| The World God Only Knows | |
The cover of The World God Only Knows volume 3 as published by Shogakukan |
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| 神のみぞ知るセカイ (Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai) |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Romance-Comedy, Parody, Fantasy |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Tamiki Wakaki |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Sunday |
| Original run | 2008 – ongoing |
| Volumes | 15 |
| Light novel | |
| Written by | Mamizu Arisawa |
| Illustrated by | Tamiki Wakaki |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Demographic | Male |
| Imprint | Gagaga Bunko |
| Published | May 19, 2009 |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Shigehito Takayanagi |
| Written by | Hideyuki Kurata |
| Music by | Hayato Matsuo |
| Studio | Manglobe |
| Licensed by | Madman Entertainment Sentai Filmworks |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | October 6, 2010 – December 22, 2010 |
| Episodes | 12 |
| TV anime | |
| The World God Only Knows II | |
| Directed by | Shigehito Takayanagi |
| Written by | Hideyuki Kurata |
| Music by | Hayato Matsuo |
| Studio | Manglobe |
| Licensed by | Madman Entertainment Sentai Filmworks |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | April 12, 2011 – June 28, 2011 |
| Episodes | 12 |
The World God Only Knows (神のみぞ知るセカイ?, Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai), abbreviated as Kaminomi (神のみ?),[1][2] is a manga series written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki. The manga has been serialized in the Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine by Shogakukan since April 9, 2008, with individual chapters collected in fourteen tankōbon volumes as of September 2011. The prototype version of the story was first featured as a one-shot on Weekly Shōnen Sunday on its 2007 Issue 32 release, and was titled "Koishite!? Kami-sama!!" (恋して!? 神様?). The 2010 Issue #19 of Weekly Shōnen Sunday announced an anime adaptation had been green-lit, which premiered on October 6, 2010.
Contents |
Keima Katsuragi, a second-year high school student, is an avid bishōjo game player. 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 known as otamegane (オタメガネ?), a derogatory portmanteau of the two words otaku (オタク?) and megane (メガネ?, "glasses"), and is considered nothing but an intelligent yet gloomy geek with glasses.
At the start of the series, Keima receives an e-mail offering him a contract to "conquer" girls. When he accepts it, thinking it is an invitation to a game, a demon from Hell named Elsie appears. She asks for his cooperation to help her in catching runaway spirits. These spirits hide themselves inside the hearts of girls, and Elsie suggests that the only method to force the spirits out is by "conquering" the girls hearts, making them fall in love with him 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 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 if they fail.
Aside from focusing on Keima and Elsie's adventures on capturing spirits, the series also makes fun and parodying common and popular cliches about dating sims, anime character stereotypes, and pop culture.
The World God Only Knows is written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki, serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday since April 9, 2008.[3] 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!!).[4] Publication is ongoing in Japan by Shogakukan; the first tankōbon was released on July 11, 2008, and as of December 2011, fifteen volumes have been released.[5]
The series is licensed in South Korea by Haksan Culture Company, and the first two volumes of the series has been simultaneously released on August 2009 with limited edition supplement for each.[6]
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.[7] The novel features a completely original story that 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.[8]
The anime adaptation of this manga was officially announced in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday 2010 Issue #19.[9] It was announced that script writer Hideyuki Kurata, character designer Watanabe Akio, and director Shigehito Takayanagi would be working on the project.[10][11] The studio in charge of the animation is Manglobe.[12] A prologue OVA episode was released and bundled together with the tenth manga volume on September 17, 2010.[13] On September 18, 2010, Crunchyroll announced the anime will be streaming online on their site.[14] The anime began airing on TV Tokyo from October 6, 2010 to December 22, 2010[15], with the second season airing from April 11, 2011 to June 28, 2011. A second OVA was released and bundled together with the fourteen manga volume on September 16, 2011.[16] At Anime Weekend Atlanta 2011, Sentai Filmworks announced that they have licensed both seasons of the anime in North America and will release the first season on DVD and Blu-ray in January 2012.[17]
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.[18] 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.[19]
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."[20]
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