First Impressions / Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「Whole New World God Only Knows」 by Oratorio The World God Only Knows
Watch the OP!: Download, Streaming ▼

「一花繚乱」 (Ichi Hana Ryouran)
“Flower in Bloom”

After a season without Keima and Elsie to brighten up my week, I’m glad that this show still has all the things I love about it. Besides never taking itself too seriously, I’m glad that Keima seems to have reverted back to his otaku, 2d loving self. While I wouldn’t say it was a complete relapse, it felt nice to see him go crazy over his current predicament. If you remember toward the end of season one, he was starting to get a pretty good grip on reality. While it made him easier to deal with I’m not sure if I wanted to lose all that humor that came with his otaku-ness. But as I watched him go and try to repeat a scenario in real life, all my doubts were gone.

Enter, Kasuga Kusunoki (Koshimizu Ami) — the perfect definition of a tsundere. At first glance, I expected her to be the first real challenge for Keima. Her tough personality, the ability to punch straight through boards (not break them), and the thought that anything cute might make her explode were some of the few things that got my hopes up. But alas, watching her actually be the personification of the classic tsundere sort of disappointed me.

That said, I still thoroughly enjoyed the first episode and the first girl of the season. I’m a sucker for when an independent girl shows her soft side, and I never expected her feelings for Keima to develop so quickly. While Kasuga’s current predicament is pretty standard in the anime world, the girl stuck in a family tradition that forces her to drastically change the way she lives — I thought it was pretty interesting how she subconsciously deals with it. Watching her inner spirit slowly leak out because she’s trying so hard to suppress it was surprising to say the least. Based off of Keima’s advice to Kasuga, I’m pretty sure that she’s going to learn how to deal with her emotions and somehow figure out that instead of trying to conquer them, she’s going to have to learn to accept them.

After watching the opening and seeing what looked like a teacher on Keima’s to do list, I’ll admit that I thought that the girls were going to have even crazier personality flaws than last season. For the first episode of the sequel, I thought that TWGOK managed to handle itself very well. Besides giving Keima and Elsie life once again, the show succeeded in grabbing my attention to all the new girls that they’re bringing to the lineup. The one thing that I’m looking forward to is hopefully more Elsie centered episodes. As Divine mentioned, while a step down from five to three heroines could be seen as a negative thing, I’m hoping it ends up being a positive one!

P.S. I still miss the old opening song ):

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「アイノヨカン」 (Ai no Yokan) by 神のみぞ知り隊 (Kami nomi zo Shiri-tai)
Watch the ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

Preview

107 Comments

  2. too bad there is only 3 girls (wait, 2 girls, 1 teacher)… but hopefully each one will be given more depth…
    I like how they reintroduced the show with the FC D&D scene 🙂
    Kasuga FTW!!!
    and +1 to missing the old OP

    jrj
    Reply

      1. It would help more people out if you said to what your spoiler pertained, instead of putting the tag around the whole comment. I mean, there are some things I wouldn’t mind getting spoiled on while others I definitely wouldn’t want to know.

        inquisitive mind
        Reply

  5. Finally saw someone who is not a “student”. I wonder how he’ll conquer her.
    And did the “Loose Souls” get an upgrade? Kasuga’s looks like her, instead of those mon-blob.

    FlamingYu
    Reply

    1. actually, those are just some manifestations of their doubts/insecurities thanks to the loose souls in them.
      like kanon with her invisibility and shiori’s ability to memorize every book.

      amado
      Reply

    2. If Keima did assume that then there’s no arguing about it 😛 even if it was just an assumption.

      I just thought that it wasn’t because the manifestations are supposed to be negative effects that will eventually wear off when the Weiss is captured. I don’t think that she’s going to lose her ability after her Weiss was captured. Show Spoiler ▼

      dxb_blackwolf
      Reply

    3. Theres still tons of girls usable for a new season.
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Ihope they make a third one cuz this series is just awesome.

      Rasone0104
      Reply

  10. my fave girl is ayumi, since she’s the first one and for other reasons that would be considered spoilers…
    anyway, I like this one better than last season. it doesnt really try to stretch out the arcs this time.

    my ranking of girls is ayumi, then shiori, then the other girls….

    amado
    Reply

    1. That’s how I’d rank them too. I almost always fall for the first girl first!

      …Shiori was absolutely adoreable in the manga (the way she talked in her mind. The anime didn’t really do her justice imo.

      MC
      Reply

      2. keima also technically has gotten some character development since he cares about the girls but it might also be that he is just really desperate to finish his contract.

        well in terms of serious character development that is noticable… it will be next season sadly.

        amado
        Reply

  14. Although we all miss the old OP, this new one will grow on us soon enough. I thought it was funny how they were about to go into the whole premise when they suddenly say “Wait, didn’t you watch S1?”

    Good point, Keima. What kind of idiot goes into a sequel show without at least some background? (*raises hand*) >.>

    TehJawknee
    Reply

  19. Yes they finally bring out my fave girl of the series!!!
    I love her character, it constantly reminds me of Tomoyo
    from Clannad-must have a weakness for independent girls
    who can stand up for themselves,also this show broke my
    exoectation of making the 1st ep a recollection arc but
    rather than that they throw a girl at Keima from the
    get go. Seeing as this girl might just take 2 episodes
    to conquer. I estimate taht it will take around 8-9 episodes
    to finish up all the girls inclunding Haqua. they might throw in
    a few fillers (such as Haqua’s buddy) or by a slim chance introduce
    Tenri and open up the possibility of A 3rd Season.
    ~Seriously everyone just gotta love Keima

    Rasone0104
    Reply

  21. Ahh I hate it when characters appear in the anime differently that how I imagined them. I was really disappointed that Haqua’s hair is purple >_> Can’t wait for Chihiro’s arc, that was my favorite in the manga.. something about that arc made my heart feel warm xD

    dxb_blackwolf
    Reply

    1. What colour did you think it was going to be?
      I thought it wouuld be pinky-purple or blue-purple, not as purple as it is in the anime. The reason why is because Tamiki Wakaki has drawn some colour stuff for her, so I based it off those lol…

      pimple
      Reply

      1. Lol I probably forgot about seeing her in a colored page. I always saw imagined she’d have a lighter hair color (but not two light). I suppose pink or redish. Now it seems a little weird after seeing her in the OP song though.

        dxb_blackwolf
        Reply

  24. Kasuga is my favorite from TWGOK’s earlier chapters so seeing her animated just makes me happy. Seeing this ep though makes me think it’s slightly rushed, but the anime quality imo is better (or maybe it’s just Kasuga and my biasness) than last season so it’s alright. Thanks for covering it Takaii!

    Kyzel
    Reply

  31. good old Elsie, totally forgot about her. She’s as cute as ever, I wonder how far this anime season will reach this time. Probably not going to catch up to the manga at all though. Their interaction together is so cute, with Elsie making fun of Keima’s drawings and all. Those two will always be a cute pairing in my mind~

    The manga needs to bring Elsie back, I miss her~

    thenewhorde
    Reply

  35. Finally, Enter Haqua! She’s my favorite next to Kanon~

    It’s good to have this show back but I have one concern though… with the speed of the show, this is going to take FOREVER to catch up to the manga counterpart.

    Serapita
    Reply

    1. I’d rather it follow the manga to the tee than start taking J.C. Staff anime original fail like in yumekui merry. The manga is great and all this development really helps in the later arcs.

      Rinsako
      Reply

  36. I’m pretty sure the arcs will equal the number of girls from last season.

    You get Martial, Normal and Teacher + Haqua Arc

    Last Season it was Runner, Rich, Idol + Library Arc

    Both have filler involving mom.

    Rinsako
    Reply

  37. It looks like the show is sticking more or less to the same formula as last season, and I’m a-okay with that. It’s a set up that worked great before, and is still making me laugh this season. Good timing on the gags, the jokes themselves are quite funny, and it’s nice to see Keima going back to his game world loving self (“Wait, Parsley Men hurt in the real world!” 😛 ).

    LordHuggington
    Reply

  39. Yay, TWGOK II is live!

    I don’t have any particularly fond memories from the manga of the girls that Keima’s going for this season, and for the life of me I can’t fathom why Kusonoki was important enough that Show Spoiler ▼

    . Maybe she’s cute? Not in my eyes.

    Rating the girls this season, it would be Jun, Kusonoki and Chihiro, in that order from most liked to least.

    DCLXVI
    Reply

  48. It would be nice if they just go all out and cover all the manga. But that would require too many seasons. Anyway, Elsie’s my fave. She comes in at the right times for great comedic scenes.

    Gambler
    Reply

  50. Ppl already mentioned it, but kinda weird to see only 3 of the girls in the OP.
    Kinda forgot so I have to brush up upon the manga again, but are they leaving out some girls from the manga or changing orders? (Or am I just delusional and completely off the track…)
    Without the season being like 50 episodes long, I think this season will leave room for yet another season, unless they completely stray away from the manga- oh no.

    Whee
    Reply

    1. They’re not. Including Haqua, there should be four girls this season, stopping at Jun (the teacher). After Jun would be Tsukiyo, but her and any of the other girls will have to be left for a (possible) third season. Guess it depends on how the sales go for this season, considering the poor ones that the first got… A lot of my favorite arcs come up after this, so hopefully!
      Basically, according to my knowledge, the order should be somewhat like Kasuga->Haqua->Chihiro->Jun, just like how they appeared in the manga 🙂

      Aisu
      Reply

  53. Well this series started with a bang…literally. It looks like they they’ve already trimmed down on some of the story thins time around. Show Spoiler ▼

    Though given how much material there is, it may be a good thing.

    However:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Then again, it was way into the story that was reviled. Or when they started to show up. So it may be better then throwing it in near the end

    Snicket
    Reply

  54. Probably making more time for Haruka and Elsie episodes.
    Only explanation for bullrushing this Arc. While its still nicely done, I’m kinda sad they’re already on the date…

    Zero
    Reply

  55. Can someone explain the precise meaning of the translation of the series title? Should the Japanese translate to “The Only World [that] God Knows” or “The World [that] Only God Knows”? The current series title (The World God Only Knows) is ambiguous and not well-translated IMO.

    Lee
    Reply

    1. your just overthinking it.
      “god” is referring to keima so it means: “the world keima only knows”.
      could mean that keima lives in his own world(the fiction world aka only sees 2D girls and not the 3D ones).

      amado
      Reply

      1. Yea, I figured “God” refers to Keima, but my point is, does the title mean that this is the only world that Keima knows (i.e., Keima knows no other world), or does it mean that only Keima knows/understands this world and that no one else knows/understands it? Sure, it’s not an important point or anything, but I’m still curious. Maybe Divine can help me out here?

        Lee
        Reply

      2. I think its more on keima is in his own little world aka the 2D world.
        it could also well be that only keima understands the world. he does get through the challenges a lot using a very different method from the other characters aka he uses his games to capture the loose souls.
        its a minor spoiler but haqua mentions that only keima uses the “love” approach in getting them so maybe his way of looking the world(mixing the 3D with 2D).

        anyway, thats the best I can answer you. maybe Divine can give a better one but he’s sick so it might take a while.

        amado
        Reply

  59. I found this episode very good in re-establishing and re-familiarizing myself to the series. I’m really excited to see the new girl from hell. So far very good, direct to the point this time plus the girl is really cute 🙂

    Ghostalker
    Reply

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