The World God Only Knows

The World God Only Knows (Japanese: 神のみぞ知るセカイ, Hepburn: Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai), abbreviated as Kaminomi (神のみ),[lower-alpha 1] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from April 2008 to April 2014, with the 268 individual chapters published into 26 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan.

The World God Only Knows
The cover of The World God Only Knows volume 3 featuring Keima Katsuragi.
神のみぞ知るセカイ
(Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai)
Genre
Manga
Written byTamiki Wakaki
Published byShogakukan
ImprintShōnen Sunday Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday
DemographicShōnen
Original runApril 9, 2008 – April 23, 2014
Volumes26
Light novel
Written byMamizu Arisawa
Illustrated byTamiki Wakaki
Published byShogakukan
ImprintGagaga Bunko
DemographicMale
PublishedMay 19, 2009
Anime television series
Directed byShigehito Takayanagi
Written byHideyuki Kurata
Music byHayato Matsuo
StudioManglobe
Licensed by
Original networkTV Tokyo
English network
Animax Asia
Original run October 6, 2010 – June 28, 2011
Episodes24
Anime television series
The World God Only Knows: Goddesses
Directed bySatoshi Ōsedo
Written byHideyuki Kurata
Music byHayato Matsuo
StudioManglobe
Licensed by
Madman Entertainment
Sentai Filmworks
Original networkTV Tokyo, TVO, TSC, TVQ, TVh, TV Aichi
English network
Animax Asia
Original run July 8, 2013 – September 23, 2013
Episodes12

The manga has been adapted into three anime television series produced by Manglobe, which were broadcast in Japan from October 2010 to September 2013.

In North America, the anime series were licensed for an English-language release by Sentai Filmworks.

Plot
Main article: List of The World God Only Knows characters

Keima Katsuragi, a second-year high school student, is an avid player of gal games (video games that involve interactions with anime-styled pretty girls). He is known on the Internet as "The God of Conquests" (落とし神, Otoshi-gami) for his legendary skills to be able to "conquer" any 2D girl in games. However, in his actual school life, Keima is called otamega (オタメガ), a derogatory portmanteau of the two words otaku (オタク) and megane (メガネ, glasses).

At the start of the series, Keima receives an e-mail offering him a contract to "conquer" girls and, thinking it is an invitation to a game challenge, he accepts. In response, a cute demon from Hell named Elsie appears: a Spirit Hunter. She asks for his cooperation to help her in catching the evil spirits that have escaped to the Human Realm: the "Loose Souls", which were once Old Demons from Hell. These evil spirits hide themselves inside the hearts of girls, feeding off the hosts' negative emotions to replenish their power and strength, thus becoming whole demons once again (and in turn, the host becomes an empty shell of a person). Elsie suggests that the only method to force the evil spirits out is by "conquering" the girls' hearts, making them fall in love with him and filling up the gaps which the escaped evil spirits hide in, in which she is then able to capture them. Interested only in video game girls, however, Keima is appalled by the idea, and refuses the assignment as he has no romantic real life experiences whatsoever. Nevertheless, with the contract already agreed, Keima has no choice but to help Elsie no matter what, as they will be beheaded by an invisible (to others) purple collar around their necks if they fail.

After winning the hearts of fourteen girls (and capturing the spirits residing in them), Keima and Elsie are given an even greater mission: to awaken the six goddesses known as the Jupiter Sisters. Each sister is dormant in the heart of a girl among those they have previously helped, thus Keima must locate them and conquer their hearts a second time. This time however, they remember the encounters he has had with them already, due to the goddesses inside them, causing high tension and constant possible failure as he tries to conquer the girls simultaneously. However, his time is limited as a rebel demon faction called "Vintage" is planning to capture the goddesses and take over the world.

After Vintage's plans are thwarted, Keima starts seeing visions of a child who is somewhat familiar to him. The goddesses send Keima and Elsie to the past with the task of helping her. Upon arriving, they team up with a mysterious girl who apparently has some connection with Dokuro, Elsie's superior in the underworld, and Keima discovers that several occurrences in the past are different from what he remembers, leading to a tragic chain of events that he must avert to ensure that the present stays unaltered, as well as another demon faction which releases giant humanoid monsters.

As Keima completes his final mission, he discovers the truth about one of the giants and is able to reconcile with it. He is relieved from the collar and returns to his normal life in the real world.

In addition to Keima's romantic comedy adventures, the series makes fun of and parodies common, and popular cliches about dating sims, anime character stereotypes, and pop culture.

Development

The World God Only Knows was authored by Tamiki Wakaki. He cited the 1996 visual novel YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World as an influence on the manga.[5]

Media

Manga
Main article: List of The World God Only Knows chapters

The World God Only Knows is written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki, serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday April 9, 2008 and April 23, 2014.[6][7][8] Wakaki created a prototype version of the story which debuted as a one-shot in Weekly Shōnen Sunday 2007 Issue #32 and was titled, "Koishite!? Kami-sama!!" (恋して!? 神様!!).[9] The first tankōbon volume was released by Shogakukan on July 11, 2008, with the 26th and final volume being released on June 18, 2014.[10][11][12]

The series is licensed in South Korea by Haksan Culture Company, and the first two volumes of the series were simultaneously released on August 2009 with a limited edition supplement for each.[13]

A 3-chapter spin-off series, titled Magical Star Kanon 100% (マジカル☆スターかのん１００％), portraying Kanon Nakagawa as a magical girl, ran in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from March 27, to April 10, 2013. The series was published along with additional chapters in a book, bundled with the limited edition of the 21st volume of the main series, released on April 16, 2013.[14] Another spin-off series, titled Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai On the Train (神のみぞ知るセカイ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｒａｉｎ), was serialized on the Club Sunday website in 2014.[15] It was later released into a single volume with three additional previously published chapters on July 17, 2015.[16]

Light novel

A light novel entitled The World God Only Knows―God and the Devil and an Angel (神のみぞ知るセカイ―神と悪魔と天使, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai Kami to Akuma to Tenshi), written by Mamizu Arisawa and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki, was released on May 19, 2009, published by Shogakukan under their Gagaga Bunko label.[17] The novel features a completely original story, disparate from the series, with original novel characters. A second light novel entitled The World God Only Knows 2 Prayer and Curse and Miracle (神のみぞ知るセカイ 2 祈りと呪いとキセキ, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai Inori to Noroi to Kiseki) was released on May 18, 2010.[18]

Anime
Main article: List of The World God Only Knows episodes

The anime adaptation was officially announced in the issue #19 of Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday in April 2010.[19] It was announced that script writer Hideyuki Kurata, character designer Watanabe Akio, and director Shigehito Takayanagi would be working on the project.[20][21] The studio in charge of the animation is Manglobe.[22] On September 18, 2010, Crunchyroll announced the anime would be streaming online on their site.[23] The anime aired on TV Tokyo from October 6 to December 22, 2010,[24] with the second season airing from April 11 to June 28, 2011.[25][26] The third season, titled The World God Only Knows: Goddesses (神のみぞ知るセカイ 女神篇, Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami-Hen), aired on TV Tokyo from July 8 to September 23, 2013, and was simulcast on Crunchyroll.[27][28]

At Anime Weekend Atlanta 2011, Sentai Filmworks announced that they have licensed both seasons of the anime in North America and released the first season on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in January 2012.[29]

Original video animations

A prologue OVA episode was released and bundled together with the tenth manga volume on September 17, 2010.[30] A second OVA episode, titled Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai: 4-nin to Idol (神のみぞ知るセカイ　4人とアイドル, "The World God Only Knows: 4 Girls and an Idol"), was released on a DVD, bundled together with the fourteenth manga volume on September 16, 2011.[2] A third OVA, titled Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Tenri-Hen (神のみぞ知るセカイ　天理篇, "The World God Only Knows: Tenri Arc"), was released in two parts with the 19th and 20th volumes of the manga, on October 16 and December 18, 2012.[31][32] A spin-off OVA based on the character Kanon was announced in the 2013 combined #2–3 issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine.[33] The spin-off is titled Magical Star Kanon 100% (マジカル☆スター かのん100％) and was released bundled with the 22nd volume of the manga on June 18, 2013.[34]

Reception

The third volume of The World God Only Knows was the fourth highest-selling tankōbon in Japan on the Oricon Comic Chart for the week of January 13 and January 19, 2009, with over 50,500 copies sold that week.[35] The following week, it was the twenty-first highest-selling manga volume in Japan, having sold 30,600 copies the week of January 20 and January 26, 2009. As of January 2009, the third manga volume have sold about 81,100 copies.[36]

Carlo Santos of Anime News Network reviewed the anime's first season and gave it a B where he was surprised how much he enjoyed the great storyline despite its plot description alone might be off putting to some saying, "By most expectations, anything involving ditzy demon girls and gaming-obsessed geekboys and a rotating lineup of high school beauties should have been the stuff of critical derision. Yet the show's sharp sense of humor, honest emotions, and polished production values prove that working with familiar clichés doesn't have to result in a clichéd product. With the right prodding and poking, any anime series can indeed become greater than the sum of its parts."[37]

In a 2019 Forbes article about the best anime of the 2010s decade, Lauren Orsini considered it to be one of the five best anime of 2010; she wrote, "What makes this show a standout of its genre is Keima's individuality; he's not a viewer stand-in, but an interesting and flawed character in his own right. Sharp production values and creative character design make this show a visual and audio treat".[38]

Notes
  1. As seen in Weekly Shōnen Sunday. The author also acknowledged Kamishiru (神しる), Misoshiru (みそしる), Kamiseka (神セカ) as alternative abbreviation.[4]
gollark: Hi! Are there wrong people here?
gollark: Just use the data. I don't understand your objections.
gollark: With data, and GPUs.
gollark: Learn, machinely.
gollark: Using machine learning, obviously.

References
  1. Green, Scott (May 2, 2013). "Third Coming of "The World God Only Knows" Anime Arriving This Summer". Crunchyroll. Retrieved May 2, 2020. Shonen Sunday has confirmed that the previously announced third season of harem comedy World God Only Knows anime TV series will be airing this summer
  2. Loo, Egan (June 10, 2011). "The World Only God Knows Manga Gets New Video Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  3. "The World God Only Knows". Sentai Filmworks. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  4. 2008, April 25-Tamiki Wakaki's blog Archived 2009-08-25 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)
  5. "名作「YU-NO」リメイク版をサターン版と比較し徹底レビュー！". ITmedia (in Japanese). April 16, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  6. Wakaki, Tamiki (April 9, 2008). 4/9:孫悟空の髪の毛のごとく。 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 12, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2009.
  7. Loo, Egan (March 18, 2014). "The World God Only Knows Manga to End in Next Volume". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  8. 桂馬が選んだのは…若木民喜「神のみぞ知るセカイ」完結. Natalie (in Japanese). April 23, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  9. Wakaki, Tamiki (July 25, 2007). 7/25:外れメール送信終わりました。 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  10. 神のみぞ知るセカイ　２６ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  11. 神のみぞ知るセカイ　２４　クリアファイルセット付き限定版 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  12. 神のみぞ知るセカイ　２４ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  13. "Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai question" (in Korean). Haksan Culture Company. July 21, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  14. 神のみぞ知るセカイ 21 マジカル☆スターかのん１００％コミックス付 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  15. Cardine, Kyle (September 13, 2014). "The World God Only Knows Manga to Get Train-Themed Spinoff". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  16. 神のみぞ知るセカイ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｒａｉｎ＋パイロットフィルムズ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  17. "Shogakukan : 神のみぞ知るセカイ" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  18. "Shogakukan : 神のみぞ知るセカイ2" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  19. "Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai Manga Gets Anime Green-Lit". Anime News Network. April 2, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
  20. 2010, May 14 - Announced at Tamiki Wakaki's blog Archived 2012-06-30 at Archive.today (in Japanese)
  21. As seen on Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine 2010 Issue #25, #26.
  22. As seen on Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine 2010 Issue #27.
  23. "Crunchyroll Adds Squid Girl, KamiNomi, Letter Bee 2". Anime News Network. September 18, 2010. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
  24. "Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai's 2nd Season Listed for April 2011". Anime News Network. October 5, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  25. "神のみぞ知るセカイII" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on May 4, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  26. "神のみぞ知るセカイII" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
  27. 神のみぞ知るセカイ 女神篇 (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  28. "Crunchyroll to Stream More World God Only Knows, Silver Spoon, Makai Ouji". Anime News Network. July 6, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  29. "Sentai Filmworks Licenses Towa no Quon, The World God Only Knows". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  30. "The World God Only Knows Manga to Bundle Anime DVD". Anime News Network. August 4, 2010. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
  31. "神のみぞ知るセカイ 19 OVA付限定版 (少年サンデーコミックス)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  32. "神のみぞ知るセカイ 20 DVD付特別版 (特品)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  33. "The World God Only Knows Anime Gets 3rd Season & Spinoff OVA". Anime News Network. December 7, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  34. "The World God Only Knows' New OVA Slated for June 18". Anime News Network. March 11, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  35. "Japanese Comic Ranking, January 13–19". Anime News Network. January 21, 2009. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  36. "Japanese Comic Ranking, January 20–26". Anime News Network. January 28, 2009. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  37. "The World God Only Knows Episodes 1-12 streaming". Anime News Network. January 23, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  38. Orsini, Lauren (December 2, 2019). "The Best Anime Of The Decade - 2010 And 2011". Forbes. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
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