Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai

The World God Only Knows (fuck Kami Nomi, get that weeb shit outta here) follows Keima Katusragi, a dweeb who, in real life, would be one of the ugliest fat motherfuckers out there (or either really skinny) and a socially incompetent (or at least, antisocial) doofus (which is actually true in the pilot chapter, funnily enough), is the God of Conquests. He has played so many VNs (the gal games, you know, the one where you pick the girl) and mastered so many routes that one day, he is selected by Hell to free girls (and only girls, yeah, we'll get to that) from being possessed by spirits and is given an assistant to help him. Unfortunately, said assistant, Elsie, is dumber than a rock. But it's OK, because she can be competent sometimes. And so begins Keima's adventure of a lifetime. By exorcising spirits. Using lines from the VNs he plays. Which somehow work. Multiple times. For some reason.

Alright, let's get this out of the way, there's the premise. Exorcising spirits unlike stuff you'd see in The Exorcist would be pretty interesting. This isn't one of them. There's the obvious problem with Keima using lines from fucking VNs to woo girls. Instead of, y'know, getting to know them better by being yourself. Even considering the tone, this really stretches the realm of believability. I'd buy it if it only happened a few times, but he successfully exorcises spirits using these methods most of the time. And it doesn't help matters is that the manga later states that there's other methods to exorcising spirits. And in one chapter showing one of those methods, the method was shown to actually work. So why haven't Keima and Elsie tried another method?

Considering Keima's personality, you'd think there'd be a chapter dedicated to him trying out a new method, but that doesn't even happen. Or hell, a short moment where he thinks it probably wouldn't work and, as much as he hates to admit it, the one he's using is perfectly fine would've worked just as well. And really, the more I think about it, Elsie herself said that Keima has to conquer girls' hearts with love. Where did she get that idea? I know she's dumb but if she never knew, then how would she know how to do her job? It couldn't be her boss who gave her the idea, she's far more competent than Elsie.

And speaking of Elsie, I don't think they ever give an explanation on why Hell sends her to help Keima. There's clearly other, more competent people who could do her job far better as we see later on. Hell, I don't even think there's a mention of her needing experience and having her grow as a Spirit Hunter or something like that. Of course, I could be wrong, but still.

I'll give credit where credit's due, Keima using the VN method doesn't work in other times, and it's more like Keima teaches the girls to accept a part of themselves they've repressed, but he still uses the goddamn VN lines even then. But it is refreshing when he isn't using the VN methods and just be himself around the girls. For example, near the end of the Kanon arc, the aforementioned target flirts with Keima, who loses his cool, and eventually pats her head. This was a cute moment which actually made me smile a little.

On to the other bad parts, there's the fact that if Keima doesn't help in exorcising the spirits, he gets beheaded. Along with Elsie. What the fuck? I get that if left too long, the spirits possessing the girls would turn them into empty shells and cause massive damage, but Jesus Christ. These are the good guys and they're punishing this guy who didn't know any better (and would you blame him?) by death. Along with his assistant too. And they can never take it off unless they capture a huge amount of spirits (about 6000). So Keima has to live the rest of his life with a collar that could kill him at any moment. Fun, fun, fun! I wouldn't complain so much if it wasn't so inconsistent with the tone.

The manga's humor is chuckleworthy at best and well, just not funny at worst. So it's not terribly unfunny nor is it a laughfest. Except for the illegitimate daughter bit. I'll admit, that was pretty funny. The art's pretty good. Character designs are varied and easily identifiable and they look good too. Backgrounds are nice and the manga makes good use of shading. Overall, the art is pretty good, but it's nothing outstanding. Character-wise, it's actually not too bad. They're pretty cookie-cutter for the most part, but I did like Keima's and Kanon's development. With that said though, it does ask too much to forgive a character's flaws sometimes.

In the Jun Nagase arc, said target (who is a 20-year old college student, btw. And even kisses Keima, who is a minor, on the lips. Ech) who works at Keima's school for a while as an assistant teacher. It turns out that she closed down the basketball club because everyone else just didn't have the same enthusiasm she has. And that's the only explanation, btw. The team didn't gradually get worse or anything like that. She just closed it down because everyone else wasn't feeling it like she did in the court.

Story-wise, it's not too bad. It used an episodic structure, which worked perfectly fine for this series. And despite the rather jarring punishment given to Keima and Elsie, the manga does stay true to its tone most of the time and tries to keep the melodrama to a minimum......And then, the Jupiter Sisters arc comes and shits all over the perfectly fine, harmless story. It was laughable and dumb when the manga showed Keima's homeroom teacher to be some sort of badass who could do demon ass-kickings, but then, it tries to get serious. For example, one of the earlier targets, Kanon, almost gets KILLED. By a knife. IN THE MANGA ABOUT A GUY EXORCISING SPIRITS WITH VN METHODS. And of course, they gotta go through all this melodramatic bullshit, about who Keima has to choose and blah, blah, blah. Said arc also has Keima trying to save the world.

And the worst part is, the humor is still there, but with this sudden shift in tone, it just feels jarring after the moment where there's a crazed bitch trying to KILL the protagonists. Really, the entire arc is awful. Which is saying something when the final arc is WORSE. Especially with that ending. So, you know those Satyr guys who are the main antagonists? They're defeated offscreen. OFFSCREEN. After TWO goddamn bullshit arcs of being the main antagonists, they're defeated offscreen. And it turns out Elsie is a powerful demon who can stop time. How? I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! Ask the goddamn writer who clearly pulled this out of his ass.

Finally, about the ending, so, um, Elsie? Why did you remove Haqua, your best friend's, memories of you? Doesn't that go against your character? Also, fuck that twist about Elsie's boss actually being Keima's teacher all this time through time travel bullshit! And another thing, Keima. You chose Chihiro? Really? Not the idol chick who'd totally ride your dick and loves even the real you and not your VN bullshit? You stupid motherfucker!

All in all, The World God Only Knows is harmless. You're not gonna get an orgasm of great writing from it nor will you be offended by how dumb it is, but it's harmless. Up until the moment the Jupiter Sisters arc starts. Quite frankly, just imagine a better ending for the manga that is completely in line with the tone pre-Jupiter Sisters arc. It'd be much better. Now, once the Jupiter Sisters arc starts, it becomes bad. Melodramatic bullshit, jarring tone shift and a bullshit way of building tension in a manga with such a light tone before. And that's not even getting into the final arc. Which is worse.

Tl;dr:TWGOK is harmless until the moment it tries to take itself seriously later on. Not recommended.

The World God Only Knows (TWGOK) is a manga created by Wakaki Tamiki. This manga is really great and easily enjoyable, everything is nice. The story, which is unique, made it's readers love this series. Also, the characters are really lovable, starting from the otamegane* Keima to the sweet Elsee, each one takes the spotlight. I like how the story is divided into arcs, it gives a different shot. Also, the targets, each one has a different attitude, a tsundere* girl, a sporty one, tough or shy girl------ name it! The Art, though not really that outstanding for a shounen manga, is nice. Wakaki's art is simple yet appealing, so the readers will really love to see those characters.

If TWGOK will be adapt into an anime, I have my seiyuu picks. For Keima, I think Satoshi Hino (Other Roles: Saito Hiraga of Zero No Tsukaima, Yuji Sakai of Shakugan no Shana) will be fine. Well, I can't really think, hehe. For Elsee, I think Yui Horie's voice would really fit. Yui Horie (Other Roles: Yuuki Cross of Vampire Knight, Ayu Tsukimiya of Kanon) is really good, and she can deliver her voice really good. (And besides, she's one of my fave seiyuus toooo!) For Hakua, I bet Rie Kugimiya (Other Roles: Taiga Aisaka of Toradora!, Alphonse Elric of Full Metal Alchemist) will be the best option. Since Hakua is a tsundere-type, and Kugimiya voice tsunderes, there is no one you can ask for. And for Tenri's voice, Mamiko Noto's gentle voice will be good. (Other Roles: Nodoka Miyazaki of Mahou Sensei Negima, Ai Enma of Jigoku Shoujo.)

All in all, TWGOK is a totally awesome manga, and recommended for all otakus there.

NOTES:
*otamegane- combination of otaku and megane.
*tsundere- type of characters who hates something/someone, but really loves it.

Before I begin this review, I will start off by saying that I am not the most serious critic. I don't shove false facts down peoples faults, and I don't try to force people to watch it. With that, let's begin.

I read Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai a while ago, after watching all of the anime series. I really wanted to see what happened after that, and why so many content was skipped, so I decided to go and read the manga. Since I did not have much time to read per day, it took me around two months to finish the manga, and boy, was it amazing. I've never seen such a good harem series, well, in this case "read" such a good series, but... it's absolutely amazing.

Story: 8/10

The story is pretty simple, but it entertains you until the end. I'm not going to sit here explaining the synopsis of the series, because it's right here, on freaking MAL. So, screw it, but I'll explain it a bit. Keima Katsuragi is a 17-year old teenager who does nothing but play video games all day, including when he is in class. I'd do that, but, yeah, too dangerous. Plus, don't have a portable console. Anyway, he plays video games and pretty much has no friends. One day, he receives and email, and then some random demon woman comes outta nowhere and tells him to capture runaway spirits. Runaway Spirits hide within the gap of people's hearts, by people, we mean really "odd" girls. To fill that gap within the heart, Keima uses "love" but it is revealed that any method can be used to draw out the spirit.

Art: 8/10

The art style for this manga is decent, actually, it's pretty good. Well, it's what to be expected, since this manga was made around 2008, so, yeah, the art is bound to be somewhat good.

Character: 10/10

Every character in the show, including the capture targets; Ayumi, Chihiro, Tsukiyo, a lot more people... I love every character in the show, so, yes, I like Chihiro, gunna bitch to me about it? Reason for me saying that, is, that a lot of people do not like Chihiro, and I have no idea why. So, that's my reason for saying the above, but I love every character in the series.

Overall: 10/10

I love this series, it's great for a harem series, harem being my 5th favorite genre. I'm not going to explain genres in-depth what I like, but, harem is one of my favorite genres and I love this series for a harem/romance. It's absolutely amazing, and I recommend anyone to read it, possibly before watching the anime. They missed around 7 arcs in the anime series, and those arcs are really good.

For the main part of the story, it is divided by arcs. It is actually the frst time i read a manga with its arcs so clearly divided. The main character's development from a guy who only cares about girls in his games and rejects everything realistic from studying to people, to someone who cares for the girls around him and even falling in love, which is a pretty predictable development but u can feel the difference so much that well it just make you forget how predictable it was. The other characters do not have much development other than during their arcs,as time progresses i actually feel that they are just there for the story, although at some point i did get emotionally attached to some characters. In between u might feel bored of the story as there are some part where u will jus feel it is not smooth and some that even might defy ur logic, but that might just be for me. The ending... I just have one word for it, underwhelming. it ends with something kind of predictable, but the author still did a decent job about it, it has some part left untouched, but it's enough for a closure. Geneally this series has brought me great enjoyment with its whacky interaction and just how the whole thing went on. It is a good series not to be missed.
p.s I know my language is bad but I hope it is useful :)

Warning this review my contain spoilers


First impressions, so my first thoughts going into this was that this was was going to be a more complete story than the anime which stopped 3/4 in and so i read this to get the full package because I thought this worth the price of entry and to some extent it was because it a bit different from your usual harem.

Story, 6/10

Now I know that this is going to sound quite generic but please beer with me as I explain this isn't a problem.
So the story begins with are main character keima who kind of a outcast that doesn't really care for much besides playing dating sim games.
Which In fact he's pretty good at you could call him a grand master of dating sim games,
So much so that he called the God of conquest.
One day he get a mysterious email which request him to conquer girls
Thinking this is for a game challenge he agrees.
In repose he meets a air headed demon named elise who tells him that he has signed a contract with her to find and capture lost souls which love are evil spirits which hide in the hearts of girls, that can only be removed by love.
He first refuses to help because he has no interest or experience with real women,
But than finds out that if he doesn't he and Elise will be killed on the spot.
So now he is forced to use his dating sim skills and knowledge to surprising effect in order to have these girls fall in love with him and get the lost souls.

So as far as harem story's go I thought this was probably one of the more interesting ones I have read.
Now I not saying it revolutionary or anything like that,
Like quite a few people are saying it is.
Because it plays out pretty much like most harems,
Except for the fact that the main character doesn't give a fuck about these girls and there problems.
Kind of plays out like a video game when I think about it.

the first half of the story can be summarized as girl of the week.
With the Main character using his skills to Solve these problems.
Which was for the most part the usual teenage problems,
Like my family I don't get along or I have daddy issues or I am very shy.
That kind of crap Nothing really that deep or thought provoking.
Except for a few exceptions here in there,
When they where fixing problems that wasn't related to high school students .
But how they handled I thought was kinda interesting and should get credit for trying to be at least somewhat interesting.
Although it still held back by that it's most set in a high school so your opinions are going to be very limited.

The second half is where it actually starts getting a plot and becomes more serious and focused.
Because when he helps a girl they forgot all about him,
So he can continue playing video games and fixing more girls problems without much of a hitch.
But now there are actually some girls that do remember him because they contain goddess in them.
Which are now being attacked by remnants by an old faction of demons.
So there are more higher Stakes now because if he fucks up he's not the only one getting the chop, it now the whole world and hell.
So as he continues this quest to find and help these goddess and there hosts he actually starts to find that he actually fully cares about this one girl,
That got to him and made him question himself around the end of this goodness arc.

Which I quite like because here we have some actual impact and it still going to remain because there no forgetting this time.

Then after that arc is done and dusted what do they do,
They actually go into more and focus on the main character with his issues and what not, that they hinted in the story arc previous.
It basically his character arc where the explain what his deal actually is.

Which I think is very interesting and they handled it quite well actually.
So to summarize my positives,
It is probably one of the more interesting harem out there,
Just because of how they handle it and also when it gets serious it deliverers very well.
It has some ok pacing.

But of corse there are a few problems,
I think the story shouldn't have been as long as it was.
Like they could have cut some of the girl problem arcs or made them shorter.
Because some of them took much longer than they should have.
Like I not saying it pacing is bad.
but a feel it didn't have to drag out as long as it did.
Also it there are some parts to it that kinda predictable,
And made it dry in those parts.

Another problem I kind of on the fence about is that even though this try's to be different from your usual harem,
It still get trapped in the usual pit falls that is a harem gene.
Because on the one hand it tries to be more than most harem,
But at the same time its still a harem.


Characters 6/10

The Main character can pretty much be summarized as a very loner like anti social person who just wants to play his games and carry one with his life and he kind of a asshole about it.
Which I quite liked able to relate and also he a lot more interesting than most harem
Leards.
He also has a very nice development as the story goes on he become less of a dick,starts to take an interest in reality and actually cares in a sense some of the girls he is trying to help.
It not like a complete 180 Of his character it just now he is a little different from before.
I also like how they explored his character.
And his reaction to his situation was pretty interesting as well,
Because he was so detached from all these people,
Like the girl drama thing is pretty much like a job to him,
It's ok next.

The side characters.

Most of them are just the usual types of characters in any harem,
Like you have a tomboy, school idol, teacher, the child hood frend, etc

There drama made most of them sightly noticeable and interesting for about a spit second, but sadly that's not enough to make them memorial characters,
Most of them don't develop past there stereotype and drama.
Except for a few of the girls.
All though that's because they are part of the actual plot around the end.

The characters interaction where quite fun to watch for me,
Especially when people start remembering the things they shared with the main character.
there one scene in particular i remember, that I found especially funny.
Is this part where this chick who has a goodness in her confesses to the main character in front of everyone in the class and shit hits the fan.
It just so funny to see it all play out.

Art 5/10

The art most of the times looks very poor or very unfocused.
There are some manga pages that look quite nice.
But usually the art looks like shit.
Like for example the background are pretty much little lines drawn in a very disorganized fashion, it like the pen or pencil got sick on the page or something like that.
It very ugly to look at.

It has this very upbeat moe-ish like style to it,
Like the eyes are like really wide and they express a lot of emotions.
It art style reminds me of something you would see in the looney toons,
Like this very cartoonish look but with a splash of moe in it.

I kind of like the character design,
It's moe which I kind of dislike in a sense but not this time.
Because it not trying to be overly cute about it.
So I found it more tolerable.
They fit quite well,
But I kind of wish the demon designs where a bit scary or threatening.



Enjoyment,6/10

I quite enjoyed the fact that this at lest tried to be different.
And that's made it more enjoyable for me.
I also really enjoyed the main character.
And really enjoyed the overall storyline.
Other than that nothing much else is worth mentioning.


Overall 6/10

If you really like harem then check this out,
Because it one of the better harem story's out there.
if your looking for a harem that's a little different.

If you don't like harem or moe then probably stay way.

As this is the first real manga that I've read (besides School Days... ugh), I don't have any relative basis for my scoring. Like some of you, I started reading this manga after finishing season 3 of the anime. The review is targeted at those in the same boat.

That being said, if you're hesitant about starting to read manga for the first time, the hardest part was learning to read right to left. Otherwise, it was surprisingly enjoyable.

The anime really cuts out a lot of the details from the manga. Lots of characters are introduced in the beginning of the 3rd season, and each character has a backstory that is explained in the manga. I feel like it should be mandatory to read those missing chapters before continuing onto the 3rd season of the anime.

After the arc that the 3rd season of the anime covers ends, I felt that the story really dawdled. The trials and tribulations that occur are weighty enough, but how everything is handled at the end seemed forced. Luckily, the story for The World God Only Knows was good enough as a whole that it was bearable.

I don't have much to say about the art except that the fight scenes were hard to follow.

The characters aren't bad. All of them had realistic problems that manifested themselves in interesting ways. However, at a certain point, they stopped developing and remained static characters. With so many characters, it's difficult for all of them to keep evolving, I suppose. Their behavior became predictable, and it was like watching a bad comedy skit. There are a few touching moments that sort of redeem them, but not that many.

I started reading this manga because the ending of season 3 was unacceptable. I had to know what would happen next and who would end up together. All I'll say was that I was sorely disappointed.

A fascinating premise with a wonderful start bogged down by a vague plot and stale characters in the second half leaves this with a score of 7.

Hey everyone this is my first review I've ever written, but plain and simple the world god only knows is FANTASTIC! This story follows Katsuragi Keima as he teams up with his loose soul hunting demon sister Elsie de Lute Irma. Together they conquer each girl who has a loose soul growing inside of them by filling the empty gap in their heart with love.

All in all it is a perfect manga. Its story and characters all flow smoothly together. The comedy involved fits in perfect and each chapter isn't too lengthy either. I give the world god only knows a 10/10

Story: 8/10

Otaku is now a god!? That wasn’t a bad thing. What if you became a god? What will you do? Then you entered a contract without knowing what the contract is? And you can’t end the contract that easily, and by the way the contract will end your life if the conditions didn’t meet.
The reason that I read this manga was because of the harem genre. There are currently 7 female excluding Elsee/Elsea/Elly or whatever and Hakua. Still the girls or the harem factor is still growing. The story became confusing on chapter 90-110 it wasn’t so clear (IMO). The story became random instantly. And the antagonist only has short time compare to the protagonists.

Art: 9/10

I really don’t have an eye when it comes to manga. But the art of this manga was good. Especially when the two protagonists are in their chibi forms. Also the noticeable form when it comes to chibi is Elsee when she sees a fire truck.

Characters: 9/10
There are so many characters to review so I can’t really point out some to review. First let’s focus on the antagonist that this manga lacked.
The antagonist has only 1 Colum per uhhh, didn’t know I think I saw him only 2 times while reading the 11 volumes of this manga. And he’s only line was “tch” or whatever he is saying.
Keima can now interact on different people after meeting Elsee his “buddy”. And he is forgetting that he is an otaku when he and Elsee got a “capturing” mission.
Elsee, she didn’t change one bit. But the fact that she loves fire trucks is unbelievable. But when she is depressed or sad is also unbelievable.

Enjoyment: 10/10
This manga made me teary, laugh out loud, sad, excited or should I say that I felt a lot of mixed emotion when reading this. I really enjoyed this. I started reading it only for the jabs but I was wrong! After reading 30 chapters it gave me already the excitement what will happen in the next chapter.

Final Score: 9/10
Why 9 you say? Just try to read the volume 1 and you will be quickly hooked on the story. I can’t say anything anymore. Well that’s because this is my first review (on manga) after 1yr of watching animes and reading mangas that are scattered on the Net: P

this is what i call a masterpiece yeaah the story is very good and will make u read till the end but there is no end couse it's still airing and they are making an anime adaption.well i can't say anything about it but the manga was pretty good and i liked it.well the storie is:

Keima Katsuragi, a second-year high school student, is an avid Bishōjo game player. He is known on the Internet as "The Capturing God" for his legendary skills to be able to "capture" any 2D girl in games. However, in his actual school life, Keima is known as otamegane. considered nothing but a gloomy geek with thick glasses.At the start of the series, Keima receives an e-mail offering him a contract to "capture" girls. When he accepts it, thinking it is an invitation to a game, a demon from Hell named Elsee appears. She asks for his cooperation to help her in catching runaway spirits. These spirits hide themselves inside the hearts of girls', and Elsee suggests that the only method to force the spirits out is by "capturing" the girls hearts—making them fall in love with him(kissing the girls to :DD:D) and filling up the gaps which the runaway spirits hide in. Interested only in 2D girls, however, Keima is appalled by the idea and refuses the assignment as has no romantic real life experiences whatsoever. Nevertheless, with the contract already executed, Keima has no choice but to help Elsee no matter what; if they fail, it is Elsee and Keima who will lose their heads.

well that's it well if u like :ecchi,romance,comedy,shounen and ero game's go 4 it :D

For a long time, I avoided the world only god knows because it was a harem manga. I especially disliked it when i read that the main character was purposely making the girls fall in love with him like the were just merchandise to go through. But, I finally gave it a go and I'm glad I did! This manga is a really enjoyable read for anyone who likes comedy, romance, and a little supernatural phenomenon.

Story: 8
The plot follows a basic structure. Keima tries to win a girl's love to dispel the dark spirits residing in the emptiness of her heart. After he "conquers" a girl, he moves onto the next one, erasing the prior's memories. Of course, this gets more complex with each girl, as everyone of them is different. And of course, eventually a deeper mystery and threat is revealed to Keima and his companion, Elsie.

Art: 9
The art is cute and sleek looking. It is also high-quality, as if it's still-shots right out of an anime. The art style isn't realistic but more simplistic like any other anime-inspired style.

Character: 10
Every character is unique and lovable. Keima, though intelligent and practical, is balanced with his comedic obsession with otome video games. Elsie is his adorable but gullible sidekick who drags him into the whole mess. Every girl is based on a trope in otome games but is fleshed out and seen as their own persons, not simply for fan service.

Enjoyment: 9
It was really fun reading this. Every chapter was entertaining and if not, brought a deeper understanding to the characters and to the world which only god knows. And the girls themselves aren't some one episode only type characters or trope embodiment, but good examples of people with their own goals and struggles. So +1 for feminism in anime :D

Overall: 8
I really liked the world only god knows, and I would've given it a 9 if the execution of the ending was done better. It is to my understanding that the author was ill and had to wrap it up quickly. But overall, this was a really great manga that anyone could enjoy!

Story: 9/10

I will say that when you start reading it you will realize that this is one of those never ending stories. The kind where there's no cap on the enemy in the beginning of the manga, so the story can drag on forever. These stories also usually happen to be the ones with fillers in the manga. But it makes up for it with an interesting story and interesting characters!

Art: 10/10

This is definitely my style of anime! For one thing, even though Keima is a boy, he has feminine features but he wasn't drawn as a girl without boobs. Which I guess is sort of confusing, but there are so many stories that are good, but the main male character is just a girl tweaked so that she looks like a man... Besides that, most of the characters are cute.

Character: 10/10

To have a male character that is so into games that he doesn't really enjoy the real world is the opposite of *most* things that I read. Usually the guy loves girls both outside and inside the virtual world. This is the first I've read where the boy is looking for perfection that can't be achieved unless the girl is a program-- and the program doesn't come to life. The demon character is a standard demon character, but being paired with this type of main character makes her special.

Enjoyment: 10/10

It doesn't take much for me to enjoy a manga. Something that is interesting and will keep me reading is good, but if I really don't like the art style, then I get annoyed and will eventually stop. Even though the story can be lacking a little at times, I still enjoy this for the most part because it's funny and interesting and cute all at once!

Overall: 10/10

Harem. A genre that myself and many anime and mange fans are anal about. A genre that is used 99% purely for fanservice. A genre that is vastly generic, and bluntly everyone is sick and tired of by now. Well you must be wondering why this genre so common is, even though what I'm describing is basically dogpoop. Well for one, it's easy fanservice, by making the cast as diverse as possible. Second, you make a roster of characters that you don't have to develop because they already have strong individual personalities. So what does all this have to do with this manga anyways? Well, the whole premise of The World God Only Knows (TWGOK) is based on the Harem genre, and it is an exemplary story that makes the best use of this genre and here's why.

First and foremost you have the protagonist Keima Katsuragi that is a Gal gamer that has devoted his life to the "2D" girls. But after a fated encounter with a shinigami called Elsie, he gets bound by a contract wherein he has to free evil spirits from girls (conveniently), by making them fall in love with him. So with no way to escape from the contract Keima sets out to free the spirits using his gaming skills he had accumulated over his lifetime. It is critical do make your main character (MC) likable in a harem genre as the story will most likely revolve around him. Unlike many other harem MCs (I'm looking at you Nisekoi, High School DxD, Infinite Stratos, etc.), Keima is intelligent and calculating, and he's an otaku. In fact he is the least likely character to be harem manga lead, but that is exactly the reason why his quest to conquer the girls is so intriguing. He knows that the girls have feelings and doesn't intend to make a love dodecagon (12-sided polygon) for 200 chapters.

TWGOK's author succeeds in what countless other artists have never even bothered in trying to succeed. It's the female characters. Harem genre demands strong characterization from female characters in order to stand out from each other. Thus most authors don't feel the need to develop them any further except maybe the 2 or 3 main girls, leaving them as a Japanese archetype indefinitely. TWGOK deliberately tries to stray from that path by seemingly introducing the girls as archetype characters, but as the story goes on each and every one of them has a development to a certain degree. Their reason to like and dislike the MC are all explained through the story (rather than the MC being a "nice person").

As the story goes on, it has its ups and downs, but it never strays from its original charm and originality, you would enjoy it as much as you did when you first started reading the series. Along the way you also have an intriguing overall story complemented by a fantastic "harem style" art that doesn't have blatant ecchi in it. And like any long running series, you can see the artist's improvement over the years.

Read this and you too will maybe realize the powers of the almighty "God" that is Keima Katsuragi.

The World God Only knows manga, let’s see... I only read its manga because some people said there were characters that were ignored in the anime adaptation, I wasn’t actually following or monitoring (whatever you people prefer to call it) it.

But then about two days ago I just learned that the manga already ended. I got curious as to how it would end, so naturally I began resuming reading it.

As the story progressed to its finale it felt, to me, as if being rushed especially the fight between the good people of hell and the bad people of hell. I also think that the build-up for Tenri, during the last arc was wasted. And also the about who Elsie really is… duuudddeee that came out of the blue, and wasn’t even explained thoroughly.

While in the ending, actually I was shocked that I predicted Keima doing that sort of stuff (Maybe I’m a psychic XD), the author did a decent job. The ending is not that bad unlike others but not that good as to be given a 10. So I would give it a score of 8.

I started out with the anime first, season 1 and 2 was great. Season 3 was even better but the ending of it pisses me off more than anything. So i went to read the manga because the ending of season 3 was extremely unsatisfying. After reading finish the manga, i would rate its ending 7/10. Those who have read it u might get an idea why is it only 7/10 but overall i would give 8.5/10. If what people said are true that the sales are bad on all 3 season, "season 4" sales might be even "worse" than season 3. I am not saying the aftermath of season 3 story is bad, its great i swear but the harem feel of "season 4" for me is weaker than the previous 3 seasons. There are some plot twist and mind blowing in the manga so be sure to read it carefully, if u are planning to. I would highly recommend this anime, the story is not your average harem, i don't need to explain the details Wikipedia will settle that for ya :) And i would also highly recommend reading the manga, u DO NOT want to stop after season 3 ending. Its disappointing that Manglobe went bankrupt, after reading the aftermath of season 3 i actually want season 4, hopefully someone can picks up the anime and continue. I don't mind if the company changes the manga ending to a better one XD

The World God Only Knows is a manga that definitely enjoyed a lot. I figure that unlike my usual style of writing reviews where I go element by element(story, art, character, and enjoyment) and discuss each, I would go a lot more loose with this one since doing it that way would be boring.

First of all, overall I would say I enjoyed the manga, I think it is a clever approach to the harem genre, one that for me, is fun only if you have characters that you care about. I look at harem that I have enjoyed such as Monogatari or Ouran, and while those are subversions of the genre, they are still nonetheless harems. The harem formula is hit or miss with me because as I said, I need to care about the characters. Nisekoi or 5-toubon, for example, are heavily carried by a strong cast to make up for a weak plot and drama in my eyes, and while the former is incredibly dragged out and the latter is incredibly rushed, I still derived enjoyment thanks to relatively memorable and strong characters. TWGOK is pretty damn good at making me enjoy the manga thanks to giving me strong characters.

Keima is a great protagonist. I can't say I particularly liked him, but he was definitely interesting and really does give the manga its identity. I do think his whole "gamer attitude" does get staler and staler as it goes on though, and it kinda dampens my enjoyment of even the gags since most of the time, the joke is that Keima goes into random gamer language. Still, he has great character development given what he goes through and learns, and it's legitimately heartbreaking to see him in his weak points.

Of course since this is a harem, we have a plethora of love interests. We do spend a lot of time on a large, and I mean LARGE, array of characters that are potential candidates to become the person Keima ends up with. Normally I would complain that we spent a lot of time on some characters only for them to be thrown off into irrelevancy but in this case it worked hand in hand with the story. Thanks to the massive selection of girls, the mystery element that the manga presents us with is infinitely more compelling than it would be with a smaller selection. Now since a decent amount of these girls only appear in one arc, not to become a major player in the future, I can't say they're interesting. Admittedly I'd say in a majority of the introductory arcs, I found myself a bit bored especially since it relied on a similar formula each time. Some were better executed than others, such as the Chihiro, Ayumi and Yui arcs, though. This did overall work in favor for the story however, but I still can't brush off how I felt it was dragged out each time. That's probably a product of all of the girls starting out as cardboard cutouts of tropes we've seen all too much, but those that do end up becoming major players are a ton of fun to watch. Out of the harem selection, there's 8 that become major players in the story. Out of them I would say all of them are fun to watch but only 4 are ones that I am particularly invested in. Now if you think figuring out who becomes a major player is a major spoiler, then don't go forward with the proceeding marked paragraph.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER*

I would say that 4 of the ones I don't find too interesting are still solid, they have their own mini arcs that serve their own purpose and are still fun to watch after. But those I did like? Chihiro, Ayumi, Tenri, all have arcs that are, while not original, compelling in their own way. Haqua is overall my personal favorite, she has a cutesy, fun personality that I love, and is my personal best girl. She has a decent arc but its everything after her introductory arc that she does that I love. That said, I do think there is one glaring issue with how they were handles and I will get to it, but first...

Elsie is a bit of a surprise for me, I thought she would play a much larger role than she actually did, not that I'm complaining. With her personality I much enjoyed her more with the dosage we get of her each time she appears. She's a solid comic relief character and also serves as a good emotional anchor towards the end. That said, while I do love what her ultimate ending is, the journey to get there, a bit rushed.

I may as well cap this review with my main issue that ultimately dragged down my enjoyment of this manga. The ending. Overall, I love the direction they chose for the manga to end on, but it felt like there were a few chapters missing as well as some foreshadowing. I would have loved to the see the ones who didn't win the harem still continue to accept that fact instead of what we are shown. Elsie's ending in particular was, while still effective emotionally lacked the set up it needed to truly become a GREAT ending. Not to mention it feels like towards the end, Haqua, my personal favorite character, disappears from the story, barely present and we don't even get much of an epilogue for her. The ending was good but I can't really say it's satisfying. It could've used a but more to truly feel like something conclusive, because now I just want more. The start may have been hit or miss, but pretty quickly the story really got on its feet and started to run, but it's a shame that the author chose to end it by tripping.

Overall: 7/10. It's a good read, and depending who you end up attaching yourself too you may either hate, moderately like/dislike, or love the ending. It has flaws but it has great things about it too.

Aaaaaaa this is soooo good. It was unexpected that this manga could make me dumbfounded when I saw the end. The peak of the problem is also very interesting. That is the part where the chapter doesn't get the anime version. The final chapters were really interesting and kept me reading endlessly. Many parts that make me mumble "Hoooo" and "Ahhhh" are unexpected parts. Even I who can usually guess the storyline was shocked.

I read this manga initially because I wanted to know the cut parts in the anime version. That was around the second season in the anime. I read this manga from the beginning because I haven't watched this anime for a long time either. That was several years ago. Arriving at part 3 of the manga, I didn't expect there would be a continuation. And that parts are the essence of this anime and are the main thoughts of this manga / anime title.

Ahh how nice it was to finish this manga from start to finish. It's a little sad when I finished I had to find a new manga again.

FIRST OF ALL,i would think i would not write a review,just understand the manga and pick few details and it will be not a long review....so smile up=)

The World God Only Knows is 100% opposite of its title,i ask few of my classmate about"u think what genre of The World God Only Knowws would be?" and right,action and all shonen stuff so i just laugh ^_^

Story=100% different from it's name,the author give you a fasinating,mis-adventure of Katsuragi Keima...your super genius,otaku-megane character that u will follow across the story...Keima who has a fond of playing dating sims and also like commenting about the real world and his otaku world,commenting of each every dating sims game that he has completed suddenly become a partner of Erushi to catch spirits with a unique different way,Love...

Character=As we followed the life and mis-adventure of Keima...We'll see a lot of Psychological issue that make us laugh and even feel symphathy of some girl,such as a person who like being popular and a girl who is tough inside but soft outside and many more....many of the girl Keima meet is unique and just like a normal 'us' who have a serious problem and un wanted things on life...
As i think that Keima behaviour,personalities and intelligence might not real in the this world....

About Keima commenting about 3D world and 2D world might be loved by some readers,the phrases that the author use may describe more clearly that Keima's otaku world is better than 3D world
Some dialogue made us laugh and some telling Keima's opinion of each girl problem with a simple,direct unique ways that you would think more of some good qualities of understanding Keima characteristic

BTW,it ends...if yu think it's too long for a opinion of mine..gomen

little adding.....around the making of the anime TWGOK...The story become a not exciting,i understand the author that he was very busy those days but im glad it become interesting again =)

Sugarsync Note's:
If u would choice to read the manga or the anime first?i recommend that watch the anime first then completed 2/4 of the anime you like to complete then go back and refresh your memory via manga

Before reading any of my reviews, please keep in mind that I am a VERY harsh critic. I do not hand out 10's easily and anything I rate 7 or higher I consider recommendation worthy.

Story: 9/10
Humor level is VERY high for anyone who (like me) is familiar with the visual novel genre. I've often joked around saying stuff like "Real girls are overrated, the only girl I'd ever want is an animé/manga/visual novel girl!" because I get attached to them rather easily (<3 Akane from ONE ~to the radiant season~, Mahoro from Mahoromatic and Hisui from Tsukihime). So after reading a couple chapters the only thing I was thinking was; "Why has nobody thought of doing this before?" and "Wow. This guy is me, only TO THE EXTREME!" I never thought that a series parodying the entire visual novel genre could rip off just about EVERYTHING I've ever watched and read and still prove to be a very unique and refreshing reading experience. I really like how Keima takes a complete visual novel approach to winning the girls (and everything really). When he continuously throws in visual novel terms like "route", "event", "encounter", etc. it really makes me chuckle. And his "I can already see the ending!" is classic. The fact that the girls all forget afterwards is a little convenient, but it's not really any different from starting a new route in a visual novel now is it? So it's acceptable simply because it hammers home the visual novel feel it's trying to give off. Just like how calling the chapters "flags" also helps. The only real problem I have with the story is that in trying to compress an entire visual novel route in 1-3 chapters a lot of stuff naturally has to be left out relation development wise. We get to see all of the event encounters, but are missing most of the backstory and character development scenes. Leaving the reader to fill in the blanks by themselves which may be a little difficult for those not familiar with the visual novel clichés and stereotypes. Overall though I have to give the story a 9/10 for originality and potential. I'm hoping it only gets better from here.

Art: 7/10
Okay. I admit it. Erushi is cute. DAMN cute. But other than that the art is pretty good but really isn't anything to special. The switching between simplicity and complexity stands out at times, but for the most part is rather pleasing to the eye (especially Erushi!) and doesn't take away from the story. The character design is rather cute, which is a really good thing (for me anyway) and their expressions are pretty good (especially Erushi!). Passing grade, 7/10.

Character: 8/10
8/10 is as high as I can possibly go on this. . . Erushi and Keima are a 10/10 and 11/10 respectively, but everyone else so far are waaaaaay too flat. Like I said, compressing a visual novel route into 1-3 chapters removes most of the character development. Also, I find Kanon to be rather annoying. Love the stun guns (yes gunS, plural), but she's easily the worst character I've seen so far. 12 chapters in and I'm hoping they soon add another recurring character. This story is great, but they're going to need more than Erushi and Keima if they want to keep this story going for any length of time.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Enjoyment level is high simply because Erushi is extremely cute, Keima is absolutely hilarious and the story is unique, funny and has a lot of potential. I am a huge fan of romance series and the visual novel genre and I can kind of relate to Keima (which is kind of scary o.o;) and that really helps me to enjoy this series. Certain things (characters like Kanon. . . and the holes in character development) take away from the enjoyment of the series and prevents full marks. But overall this series is worth reading and I am anxiously awaiting the next translation release. 9/10 and hoping they keep up the good work!

Overall: 8/10
As much as I'd LIKE to give this a 9, the nearly non-existent support cast, combined with the holes in character development is forcing me to rate it an 8/10 overall. I wish there were decimals here, because I feel it's an 8.5 honestly. I highly recommend this series to anyone who is familiar with the visual novel genre. Anyone can read this series and enjoy it, but to those who are familiar with the genre it would probably be all the more enjoyable. I know this series has a long way to go. I'm only 12 "flags" in and it's still possible that the series may end badly. But I'll keep reading every "flag" hoping that Keima keeps building up Erushi's "event flags" and unlocks her "good end". Sans the H-scene of course. :)

There comes that one manga you find at the corner of your eye to where you can enjoy it whether you like the genre it consists of or not, all in the essence of parody and satire. It can be a challenging comedic flavor to pull off correctly. Not only do writers have to analyze the aspects of the things that they are trying to parody in the first place, but they have to make all of the things that make good comedy work. These things include great comedic timing, sharp jokes that don't feel forced, and excellent pacing in-between comedy segments. For a manga that is focused on comedy, it can be quite a difficult task; but luckily with manga, you can go buck wild with the stroke of your drawing utensil and think of what works best. It takes a man like Tamiki Wakaki to make it seem like a real cakewalk to envision a perfect parody with The World God Only Knows.

The two things that best describe how the parody works in The World God Only Knows comes down to the writing and the actual artwork that Tamiki has within his talent. The jokes all span out dealing with familiar otaku tropes that are funny and sometimes insightful. They pick apart Other times it pokes fun at it to the point of almost mocking it without it being too clever with its jokes, and they all add so much great humor within them. One reason why the artwork comes into play with the dialogue's comedy is how Tamiki's style of drawing has a very wacky ascetic to his character designs that look magnificent. Similar to how you see chibi-style designs in something like Aria whenever a comedic moment happens, The World God Only Knows plays with the same formula and never loses its steam throughout the manga.

Although the manga is generally a comedy, it does have its vast share of drama mixed in. That is not to say it still pulls in satirical themes into those segments, at least in the first arc of the story. In the beginning, we follow Keima and his partner in crime, Elsie, as they try to collect "Loose Souls" from within their psyche. It is very straightforward and generally formulaic at face value, but what makes it work is just how tongue-in-cheek the character interactions are and the dialogue involving how Keima plans his tactics based on his gaming otaku logic. Even when it is being dramatic in the arc, it still doesn't lose focus of what it originally intended to be: a parody of dating sims where you get to the confession scenes in those games. It is a rare instance where good drama and wacky humor feel close at home together in one great package.

As the story goes on to the 2nd arc, where Keima has to awaken the five goddesses, we were quickly put into a scenario where there is a minimal formulaic structure than beforehand. Like I said before, the comedy is still hilarious throughout the entire manga with memorable scenes that all go down into straight-up hilarity. The story is still active and even emotional in some places, introducing a heartwarming romance between Chihiro and Keima and great chemistry between Haqua and Keima when they both become buddies for the time being. But then after that plot arc was done and we get to the last two arcs, it all goes a little downhill in terms of pacing and comprehension. I have the feeling that Tamiki didn't know where he wanted the story to go, so he pulls up random plot conveniences that don't add up once you sit back and think about it for a second. Though the later plot arcs were not terrible by any means, there were also new characters that were still funny, and they do not follow up as anything other than weak.

For a story that wants to be self-absurd with an atmosphere that wants to be fun and energetic in its humor, characters should be the one characteristic that should reign most important. The World God Only Knows managed to not only give us a wide range of characters that exceed way above 20+ of the main cast, but they give every one of them great development and personality to make all of them equally memorable. Usually a story that attempts to bring a sizeable main cast have a habit of not having an equal amount of focus for some characters, making them forgettable in the long run. While someone could make the case that the manga does that in the later arcs, where we're mainly following the other main girls in Keima's conquest, that shouldn't be a negative in the sense that we've already had enough development for those characters from the very beginning where they were introduced.

Now here's why The World God Only Knows sets its greatness to new heights is its lovable, but also hated in a few cases, the protagonist, Keima Katsuragi. With great clarity and logical precision in how Keima was written, he is by far one of the best harem protagonists just from the sheer value of heart given to his role. Even when there are moments where Keima might act irrationally against what many would consider normal attitudes towards how romance is like, we still want him to succeed in his conquest. One main reason why this is so is because of how Tamiki writes his dialogue in ridiculous ways that make him so full of charm and wit to how he grows as a character; both in terms of a comedic and general one.

As for Keima's main sidekick, Elsie, she has excellent chemistry with Keima with her cutesy personality that manages to stay consistent and not overbearing to the point where she becomes a nuisance after several chapters. The other soul capturing buddy is the hilarious tsundere devil, Haqua. Almost as equally lovable as Elsie, but with a different twist: She's smarter on the level of Keima's intellect. For that reason, Keima and Haqua prove to have a little better chemistry with one another than Elsie because Haqua still becomes the bumbling sidekick despite her intellectual stature compared to Elsie's.

This manga is one of those instances where even if you are not a fan of the harem genre in general or if you love it to death, there are still many elements to The World God Only Knows that can be looked at with great enthusiasm on either side. Its wonderful characters leave a wondrous joy ride into hilarity thanks to the fact that they all have their unique characteristics to enhance their significant presence in the story. Plus its satirical nature adds so much depth to the layer of comedy that can be conceived in this manga, even though the plot never reaches that same level of greatness as one could've hoped for with the first arc building up so much potential. But all in all, there is still plenty of wonderful humor to be found in The World God Only Knows and all in the name of the God of Conquest.

Grade: A-

Despite how the idea that a guy has to wander around and make random girls fall in love with him may sound at first, The World God Only Knows has a great story and even greater characters.

Story (10/10): The plot progresses at a moderately slow pace as each arc generally focuses on a single character and her problems as the main character, Keima, helps them overcome obstacles and such. Bits and pieces of new elements are added to the storyline every few arcs. It is best that you keep your eyes open for clues as that could be important for later chapters.
It made me laugh, made me cry, it made me feel and display the entirety of my emotional spectrum with the turn of a page. The fact that Keima could lose his head adds a serious undertone when necessary but the general atmosphere is that of a comedy from the sheer absurdity of half the stuff Keima and his partner, Elsea, do. The ending of just about every arc is, however, worthy of being called a crowning moment heartwarming that was enough to inspire this male critic to tilt his head and go "awwww."

Art (9/10): The art is not too fancy although there are incredibly detailed instances where Keima might strike a dramatic pose or say his favorite tagline. There are images of comedic horror thanks to Elsea but nothing bad enough to rob someone of sleep...hopefully.
The heroines are drawn unique enough that you should be able to tell them apart which is impressive considering the ever-expanding cast. Overall, the art is a matter of preference but there is one particular teacher figure that is drawn so disproportionately that it has been called nightmare fuel by some although the nature of figure was intended to be comedic.

Characters (10/10): This is my personal favorite part of the whole series. A vast majority of the characters possess a back-story so that even the supporting characters have enough depth to put the main heroines of a typical harem to shame. Sadly, because of the way the storyline progresses, you will rarely see a heroine once her arc is over although they do tend to become recurring characters that you might see many chapters later so it is recommended to not develop too strong of an attachment.
Keima's calm and professional personality works well with Elsea's general...incompetence and they fill each other's gaps. I could not help but hate Keima for some of the stuff he does but then he shows a surprisingly noble side that make him equally likeable. There is a lot of character development, you can see almost immediate results from the heroines themselves while Keima and Elsea remain relatively the same although you can look back and see how much they have changed in the later arcs.

Enjoyment (10/10) It is incredibly funny a majority of the time and has an excellent capacity to be reread so that you can go back and notice things you did not see before. It has a few imaginary action sequences and lots of references to videogames in general. Hilarity ensues the moment anyone lets Elsea near a kitchen or a particular vehicle passes by.
As I said earlier, the endings of most arcs are very touching. Anyone with a romantic nature should enjoy that. If not, beware or it may awaken the romantic in you...or your inner videogame fanatic.