Wow, it's been a busy month. School. Lots and lots of it. This weekend is the dreaded presentation, my first time presenting at an academic conference. I get to do it on Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle though, which is quite exciting! If I can just get over the fear of speaking in front of hoards of people it should be fun. In the meantime, watching the occasional anime keeps me sane (Honto ka?), and right now I've just started on Crunchyroll's new fall anime The World God Only Knows.
The plot follows high school student and incurable bishoujo game otaku Keima Katsuragi. Known across the net for his ability to "capture" any girl (provided she only exists in a game), Keima is considered something of a god. Which leads him into a bit of trouble when he is scouted by demon from hell. After unwittingly signing a contract agreeing to assist with the capture of loose souls, Keima finds himself in the position of having to capture the hearts of real girls or loose his head--literally!
This anime strikes me as promising for a couple of reasons. For one, it's just so damn cute. Demon from Hell Elsea, is about as kawaii as they come. Determined to act as Keima's helpful little sister (to the point of sacrificing his parents' happy marriage in the process), she is adorably clueless and inept. Not that I'm generally a fan of clueless, inept women, but she's an affective foil to Keima's slightly absurd otaku confidence in his gaming knowledge. Another thing I like is that, after Keima succeeds in capturing a girl's heart and ridding her of her renegade demon--we're only on episode three now, so we haven't been faced with a situation in which he fails yet--she forgets all about the feelings for him that he strove so hard to create. Although he claims not to have any interest in "real" girls, we can see this amnesia disturbs him on a level he is not yet willing to admit. The tension successfully propels my desire to see more onward.
In terms of original characters, I don't think that's quite what this anime is aiming at. Since all of Keima's skill is based on his knowledge of gaming character archetypes he manages to fit everyone he meets into the little box of his limited knowledge. Although it would be interesting to see what would happen if these archetypes were turned upside down and inside out, I'm not holding my breath for anything spectacular. Keima himself should easily satisfy any viewers inclined to magane-moe (glasses-moe), and I can't help thinking of Kyoya-senpai from OHSHC every time his glasses flash.
One final note: Really, really liking the opening theme song "Shuuseki Kairo no Yume Tabibito" by Oratorio The World God Only Knows. Haven't been able to find any info on them so far, but the CD single release is in November. Until then, I'm gonna attempt embedding a YouTube video. Fingers crossed it works!
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