The World God Only Knows (I will be calling it TWGOK for the rest of the review for simplicity reasons) is a very simple anime. Its MC, Keima Katsuragi, is a ‘dating sim pro’. With over ten thousand virtual heroine’s hearts ‘captured’, Keima is known as ‘The Capturing God’ on the internet. One day, while answering an email about a challenge to ‘capture a girl’s heart’, he unwillingly signs a contract that came from Hell when he replies to it. A demon from Hell, Elucia de Lute Ima (Elsie for short), is assigned to help him capture evil spirits. The evil spirits that he has to catch are hidden within the girl’s hearts. The only way that they will come out and be ‘captured’ is if Keima is able to ‘capture’ their heart by being kissed by them. If he fails his contact, the collar that he suddenly has on his neck will cause his head to fall off.
As compared to other anime of the rom-com kind, the main character, Keima, is the one who makes TWGOK special. While Keima only has one hobby (gaming), he still maintains having an actual personality by being a genuinely interesting person. His analytical way of carrying out his ‘captures’, not only in-game but in real life, contrasts the typical ‘dense MC’ archetype of being clueless. Due to his circumstances, he goes out of his way to get girls to form crushes on him, not get them simply due to being the MC. At the beginning of the anime, he has no interest in ‘real’ girls — not because of past rejection or a nihilist viewpoint — but simply because to him, they could never compare to girls in games. Keima has a flawed worldview, is socially stupid, and does not have any plans for the future besides play visual novels, but these points only make him more likable as an MC, compared to an MC with no personality that is considered ‘safe’. His partner, Elsie, is the perfect foil for him. While she is airheaded, she is very reliable when it matters the most. She deeply cares for him and genuinely wants the best for him, although he does not appreciate her back.
The general flow of TWGOK goes like this: Elsie finds a girl that has a spirit hiding inside their heart. Keima then has to find a way for the girl to open their heart to him. Once they like him enough to kiss him, the spirit is pushed out from the void inside the girl’s heart and is captured by Elsie. Although Keima has no real-world experience with girls, he has years of experience in wooing girls in games. Keima uses the knowledge that he has learned from playing hundreds upon hundreds of visual novels to get close and make a girl like him. Keima essentially uses his game knowledge to act like a pick-up artist (although his goals are much more honorable and his methods are way more kosher). When the girl’s heart is rid of the evil spirit, they also lose any memory of interacting with Keima and falling in love with him. This is convenient in many ways; It allows the girls to become a support role afterward, so they do have to be dragged around as a part of his harem later. In my opinion, it is great that girls do not stay attached to Keima after their arc is over, since it would severally drag the anime down and take away what makes it fun to watch. Also, Keima does not want a real-life harem to begin with — he could not care less about reality when he has his games.
Perhaps the best thing about TWGOK is that it does not take itself too seriously. While there are some significant moments in every arc, TWGOK maintains a ‘cartoony’ (for a lack of a better word) feel. It is in its own world, very similar to ours, but not quite exactly the same. It parodies various visual novel games and tropes that are often in them, but as a tribute rather than belittling them. Instead of trying to be ‘good’, TWGOK instead tries to be ‘enjoyable’. It accomplishes both in the quest of achieving the later.
TWGOK at its core is a simple anime. It is very easy to follow and is a great anime to watch if you want to binge one. While it is not the most rememberable anime, TWGOK is a very enjoyable and fun one. The manga is also worth checking out if you enjoy this anime as much as I did.
