Beginner

Beginner (素人 《ビギナー》) is the first episode of No Game, No Life.

Plot summary
The episode begins with a stream of game messages, all making remarks on the 『　　』 and how they have died. Following this proceeds a battle between Queen and 『　　』's four characters as the furiously fight against each other. All the while, Queen questions their power and wonders how four players managed to defeat 1200. Using a hack to enable her to endlessly and repeatedly use overpowered spells, Queen bombards the 『　　』 team, but it ends up being a failure as they dodged and defeated her. One unnamed gamer tells Queen that 『　　』 may be using cheats and hacks (auto-aimers, auto-dodgers and hitbox manipulation) in order to defeat anyone they verse online. The narrator notes 『　　』 as an urban legend, recounting how they have managed to remain undefeated in more than 280 different games online.

"Urban legends are a type of wish because in reality, the least interesting answer is usually the correct one." -Unseen Narrator

After the narrator states this, the scene shifts to Sora and Shiro, step-siblings, in their room where the both of them had controlled two of 『　　』's characters, Sora controlling her's with her feet. When Sora asks Shiro why she used her feet to control the two characters, she replies with, "I'm hungry." As Sora proceeds to start another game, Shiro feels tired due to having been up for five days straight, and hands over her mice to Sora to continue playing by himself as she starts to doze off. Soon, the pair receive an email from an unknown sender who asks them if they think they were born in the wrong world. When Sora clicks the link attached to the email, a chess game opens up and initially, Sora and Shiro assume it was a computer programmed chess match. However, Sora notices throughout the match that the moves being played did not seem to be those of a computer, and deduces that they might actually be playing against another person. Teaming up, the two of them resume the match against the unknown person. After what seemed like long time, they eventually defeat their challenger and are then sent another email by them, asking their opinion on their world; the siblings call life a "crappy game". They are then asked how they would react if there was a world where everything was decided by simple games and that the rules and goals of the world were clear. Sora replies by saying, "If there's a world like that, then we were born in the wrong world." After replying, all their screens become distorted and static. They are then "reborn" into another world where the sender introduces himself as Tet and welcomes them to his world, known as Disboard and calls himself God. As Sora, Shiro and Tet fall, Tet explains to the siblings that everything is decided by games, including the lives of individuals as well as national borders. The world operates through Ten Pledges that Tet himself created when he became the One True God. As Tet finishes explaining the 9th Pledge, Sora and Shiro crash onto the ground and as a dazed Sora looks up, Tet explains the 10th Pledge and vanishes. Sora and Shiro then stand up, wondering where they are as a dragon soars up from underneath the cliff the two are standing on, and flies away.

Later on, the story of how Disboard came to be is explained to Sora and Shiro by a group of men they had just defeated in a game. After his explaination, one of the men asks if they could at least have some fun, as they had most likely offered up their clothes as well. Sora recites Pledge 6 and walks off with Shiro as the two of them enter Elchea, the capital city of Imanity.

There is a gambling tournament to decide the next King, as written in the will of the last king. Stephanie Dora and Clammy Zell are seen having a poker game. An unnamed woman explains to Sora and Shiro about the tournament, and informs them that Stephanie is the grand-daughter of the last king and how she has entered the tournament in order to become the next king. Sora asks the woman if she is willing to enter the tournament. She replies by saying that the money she had is enough and Sora then taunts her into a game of poker in which the woman would wager her money while Sora and Shiro would offer their lives. The two swear by the Pledges and begin their game as Sora recounts to the woman about their day. The woman ends up playing a Fullhouse while Sora ends up playing a Royal Straight Flush, beating the woman and earning her gold. As she asks who they are, Sora replis by saying that he is an outsider. Shiro tells Sora he cheated, but Sora recites Pledge 8 and tells her that they weren't caught, so it doesn't matter. Sora negotiates with the inn-keeper and ends up staying for four nights with just one gold coin. The inn-keeper asks for a name, and Sora replies by saying to keep it blank.

As Sora and Shiro walk off, they notice that Clammy is cheating, but are unsure how. Sora whispers in Stephanie's ear that Clammy was cheating and the siblings head up to their room. The two group what they still have from their old world and Sora is relieved that they still have that much. Sora notes that when a protagonist enters another world, they would usually try to make it back home, and Sora questions why. The episode ends with Stephanie coming up to their room and asking whether she has permission to enter.

Characters
The following characters are listed by the order which they appear in.

Major characters

 * Sora
 * Shiro
 * Tet
 * Stephanie Dora
 * Clammy Zell

Minor characters

 * Speaking roles
 * Queen
 * dora
 * Three unnamed thieves
 * Unnamed female gambler
 * Inn-keeper
 * Non-speaking roles
 * Members of 『Night Opera』
 * Jibril
 * Feel Nilvalen
 * Hatsuse Izuna

Events

 * 『　　』 wins an online game match against the guild, 『Night Opera』, which has 1,200 players
 * Normal chess game between the siblings and Tet
 * Tet transports the siblings to Disboard
 * Siblings learn of the ten pledges from Tet
 * Unknown game match between the siblings and three unnamed Imanity thieves
 * Single hand poker match between Clammy Zell and Stephanie Dora
 * Single hand poker match between Sora and an unnamed Imanity woman

Key differences from light novel
In the light novesl:
 * the poker match that Sora played was not against a blonde female, but a middle-aged man.
 * The Ten Oaths were told to the siblings by the thieves instead of Tet. Tet had only told them that the world was ruled by games before leaving them on their own.
 * Sora's question, of why protagonists who are sent to the alternate world want to return to their original world, was left unanswered as both the siblings fell asleep.

Trivia

 * Calorie Mate is a brand of energy supplement foods, that was purposely misspelled as Canari Moteru in the anime scene.
 * The link in the email which Tet sends to the siblings, http://www.disboard-the-boardtop-world.info/, is an actual link with a trivia game of No Game No Life hosted by Tet.

Credits

 * Storyboard: Atsuko Ishizuka (いしづかあつこ)
 * Director: Atsuko Ishizuka (いしづかあつこ)
 * Animation director: Ōya Kōji (大舘康二)