Jun Ichikawa’s 1989 No Life King is an impressive early look at what was to become the next generation of adults in a fast evolving digital world. While current day viewers might think the plot of this movie is based on old Pokemon playground rumours like getting a secret mew from under the truck next to the S.S. Anne, it actually predates Pokemon as a franchise and seems to be more focused on a youthful fascination with death and predicting how technology will change these coming of age concepts.
A large part of youth media deals with kids coming to an understanding about death. In 1986’s Stand by Me, four best friends travel the town train tracks in search of a missing boy’s body in hopes of becoming famous for discovering it. In My Girl, the daughter of a funeral director is surrounded by death as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her mother and eventual passing of her best friend. If a Disney movie protagonist starts the film with two healthy parents, there’s a good chance one or both of them will be gone before the introduction even ends.
Though media has always tackled this harsh reality for children to digest and better understand, Jun Ichikawa was making a kids film for a new type of youth, surrounded by technology. In 1988, Dragon Quest III sold over a million copies across Japan on its first day and saw truancy numbers spike as kids skipped school to buy it. This lead to the developer of the game, Enix, to only release future Dragon Quest titles on weekends in a bid to limit the social disruption caused by a title release.
And so No Life King begins, kids line up around the block to get their hands on a copy of “The Legend of Life King IV”, the latest release in this worlds fictional best selling video game series. Our protagonist, Makoto, plays the game excitedly and begins discussing the title at school with his friends before someone interjects with a rumour that certain copies of the game are cursed to kill any player that doesn’t beat it. Death curse rumours are common among these kids and they mostly enjoy discussing the concept as a fantasy discussion until a school teacher drops dead from a heart attack while giving a speech.
“The problem is…” says the King to his people before dying in the video game. “The Problem is…Video Games” announces the teacher before he collapses. The parallels within the game story and the real world merge in an instant and the rumour only grows in strength from here. Suddenly all rumours have been given merit; A popular kids show they watch is said to have been cursed by the passing of the lead actor, making it so that anyone who buys the branded erasers for the series is doomed to die. This causes kids at the school to ritualistically go out into the woods and burn all of their erasers to be rid of the curse.
Our main group of characters all agree to stop playing the game and while Makoto almost tells his mother about the tragedy of his teacher passing, he decides to hold on to it instead. His mother, locked to a pc screen, barely notices his almost confession and doesn’t pry. In the world of the movie, Makoto’s mother cares about him and his education but fails to see the aspects of living that matter most, the experiences he has. Earlier in the film, Makoto had tried to share his enjoyment of the Life King game with her and was ignored in favour of learning about his schooling efforts.
The adults in this film are all disconnected from youth in a large way, but not due to a lack of interest. Classroom desks are lined with state of the art computers, all connected to the teacher at the front of the class through internal messaging. The teacher monitors the students workflow in real time and assigns more difficult tasks to those that show skill. This connected workflow allows for the teacher to more easily recognise and encourage talented youth but creates a physical barrier for emotional connection.
As kids around the classroom engage their creativity and their understanding of death through handing out written notes about murder and new curse ideas, Makoto finds himself overwhelmed by it all. He raises his hand to be sent to the nurses office and the teacher responds by advising that Mokoto not raise his hand, but push the help key on his computer if he needs something. The children in No Life King are constantly disconnected from the adulthood that surrounds them specifically due to the technological advances that encourage their learning above all else.
In the nurses office, Makoto is told to get rest as the nurse discusses with two men the growing issues with kids. “What’s going on with the kids these days?” the adults ponder as they point out that TV ratings are down and curses are taking over their thoughts. A news broadcast later advises “A lifestyle is emerging that encompasses living and dying at the same time.” Businesses begin to shut down and one child even supposes that his father only beats his mother each night due to the curse.
A running thread through the film is the idea of “I’ll live until I die.” First said by the sick grandfather of one of Makoto’s friends, the boys brush the words away as obvious knowledge. But as the film progresses we are forced to consider what living is. The sentence feels dismissive of what life and death really means, supported by classes starting with the teacher asking how the kids feel today and having one of five options appear on a computer screen to pick from. Living and eventually dying in this world appears to be something you just do in the goal of professional progress.
Makoto overhears some older boys on the train discussing the Life King game and how difficult it is. One of them asks the others if any of them have beaten it yet and none of them have. The curse rumour of the game further grows around Japan as kids begin to believe that nobody has beaten Life King and the curse will only be lifted if someone wins. Taking part in an online chat, Makoto advises he will do his best to try and beat the game. This leads to kids all over Japan calling, sending him copies of the game and writing good luck messages as he attempts to end the curse.
Playing the game with his friends, Makoto becomess confused when a character in the game takes damage, their arm splitting from their body and growing into a smaller version of themselves called a Half Life. When the Half Life dies, it leaves behind an object called the Wiseman’s Stone. On it is a list of things that Half Life loved. “So no one will forget that Half Life was here” explains Makoto’s friend. Makoto later uses a school computer to write a Wiseman Stone for himself.
As the film enters its third act, Makoto is split between the pressure of saving everyone from the curse and the need to improve his scores at school to progress into higher education. Makoto’s struggles with understanding what living even is leads him to ask his mother what she would do if he died. She doesn't engage his fears seriously, telling him she’ll live to a hundred and Makoto will be alive long after this. The following day, someone online asks Makoto if he can keep doing his best to beat the game; “I’m always doing my best.”
Makoto is later stopped by a group of adults, self confessed “trend seekers” who are researching the rumours kids have been spreading and how they have become a new reality for youth. “Look towards the new real” he’s encouraged, querying if he could benefit from it. As Makoto heads home he speaks to a classmate who asks if he would be able to break the curse with the help of his friends. Riding home on his bike, the question lingers in his mind.
Suddenly all of Makoto’s friends are receiving good luck messages and copies of the game in their post. Makoto’s world grows outward as he includes his friends to become an extension of the mission and Makoto tries to get an understanding of what the word “real” means to him.
The group all meet up at one of the boys house and are introduced to his newborn baby brother. As they all sit around and look at him, one gently holds his hand. Makoto returns home and begins taking in the laundry as he thinks on the encounter with his friends baby brother. Holding his parents clean clothes, he pulls them close to his face and hugs them tight.
In the classroom alone, Makoto sits at a desk as we see him back in the room with his friends around the baby. “I’ll do my best” he whispers to the baby. A chat message pops up on the computer screen. “Makoto, go outside and look around. Is it…Real?”
Makoto goes outside and takes in the world around him. He pays attention to the people he passes, spotting familiar faces of the “truth seekers” he met previously. The intricacies of our world become more wonderful to Makoto as he finally notices everything that makes it. Construction, traffic, quiet parks, outdoor markets and the unique products they have on offer, even rooftop city views. He stands in the rain as it falls around him and takes every bit of it in.
Makoto meets with his friends, they all announce that they have finally beaten the game. They discuss what level they were in the game before they were able to beat it until one announces that his grandfather passed the day before. “He kept living until he was dead” he says. The boys run down a tunnel together, this chapter finally behind them.
No Life King is fascinated not just with technological advancements as entertainment, but with how they progress to alienate new youth from those who came before them. With a growing strength in the ability to encourage learning, a disconnect is formed as a call for help becomes a press of a button on a pc screen. It’s not the kids who have changed, it’s the adults. Kids continue to discuss fun curse theories and explore the concept of death, they support each other and proclaim they’ll “do their best” not just for themselves, but the next generation too.
Meanwhile, adults have put educational progress and technological advancements as barriers between themselves and the children. “Living” becomes professional progress and the details of why we live are secondary. Makoto’s journey through the film is about finding the distinction between progress and life. A heavy burden of saving his generation and the next from an imagined curse opens the door for his interpersonal relationships to bloom, eventually figuring out that progressing is in service of being able to “live” in the world surrounding him and discovering what's "real".
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