Review: No Game No Life Episode 6: The Super Healthy Space and This Will Only Kill You a Little

Quick Summary

In No Game No Life episode 6, “Interesting,” Shiro and Sora challenged Jibril, a Flügel who used to kill gods in her younger days, to a game of shiritori. But it was not just any game of shiritori. It was Materialization Shiritori, which meant any valid word they played actually materialized — or dematerialized, if it was already present. On one side of the battle we had a being whose intellect is far superior to humans and whose battle instincts were honed over thousands of years. On the other, we had two NEETs whose tactics have evolved over just a few years — and for online video games. Do they stand a chance against such a formidable foe — a foe who barely considers them alive? And when will Stephanie Dola be able to stop acting like a dog?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

What’s in This Post

• 3 Favorite Moments
• Thoughts
• Other Posts about This Series

3 Favorite Moments

Moment 1: The Flügel and the Hydrogen Bomb

Jibril had no idea what a hydrogen bomb was. But she knew destructive force when she sensed it! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

So far, we’ve heard the Flügel are seriously dangerous. Stephanie spoke of them with fear. Shiro and Sora both felt terrified as Jibril descended before them in the previous episode. But by this episode, I still didn’t have a sense for just how tough they really were. I mean, look at her! She doesn’t look any more dangerous than Stephanie. Yet this aura of power remained.

We got to see a glimpse of just how powerful she was in my first favorite moment.

Jibril carefully explained the rules of Materialization Shiritori, and Sora and Shiro took it all in. Shiro took her customary position in Sora’s lap, and to the background sounds of Stephanie’s shrieks of terror, Jibril offered Blank the first move.

“Let me see….” Sora said (09:28). “Okay! I’ll start with… Hydrogen Bomb.”

Stephanie and Jibril looked curiously at the cylindrical object that appeared above them. Then it’s mechanism triggered the fusion reaction.

Stephanie had no idea what she was looking at. It was going to be a long game for poor Stephanie. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Shock replaced Jibril’s curiosity. She had no idea what that thing was, but she knew destructive force when she saw it. She shouted the spell “Bkulians!”, which snapped a defensive shield around Shiro, Sora, and Stephanie just as the mushroom cloud roared into the sky. When it was over, Jibril floated above the three humans, a disapproving look on her face. Shiro and Sora, of course, were completely unrepentant. Two things struck me about this scene.

First, Sora had the guts to ask for an H-Bomb and risk death — even if it was temporary in the context of the game.

And second? Jibril, the god-killing Flügel, took the full force of a thermonuclear weapon, without blinking and without the shield.

Guess we know her reputation was well-earned!

Moment 2: 50 Billion Degrees Celsius

Shiro and Sora had done more than just win the game. They’d earned Jibril’s respect. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Sora’s moves had basically destroyed the in-game planet, and through clever manipulation, he had placed himself and Shiro “above” Jibril relative to the planet’s star. They had just gotten rid of the Real Atmosphere, and Jibril was actually — though marginally — impressed. But her confidence remained intact.

So much so, in fact, that in response to Real Atmosphere, she write “Empty-Headed Academic” in glowing letters, since she could not speak in a vacuum. She wanted to rub the insult Sora had tossed her way earlier. Arrogantly, she bragged silently that she was beyond anything a mere Imanity could do.

“I’ve won,” she said to herself (18:32).

Then he flipped the card he had written before, while the world was still in one piece. He had goaded her into using “Empty-Headed Academic;” he had counted on her using it. His card read “Coulomb’s Force.” Removal of that force triggered a hypernova.

Right up until Sora flipped the card, Jibril was utterly confident she had won. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Also unable to speak aloud, Sora thought that a (19:02) a Hyper Nova has “… got a temperature of 50 billion degrees Celsius, rivaling the dawn of creation. Just try and survive that, Flügel!”

Apparently, a Flügel’s melting point is somewhere between nuclear weapon and hypernova.

Jibril had never been defeated before. To her credit, she was calm. Reflecting on the game, she could see how each of his moves had contributed to his victory. She understood what he had done, even if she still didn’t have his understanding of the underlying science. And she had the intellectual integrity to say (19:38), “The game was over after the first move, wasn’t it?”

The most cool part of this moment?

Jibril, the god-killing Flügel, the being who could take a direct hit from a Hydrogen bomb and not even have to readjust her crown, was happy she had seen something new.

Moment 3: Insanity’s Just the Starting Point

Sora saying he was challenging God was enough of a shock. But challenging not just any God (and Disboard has many!), but the God — Tet? Jibril was overwhelmed. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I thought Jibril had been impressed by Sora attacking her with a hypernova! That wasn’t anything compared to the shock she was about to experience.

After the game had re-set the destroyed universe, they found themselves back in the library. Stephanie was very upset that she had died (she had fallen onto the planet’s unprotected core around 17:38). As Sora heaped praise and thanks on her (non-ironically, I might add), Jibril descended and admitted that they had completely defeated her.

Almost laughing at their audacity, she pointed out that there had been no guarantee that she would have used “Empty-Headed Academic.” “You’re insane, aren’t you?” she asked cheerfully (20:40).

“I’m challenging God,” Sora said, just as cheerfully. “I couldn’t do that if I were sane!”

Sora seems really upbeat about his prospects against a deity! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

That shocked her. But that was only like a first stage shock. The second stage came when he said that Tet had actually pulled them into this world. The least he and Shiro could do would be to challenge and defeat him!

I wonder how long it had been since Jibril had felt shock and surprise? It seemed like she not only enjoyed it. It completely changed her life. See Thoughts, below, for details!

Like the Soundtrack?

You can get it from CD Japan!

Thoughts

How much did I like this episode? It might well be my favorite single episode of any series ever. Animated or live. Regardless of genre.

I’m not kidding.

I sincerely hope you enjoyed it as much as I did (or close!), or this conversation is going to get increasingly awkward! Because I want to try to tell you why I liked it so much, and it’s all summed up in Jibril’s reaction in learning Shiro and Sora’s ultimate goal.

Jibril was astonished and delighted, plain and simple. It was a state of mind I don’t think she had experience since, well, ever! When Blank defeated her, she was impressed. When she learned that they intended to take on God — the God — she was shocked. And then, on top of all that, they completely tossed aside everything she had ever understood about power and victory.

Jibril was overjoyed to find someone who was not only capable of defeating a Flügel — but who was willing and apparently able to take on God Himself! And that wasn’t the end of the surprises! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

They said that far from losing the library, she was free to keep using it. Oh, and all the the stuff they’d brought from Earth? “You can read them all you want,” Sora said (21:09).

I’m going to quote her full response, because it’s one of the most beautiful and prophetic and downright joyful concession speeches that I’ve ever heard:

“Oh, my dear departed master! Artosh, the one who created us. At long last I have achieved our long-held dream of finding someone worthy to serve as our new master. An Imanity, who looks down on the elves, and on me, and who will overturn everything we think we know. My master, my lord. I, Jibril, member of the Council of 18 Wings of the Exceed Rank 6 Flügel, offer everything I have to you.”

There are two aspects of this that thrilled me to no end. First was Jibril herself. Look at her smile under the headline for my second favorite moment. That’s pure bliss! She’d been beaten, and soundly, and she knew it. But that knowledge brought liberation. She saw something new, and she was practically reborn.

The second aspect was how thoroughly Blank earned her respect. No cheap tricks. No sleight of hand. No magic. No physical might. They went intellect to intellect against the god-killers and won as representatives of Imanity.

That’s why I love this series.

What did you think of the game? What were your favorite moments? Let me know in the comments!

Other Posts about This Series

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: [Spoilers] No Game No Life – Episode 6 [Discussion]
• Anime Corps: No Game No Life – 06
• Chikorita157’s Anime Blog: No Game No Life – Episode 6 – Jibrii’s Curiosity and a Lesson on Atomic Theory

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• No Game No Life Episode 1: Beginner
• No Game No Life Episode 2: Challenger
• No Game No Life Episode 3: Expert
• No Game No Life Episode 4: Grandmaster
• No Game No Life Episode 5: Weak Square
• No Game No life Episode 6: Interesting
• No Game No Life Episode 7: Sacrifice
• No Game No Life Episode 8: Fake End
• No Game No Life Episode 9: Sky Walk
• No Game No Life Episode 10: Blue Rose
• No Game No Life Episode 11: Killing Giant
• No Game No Life Episode 12: Rule Number 10