The World God Only Knows/YMMV

The following are Subjective Tropes:

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• Alternate Character Interpretation: Keima gets a lot of this, specifically just how much he cares for other people.
• And the Fandom Rejoiced: Really, anytime a girl comes back with the possibility of being significant again (or simply just appearing) induces this for her respective fan group. Especially with the goddess hunt and the whole narrowing down to five specific girls.
• Arc Fatigue:
  • The Shiori Arc, which lasted for merely three episodes, still had rather stretched out scenes, all of them from Shiori's perspective. The whole thing could've been reduced to two episodes.
  • From the manga, there's the "Searching For Goddesses" arc. Though the arc isn't that stretched, as he had captured three girls (and backed from one capture) in about 40 chapters, which isn't much more than the average we got after the first few captures.
    • We reached real Arc Fatigue with the last goddess though.
• Crowning Music of Awesome:
  • The anime's opening theme song "God Only Knows" by Elisa and even better, the full 8 minute operatic version of the song!
  • The second opening is done in the same style, and is quite epic too.
  • And from the manga:

The Dream Traveler of the Integrated Circuit [集積回路の夢旅人]
Composer: Katsuragi Keima
Singer: Katsuragi Keima with 2D Galz
Now it's a real song!

• Ensemble Darkhorse:
  • Shiori is apparently very popular among the Japanese. In fact, her first capture arc really pushed this series' popularity to be on the map. Considering her long absence, she ranked number 3 in the most recent official poll. She was just right behind the neck to neck contenders for number one spot Tenri and Haqua, both appear in many more chapters compared to Shiori (at least until it became rigged by 2channers after the first few days).
  • Kanon is one, not to Shiori's extent however.
  • Judging by the later chapters, Chihiro is on her way to becoming one. After all she is the only one who liked Keima, even without the memories of her conquest.
• Harsher in Hindsight: During Chihiro's capture arc, Keima said that there is a weird factor about her - "there is a boy she likes" - Elsie also speculated that "crevice in her heart got bigger because of her love". Everyone forgot about it after the capture, and then in chapter 166 we got to know that the boy she liked is Keima, and it was her inability to cope with this (with the fact that she likes probably the least popular boy in the whole school) that made it possible for a Weiss to possess her.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Keima's highly in-depth gal game site, "Capturing God": "[...] It has a very unique way of thinking, and once you've taken a look at it... it'll change your life forever."
• Ho Yay: Sort of, in Chapter 124. Yui, in her masculine clothing apparently trying to seduce Keima. Made worse (or better) by Keima's rather feminine response probably due to spending time in Yui's body.
• Iron Woobie: Though he says he doesn't like real "girls", it becomes apparent that what he hates is in fact everything real - he finds himself at such odds with the real world that he actively rejects it and takes refuge in games. What he's doing is going outside an incredibly small and restrictive comfort zone in order to do someting he would run away to avoid if he had the choice, but he's shouldering the burden and putting his everything into this thing he hates doing. And, though he might moan, he never runs away, never breaks down - he always keeps his cool and goes through with it.
• Moe: The girls that Keima has to court are plays on Moe stereotypes in varying degrees. Being a Genre Savvy Otaku, he goes into a rant when he encounters one that doesn't seem to fit with the archetype.
• Narm: Some of the lines can be downright cheesy
• Narm Charm: ... and yet still awesome.
• Nightmare Fuel: Chapter 67.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Elsie simply doesn't comprehend why humans might be disturbed by her cooking, or the souvenirs she brings back from hell, or the idea of eating something alive because it's fresher.
• One True Pairing:
  • Keima×Tenri, Keima×Elsie, and Keima×Hakua. The rest of the sub-heroines don't stand a chance...
  • Diana as a bonus for Tenri-fans, or vice-versa.
  • Although Diana's sisters may shake things up.
  • Keima×Yui is gaining ground fast. Yui is pretty much the only girl that has actually made Keima flustered, and Keima admitted that even though he was trying to just put on an act, he wound up letting her take the lead a lot and she made him feel "fuzzy headed". Haqua even notices and comments on it, teasing Keima that maybe his "real" girl type is one with a forceful personality.
  • There's also a lot of support for a Keima×Kanon pairing, especially in the recent Goddess Arc. Plus, Kanon is the first girl to confess to him.
• One True Threesome:
  • Keima/Tenri/Diana FTW. Quite complicated because Diana is inside Tenri's body, and some of the fans like her via Tenri's body.
  • One chapter title played with this trope, Three of a Perfect Pair, but it was talking about Keima/Hakua/Tenri or Diana, most likely Tenri.
  • In FLAG 167 (appropriately titled WHAM), she realizes that her power has been limited by her own guilt over being attracted to Keima.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: In Kanon's first arc, she wasn't well-liked due to her Attention Whore / Yandere tendencies, but in her later appearances she's a much more endearing and likeable character, even turning into something of an Ensemble Darkhorse.
• Ugly Cute: Yokkyun, Keima's digital crush.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Dokuro Skull, revealed to be female (like all other New Devils) in chapter 151. The anime missed the memo; her Japanese voice actress uses such a gruff voice she sounds male, and her dub VA is male.