Medium: Anime
Episodes: 12, in Season 1
Rating: PG
Subs/Dubbed: Subs (CrunchyRoll)
Here's an interesting concept for you: Take the classic fanservicey harem, its complete loser of a protagonist, its "wacky" (read: tasteless and innuendo-ridden) humor, throw in an enormous amount of genre savvy and self-referential humor, the triumphant "GOTCHA" moments of Umineko or Kaiji, pick out the gratuitous and tasteless fanservice, and shake well until it doesn't resemble its former self at all. That's basically what The World God Only Knows amounts to.
The protagonist, Keima, isn't some clueless nice guy, he's an unsocial jerk who has absolutely no interest in "3D" girls. On the internet, he is known as The God of Conquest, a magnificent dating sim player who has captured the heart of every single virtual girl to cross his path. In real life, he's a grumpy kid who just wants to be left alone with his PFP and his newest conquest. Things change when he receives an email that he thinks is a challenge- Agreeing to the challenge, thinking his pride is on the line, the exceptionally cute demon Elsie descends from Hell (yes, descends) and tells him that it was a contract, and that the two of them have to work together to round up evil souls that have escaped from Hell to cause trouble for the living. The loose souls hide themselves in the fragile hearts of young girls, and the easiest way to get them back in the open is to push them out from the holes they've embedded themselves into... By taking their place in her heart.
Yep. Keima has to make the girls fall in love with him, despite the fact that everybody in school thinks he's a nerd and a waste of space, despite the fact that he has no interest in real girls (or reality, for that matter), and despite the fact that his only seeming ambition is to fully complete as many dating sims as he can. Naturally, he refuses, stating outright that he wants nothing to do with Elsie or her mission, but she informs him that if he doesn't follow up on the contract he agreed to (regardless of the fact that it was a mistake), they both die. With no other options for escape, and having grown rather fond of his head being attached to his body, Keima does what comes most naturally to him: He plays reality like a dating sim.
And that's really where the charm of TWGOK comes from: Its main character's neuroses. Keima points out and plays with every single stereotype out there, using the genre savvy gathered over the course of his gaming career to pick out and manipulate the holy hell out of every romance anime cliché known to man. All of the humor relies on parody, not boobies, to keep the audience laughing. Keima is most certainly a stubborn, cocky, irritable jerk-ass with no life, but he's also a blast to watch, striking a fine balance between "What an asshole!" and "What a genius!".
And then there's Elsie. Elsie tends to play second fiddle to Keima, but she shines pretty well on her own, too. She's the classic 'naïve foreigner with superpowers', but manages to present herself in a way that makes her feel different from the eighteen billion naïve foreigners before her. While Keima is the logical half of the duo, Elsie, strange as it sounds, is the sensical half. She frequently reacts to and observes the world around her the way any normal observer would, especially in the way Keima handles the targets, thereby giving voice to the audience's expectations of the situation, instead of being a completely oblivious or smitten female lead like most others. And though she works her way into Keima's personal life with all the subtlety of a baseball bat to the skull, she maintains enough of a sense of individuality to make her a truly likeable character.
The anime's not without other nice touches, too- Keima's mom used to be in a biker gang (which brings a whole new meaning to "mama bear"...), the girls forget about their experiences with Keima after their exorcisms (though it seems they still have a lingering attachment), and, of course, since the show runs almost entirely on parody and plays its cliches like a trumpet, there's next to no ecchi situations, or adult humor, for that matter. I mean, it's there, but it's really freakin' rare. Like, maybe-once-every-5-episodes-rare.
All in all, The World God Only Knows is a fairly enjoyable experience. It never really tries to be more than it is (which is a good thing), stays within the bounds it sets for itself, and handles its subject material the way a proper spoof should. Screw approves.
Rating: 8/10
Pass/Fail: Pass.
Episodes: 12, in Season 1
Rating: PG
Subs/Dubbed: Subs (CrunchyRoll)
Here's an interesting concept for you: Take the classic fanservicey harem, its complete loser of a protagonist, its "wacky" (read: tasteless and innuendo-ridden) humor, throw in an enormous amount of genre savvy and self-referential humor, the triumphant "GOTCHA" moments of Umineko or Kaiji, pick out the gratuitous and tasteless fanservice, and shake well until it doesn't resemble its former self at all. That's basically what The World God Only Knows amounts to.
 |
| Keima rockin' his |
Yep. Keima has to make the girls fall in love with him, despite the fact that everybody in school thinks he's a nerd and a waste of space, despite the fact that he has no interest in real girls (or reality, for that matter), and despite the fact that his only seeming ambition is to fully complete as many dating sims as he can. Naturally, he refuses, stating outright that he wants nothing to do with Elsie or her mission, but she informs him that if he doesn't follow up on the contract he agreed to (regardless of the fact that it was a mistake), they both die. With no other options for escape, and having grown rather fond of his head being attached to his body, Keima does what comes most naturally to him: He plays reality like a dating sim.
And that's really where the charm of TWGOK comes from: Its main character's neuroses. Keima points out and plays with every single stereotype out there, using the genre savvy gathered over the course of his gaming career to pick out and manipulate the holy hell out of every romance anime cliché known to man. All of the humor relies on parody, not boobies, to keep the audience laughing. Keima is most certainly a stubborn, cocky, irritable jerk-ass with no life, but he's also a blast to watch, striking a fine balance between "What an asshole!" and "What a genius!".
And then there's Elsie. Elsie tends to play second fiddle to Keima, but she shines pretty well on her own, too. She's the classic 'naïve foreigner with superpowers', but manages to present herself in a way that makes her feel different from the eighteen billion naïve foreigners before her. While Keima is the logical half of the duo, Elsie, strange as it sounds, is the sensical half. She frequently reacts to and observes the world around her the way any normal observer would, especially in the way Keima handles the targets, thereby giving voice to the audience's expectations of the situation, instead of being a completely oblivious or smitten female lead like most others. And though she works her way into Keima's personal life with all the subtlety of a baseball bat to the skull, she maintains enough of a sense of individuality to make her a truly likeable character.
The anime's not without other nice touches, too- Keima's mom used to be in a biker gang (which brings a whole new meaning to "mama bear"...), the girls forget about their experiences with Keima after their exorcisms (though it seems they still have a lingering attachment), and, of course, since the show runs almost entirely on parody and plays its cliches like a trumpet, there's next to no ecchi situations, or adult humor, for that matter. I mean, it's there, but it's really freakin' rare. Like, maybe-once-every-5-episodes-rare.
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| "I don't have to degrade myself on camera?! OMG, WHERE DO I SIGN!" |
Rating: 8/10
Pass/Fail: Pass.
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