Title: The World God Only Knows II
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Supernatural
Rating: 8.2/10
Summary: Season 2 of
The World God Only Knows
Review: Ah I just feel like taking a break from the anime bashing for a bit and move onto something I actually enjoyed this season. I’m sure all of you are also getting tired of the “avoid watch” flags popping up everyone and wondering what you actually SHOULD watch. Well I’ll at least give you reassurance with this one since I’m sure most of you who watched season one already picked this up. For those of you who haven’t because you feared it would disappoint as many two season anime have, this is for you.
The World God Only Knows II not only brought back everything I liked in the first season, it also improved in other areas. It actually touched on subjects I didn’t even bother to question or realize I wanted answered. Since this was a second season, I will just do a short comparison with the first season.
The real difference came in the story, but there were very minor art changes. The biggest one I noticed is the use of chibi characters to illustrate/simplify what was going with each girl. I want to say that I enjoyed it because it did make me giggle, but I’m not a huge fan of chibi art. Something about stunted growth in every part of the body except the head just gets to me. However, it did ease up on the tension a bit, and this anime isn’t meant to be a drama despite the underlying story to mend everyone’s broken heart. The chibi had its place and they did a good job keeping it under control. Not sure if I consider it a great addition though. At least it didn’t discourage me from watching.
On to where I found the biggest difference between the first and second season: story. When the anime first aired you are thrown into the world of a soul catcher. It gave no real explanation on why beheading is the only other option if Keima couldn’t do his job (that he was forced into) properly. The second season still didn’t touch too much on that either, but it did bring us quite insightful news. It all started when Elsie’s childhood friend and role model, Haqua, comes for a job assignment. After a bit of gawking and idolizing done by Elsie you learn that Haqua isn’t all that she’s cracked up to be. That was all well and good, but she played the very cliché role that most “model students” play in anime: self-loathing. Apparently all model students will always crack under the pressure of being awesome and looked up to. They also don’t take compliments very well because of deep seeded anger toward all their adoring fans. I’m sure you can tell by now that I wasn’t too fond of the new demon addition. I can’t say that I was too excited to watch her little arc. However, she did provide a great backstory for why these souls must be captured at all costs. This definitely got me more interested in
The World God Only Knows series. There is still quite a bit to explain, and it seems like a season three is already lined up and waiting (at least the little after credits hint toward it). Another thing that made me more drawn to this season was the girls. The girls were so much better personality and story wise. The best of course being the teacher helper in the final arc. It was a nice change of pace from the regular high school girls Keima normally has to go after. I was actually a bit curious how he was going to pull this one off considering nothing was really going his way at the beginning. If I’ve learned anything its that you get quite the edge on a girl if you notice her before she notices you. Sounds creepy when you put it like that… There was a lot better character development in the second season as well. Keima showed a lot more interest in the real world from time to time. I don’t know what I would think of the series if Keima actually stopped playing his games all of sudden, but the slow transition might help me ease into the idea. I also loved that season two did a good job bringing in characters from season one to sort of help out in season two. It kind of made the series actually feel like a continuation. It also adds to my sneaking suspicion that the girls he has “captured” remember at least a little bit.
Finally the soundtrack. I quite enjoyed the first seasons, and the seconds wasn’t too bad either. Between the two OP I would say that the first season’s was better. Thankfully in the final episode they tied in the first season’s OP as background music. It added a lot to the effect and mended in nicely. The ED were equal for the most part. The cute body painting was a nice bonus in the first though. The second season’s ED didn’t have the best animation because it all focused around Keima’s precious PFP. I understand the symbolism, but the simplicity wasn’t eye catching enough. And the song wasn’t entrancing enough to make up for it.
Final statements: If you enjoyed the first season I’m sure you will like the second one even more. It offered a lot more background story, character development, and did a great job melting the two season together. I’m looking forward to a third season, and hoping that they improve the series even more. If you haven’t picked this anime up yet, what’s wrong with you? Get to it. Go go go! High priority watch.
