Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: KamiNomi, Kami nomizo Shiru Sekai, The World God Only Knows, TWGOK

Japanese: 神のみぞ知るセカイ

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 26

Chapters: 271

Status: Finished

Published: Apr 9, 2008 to Apr 23, 2014

Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural

Themes: Harem, Otaku Culture, School

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Sunday

Authors: Wakaki, Tamiki (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.48¹ (scored by 53,725 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #138²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #97

Members: 103,051

Favorites: 9,061

External Links

Wikipedia

8.48

Ranked #138Popularity #97Members 103,051

MangaShounen SundayWakaki, Tamiki (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /26

Chapters: /271

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Synopsis

Keima Katsuragi is a high school student better known online as the "God of Conquest," the man who can obtain the heart of any dating sim girl. In his opinion, real life is an awful game; three-dimensional girls are annoying and false representations of how a real girl should be.

One afternoon, while taking a break from cleaning duty, he stumbles across a strange message that gods him to conquer a girl. On a whim, he accepts, and his consent summons a girl named Elucia "Elsie" de Lute Ima, a denizen of hell tasked with capturing runaway spirits that have festered in girls' hearts. Keima is shocked and tries to escape, but Elsie tells him that failure in fulfilling the newly-formed contract will result in the termination of his life!

Tasked with capturing the runaway spirits, Keima uses his expertise and knowledge of dating sims to obtain the hearts of girls in real life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

On the week of January 13th to January 19th, 2009, the third volume of Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai became the fourth highest-selling standalone book on the Oricon Comic Chart with over 50,500 copies sold.

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Related Manga

Side story:	Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai
Adaptation:	Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Flag 0, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: 4-nin to Idol, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami-hen, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Tenri-hen
Spin-off:	Magical☆Star Kanon 100%, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: On the Train+Pilot Films

More characters
Characters

Katsuragi, Keima

Main

de Lute Ima, Elucia

Main

du Lot Herminium, Haqua

Supporting

Shiomiya, Shiori

Supporting

Kosaka, Chihiro

Supporting

Nakagawa, Kanon

Supporting

Takahara, Ayumi

Supporting

Ayukawa, Tenri

Supporting

Nikaidou, Yuri

Supporting

Goidou, Yui

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Jun 8, 2014

271 of 271 chapters read

Overall Rating: 8

GonzoLewd (All reviews)

107 people found this review helpful

There comes that one manga you find at the corner of your eye to where you can enjoy it whether you like the genre it consists of or not, all in the essence of parody and satire. It can be a challenging comedic flavor to pull off correctly. Writers have to analyze the aspects of the things they are trying to parody in the first place, but they have to make all of the things that make good comedy work. These things include great comedic timing, sharp jokes that don't feel forced, and excellent pacing in-between comedy segments. It can be quite a difficult task for a manga focused on comedy, but luckily with manga, you can go buck wild with the stroke of your drawing utensil and think of what works best. It takes a man like Tamiki Wakaki to make it seem like an absolute cakewalk to envision a perfect parody with The World God Only Knows.

The two things that best describe how the parody works in The World God Only Knows come down to the writing and the actual artwork that Tamiki has within his talent. The jokes all span out, dealing with familiar otaku tropes that are funny and sometimes insightful. They pick apart. Other times it pokes fun at it, almost mocking it without being too clever with its jokes, and they all add great humor. The artwork comes into play with the dialogue's comedy because Tamiki's drawing style has a very wacky ascetic to his character designs that look magnificent. Similar to how you see chibi-style formats in something like Aria whenever a comedic moment happens, The World God Only Knows plays with the same formula and never loses its steam throughout the manga.

Although the manga is generally a comedy, it does have its vast share of drama mixed in. That is not to say it still pulls in satirical themes into those segments, at least in the first arc of the story. In the beginning, we follow Keima and his partner in crime, Elsie, as they try to collect "Loose Souls" from within their psyche. It is very straightforward and generally formulaic at face value. Still, it is just how tongue-in-cheek the character interactions are and the dialogue involving how Keima plans his tactics based on his gaming otaku logic. Even when it is being dramatic in the arc, it still doesn't lose focus of what it originally intended to be: a parody of dating sims where you get to the confession scenes in those games. It is a rare instance where good drama and wacky humor feel close to a home together in one great package.

As the story goes on to the 2nd arc, where Keima has to awaken the five goddesses, we are quickly put into a scenario with a minimal formulaic structure than beforehand. Like I said before, the comedy is still hilarious throughout the entire manga, with memorable scenes that all go down into straight-up hilarity. The story is still active and even emotional in some places, introducing a heartwarming romance between Chihiro and Keima and great chemistry between Haqua and Keima when they both become buddies for the time being. But then, after that plot arc was done and we got to the last two arcs, it all went a slight downhill in terms of pacing and comprehension. I have the feeling that Tamiki didn't know where he wanted the story to go, so he pulls up random plot conveniences that don't add up once you sit back and think about it for a second. Though the later plot arcs were not terrible, the new characters were still funny, and they do not follow up as anything other than weak.

For a story that wants to be self-absurd with an atmosphere that wants to be fun and energetic in its humor, characters should be the one characteristic that should reign most important. The World God Only Knows us a wide range of characters that exceed way above 20+ of the main cast. They give everyone the significant development and personality to make them equally memorable. Usually, a story that attempts to bring a sizeable main form has a habit of not having an equal amount of focus for some characters, making them forgettable in the long run. While someone could make the case that the manga does that in the later arcs, where we're mainly following the other central girls in Keima's conquest, that shouldn't be a negative in the sense that we've already had enough development for those characters from the very beginning where the writer introduced them.

Here's why The World God Only Knows sets its greatness to new heights is lovable but also hated in a few cases, the protagonist, Keima Katsuragi. With great clarity and logical precision in how Keima was written, he is one of the best harem protagonists due to his role's sheer value of heart. Even when there are moments where Keima might act irrationally against what many would consider typical attitudes toward how romance is like, we still want him to succeed in his conquest. One main reason this is so is that Tamiki writes his dialogue in ridiculous ways that make him so full of charm and wit in how he grows as a character, both in a comedic and general one.

As for Keima's main sidekick, Elsie, she has excellent chemistry with Keima with her cutesy personality that manages to stay consistent and not overbearing to the point where she becomes a nuisance after several chapters. The other soul-capturing buddy is the hilarious tsundere devil, Haqua. Almost as equally lovable as Elsie, but with a different twist: She's more intelligent on the level of Keima's intellect. For that reason, Keima and Haqua prove to have a little better chemistry with one another than Elsie because Haqua still becomes the bumbling sidekick despite her intellectual stature compared to Elsie's.

This manga is one of those instances where even if you are not a fan of the harem genre in general or if you love it to death, there are still many elements to The World God Only Knows that can be looked at by anyone with great enthusiasm on either side. Its wonderful characters leave an excellent joy ride into hilarity thanks to the fact that they all have their unique characteristics to enhance their significant presence in the story. Plus, its satirical nature adds so much depth to the layer of comedy that can be conceived in this manga, even though the plot never reaches that same level of greatness as one could've hoped for with the first arc building up so much potential. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of wonderful humor in The World God Only Knows, all in the name of the God of Conquest.

Grade: A-

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Apr 30, 2015

271 of 271 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

callofthewind (All reviews)

78 people found this review helpful

Before reading this reviews, please keep in mind that I have an erratic way of scoring. SO THIS PROBABLY GONNA BE ME FANGASMING.

Story: 10/10
Just kidding, the humor is great especially if you like visual novels.The story is an epic tale of an otaku king conquering all the chicks with all the generic quirks while battling for the fate of world itself(this actually happens)

Art: 10/10
The girls look ok but what makes the manga is the art of the setting. It becomes a little no game no life at the end with strategy and shit. The transitional in art style reminds me of how erratically monogatari read more

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Apr 28, 2014

271 of 271 chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

Cludensyo (All reviews)

51 people found this review helpful

It's hard to find a series where you feel really invested. The kind that even after finishing an arc, there's a little moment of reflection. The World God Only Knows is no exception.

The setup of the story has a very solid foundation because it tackles one of the subjects fans can relate the most ─gaming. BUT, some people will have a problem in terms of relation because the genre of choice is not that popular ─galge (a contraction to gal gaming).

For those who don't know, visual novels (another name for galges) is a type of game where it's mostly story. The "game" part is where you, the player, decides how the story will go through the choices you've made. As Arkada would put it, it is like an interactive book and that's it. The story of these galges are usually about love and romance ranging from sweet and innocent to HOLY CRAP-disturbing.

Going back, the story of an otaku getting an intervention about his ideals by having encounters to "3D girls" sounds like an interesting manga. The series is hysterical in some scenes while also having some scenes of drama. The best of both worlds.

Though, I have some little complaints about the story. In some long arcs, the story moves as slow as molasses. "But Cludensyo, that's the meaning of 'long' in long arcs". NO. I got into the latest chapter when this series was still ongoing. And when reality struck me that I "finished" it, I looked back and said "Wow. That arc took that much chapters? There could have been less". There's also some plot holes that are not resolved at the end of the story and foreshadowings that confused me (I'm looking at you, Elsie). And let's not forget, there are some questionable moments on how Keima got into this whole mess which I won't discuss any further.

The universe in this manga feels alive thanks to the creative mind of the author giving it details. Also, the girls, which serve as representatives of standard "maidens" in galge, have character profiles written in the chapters which really makes it feel like you're playing a visual novel.

Speaking of characters, the one that's developed the most is the main character, Keima Katsuragi. I like his ability to be zen in tough situations. I like how he's quiet and serious most of the time but transforms into a firework when in comes to games. Preaching they have superiority against reality.

I felt depressed when this series ended. Sure, it's not perfect. Sure, it gives a bad first impression on the first chapter. But if you get past that, you are then introduced to one of the best manga this time around. A dead serious recommendation.

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Sep 14, 2020

271 of 271 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

-ODA- (All reviews)

9 people found this review helpful

Aaaaaaa this is soooo good. It was unexpected that this manga could make me dumbfounded when I saw the end. The peak of the problem is also very interesting. That is the part where the chapter doesn't get the anime version. The final chapters were really interesting and kept me reading endlessly. Many parts that make me mumble "Hoooo" and "Ahhhh" are unexpected parts. Even I who can usually guess the storyline was shocked.

I read this manga initially because I wanted to know the cut parts in the anime version. That was around the second season in the anime. I read this manga from the read more

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'Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai' to Receive Manga Spin-off

The official website for Weekly Shounen Sunday announced that the completed manga series Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai will receive a spin-off manga series titled Kami No...read more

Sep 14, 2014 12:54 AM by tsubasalover | Discuss (48 comments)

Manga 'Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai' Ending [Update 4/12]

Tamiki Wakaki's manga Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai (The World God Only Knows) will be ending its sixth year of serialization and will be finishing with 26 volumes. The a...read more

Mar 17, 2014 2:52 PM by tsubasalover | Discuss (168 comments)

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	Poll: Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai Chapter 268 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) SilentTruth - Apr 18, 2014	324 replies	by Hakuren366 »» May 24, 9:12 AM
	The World God Only Knows Manga (English) Zibraz - Feb 13, 2014	7 replies	by UchihaKazuma »» May 3, 4:37 AM

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