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Plot Synopsis

21 year old Keiichi Morisato, life unfolds when he accidentally dials the wrong number. From out of the mirror Belldandy a first class goddess is sent to help Keiichi by granting only one wish "No matter what it is." By fault Keiichi wishes Belldandy to be with him forever. Soon after Belldandy's older sister Urd second class goddess appears from the heavens to play as the lovely Cupid as twist of events occur her plan soon backfires. Skuld, Belldandy's and Urd's youngest sister also second class goddess appears from the heaven in an act to return her dearly love sister Belldandy back to the Heavens. Throughout the anime Keiichi and Belldandy come across many obstacles testing their love for one another. Do Keiichi and Belldandy have what it takes to go against the Gods? Or will their love force them to separate for eternity? Ah! My Goddess is an anime for those who love Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, and Romance.

Story & Characters

Story 7
Since Aa! Megami-sama is such a long running series with many different formats, it would be best to split this review into several parts. I will discuss the manga, OVA, movie, and TV series separately in order to provide a perspective on each.

The Background:
The AMS manga was serialized in 1989 in Kodansha's Afternoon. The characters and story were designed by Kosuke Fujishima. The manga was so popular that sections of the story were animated in a five episode OVA in 1993. In 2000, the goddesses were once again brought to life in a full length feature film. In the winter of 2004, a new TV adaptation of the manga began airing on Japanese television.

The Story:
Aa! Megami-sama is a classic story about a kind hearted college guy with bad luck. Morisato Keiichi hasn't had a relationship in his life, is mistreated by his seniors, and is rejected by girls. His passion for motorcycles and cars leads him to join the Motor Club at Nekomi Institute of Technology (as far as I can tell, a fictitious institution). The heavens look kindly on people like Keiichi and decide to pay him a visit. When trying to order takeout in his dorm room, Keiichi "misdials" and manages to get to the Goddess Assistance Line. Within moments, Belldandy comes into the picture.

Belldandy is a goddess that grants wishes. She explains that she is only allowed to grant one, so he must choose wisely. In the moment, he wishes that a goddess like Belldandy would stay with him forever. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the wish was granted and Belldandy is now bound to the Earth with her heavenly powers. She's a very naive and innocent girl. As a goddess, she probably didn't have much time to explore relationships or study human sexuality. This sweet and subtle romantic comedy begins here. Add a few sisters, bad guys, and other secondary characters, and Keiichi has himself quite a handful.

The Verdict:
Goddess has its sweet moments. It definitely captures the imagination and makes you fall in love with the characters. Over the past 16 years, Kosuke Fujishima has done an extremely good job with keeping the plot from becoming boring or tedious and there always feels like there's something fresh. I haven't noticed very much repetition and every story arc is unique in its own right. I think it requires a certain level of creativity to turn Keiichi into a girl or load Peorth into a tank cannon.

Rating

7 (above average)

Art

Manga:
For the past 16 years, the art of Goddess has evolved through many different stages. Belldandy is the character that has changed the most in that time period, from homely and motherly to absolutely gorgeous. It's no wonder that she has so many fanboys. Everything else in the manga is well illustrated, from the other characters to the locations visited. A lot of detail was given to the shrine they live in, as well as Keiichi's school.

OVA (1993):
The original OVA stuck with the art style of the manga from the time period and provided a wonderful representation. The quality is on par with what was expected at the time. CG wasn't used and everything was drawn the "old fashioned way." Colors were appropriate to the series, with lots of soft shades.

Movie (2000):
The movie featured far more updated visuals from the original OVA. The character styling was brought up to the present date designs. CG entered the picture here and integrated extremely well with the rest of the hand-drawn artwork. Visually, the film was stunning. The colors are vibrant and definitely set the mood for each scene. I couldn't expect anything more out of a film like this.

TV (2005):
Again, the character styles got a small upgrade. By this time, the designs had pretty much stabilized and not much has changed since the movie. The artwork and presentation are on par with most other series airing. One thing that really sticks out though, is the use of CG. It really doesn't fit in with the rest of the series. The brief scenes in the opening sequence really stick out in a poor way.

Rating

7 (above average)

Sound

OVA:
I can't really say much about the music from the original OVA. It matched the series, but didn't really stand out on it's own. Without the aid of the visuals, it really isn't worth listening to on its own. Both the OP and ED were upbeat and worked well.

Movie:
The movie soundtrack is a very different story. Parts of it were composed by Nobuo Uematsu (the legendary composer of Final Fantasy). The orchestrations fit in perfectly with the movie and conjure up images when listened to on its own. The vocal ending could have been better, but small concessions need to be made when the rest of the soundtrack worked so well.

TV:
The TV soundtrack, like the OVA soundtrack, didn't really stand out. It worked well with the visuals, but honestly, I could barely remember if there was music in the background. I'm sure the show would feel a lot emptier without the background music, but it definitely doesn't stand alone. It adds an element of completeness, but that's about it.

Overall, the voice acting was well done in the three iterations. The same people were used for each character, though the acting in the TV series is starting to sound somewhat forced. After 12 years, I'm not surprised that Kikuko Inoue can't do a "natural" Belldandy. It sounds almost too perfect to be right.

Rating

6 (average)

Presentation

The Goddess franchise has done quite a bit over the last 16 years. It's given us a long running manga, an OVA, a feature length film, and a new TV series. Each one is slightly different in its charm, with the OVA focusing on Keiichi's relationship with Belldandy and the TV series focusing on the comedic adventures of Keiichi and the goddesses. Each is a slightly different adaptation of the manga, and each offers its own take on the events portrayed. Both mix things up quite a bit to keep the story new and enjoyable.

The TV series, however is somewhat disappointing. As a Goddess fan, I'm slowly losing interest. It's far too episodic and doesn't provide much to keep me coming back. It lacks continuity and doesn't give much in terms of an overall plot. While that formula works for a short OVA, it doesn't really work for a full length TV series.

The movie was independent of the manga, so it's hard to judge it against any original material. It was enjoying to watch, It was also nice to see Peorth animated for the first time. The movie gave voices to several characters that were left out from the OVA and needed some understanding of the manga to fully appreciate.

With 16 years of Goddess behind us, I highly doubt Belldandy, Urd, Skuld, and Keiichi are going anywhere any time soon. I look forward to the next installments of the manga, as well as the TV series.

Rating

7 (above average)

Final Verdict

6.83 (above average)

Reviewed by kawaiiguy, 3y 6wk ago