Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Tenri-hen

When life gives you lemon, you make lemonade. So, what do you make when life gives you the responsibility of dealing with runaway spirits? Well, first of all, kiss your carefree life goodbye. In fact, your new life won't be the same again especially when your childhood friend shows up and starts explaining things in ways that are strange. Oh but that's not all as she seems to have another personality. Talk about double the trouble. Yes, it definitely will be busy around this year for a certain addicted pro gamer. His name is Keima and this summer, his dream of a relaxing vacation can ... go straight to hell.

Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Tenri-hen (also known as The World God Only Knows: Tenri Arc) are two OVAs bundled with the 19th and 20th volumes of the manga. For you diehard manga readers, it is based on Tenri Ayukawa (given the title), a girl with two sides of herself – one of them being shy and reserved, while the other is...well, the entirely opposite of that.

Though short, these two episodes captures a nice way of story telling in less than a span of 1 hour. The 2 OVA episodes connect with each other in a way similar to a mini arc focused on the start of the promotional poster, Tenri. Kaori Nazuka (Spice and Wolf, To Love Ru Darkness, True Tears) plays her voice acting quite well as she is known for portraying characters with a shy or reserved personality. On the other hand, there's Keima, the boy who has a genius intellect with a paranormal addiction with video games. In fact, he was hoping to spent his entire summer owning it up on the digital world but circumstances now arises to prevent all that.

Oh but that's not all because the trouble continues when a certain someone decides to take matters into her own hands and get some payback. The second half of it follows as similar suit but more insight on some childhood scenes between the duo. There's problems to be solved and the problem solver Keima is here.

The supporting characters are rather blend in these two OVA episodes. They just seem to be part in the background, in particular of a main character from the original series. However, unlike many of the OVA episodes we see in today's industry, TWGOK presents its romance aspects and drama right. In other words, there's no pointless fan service splattering all across your screen in the duration of the hour. In fact, it's more about a construction of friendship and how childhood days can bring people closer together in the future. TWGOK did this right and still retains its theme of dealing with spirits out on the loose. It's Keima's mission to help others in need but at the same time, he realizes that sometimes, it might be more than just about that. In these two OVA episodes, he reflected his words through with his actions especially in the second half.

Manglobe certainly does not disappoint this time around. In the artwork department, everything seems to still fit within the theme of the series. The lighthearted backgrounds mixed with the theme of gaming graphics occasionally (as a parody of Keima's gaming habits) are there. Beyond that, there's the chibi comedy scenes and some of the more serious drama reflected by its artwork. Tenri is not portrayed as some bishonen trying to impress the audience with her figure but rather as a girl who is reserved and creates a sort of balance between the confident Keima and herself.

The OST and soundtrack of the series is also performed well. While it's nothing too special to note, it fit the theme of these OVA episodes in ways that reminds us TWGOK's style of working its rhythms. While it lacked an opening theme, the two ED songs both performed by eyelis are well orchestrated and gets to the point especially related to our star Tenri in these two episodes.

Ultimately, I found these two OVA episodes quite enjoyable. Fitting two episodes from a highly anticipated series is never easy but this time around, Manglobe hits the bulls-eye just like how Keima scores his wins. It mixes in romance with supernatural themes along with comedy and drama all at once which gives the viewers a chance of examining these two episodes in a variety of ways. That way I saw these two episodes were sort of an experience on what's to come later on. Season 3 is on the horizon and definitely something to think about it. But first, check out these two OVA episodes because it's worth it.

Alrighttyyyyy, I know this review is kinda late already, but i've left out the anime series of TWGOK for quite a while due to some IRL issues, but it's good to see that it has already developed quite alot for now.

Alright, first thing first, this will be quite a short review so don't need to worry about anything being too long and boring to read, I usually keep it short and straight to the point without any spoilers, so read with ease! Also, I will be comparing it to the manga storyline, so for those of you who didn't read or haven't read, I would ... recommend you to do so if you love the anime series of TWGOK.

Story : 7
Not to say that the story itself is bad, but when compared to the manga series, most of the small little things was missing from the animated version of this arc. The approaches had 2 more scenes, and the chase scene had a few more ways to get to the conclusion. I know that it's because they were only having 2 episodes to do the entire Tenri arc, so i can at least understand the necessity of cutting it short and making it like a summary. Still, Tenri remains one of my favourite girl in TWGOK, so for that reason, the scores went down a little bit.

Art : 8
Still the same, as what you would expected from the animation team of TWGOK. The way the scenes switched between some of the gags and funny moments and the actual plot were very amusing.

Sound : 7
Quite impressive, but not to the level of greatness, but I guess that's what they were aiming for. Creating a relaxing environment to make you feels like Tenri were made for Keima in many ways.

Character : 6
It's great to see that the interaction between Keima and Elsie still hasn't changed too much, and for that, funny moments were ensured, and with Tenri and Diana getting into the situation as well, together with the newly introduced Nora and that bold Ryou ( Watched it and you'll know what I mean lol ), it was boosted for sure! Though one small note here, I found out that Keima's seiyuu seemed to be abit more forced when it comes to those exaggerating moments of how Keima acts towards his own "Summer Holidays" paradise, I just couldn't buy into that much.

Enjoyment : 7
It was great! I'd enjoyed pretty much of the scenes from this OVA, it's not really that much to be said here, but I guess that's pretty decent already for 2-episodes OVA.

Overall : 7
If you liked the series, this is a must-watch as it prepares you for the upcoming season, Megami-hen!

Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Tenri Hen



This ova should be seen as a transition from season 2 to 3, as new characters are introduced there. They are simply expansion episodes. Otherwise, you will first wonder who the girl is.

Nothing happens in the area of the plot, you only learn minimal detail. The background will be noted in season 3, however.


In terms of content, the extremely average quality of this work has hardly changed. Both with the characters and their relationships.
...
It is remarkable how average this whole title is in general. He has just as many strengths as weaknesses and already looks perfectly balanced.