[Manga] The World God Only Knows

[Archaic Devices]

Chapters: 127 (on going)
Author: Wakaki Tamiki

Plot: Katsuragi Keima is a "god" of getting girls...on videogames. In real life he actually hates girls. One day he is asked by Erushii, a devil from hell, to help her catch demons that have escaped hell and are hiding in the gaps of girls' hearts. Thinking it was a challenge, Keima accepts, not knowing that the only way out of the contract is to find all the spirits or else he and Erushii will lose their head. But the only way to get the spirits to come out is to make the girl fall in love with him...

Story: 9/10
Although it appears at first that there's no real story and all you'll get to see is Keima get these demons out, once the real story comes into play the manga starts getting really interesting. Even before the big story is introduced

 

Keima has to find all the goddesses to make all the spirits return to hell

this manga really caught my attention. The scenarios that Keima and Erushii have to go through to get the spirits are very funny and will definitely keep you reading.

Characters: 8.5/10
The characters in this manga are awesome. Keima often adds humor to serious events by just playing his PFP all the time, and whipping out one after another whenever it gets taken away. Erushii's lack of talent as a demon and her ability to mess things up for Keima definitely adds humor to the story. Even the personality of the girls that have to fall in love with Keima adds plenty of humor to the scenarios by making it difficult for Keima.

Art: 8/10
Although I don't have much to say about the art, I enjoyed it. As usual, the art style is unique to the artist, and the author makes sure to change the look and expression of the characters and surroundings to make the mood more humorous if needed. He also makes his characters look serious in serious situations, well except for Keima because it's hard to make him look serious when he's always playing his PFP...

Overall: 9/10
This manga is amazing. It's a great series to read if you just need a laugh, and I love watching how Keima will make the next girl fall in love with him. I also love how the author knows how to capture a mood in different situations.

[Adanadhel]

Unexplainable. It's completely unexplainable how big an approval this anime got from the overall anime fans. There isn't a single reason I can see to that after watching The World God Only Knows 12 episodes (being painfully tortured by the last 5 episodes).

It's cliche after cliche every single episode. It's true that they tried to cover it up, by coming up with the whole "I don't get in touch with real girls because the games girls are so much better but I'll use my gaming skills to stereotype girls and it'll work out" stuff, but while it worked well on the first episode, it got boring right after it.

The story is really lame. Like, totally lame. Lamest of lamest. The guy is a master on finishing dating games with the heroine. He then, receives a "challenge" asking if he really can capture every girl and accepts it. The thing is that the challenge was about real girls, who are possessed by loose souls and to free those souls he has to make them fall in love with him and have a "happy ending" with them.

The girls with whom Keima ends up on each arc are painfully dull. They act exactly as you'd expect from them. No surprises at all. It's like they're actually following a book for cliche girl characters on animes. The hyperactive-strong-tempered girl, the high-and-mighty-tsundere, the popular girl who fears being alone and the freaking annoying silent and shy librarian (god, how I wanted to shoot my screen while she went on about books! The hell was that, some sort of "go read a book" brainwashing?) I'm not gonna even bother mentioning Elsea cuz she's just there to add another boring character to the whole set.

The soundtrack felt out of place during the whole anime! Epic songs, characters suddenly singing, seriously, why? The art was nothing more than you could expect from a harem anime. Even this aspect feels like a cliche.

I was able to enjoy myself a lot in the first episode, and a little bit up to episode 6 or 7. After this, god knows where I gathered strength to watch it till the end.

I really can't understand all the hype behind this anime. There isn't a single trace of originality nor attempt of seeking it. I wasn't this dissatisfied after watching an anime since Shuffle!

Story: 1/10
Characters: 1/10
Art/Animation: 3/10
Sound/Voice Acting: 2/10
Overall: 2/10

[NevarRyoko]

Hmm I agree with most of your review but a 9 might be a little high. At best an 7.5 to 8.
While the plot is a good one waiting around 65 chapters to introduce it was kinda giving me a Detective Conan feel since the number of spirits he has to free is never really determined. Dropping a subtle foreshadowing or something of the nature would have been a better idea and would keep readers a bit more interesting. Many readers just don't have the patience to continue and miss out on the great story that comes later. Again though, this type of plot execution can end up giving a feeling of having a rushed ending.
Story for me gets a 8 for slow execution.

Now what keeps you in is the characters. Keima's quirky reactions and ability to pull a game system from pretty much anywhere and Erushii's inability to do anything right cept clean the house, which she half destroys by mistake..... soooo maybe the only thing she does correct is infiltrate Keima's life with the skill that would put James Bond to shame. What kept me reading was mostly to see what chaos would ensue from her mistakes and Keima's way to correct or cope with it. Some or the

[genesic123]

Thanks for giving this underrated series justice.

Sure, the first twelve episodes are not the fastest of polts of anime,but its just 12 episodes and standard shonen jump anime have much slower polts than this.The filler epsiodes are not pointless,they are there to establish Keima's world of dating sims.Not everyone plays them.Both seasons should be watched together.

The girls may be sterotypes,but which anime character doesn't.Sterotypes are traits which establish the character,like Luffy from one piece with his carefree attitude.And what's wrong with a girl who likes a certain thing.In TWGOK, sterotypes are not just a cheap excuse for character development.And the girls don't just exist for the main character and for love, unlike most animes. TWGOK shows how the girls inteact,think and feel about the world around them as they cling on to their beliefs.They don't just simply react.

Sure,the TWGOK anime initially does not start out great.But it gets better over time and the anime has its flaws like having a repeatitive formula.I would give the the anime 8.Not perfect at this point but TWGOK has outstanding qualities that set it apart from average.

And the manga so far deserves nothing less than a perfect 10.It's quality is nothing like i have ever seen before.For what it is,its simply in a league of its own.And romance anime isn't my favorite genre.