First Impressions: The World God Only Knows II (Anime Adaptation)

I promise that this will (probably) be the last anime review for quite a while. Fortunately, I've saved up what I think is...actually the second best anime this season for last. Anyways, here goes. For those of you who know my feelings towards this series in general (manga & anime both), the review may surprise you a bit. Beware, my opinion does get a little lengthy.

My general rule of thumb for quality is that the less graphics there are, the purer the plot/quality of the story seems to get. This is obvious since there is no 'eye candy' compensation really available in light novels so they have to make the story as good as it can be. This means that usually quality is dictated thus: LN >> Manga >> Anime, unless the manga/anime chronologically comes first, in which case that is higher quality. Hidan no Aria and Ao no Exorcist are two prime examples, which is why I'm not jumping up and down about the anime (when the Light Novel is clearly more developed and better and the anime won't nearly cover enough) and also why I've stopped watching Ao no Exorcist. I mean, even the manga that I'm sort of tolerating right now is almost exactly what you would imagine a Bleach/Naruto hybrid to be like - that is, a mediocre 'tough brat' trying to kill supernatural beings with a Japanese sword but he's actually something that everyone detests, making him a loner until he goes to a school full of freaks to learn how to control his secretly ridiculous Super Saiyan 4 powers. Gee, did they run out of plot lines in Awesome Shounen Land or something?

It's 6 A.M in the morning and you wake up to the sound of UTTERLY EPIC ROCK MUSIC. Oh and Jesus is by your side too.

But in any case, my fear in watching every anime adaptation is that they will not cover the actual meaty details/plots/arcs that made the original series so good. And that's sort of how I judge things. This, as you'll see, will factor in quite a bit to what I'm about to say.

The World God Only Knows (Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai/Kami no Mizo Shiru Sekai if you want to be more correct across the languages) has quickly opened up with a new season - after all, they already have enough material from Tamiki Wakaki, the creator of the manga, to make a third season before this one is over.

Let me make a few points about the technical stuff before I go on:

Sound: Excellent - they keep what was good from the first series and add in new stuff; the new seiyuus are pretty good, and the nagging Elsie/cold Keima combo has always been delightful to hear. Elisa's OP was one of my Soundtracks of the Week and the ED is pretty good too. Nothing really new except for the OP, but very good nevertheless - sort of like how I viewed Zero no Tsukaima.

Graphics: The graphics in both the manga and the anime have always been surprisingly good - Keima looks good, the girls look good, the graphics are clean, etc etc. The studio does its best to smooth out the angles and they succeed in that aspect. No Van Gogh, but certainly an eye pleaser. One thing to note though is that I don't like the use of such...strong colors - especially on Haqua. Her hair is purple - someone did NOT throw a bucket of purple paint exactly where her hair was. There's a difference.

But I'm pretty sure she doesn't remember you moderately crippling your sense of taste.

Now back to the plot. Remember what I said about Wakaki providing tons of material?

Unfortunately the anime only has a few paths where it can tread:

1) Fold

2) Raise

3) Skim dangerously to the main arc that'll be coming up soon but just wrap up without going there and then stop

4) Skim all the way to the main arc, give a preview, then pray for enough viewers for a third season

5) MASSIVELY FAIL

If you read the manga for this series (PLEASE DO), you know that the studio is cutting it close to the main arc (yes, it gets even BETTER than Keima just being a pimp). But even with just skimming it, I'm very disappointed at the pace and the direction that the anime is going. Just to fit it into 12/15 episodes, they have set up for themselves a massive hurdle and they are either always going too fast or too slow. If you've seen the first season already (and do that too if you're going into Season 2), you know that the pace then was actually very decent for what was a 12 episode format - the smooth but not hurried 1-episode introduction into what was an almost Amagami SS style deliberate girl-dating mini-arc fest was an excellent decision by the studio and I enjoyed watching the smooth transitions and conquering of each girl. However, this time is different.

If you look at the episodes so far, you'll see that it's actually very disjointed. We have a what, 2-episode conquering of Kusunoki into an unexpected crash into Haqua into a 2-episode introduction of Haqua? For those of you who have not read the manga, Kusunoki actually HAS an entire arc. Haqua's introduction is just that - an introduction. How can Keima bitch-smack her into place in 2 episodes and then walk around aimlessly for 2 episodes just getting acquainted with Haqua? I don't care how big the fan base is for Elsie's friend, but I'm sorry, this is NOT quality.

*dusts off hands* Alright, done with that date and kiss. What's up next? Somebody smooth out any schedule conflicts of his.

If they would do it at the same pace as the first season (AKA PRIORITIZE what's important) maybe it would have been better, but as it is, I'm very afraid that they're going to cut down all the supporting arcs on their warpath to the third season for the major arc. This would be a very, very bad decision on their part because they're downplaying:

a) what makes this anime so good in the first place (because Keima doesn't have a reset button in RL - AKA This ain't motherfucking Amagami/Kimikiss),

b) what makes Keima the character that he is later on, and

c) the major part of this series.

I can also assure you that they won't even get to the major arc anyways from the way that they're playing their hands by laying down 3/4 girls at a time - Wakaki has come up with like 15161618 genius ideas/girls so they'll never get to it in time even if they cut down everyone except for whoever's needed later, again going against part A as I mentioned above. So as much as I am a very, very hardcore fan of this series in general, I am not very enthusiastic about the continuation of this season right now as it heads in its direction.

But what about the plot? Well, you won't get to see much of it in the anime, but just to motivate you to read the manga, the plot is EXCELLENT. Just....it is ridiculous. The combination of an actual 'plot' and the transition from 'pseudo'-harem (to not drive people off initially) to definite harem has been masterfully done by Wakaki. This doesn't mention the fact that each girl acts pretty damn naturally even given their supernatural scenarios and is very much unique. This rare gift of Wakaki's to set up characters ezpz like this will take this author far.

The development of Keima and Elsie is definitely seen and understood, and to top it off, the author manages to drive it up a notch every chapter. It's ridiculous. So far in the last 10 or so chapters, almost every one has been crucial to the development, natural in the scheme of things, had exciting tension, and one-upped the last chapter in terms of awesomeness. Most mangas that tend to set the tension and drive up things just have cliffhangers for like 2 chapters and then have an 8-chapter battle where the writer seems to go, "Ohohoho I get to relax on the actual quality of the manga by doing some shitty battles," and tries to make people swoon by having the main character 99% die every other page. Not this one. This has a legitimate plot thought out, a protagonist that's unique, not a dumbass, and gets pimper without using a Hyperbolic Time Chamber every 50 episodes. It even has realistic supporting characters to back him up. How much better can it get? The answer is not much.

The baller at his best. What moves will this god take next?

The last new thing I'll say about this series is that this series, unlike almost all other harem/mini-arc catch'em all series, distinguishes itself by the fact that the girls appeal by their sheer force of character/personality. They're all cute, friendly, and 'normal' in the sense that they don't act like what Rie Kugimiya's voice always seems to sound like in her roles. But instead of appealing with looks, each character warms you up because they're nice, or because they're slightly cold but does X and Y, or because they act cute in these circumstances, or whatever. The point is, each character I can summarize by saying "I really liked her because she did ______," not "I liked her because Kana Hanazawa is voicing her". By doing this, Wakaki has set himself definitely apart from the others.

In summary, this is a meh series to watch if you've already read the manga. If you have NOT, please TURN THIS OFF AND READ THE MANGA. I AM NOT JOKING. DO IT NOW.

Oh, and by the way - Azusa Nakano lost to Misaka Mikoto in the Aqumarine period by EIGHT VOTES, knocking her out of the running for the necklace. Screw all of you that voted for Mikoto. ALL OF YOU.

Great. Now she's pissed.