Reviews

Dec 5, 2013
I present to you: The character most of us wish to be, but never will be due to the fact we lack the funding, and the determination. Katsuragi Keima can be considered a true otaku, a man who has given up on reality and instead focuses on nothing but dating sims and VNs. But of course, that would make for a rather boring premise, so let's add some demons to it. ==(Minor) Spoilers Ahead==

Now, when I first heard about "The World God Only Knows", I thought it was going to be about a guy who's addicted to dating sims and nothing else. And when I heard it includes demon girls and soul hunting, I wasn't very interested. I mean, after all, what kind of plot is that supposed to be? But alas, I was once again shown how wrong I could be, especially after having watched the first few episodes.

This lovely and silly anime focuses on Katsuragi Keima, a guy with a huge passion for virtual girls, taken to a level where real life girls don't even faze him anymore. Thanks to that, he's known on the net as the "God of Conquest", and helps out people with their dating sim-related issues. Until one day, he accepts a "challenge" via mail and is suddenly bound by a contract to catch runaway spirits from Hell together with a demon girl named Elsie (or Elucia, or Elle-chan, but oh well). How does one catch these spirits, you may ask? Our lovely otaku has to drive them away from the hearts of people, because these souls look for gaps (weaknesses, emptiness) in them. And with people, I of course mean girls. And with driving away, I mean make them fall in love with him. And he does exactly that, with his dating sim skills, and he somehow manages to make it work.

Now that that's out of the way, let's focus on the main points.

Art:
The art is great. Although it's nothing special, it fits with today's style and is nicely done in general. It doesn't stand out, but it doesn't have to be. It's perfect just the way it is... Yeah, I can't really say anything else. One note: The facial expressions from time to time are amazingly cute, so be careful.

Music:
The OP. Nuff said, really. But all kidding aside, the OST is great. It fits very well with the atmosphere of the anime, and is a great moodsetter. In the right way, that is. The OP, like I said before, is possibly one of the most intriguing I've ever heard. I wouldn't call it the best, because broken English isn't really my thing, but it's captivating, and I often find myself listening to it again. It also fits the title quite well, along with several other songs from the OST, with their god-like feel mixed into it.

Story:
Well, the story is quite unique, in my opinion. Some say that it's a combination of several plots, but it was amazingly executed. There wasn't a single moment where I got bored by the anime, and unlike others I've watched, I didn't even hesitate to watch the next episode... Which ended up in me watching the last episode at 3AM on a wednesday, but oh well. Fact is, it kept me glued to my seat, and the story progression was nice, fluent and not at all repetitive. And as an avid lover of comedies, this sure hit the spot nicely.

Characters:
Keima is a character you expect to find in the background. He doesn't care about anything in the real world, and often finds himself frowned upon by fellow students and teachers. He's the typical shut-in without any friends. Putting a character like him in the shoes of an MC, and giving him a partner may be risky, but the author made it work. Not only that, they did an amazing job at it too.

Elsie, who has been assigned as his demon partner, is... Well, an airhead. A rather typical one, at that. She's funny, silly, and a bit stupid. Putting her next to a serious and superficial guy like Keima might make for a funny comedy routine, but instead it balanced the pairing up nicely, with one solving the puzzles and keeping a calm mood when necessary, whereas the other is just being herself, acting all goofy, but also providing a hand and helping out at the right time. I haven't seen a pair with a balance that worked well in a while, so it was quite nice to see it again.

As for the support cast, there's something about them that I love a lot. And that's that they all have unique character traits. This is actually a very important plot element, which is sorta given away in my earlier description of the anime, but it makes it that instead of the usual bland background characters, we get a bunch that actually feel like they add to the story. Nicely done.

Conclusion:
"The World God Only Knows" tries to be different by giving us a main character that doesn't care about anyone else, yet is forced to help out others by performing acts that he has never done before. Although this isn't a fresh idea, it's all about how well you play it out. And with this anime, I think they hit it just right, and provided us with some lovely characters, good art, fine music and an overall great experience. It gives us the hope that otakus aren't bound by a fate of screens and the internet, but instead have the ability to communicate with members of the opposite sex... Nah, I'm exaggerating a bit, but you get the point. A shut-in who manages to sway every girl he has set his eyes on is quite the unique concept, in my opinion. And once again, they did a great job executing this concept. It's funny and silly, but at the same time passionate and gripping when it has to be. He lives in "The World Otakus Dream Of", you might say.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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