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Impression:
Oh Shiori, I’m sorry. This episode – well – to put it nicely, it wasn’t good. Bad animation, a lackluster story and too much exposition. The World God Only Knows: Goddesses Arc. A disappointment if there ever was one. Now, now, don’t freak out, it isn’t all bad, I mean, Shiori’s cute! And… no, you’re right, that was the only good thing about this episode. Shiori. Screaming. Cutely.
Let’s just get this out of the way: the issue with this show isn’t the girls. The girls themselves are almost always well developed and almost always add something to each and every episode, but problems arise when the girls either aren’t given enough screen time or have their character weakened in the name of getting through the Goddesses Arc on time. And, well, honestly, it’s annoying. In episode 6 this wasn’t as much of an issue because, well, it dealt with Shiori for the entire episode and whilst I love Shiori and her character, an entire episode of a girl who speaks through inner monologues and squeals is… well, a subjective taste if there ever was one.
And, if I had one issue with this how in general, it would be that; the girls are created to cater to different tastes and, whilst that’s good, focusing an entire episode on one character archetype is not. That’s why we have Keima, Keima exists to act as a ‘reprieve’ from the girls secular archetypes and I guess that’s also why we have the Elsie’s and the Haqua’s… speaking of Haqua… she’s been ignored for pretty much the entirety of the series so far, her character receiving only a line or two per episode. She’s not integral to the story… yet.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, I loved Shiori’s conquest in the first season, in fact it was probably one of my favorites, but that again is the problem. This is going to be one of the only times we see Shiori this season! And with a voice actor like Kana Hanazawa that’s such a waste… seriously, I have dreams about that voice…
You do have to feel sorry for Shiori though, Keima appears in her life whenever he feels like it, messes with her emotions and then disappears once he’s gotten what he wants… it’s kind of messed up really. Keima and his polygamous acts… foul beast. Shiori’s story itself is quite nerdy and I think that’s why it’s so appealing, it’s cute, it’s naive and it’s innocent and that’s what makes The World God Only Knows special, it doesn’t layer on the depressing sh*t, it’s a story about Keima, a guy who can’t love making other girls fall in love with them… I’m all for the harem end! Where did that come from, you ask? Deep with my heart, I answer.
Let’s wrap this up, I love Keima and Shiori and Haqua and Elsie and all I want if for them all to be happy. Is that too much to ask for? Shiori’s is a story of overcoming obstacles to develop as a person and I think that’s why she’s such a good romance. She’s definitely one of the ‘better’ girls and I think it’s a shame that A. we’re not going to see her again and B. her episode was riddled with bad animation… sorry Shiori.