Kami nomi/TWGOK - Episode 7 Discussion / Poll

[Qikz]

I really enjoyed this episode, but it's a shame Kanon's arc is over.

I really wonder if they'll all remember that they fell for him in the end. It's just a wild guess, but it'd be a really nice way to end it all. He'll get his Harem in the end hopefully. It seems weird they'd just go through characters and then never come back, especially if they just forget everything that happened.

[paladinenvec]

Originally Posted by Vanish

Well, it can't be helped if J-Pop isn't to your tastes.
Even if you say that, I don't see how Keima is downgraded.
About the idea of using the sensor, the fact that whoever of those two said that line is insignificant at this rate.
And it would only be noticed by manga readers (not like I remember)... which in fact wasn't yet. That said, the expressions didn't really change except for the blushing topic which in my opinion is also insignificant at this point.
Either way, his intelligence is surely uneffected by those minor differences which have been brought up so far.

^i agree with this one, i think that the character of Keima its well done, it needs a little push but its not something to rage about, the changes from manga to anime are few and are not that important but i think some fans like to make a storm in a glass of water anyway the anime has been almost flawless only some animation problems here and there and the excessive amount of songs in the kannon arc (if you're a Jpop fan then you won't have problems).

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

Which is silly because she's like Justin Timberlake after leaving 'N Sync, how can she think that she can't do anything on her own when she's the only member left from the trio and is a nation wide sensation? It really doesn't make sense. The flashbacks where people seemed to not notice her seemed more of a reason for her insecurities than this.

Logic doesn't always apply, especially when it comes to a person's feelings of insecurity and even more so when it's a teenage girl.

I hate how they'd try and be perfectionist in those Let's Play videos >_> some times the good ending is better than the true one.

Yes...I think this would have been a good example of the good ending being better.

[Seihai]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

Which is silly because she's like Justin Timberlake after leaving 'N Sync, how can she think that she can't do anything on her own when she's the only member left from the trio and is a nation wide sensation? It really doesn't make sense. The flashbacks where people seemed to not notice her seemed more of a reason for her insecurities than this.

Both the flashbacks and her situation with former Citron are striking points I should think and they both announce her insecurity. It's an irony but it's also a twisted flaw to her personality, being human.

As Keima having to solve things, well he didn't do much during these episodes. He only needed to ignore her long enough and then point out the obvious to her.

Fix'd.
That was the point and just according to his usual game paths, more or less. Remember the "don't fall for the meat, it's a trap" explanation by him. Kanon got attached to Keima once her "path opened up" with him not recognizing her, even ignoring her. The rest, even if not in detail, was just part of his calculated route.

I hate how they'd try and be perfectionist in those Let's Play videos >_> some times the good ending is better than the true one.

I don't get it. So Keima could have released the soul sooner? How so?

I do like a good number of Jpop songs, however I felt that they were plugging in too many songs in here and some of them I just didn't like. They did help make Kanon stand out, but an idol could stand out by singing one song an episode (see Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier) But like I mentioned, this episode made the OST shine unlike the previous episodes where they were not that noticeable.

Pretty much agreed. Namely Happy Happy Happy Crescent was played too many times for me.

My gut is telling me it had more to do with a business strategy to target fans of character songs to buy single albums (what Sackett said about marketability)

I also think that, but I treat the 'dash out CDs for cash' fact as a mere extra, and not a negative one, to say the least.

That's an interesting interruption, though I don't agree with it fully. True, teenagers do seek acknowledgement from others (generally that's the case with all humans) however while you find Kanon as incredibly humble, I find it absurdly naive of her not to notice the legions of fans who worship her as a goddess, the fact that she's the only member left of her group who had such level of success and coverage. If she's not seeing it because she's such an airhead that she can't notice her surroundings or doesn't notice all of the fans that adore her, then that makes it worse than being self centered.

Granted, the irony does add an interesting undertone to the arc, though it doesn't make Kanon any more likable for myself (she's someone who has everything she needs right next to her, but is unable to see them despite how obvious it is)

It's also crucial that she needed confirmation that there exist people who not only worship her as a goddess but also herself. In this case, Keima. Remember how she said, maybe kind of ironic again, that she actually doesn't really have any friends and thus befriended Keima.

I would've like it more had Kanon came to the conclusion that she has many fans and people who adore her by herself, rather than make her look fickle. It made question what exactly was Keima was to her and made their time together look very shallow.

It was shallow but it worked.
Ultimately you could say Keima was just there to lead Kanon to the right path, while Kanon was a problem to solve for him to sometime be able to return to his usual gaming days without real girls (and keep his head). Sadly, this sentence probably works for most girls.

I ... don't think Kanon is a Yandere.

Me neither, but her exaggerated manners in the beginning of the arc, and the incident where she kept mailing him sure could be signs for being one.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Vanish

I don't get it. So Keima could have released the soul sooner? How so?

He could have let her kiss him the first time she tried, when he instead backed off and said "cop out" (much funnier in the manga, by the way). He then explains why he did it: "You need other people to validate your existence? If that's the case then you'll just become invisible again." He then proceeds to convince her that she doesn't need to rely on other people, and that she has already proven (by the very existence of all her Kanon fans) that she has the strength and ability to handle things on her own. If he hadn't done that, she'd have kissed him and the loose soul would have been forced out, but the underlying reason for the gap in her heart would have remained. Instead of abandoning her reliance upon others, she would have just been relying upon Keima. Since the problem wouldn't have been fixed (and Keima would be removed from her memories by the forces of Hell), she would have eventually formed a new gap.

Good Ending (avoided) versus True Ending (succeeded).

[Seihai]

Ahh, alright. Now I get it, thanks!

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

Which is silly because she's like Justin Timberlake after leaving 'N Sync, how can she think that she can't do anything on her own when she's the only member left from the trio and is a nation wide sensation? It really doesn't make sense. The flashbacks where people seemed to not notice her seemed more of a reason for her insecurities than this.

Well, one thing I took from the Citron flashbacks is that it was Citron's leader (Lime, IIRC) that was the confident one. Kanon showed some insecurity in that flashback, and it was up to Lime to push her on ahead.

To use an analogy... imagine if the band in K-On! went on to nationally renowned success through out Japan, but Mio ended up being the most popular member and had to continue on as a solo artist. I could see where Mio would have lingering doubts, certainly within just a year or two of the band breakup, that she could get things done with out her old friends (Ritsu especially) around to actively support her.

Maybe much the same is true for Kanon.

My gut is telling me it had more to do with a business strategy to target fans of character songs to buy single albums (what Sackett said about marketability) but I'm sure relentlessflame will show up and explain it to us more throughly on a chalkboard :P

Well, that was probably the main reason, yes. However, I don't think that the makers of this anime ever thought that the song inserts would meet with such a negative backlash (it's actually mild here compared to some sites I've been on) given the general popularity of jpop songs amongst anime fans. That's all I meant there.

That's an interesting interruption, though I don't agree with it fully. True, teenagers do seek acknowledgement from others (generally that's the case with all humans) however while you find Kanon as incredibly humble, I find it absurdly naive of her not to notice the legions of fans who worship her as a goddess, the fact that she's the only member left of her group who had such level of success and coverage.

In fairness, it's probably a mixture of humility with naivety. I'm willing to overlook her naivety because she is very young.

I actually think I tried to see that movie a long time ago. Thanks for reminding me, I'm already in the mood to watch older anime so I might give it a view.

No problem. It's one of the better anime movies I've watched, so I don't think you'll regret it if you check it out.

Overall, I'd rate this episode 8/10 just for the OST and some of the clever scenes but the whole arc 5/10, i.e below average. I'm neutral towards Kanon herself, I think her problems are really shallow, and I didn't like many of the directions of this arc took (the ending and how she seemed so gung ho about shocking Kemia)

I admit myself that her violent side was perhaps a bit overplayed, but then, this anime is mostly a comedy.

I don't think wanting to avoid loneliness is shallow, but I'll leave it there. I have to admit that I'm a bit biased as Kanon reminds me of some of my favorite anime characters. The similarities (both physically and personality-wise) between her and Nagisa from Clannad are striking to me. And I liked Nagisa myself, though I know many didn't.

[Clarste]

I don't think Kanon is an unreasonable character, but nor is she an interesting one. As Keima points out, she just falls squarely into a particular archetype with a clearly defined path to "capture". While in some sense that's sort of the point of the show, I just don't think she's interesting enough to carry three full episodes.

[Master Chibi]

This isn't going to make sense to a lot of you but watching this episode made me feel like it came out in 1995, meaning it had this charm to it that many shows I cherish from that 'era' also had.

That being said, having two songs in there was overkill, I fast forwarded right past them. Otherwise I really enjoyed how they handled this arc, even though I'm not a fan of Kanon.

I feel Keima is more blush happy in the anime though.

[tsunade666]

but I like the song. I'll be waiting for kanon's character album. ayumi's character album is already a win.

though 2 songs are really long. It eats lots of the time that can be spend on other things but it's still sweet.

[Traece]

To me one of the nicest things about this series is how much attention the "targets" actually get. If it were all Keima and Elsie and nobody else, the story would lack character. Giving Kanon (and the other girls) more than just a single episode of definition makes it almost sad to see them go. It's more like we're watching severely condensed romances rather than the last episodes. It makes a difference with developing Keima's character as well. I find the most interesting thing about Keima's character is his development as he enacts what is almost an experiment in this real world environment.
Back in the episode where he attempted to beat the unbeatable game he did this whole speech about how he wanted to see the heroine's painting. The whole episode really serves to explain the reasons why Keima does what he does. Rather than just running around picking up chicks, he seems to believe that all of these girls have stories that they need to share with someone and that they all have a voice that should be heard rather than them being ignored. One could say he's a liberator of the inner feelings of these girls. It's a noble cause, of sorts.
That whole bit is why I enjoy watching as many as three episodes about a single character, even if it doesn't involve much more than one girl's backstory. The reality of it is that Keima and Elise are just on the sidelines, and these girls are the real main characters. The reality is that you don't play a dating simulator to watch yourself play a dating simulator. The game is about the girl, not the player.

[MeoTwister5]

The Shining Star.

[pampz21]

hmmm...
been worried about the translation of the manga but watching the anime makes it really clear well yeah cuz I can understand jap but can't read kanji...
I thought it was weird kanon saying "even though I always sing for one person , Im glad I do that"
but the proper translation was "Im happy singing for only one person" or something like that *sorry self translated/ and im bad at my english*

EDIT: It was sweet Kanon was willing to sing for Keima and only for him....her song really matches her "All for you" anyways she won't *doryo* doryo* remem- *doryo* doryo* him! tehe~

[frodonk]

10/10 just because they finally finished the annoying kanon arc. at the end when she was singing the citron song and "fine" came out, my reaction was "THAT'S IT?"

couple of complaints:

1. kanon did remember the cafe scene during the concert, since they had already shown it, they might have as well shown what happened afterward.

2. it would have taken only around 2 episodes to show the whole arc, but they just had to show kanon singing for a whole episode (all the time spent on insert songs roughly translates to a whole episode i think)

but if season 2 is already confirmed, i wouldn't mind a filler episode with kanon singing all throughout

[fertygo]

Who's the preview pic artist this time ?

[Kanon]

Phew... this arc is finally over. They dragged this arc out a bit too much for my tastes. Next week's episode will introduce Hanazawa Kana's character, right? Now that's something to look forward to.

[tsunade666]

but I love the way the do the arc even though it took that long. How to say it. It's great but the same time feels a bit too long. I love listening to his song............ after watching the whole episode.

[Kallen4life]

Kanon looked better with long hair

but anyway, I'm not into japanese idols like that, so glad it's over

but the show's it still good & strong

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Traece

To me one of the nicest things about this series is how much attention the "targets" actually get. If it were all Keima and Elsie and nobody else, the story would lack character. Giving Kanon (and the other girls) more than just a single episode of definition makes it almost sad to see them go. It's more like we're watching severely condensed romances rather than the last episodes. It makes a difference with developing Keima's character as well. I find the most interesting thing about Keima's character is his development as he enacts what is almost an experiment in this real world environment.
Back in the episode where he attempted to beat the unbeatable game he did this whole speech about how he wanted to see the heroine's painting. The whole episode really serves to explain the reasons why Keima does what he does. Rather than just running around picking up chicks, he seems to believe that all of these girls have stories that they need to share with someone and that they all have a voice that should be heard rather than them being ignored. One could say he's a liberator of the inner feelings of these girls. It's a noble cause, of sorts.
That whole bit is why I enjoy watching as many as three episodes about a single character, even if it doesn't involve much more than one girl's backstory. The reality of it is that Keima and Elise are just on the sidelines, and these girls are the real main characters. The reality is that you don't play a dating simulator to watch yourself play a dating simulator. The game is about the girl, not the player.

Yes and no. Keima and Elsie are the main characters. But during the capture arcs, the girls are temporary main characters as the focus shifts a bit to them. You have to take in the series as a whole, and Keima and Elsie are the consistent central figures. This is why the so-called (incorrectly) "filler" episodes are so important.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Phew... this arc is finally over. They dragged this arc out a bit too much for my tastes. Next week's episode will introduce Hanazawa Kana's character, right? Now that's something to look forward to.

Nope. The week after, at the earliest. Next week is another non-capture story that focuses on Elsie. It's a fun one.

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Phew... this arc is finally over. They dragged this arc out a bit too much for my tastes. Next week's episode will introduce Hanazawa Kana's character, right? Now that's something to look forward to.

That's whose voicing the next girl? This should be fun.

Originally Posted by Kallen4life

Kanon looked better with long hair

but anyway, I'm not into japanese idols like that, so glad it's over

but the show's it still good & strong

It would have been cooler if she was more of a rock star...but that's not how it is in Japan, so yeah.