Story: (7)
The concept is pretty simple. Keima Katsuragi is an obsessive otaku gamer known as the God of Conquest due to his skill at Gal Games (dating Sims). There's no virtual girl that he can't win, but in real life he is antisocial and views the world as flawed and annoying. One day, he unknowingly answers a message from Hell and ends up being forced to help the cute demon girl, Elsie, hunt down loose souls that have hidden in the hearts of various real life girls. He is reluctant to help at first, but is forced due to the contractual obligation of he and Elsie losing their heads from the magical collars on their necks in the event that he chose not to help. To capture the lost souls, he has to make each of the affected girls fall in love with him, and get a kiss from each to break the spell. So, he and Elsie proceed to pretty much play a real life dating sim.
It's not a very deep concept and might seem rather shallow when taken at face value, but it proves to be an effective one. This is due to how it's executed. It is great fun to watch Keima and Elsie research each girl and then apply Keima's gaming strategies. Plus the harem element is addressed in an interesting way due to the fact that each girl forgets Keima after the soul leaves them, so there's no drama between girls or anything like that. Just like choosing different routes in a dating sim. Surprisingly, this doesn't feel cheap or exploitative. Keima really doesn't get anything from the girls except a kiss, and the girls move on with their lives improved. The "captures" even tend to be the on the sweet side of romantic and usually feels genuine.
12 episodes is certainly not enough to contain this story, but that's okay because it had more seasons planned from the start. (Just recently a 3rd season was announced)
Art: (7)
The animation is smooth, the character designs are pleasing and the art is nice all around. It's not anything really special, but is above proficient. Where it excels is the sight gags and style. It takes advantage of it's subject matter and uses a nice and humorous combination of "god, heaven, and gaming imagery; Especially when Keima is lecturing Elsie (and the audience) over the various types of girls, and his different philosophies on gaming and romance.As a fan of video games I was also impressed at the amount of detail at into the gaming aspect. All the games Keima played were realistic and detailed The series really knows its material. The attention to detail and all the over the top symbolism/comedy gags (even some anime references) makes up for the perfectly normal art.
Sound: (8)
The music is good, and used effectively throughout. One of the high points is the epic opening; it sets the tone perfectly for the series and is even used throughout. It's just great. There is also an arc dealing with idols that features some nice, appropriate performances. As for the voice acting: it's also above average. All the voices match the characters' personalities and/or archetypes. Nothing outstanding but also nothing weak either.
Characters: (8)
Keima is an excellent protagonist. As opposed to the vague "dense male lead" or "self insert" types usually seen in romantic comedies and harem shows, he is very defined. He is an arrogant, intelligent, analytical, anti hero along the lines of Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass) except he is also a delusional otaku gamer that has no ambitions or plans for the real world and only focuses on being "god" of his niche obsession. He applies game rules to all parts of real life and especially this job of capturing the souls.(This is often used for comedy)
Although he is calculating and temperamental, at times you can see he has caring and honest side when he's helping the girls deal with their problems.
Elsie is a cute, clumsy, air headed demon girl who is charged with collecting the souls along with Keima.She isn't a very complex character, but she isn't annoying (except to Keima) and is well meaning and funny. Her ignorance of the human world is a major element of the humor in the anime.
The conquest heroines are also interesting. Even though they are all gaming and anime archetypes, (tsundere, idol, athlete, etc,) they are charming in their own way. This lends well to Keima's explanations of the personality types, and gives the show the same vibe as a gal game
Enjoyment: (8)
Very enjoyable. A perfect watch for when you just want to watch something entertaining but not complex. Pretty much just quality entertainment, but with some clever themes, concepts, and parody for added flavor.
Overall: (8)
Though I enjoyed it, I was going to give this a 7 because it isn't all that deep and had a few fillers that weren't up to par with the capture arcs. What made me upgrade it to an 8 is the fact that during the capture arcs I would immediately rush to each following episodes just to see how it resolved. Even when I finished it, I went straight into the next season.This made me realize how much I enjoyed it, and how effective it was at hooking the viewer. Well worth watching.
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai, The World God Only Knows, is a really nice, non-typical romantic comedy that often shows surprising attention to detail.
