[Akito Kinomoto]

When I first watched Kami Nomi I wasn't too impressed and wasn't wowed like I was with more traditional romance. But after rewatching it I've found the series to be very solid and lacking in any major flaws. More thoughts below...

Spoiler for Length:

Harem anime usually have the problem of deciding how its story is going to be told. If it decides to have the hero focus on one heroine, the other girls are left out and it alienates anyone who would have preferred the hero to be with another heroine (single route). Some harem anime have addressed the bad side of this approach by giving each heroine a self-contained arc within the series to develop a romance for each of them and it pleases more viewers. But the hero’s development resets at the start of every heroine’s story arc (omnibus format).

Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai solves the problem of how a harem anime tells its story because of the story itself. The series revolves around Keima Katsuragi and a demon girl Elcea de Rux Ima (Elsie) who hunt and capture Loose Souls that have possessed people—all girls—by using the emptiness in their hearts. To drive out and capture a Loose Soul from its host, the emptiness in their hearts needs to be filled with love—cue Keima’s romantic involvement. When a Loose Soul is driven out and captured, the girl loses all of her memories about Keima and the Loose Soul possessing her.

The brilliance of the story is twofold: The romantic interest built up for each heroine is self-contained (omnibus format) while still affecting Keima and Elsie’s development throughout the show (single route). It’s the best of a self-contained story and a continuous story.

But having the best of both worlds presents its own problems. As a continuous story, Keima repeatedly falling in love stretches the suspension of disbelief even by anime standards and such a problem doesn’t happen in single route harem anime. As a self-contained story, let it be known the omnibus format has its own problems of trying to properly develop each heroine within a limited time span. Fortunately, the heroines are all developed as much as two or three episodes will allow. And while they aren’t the most complex characters around, they don’t need to be when they’re all distinct from each other to please the heroine taste of as many viewers as possible. Added with the limited amount of time Keima spends with each heroine in-universe and it’s apparent they couldn’t be developed as much as one might want because of those time constraints.

Visually there’s not much to talk about. The colors and designs vibrantly represent all of the characters whether it’s the normally apathetic-to-the-real-world Keima, the bubbly could-bounce-anywhere Elsie, or even the placid and unassuming Shiori. There’s nothing to fault here but nothing that stands out too much either. Audio-wise, the music track that sticks out the most is the one that plays whenever Keima successfully romances a heroine; most of the show’s music is noticeable in every scene but not enough to stand on its own while occasionally using a lack of music to good effect.

The show isn’t anything more than good but that isn’t a criticism against it. After all, it’s uncommon for a story itself to address the storytelling problems a harem anime usually has. Being a combination of the single route and omnibus format approach lets the series take a unique role as a show that finds success from being a hybrid of two very different ways of storytelling. Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai’s lack of flaws of and solid strengths make it a very solid anime that can be enjoyed by almost anyone.