God only Knows -- Elisa

This song is about love.

While exploring manga online, one comes across many titles. Most of them I will never read, even though they might be good. 'The World God only Knows" is a title I discovered by chance. I was bothered by the title, 'cos I tended to read it as 'the world only god knows'...

I was curious and decided to find out what kind of manga would have that kind of title.
It's the kind with 1 male protagonist and a whole load of females. Ahem.

This put me off a little... until I saw this opening for the recently just-aired anime. It's only at about episode 4 or 5 while I write this.



It got me interested. A supercool techno-inspired opening and theme. And a protagonist who's so addicted to games that he is known as a GOD.I read the pilot chapter of the manga, and realised I like it a lot. Hooo... never judge a book by its cover.

Keima Katsuragi is a game addict specialising in 'girl games'; games which are like dating sims (a phenomenon mostly unique to Japan). He despises reality, and does not so much as escape into the gaming world as he accepts that the 'Real' is inherently flawed and is beyond hope. He is calm, calculating, exact, has no despair and no disillusionment; this is how things are, and he is content as long as the Real does not intrude upon his life. He is known on the internet as "The Capturing God" for his legendary skills to "capture" any girl in Bishōjo games, yet ironically he does not like girls in real life, where he is known as the Otamegane (オタメガネ), a derogatory portmanteau of the two words otaku (オタク) and megane (メガネ-"glasses").*ref: wikipedia. (His name Keima was based the word 'gamer')

Yet one day, out of pride, he accidentally accepts what he assumes to be a challenge for a Bishōjo game when in reality he has accepted a contract from Hell. Thus, he  is bound to a bumbling demoness name Elsea de Lute Irma, also known as Elsie, who asks for his help in capturing runaway spirits from Hell who are hiding in the hearts of girls. The only way to force the spirits out of the girls hearts is by making the girls fall in love with him (or so he is told), much to his horror. With the threat of death for both of them should he refuse (or fail), Keima has no choice but to help Elsie. Together with his intelligence and knowledge of the dating sim genre and Elsie magical powers, Keima is about to embark his greatest challenge.

Some of the interesting parts of the series is when Keima expounds his teachings of 'Capturing'. I really wonder how much of it can be applied to real life. I haven't dared apply any of it myself. Interesting nonetheless. He also takes his title of 'God' very seriously  (he borders on being an egotistical maniac). When capturing the hearts of his targets, he does so with near mechanical precision; every word, action, flush, breath, etc. is calculated to achieve the best 'ending'. He acts like a suave knight in shining armor while in 'Capturing Mode', but once he's done (and the target's memory erased), he immediately reverts to his anti-social true self. Throughout his escapades, he maintains his rejection of the 3D and his ideals of the 2D. Yet along the way, perhaps he will learn to open his heart to the real world. I dunno... it would be less fun that way...

Nevertheless, at least it doesn't seem to be a mere shallow excuse to see anime girls naked and such (though there are the few obligatory scenes...). Typically, it explores various issues; although one might think the main theme is love, I think it's about Reality vs Ideals. The perfect kind of love we see in fairy tales, movies and video games just doesn't really exist. Love in the Real is flawed, and yet it is beautiful. Human relationships be it love, friendship, or family ties can be very troublesome and complex but still, we have to cope with it, and in the end, I guess it isn't too bad.

Meh. I find this series fun because of the funny stuff, not the deep stuff. That part just rounds out the package.

P.S.: The song is 99% engrish.