The World God Only Knows

Synopsis

Keima Katsuragi, a second-year high school student, is an avid bishōjo game player. He is known on the internet as "The Capturing God/God of Conquest" for his legendary skills to be able to "capture" any 2D girl in games. However, in his actual school life, Keima is known as otamegane, a derogatory portmanteau of the two words otaku and megane and is considered as nothing more than a gloomy game geek with thick glasses. At the start of the series, Keima receives an e-mail offering him a contract to "capture" girls. When he accepts it, thinking it is an invitation to a game, a demon from Hell named Elsie appears! She asks for his cooperation to help her catch runaway spirits. These spirits hide themselves inside the hearts of girls', and Elsie suggests that the only method to force the spirits out is by "capturing" the girls' hearts—making them fall in love with him and filling up the gaps in which the runaway spirits hide in. However, only being interested in 2D girls, Keima is appalled by the idea of conquering "real girls" and refuses the assignment as he has no real life romantic experiences and no such interest in having one whatsoever. Nevertheless, with the contract already "signed", Keima has no choice but to help Elsie no matter what as they will be beheaded if they fail. While the series focuses mainly on the adventures of Keima and Elsie on capturing spirits, the series also parodies common and popular cliches about dating sims, anime character stereotypes and pop culture.