all the staple harem/ecchi elements, but I enjoyed this volume.