No Game No Life (NGNL) is a Light Novel created by the Brazilian Yuu Kamiya (Thiago Furukawa Lucas). The work tells the story of 2 genius siblings addicted to games who end up in a world where everything is resolved through games.
The work was very successful and received adaptations into TV anime, manga, and even a movie. In this article, we will see some interesting trivia, easter eggs, and secrets about No Game No Life. As these are curiosities, remember that there may be spoilers.
Table of Contents
Trivia about the work
The author mentioned in volume 2 that originally that was supposed to be the second chapter. He did not know that light novels were very short and was reprimanded for trying to publish a 900-page book. He also said that part of the first volumes of NGNL were written in Brazil.
On the covers of the Light Novels of No Game No Life, only Shiro in volume 1 and Tet in volume 6 hold black chess pieces. In the other released volumes, the pieces are white. The author was accused of plagiarizing a fanart on the cover of volume 8, just because of a pose.
In volume 6 of the Light Novel, the story of Riku is told, which means land, contrasting with the name Sora which means sky. Furthermore, the protagonist Riku asks Ex Machina her name, she replies Schawarzer which means black in German, contrasting with Shiro which means white. This was actually supposed to be volume zero.
The voice actor of Sora voiced SORAta Kanda and that of Shiro voiced MaSHIRO Shiina, two characters from the anime Sakurasou no Pet Na Kanojo. Is it a coincidence?
- The voice actress of Shiro really sings the beautiful ending “Oracion”;
- The voice actor of Sora is Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, famous for voicing Kirito in Sword Art Online;
- Did you know that the writer of No Game No Life released a short Hentai Doujin?
- Mashiri Hiiragi, the woman behind the manga art adaptation is Yu Kamiya’s wife, the author of the Light Novel;
- The special edition of the BluRay of No Game, No Life came with a bonus: Shiro’s panties;
Trivia about No Game No Life
There are reports that an Imanity was responsible for the idea of the 10 rules in the great war. This same Imanity was responsible for the death of Artosh. Judging by Azriel’s age, the great war probably lasted about 20 thousand years. Volume 8 of the Light Novel states that it has been 54,355,146 hours since the end of the war. This is equivalent to 6,200 years.
The world of No Game No Life takes place outside of Japan, which implies various translations and pronunciations without the “L“, “V” and other letters that do not exist in Japanese. That’s why Stephanie Dola is called “Stephanie Dora”;
- The library that appears in No Game No Life is based on the Library of Congress in Washington;
- The link sent to Sora by Tet at the beginning of the anime is a real link to a trivia game;
The names of the characters Sora (空 – means empty) and Shiro (白 – means white) are already quite mysterious. The author said that their last name is nai, which can mean that they have no last name. And to make the mystery worse, they refer to themselves as Kuuhaku (空白) which is literally the combination of their names and means empty or blank.
- The name Tet is the 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and can also refer to the tetragram;
- Jibril has a power called Heaven’s Strike, capable of destroying countries. When she uses this power, her body regresses to that of a child;
- No Game No Life references various different games and animes such as Persona 4, Evangelion, Steins;Gate, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Akiba Strip, Thermae Romae, and Fate/Stay Night;
What does Aschente mean in No Game No Life?
When starting a game in No Game No Life, those who agree to the rules of the game must say Meiyaku ni chikatte Asshente (盟約に誓って アッシェン) where meiyaku means oath, pact, alliance and chikatte means certainly, I give my word. But what does Asshente mean?
This word was used by Riku to remember the friends who died in the great war. It was an invented word that may have been inspired by ascend, as this word refers to rising in rank, to the highest point, and reaching the sky.
It is worth noting that the ten rules created by Tet were inspired by the 6 rules made by Riku Dola and Shuvi Dola before the end of the Great War. The word mentioned before was “Aschento” and not “Aschente”.
The 16 races of No Game No Life
The 16 races are called Exceed or Ikushīdo (十六種族) in Japanese which literally means 16 races. They are divided into 2 groups, where the first 6 races are considered superior and called seimei (生命) which means life. And the remaining 10 races are called seibutsu (生物) which means creatures.
The names of the races in the world of No Game No Life are wordplays, God is really called God and not Kami in Japanese or God in English. Other names like Seirens are variations of Sirens. Dhampirs are an alternative to vampires, Dragonia are Dragons. And Flugel means Wings in German.
| Placement | Name | Equivalent | Japanese | Race Emblem |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old God | God | 神霊種 | Pawn |
| 2 | Phantasms | Ghosts | 幻想種 | Pawn |
| 3 | Elementals | Elements | 精霊種 | Pawn |
| 4 | Dragonia | Dragons | 龍精種 | Pawn |
| 5 | Giants | Giants | 巨人種 | Pawn |
| 6 | Flügel | Angels | 天翼種 | Queen |
| 7 | Elves | Elves | 森精種 | Tower |
| 8 | Dwarfs | Dwarves | 地精種 | Bishop |
| 9 | Fairy | Fairies | 妖精種 | Pawn |
| 10 | Ex-Machina | Androids | 機凱種 | Bishop |
| 11 | Demonia | Demons | 妖魔種 | Pawn |
| 12 | Dhampir | Vampires | 吸血種 | Knight |
| 13 | Lunamana | ?? | 月詠種 | Tower |
| 14 | Warbeasts | Beasts | 獣人種 | Pawn |
| 15 | Seiren | Mermaids | 海棲種 | Knight |
| 16 | Imanity | Humans | 人類種 | King |
I hope you enjoyed these trivia about No Game No Life! Do you know any other trivia? Leave it in the comments and share it with friends! To finish, let’s leave some interesting articles for you to read:
