A World Without

Plot

Each episode is centered around the daily life of a parallel world, but without a certain object from our world (like pockets, maps or wheels), a certain symbol (the word "no", the letter A, or the number 2), or elements of nature (water, fire, gravity, etc.), usually resulting in a utopia or dystopia. In some episodes, three scientists (Tom, Teo, and Trini) search for a solution for problems in the parallel world without achieving much success or true advancement. The web series is presented in short animations that frequently use dark humour and double entendres, often making references to popular culture. Due to the diverse themes, the episodes often make many references to films, video games, and characters in popular culture, such as Jesus Christ, Galileo Galilei or Diego Armando Maradona, as well as many others.

Production

Concept and creation

The idea for the web series came in 2018 to director and screenwriter Matías Sinay, who was born in Córdoba, Argentina. As reported, he started thinking "what would life be like in a world without pockets" (and what would be used in place of them) and the idea to produce a series later arose, along with the idea of making it a science fiction comedy. While searching for someone to produce the show with, he met Santiago Pérez Silva on Instagram and made him his partner. After telling Silva about the idea, they worked together to create A World Without.

The first episode was finished and published in 2019, titled "Un Mundo Sin... Bolsillos" (A World Without... Pockets). The first episodes were uploaded to Instagram, and in late 2020, they created their own channel on YouTube. The official Spanish-language channel was called Un Mundo Sin until June 2022, when it was changed to Naisekai.

The name Naisekai was derived from Japanese and has two main components:

ない (nai): A term denoting absence, inexistence, or negation. In this context, one could interpret it as "that which does not exist" or "nonexistent".

世界 (sekai): Which means "world".

In conjunction, the name references the name of the series in Japanese. (のない世界, in romaji: No nai sekai).

Among the works that Sinay has cited as influences in the creation of the series, analogues could be observed with science fiction, including the works of Ray Bradbury, and shows like Alejo y Valentina (another Argentine web series), Rick and Morty, Futurama, and Love, Death & Robots.

Production

Matías Sinay, who is the screenwriter, directs all of the episodes and writes the scripts, while Santiago Pérez is the director of animation, and is responsible for all production in that area. In the beginning of the show they were the only members of the production team, but the team grew as the show became more popular online. By 2022, the team had grown to 12 people. The ones that are best known are:

Production: Matías Sinay, Santiago Pérez Silva

Direction of animation: Santiago Pérez Silva o Luciana Muñoz

Scripting: Matías Sinay, Augusto Sinay, Juan Quinteros, Chavo Saraintaris

Music: Nacho Rozental, Hernán Soria

Sound: Melisa Stasiak

As well as those in charge of storyboarding, animation, and background.

According to Pérez Silva, an episode takes approximately 20 days to complete, from writing the script to finalising the animation.

The main musical theme that is used in the show is an excerpt from the 1874 piano suite, Pictures at an Exhibition, composed by Modest Músorgsky.

Characters

Narrator: The presenter that starts the episode by announcing the title of the episode. Although he is never presented directly to the audience in the episodes, he appears as a presenter in the top videos.

The Scientists: A trio of researchers whose projects account for the absence of objects or concepts in their parallel universe. They make the most appearances throughout the series.

Tom: He is usually the one who comes up with ideas to move projects forward. He has a taste for mathematics and is prone to overthinking. In the episode "A World Without... Names", he is revealed to be 34 years old and a doctorate in biotechnology.

Trini: The only female member. She is the most adventurous and has the most common sense of the team. She usually tries to search for solutions in experiments when things go wrong.

Teo: He has been a test subject in several of the team's experiments, contributing to the fact that he has died the most of the trio throughout the series. He is generally the least serious and professional of his group, as he has been seen creating very dangerous inventions and disobeying work protocols.

John and Barbara: A sentimental couple that appear recurrently in the episodes. They represent a form of parody of the stereotypical couple, with exaggerated romantic clichés, like passionate declarations of love.

Episodes

Video game

On 15 June 2024, Naisekai announced the launch of A World Without... Videogames (original title Un Mundo Sin... Videojuegos), a mobile game based on the show for IOS and Android. Developed by the Argentine company Pathfinders Studio, it is a video game that follows the style of a visual novel where one can collect items, personalise their own character, play various minigames, and complete missions alongside the three scientists. On the same day, an episode of the same name was released to promote the game.

Spinoff

A spinoff of A World Without, titled The Scientists (original title Los Científicos), was announced on 17 February 2023 on the Naisekai YouTube channel. As the title suggests, the three scientists from the original show are the protagonists of this spinoff, which focuses on their experiments and inventions unrelated to their solutions for the parallel universes. After the release of a trailer in March 2023, the first episode of the show was uploaded on 26 April that year, and an English-language dub of it was uploaded on 27 February 2026.