The world God only knows, S1 & S2

[pfarber]

Holly shit this was a good series... a little light for the last episode (I think they wanted a S3) but the first two seasons are pretty damn good.

Its kinda a harem/romance but then again not really.. as once Katsuragi 'fills the girls empty heart' and kisses her, the demon in her heart (that feeds off the bad energy of an unhappy woman) is forced out and captured in a mason jar by Elcia his demon helper.

The stories of each 'empty heart' deal with a range of issues and person inner conflicts that are mostly (IMHO) Japanese specific.. well, at least to the extent that it affect each girl.

The animation is average and there are quite a few songs as one of the girls is an Idol and sings. Most of the stories were really good, and the way that Katsuragi resolves them using his vast amount of experience solving computer 'dating simulators' (Light Novels are a very Japanese thing) is well done... but sometimes repetitive. The real meat is when you learn about WHY each girl is so sad... every story is very well done and complete... even if some of the reasons are kinda Japanese specific.

Personally I liked Kusunoki Kasuga arc... bitch was gonna throw a kitten off the roof! Plus tsundere chicks are usually the most fun to watch. Ayumi and Chihiro are also good stories... kind hit close to home and the characters were well drawn and voiced ( watched a mixed of subbed and dubbed.. the english voice actors were really good).

The biggest let down is that Katsuragi, after helping all these girls, and seeing both the best and worst of 'the real world' never really changed himself. In a perfect anime at some point he would give up the virtual world and the comfort it gives him (the progressive flow of each game is logical vs the real world of choices that may not end well) after seeing 'how bright the girls shined' (fuck if that ain't the most Japanese thing I've said all day) he would want part of that. Oh well... Japanese anime is Japanese.

You can find torrents of all the episodes, but I would actually buy the set for like $20 total. The theme song and end song are both really good, to me anyway.

[pfarber]

Fuck got burned twice downloading the torrents. Oh well, two DMCA strikes against me.