Sora and Shiro are stepsiblings who rule online gaming as the unbeaten team Blank but barely leave their room in real life. After beating a mysterious challenger at chess, they are pulled into Disboard, a world where the god Tet has banned war and every dispute, down to national borders, is settled by games.
Plus 1 optional extra.
2 titles · 12 episodes + 1 movie · ~6.5 hours
Watch the 12-episode TV series first, then the film No Game, No Life Zero. Zero is set 6,000 years before the series, but it is framed as a story told in the present and assumes you already know the world. The six short Blu-ray specials are optional extras.
Start here. Twelve episodes covering Sora and Shiro's arrival in Disboard and their first campaigns to win back territory for humanity. It adapts light novel volumes 1-3 and ends with the siblings' larger goal still ahead of them.
A 105-minute film set 6,000 years before the series, during the Great War that shaped Disboard. It follows Riku and Schwi rather than Sora and Shiro, and it is best watched after the TV series, since it assumes you know the world it explains.
⚠ Set 6,000 years before the TV series. The frame story takes place in the present day.
Six comedy shorts of about two to three minutes each. They add nothing to the plot, so skip them freely or watch them after the TV series.
⚠ Not part of the TV broadcast. Released as extras on the Japanese Blu-ray and DVD volumes and included with Sentai Filmworks' home video release.
The anime is small: one 12-episode season, one film and six short bonus specials. The TV series comes first because it introduces Disboard, the Ten Pledges that forbid violence, and the races competing for control of the world. No Game, No Life Zero adapts the sixth light novel volume and tells the story of the Great War 6,000 years earlier, following Riku, a human leader, and Schwi, an Ex Machina. It is a prequel in setting, but it opens with Tet telling the story to Izuna in the present day, and much of its weight comes from knowing how the world it describes eventually turns out. Watching it second lets that land. The specials were released as extras on the Japanese Blu-ray and DVD volumes, run about two to three minutes each and do not affect the story, so they sit below the line. There is no second TV season.
No Game, No Life has 1 season and 1 film in the main run — 12 episodes altogether.
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Game, No Life | TV Series | 12 episodes | April 2014 |
| No Game, No Life Zero | Movie | July 2017 |
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Game, No Life Specials | Special | 6 episodes | June 2014 |
2 titles · 12 episodes + 1 movie · ~6.5 hours
Where each part of the anime lines up with the source, so you know where to pick up reading.
Only spin-offs that tie into the main story are listed here — anthologies, fan books and the like are left out.
The TV series adapts light novel volumes 1-3, so continue from volume 4. Volumes 4 and 5 have never been animated, and volume 6 is the story told in the film Zero, so read straight through without skipping. The light novel by Yuu Kamiya is still ongoing, with gaps of several years between volumes, and it is published in English by Yen Press. A manga adaptation of the Eastern Union arc, also from Yen Press, retells the material of volumes 2 and 3 and has been on hiatus since January 2025.
Start with the 12-episode TV series from 2014. It introduces Sora, Shiro and the world of Disboard, and everything else in the anime builds on it.
The TV series (12 episodes), then the film No Game, No Life Zero (2017). The six short specials are optional and can be watched after the series or skipped.
After. Zero is set 6,000 years before the series, but it is framed as a story Tet tells in the present day and relies on knowing the world from the TV series. Watching it second is how most of its impact lands.
It is not required to follow the TV series, since it tells a separate story with a different lead pair, Riku and Schwi. It is, however, the only other full-length piece of the anime and explains how Disboard came to be ruled by games, so it is worth watching.
Six comedy shorts of about two to three minutes each, released as extras on the Japanese Blu-ray and DVD volumes. They were not broadcast with the series and have no effect on the story, so you can skip them.
One season of 12 episodes plus the 105-minute film Zero. That comes to roughly 6.5 hours. The six specials add only about 15 minutes more.
No second season has been announced. The TV series aired from April to June 2014, and the only anime made since is the 2017 film Zero, which is a prequel rather than a continuation. The light novels are still ongoing, but new volumes come out years apart.
Volume 4. The TV series covers volumes 1-3. Volumes 4 and 5 have never been animated, and Zero adapts volume 6, so read straight on from volume 4 without skipping.
Yes, for both the TV series and Zero, produced by Sentai Filmworks. Scott Gibbs voices Sora and Caitlynn French voices Shiro. In Zero, the same two actors play Riku and Schwi, mirroring the Japanese cast.
No. The TV series adapts light novel volumes 1-3 without anime-original episodes, and Zero adapts volume 6.
Streaming availability changed in 2026: the series left HIDIVE on May 9, 2026, after earlier exits from Crunchyroll and Hulu, so check the services available in your region. Sentai Filmworks' Blu-ray release, which includes both the TV series and Zero, is the most reliable way to own it.
