Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai

Title:Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai
The World Only God Knows
TWGOK
神のみぞ知るセカイ
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , ,
Notables: ITO Kanae
SHIMONO Hiro
Keima Katsuragi is an avid galge gamer known at his school as "Otamega" (a derogatory term combining the words Otaku and Megane) and on the internet a "The Capturing God." One day he receives an e-mail offering him a contract to "capture" girls. He accepts thinking it's a challenge and a demon from Hell named Elsee appears. She asks for his help in capturing runaway spirits that are hiding in "real" girls. He refuses stating he only like the girls from the game and she tells him that if he refuses then both of their heads will be cut off.

1:24 min trailer Youtube video.

[edit] The ↗Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai franchise:
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 7 8 7 0 9 0 KBanger1 [series:2389#1694]
Here's an anime I think some people tend to overlook as far as story is concerned. It starts off in a 'dream' sequence where this boy attempts to woo a classmate ends up having this girl fall in love with him. All of a sudden the scene zooms out from a portable video game console and you see the same boy bragging about his conquest. At the moment, his teacher is standing next to him and ask if there was something that was more fun than her class. "Sorry but could you wait until I reach a save point?" That line right there just made me say I want this in my collection. Needless to say, it is along with the second season. Here's my thoughts on season one.

The premise of the anime is about high school boy (Keima) who thinks of the 'real world' as dull and lifeless becomes a chosen hero to save the world from loose spirits that escaped from hell. Hell consisting of some headquarters where a midget version of the grim reaper calls in a fairly looking like 'reaper' named 'Elsie'. Now at first glance I told myself, "How the hell no pun intended can you call that girl a reaper let alone a minion from hell?" I then realize, it's only an anime, stuff like this happens all the time. Regardless, this brings me to why I say that this series is overlooked. It's not a stereotypical harem/love story where the hero makes every girl he meets to fall in love with him by choice. He MUST make them fall in love with him. The reason why is because the girls that he is trying to conquer are also possessed by these loose souls (demons) who have taken them as hosts. What makes his situation interesting and hard is because of two things: 1) If he fails, his head gets blown off due to a collar that's around his neck and 2) His specialty is that he can conquer girls in video games. The second reason alone is what drives the story. He absolutely hates the world outside of video games which mainly consist of dating sims. Without going too far into the plot, he basically is a geek who has no friends and has to save the world from total destruction by making the 'real world' girls fall in love with him. Forget that he is socially inept and that he far more dedicated to beating a video game than to really go out on a date. That and of course a reaper that calls him the 'Almighty One' and who looks like a reject from Soul Eater. Top that off with his philosophy about the real world and the gaming world, a mother who can change attitude at the drop of a dime, and all this time you realize that hell is trying to save the world makes for a very unique series.

Art/Animation wise it's good, nothing that stands out. For me, I find it rare to have an visually okay looking anime with a great story to back it up. It's my way of calling it a 'diamond in the rough'. I did purchase the BR/DVD combo of both this season and season 2. It was the story and the way that Keima looks at the real world with his philosophy of real and gaming took the series to another plateau. I haven't been this motivated for an anime for a long time and it was well worth the 'Buy'. A must for harem collectors even though it's less geared towards that. It's more of a romantic comedy at best but still caught my attention. Comedy wise it's hilarious not because of the situations he's in but how his main focus is only on video games and nothing else. That was my attention getter and I do highly recommend this to anyone.

Last updated Thursday, June 20 2013. Created Thursday, June 20 2013.
Buy 8 8 9 8 8 8 Dreamer [series:2389#2279]
This series was a well done original. However, the title of the series is quite misleading.... or at least it was for me. I was expecting something with heavy religious backdrops, or mostly supernatural settings. But we pretty much didn't get any of that. Which was fine actually 'cuz the series was still good.

Art, Animation & Character Designs
Artwork and animation was well done. We had rich colors, good details and animation that was smooth and clean. Character designs were great. Loved all the girls.... all kawaii. Elsie was just sooooo kawaii!!! Loved her character.

Music
The OP was a good one. It was an alternative piece with female vocals and not of the typical "squeeky mouse" voice or too-cute happy crap that graces millions of other titles. Our soundtrack had some nice, rich pieces one would find sitting in an orchestra.... rich in sound and with a variety of accoustic variances.

Series and Episode Story
This series has some good humorous moments. I caught myself laughing out loud quite a bit on various scenes and mostly character mishaps. The fact that our portagonist had to take his gaming experiences and turn it to work in the real world made for some interesting developments.... and enjoyable at that.

The plot wasn't amazing and was mostly linear but how it develops and moves along is what makes it fun and interesting. The fact that our protagonist had to come up with a solution and execution of dealing with a "real" girl through each encounter made it like a game. Actually, that's exactly how our protagonist is able to deal with it.... by treating each situation as a game he must conquer. This is where a lot of the humor comes in.

Overall, it's an excellent and enjoyable series to sit through. All our characters were fun, our girls kawaii and even our protagonist was well rounded.

Last updated Sunday, October 23 2011. Created Sunday, October 23 2011.
Rent 8 7 7 7 7 6 Ggultra2764 [series:2389#1552]
(Rent-/ Watch+)

The World God Only Knows started off solidly enough thanks to its twists on dating sim character archetypes and plot formulas special thanks to dating sim otaku Keima having to apply his gaming knowledge in understanding and wooing girls to free them of spirits for Elsie to catch. The first two girls Keima dealt with had their archetypes yet there was a twist to the developments of these character that help make the show somewhat refreshing and making Keima have to put up with interacting with the real world while applying his gaming knowledge. The show even tosses in some laughs compliments to his chemistry with Elsie as she winds up living at his house as she puts up with Keima's dating sim obsessions. However once the first four episodes passed, then the problems started seeping in. The last two girls Keima puts up with (Kanon and Shiori) are a bit more on the formulaic side with one a pop idol and the other a shy girl needing a confidence boost. Both their characters didn't grab my interest and I felt that the arcs were dragged out for far more longer than necessary considering their problems could have been resolved in as much time as the two earlier arcs for Ayumi and Mio. In between arcs, there were filler episodes focused around Keima and Elsie's interactions. The filler between Kanon and Shiori's arcs was the best of the filler episodes for me thanks to the comical switch of perspectives as multiple characters experienced the insanity brought about by Elsie's poor attempts at cooking. On the other hand, the final episode of the series had me dreading Keima considering how it seemed his character underwent some changes thanks to having to interact with real life girls from previous episodes and that development is flung out the window for his rampant dating sim addiction.

God Only Knows seemed like it was gonna be a gem for me thanks to putting twists on otaku fandom and dating sim tropes from Keima and Elsie's spirit collecting. But with the two later character arcs dragged out more longer than necessary, said later characters being more formulaic and a disturbing finale with Keima, I'm just barely giving the series a Rent thanks to its first four episodes and the comical filler with Elsie's killer cooking. Beyond that, I'm not planning to watch the second season when it comes out in April thanks to my issues with many of the later episodes of the series.

Last updated Thursday, December 23 2010. Created Thursday, December 23 2010.
Unevaluated Forbin [series:2389#1573]
Watching This.

I like a lot!

Last updated Friday, November 12 2010. Created Friday, November 12 2010.
Watch Stretch [series:2389#628]
(Watch+)

(All episodes watched):

Eh, I dunno, that was OK, I guess. It didn't exactly thrill me. It had an interesting premise, but not much depth to it; silly jokes, mainly. Based on the impressive sounding title, I was expecting much more. Episode two was kind of funny, though on a dumb, simple level. Keima starts liking Elsie too quick--didn't she just wreck his family? The 2D bitch is predictable. On the other hand, there was an unexpected twist at the end. Episode four was kind of amusing as Keima sets aside his demon hunting and focuses on a frustrating video game. The three-episode Kanon arc was so-so; her longterm self-esteem problem disappears in the blink of an eye once she learns a precious lesson from Keima; if only it were that easy. Did Keima show a hint of genuine affection for a 3D girl, or is it all still an act? I think that the only way this show is going to go anywhere is if he learns a lesson himself, namely that it might be a good idea to spend some time with real-live girls rather than computerized ones. It might happen.

Episode eight (I think) was a fun story of a series of strange events seen from the viewpoints of several different people. Elsie's idea of how to use a microwave oven was especially good. The librarian arc seems interesting as Keima acts like a jerk but there is a purpose behind his behavior which makes some sense. The fact that the girls who fall in love with him simply lose their memories seems kind of a cop-out; I hope there will be a more satisfying conclusion to the series as a whole--like Keima himself realizing that a 3D girl has advantages.

The episodes I enjoyed most were the ones in which Keima took a break from soul hunting and indulged in his hobby. The series ended--sort of--in this manner, which was fun. Keima has barely dented the total number of souls he needs to recover, so the story is still far from over. Sure enough, a second season is on the way.

My favorite line: "Your only redeeming feature is your cute face!" --Elsie

Last updated Tuesday, April 19 2011. Created Monday, October 11 2010.

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