Anime Colony: Ah! My Goddess!

Exclusive review: Inu-Yasha:
Rumiko Takahashi's (Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, Mermaid Tales) new hit TV series in Japan

  Rating: None
  U.S. Distribution Rights: AnimEigo
  Genres: Comedy, Fantasy

Ah! My Goddess! (OVA)
Alternate Titles: Ah! Megami-sama!, Oh, My Goddess!

Description: Out of hunger, Keiichi Morisato, a university student, wanted takeout food but accidentally dialed "Helper Goddess Office". He spoke to the goddess, Belldandy, who came to him and offers him one wish. Doubting whom she claimed to be, Keiichi wished that Belldandy would stay with him forever. Wish granted (by the "Ultimate Force") Keiichi and Belldandy were brought together, but not without a handful of little oppositions and "ultimate" ones.

Overall Grade: 92.5% (A-)

The Adventures of Mini-Goddess (TV) Review
The Ah! My Goddess (Manga) Review
AH! MY GODDESS! Message Board

Reviewer #1: Christine Liu
Episodes reviewed: 1-5 (Subtitled)

Grade: 94% (A)

If you are looking for action-packed, high-tech stuff and sorcery, this is NOT the anime you're looking for! Well, there is a form of sorcery in Ah! My Goddess! Since this anime involves goddesses...so hey, one out of three isn't that bad! ^^ This anime however is worth 2 hours of your time in my opinion (it's only 5 episodes!)It is all about Keiichi, a normal human university student and his relationship with Belldandy, a goddess. They face a few opposition that threatens the relationship but they also have a few help from friends along the way , making the relationship last. One of them is the goddess, Urd, Belldandy's older sister. She even abandoned her post just to teach Keiichi the do's, don'ts and how-to's in pursuing a love relationship with Belldandy. However, her help and little love potions didn't work at all!! (hey, what's an anime w/o comic relief? And this goddess brings comic relief with her wild and spontaneous personality!) Then there is another goddess, Skuld, the little sister of Belldandy, who came to crash into the party(I just LOVE her entrance when she came from the bathtub with Keiichi still in it!! ^^) The truth also unfolds in the middle of this short series involving Keiichi's and Belldandy's past.

Finally, it all comes to whether this "Ultimate Force" would allow a goddess and human to actually have a love relationship with each other. With only 5 episodes, i think this anime is worth watching. It may be cutesy and all (but cutesy is how dittofunky likes it!! ^^ Everything in the whole anime is cute from the story, to the characters, the costumes and the songs in the anime. Nothing like Pokemon cute but the kinda cute that makes you feel all warm and gushy inside. So if you are down with that cute stuff then go watch it and enjoy!!!

Reviewer #2: Clyde Adams III
Episodes reviewed: Episodes 1-5; subtitled

Grade: 91% (A-)

Oh My Goddess is a charming, romantic, comic fantasy with beautiful art, based on the manga by Kosuke Fujishima (You're Under Arrest), highly recommended. The basic situation is one often seen before: average-seeming, good-hearted, lonely boy student suddenly has one or more beautiful, otherworldly girls thrust into his life. Oh My Goddess protagonist, college freshman Keiichi, has a goddess move in with him in response to his sincere wish for a companion. The goddess is soon joined by her two sisters. The goddess do not take Keiichi on otherworldly adventures; rather, they accompany him, helping and interfering, in his mundane life.

The three goddesses are loosely based of the Fates of Norse mythology: the goddess of the past, the brash, sexy sorceress Urd; the goddess of the future, the rambunctious, preteen wizard of technology, Skuld; and the goddess of the present, Keiichi's chosen companion, the sweet, loving, domestic Belldandy.

The biggest flaw of the series is that, in the transfer from the manga, characterization was seriously cut. This is especially true for Belldandy. Although Belldandy is a lovable, sympathetic character, sympathetic especially when she is unhappy, she is (in the anime) a cloying, one-sided character, a doormat, all sweetness and light, with no edge to her at all.