Ranked #964

Ah! My Goddess OVA

Ah! My Goddess OVA is the first screen adaptation of the long running manga of the same name. Considering its over 15 years old it actually holds its age pretty well. It manages to be a sweet and charming romance and is probably a fairly influential title in regards to the whole "Sudden Girlfriend Appearance" genre of storylines.

If you’ve seen even a few romance titles you have most likely already seen a similar plot before. Though in its time this may have been pretty original. A college student Keiichi dials a wrong number trying to order food from his dorm and is accidently connected to a Goddess helpline in which a mysterious girl Belldandy appears in his room promising to grant him any wish he wants. The girlfriendless guy asks for someone like her to be by his side forever and thus the story begins.

Usually in these kinds of stories there is a lot of echiiness but there is none of that here. So if that sort of thing bothers you and just want to see a haremesque romance without the boobs and panty face plants then you will likely find this series appealing. The relationship between Belldandy and Keiichi is the focal point of the series. It’s for the most part sweet and satisfying despite the lack of any real intimacy. This is always a peeve of mine in anime and I think it has something to do with the Japanese mindset. The story does a great job of building chemistry and romance between the pair but they don’t act like a couple that is in love as much as we are lead to believe. Not that I ever seem to expect it anymore but how can you be in love this much and get embarrassed still about holding hands and cuddling together, let alone kissing, after living in the same house for nine months? It detracts overall from my score despite me liking this series a lot more than my score may reflect.

The story's pacing also fluctuates and skips around quite a bit. Many months will pass with really no way of even knowing this is happening without the dialogue telling us or from just visually seeing the seasons pass by. But you would never know it from how little progress the leads make in terms of their romance. The shortness of the series doesn't make having a really intricate plot feasible but it doesn’t really feel like its going anywhere until the last episode. I don’t know how closely it follows the manga since I haven’t read it but overall the story and the ending are satisfyingly concluded.

Keiichi is your standard male anime lead. By standard I mean he’s not all that special. Like almost all romance series the male love interest is usually uninteresting, weak, and not very manly. Despite Keiichi being in college he looks like he should be starting the 8th grade. Now this is played up in the story as to why he doesn’t have a girlfriend but still if you’re going to make a show around college aged people then make them look that age at least. However despite not finding him very satisfactory as a leading man he does tend to man up at the key times and grow during the course of the story.

Belldandy is basically your perfect Japanese girlfriend/wife. She’s moe for starters though not to the degree that we see in today’s anime. She’s beautiful, a perfect cook and homemaker, and great at school. Though the revelation of her attending school with Keiichi was a bit confusing since they just suddenly dropped that on the audience without any real explanation. That’s another issue I have with Belldandy. Of course I loved her, who wouldn’t? But she lives for Keiichi and everything she thinks of and does is only for him. There seems to be no will or drive of her own. I know this anime is intended for guys, but well I think guys need to see things that are more realistic as well. We don’t live to serve you; a relationship should be a partnership.

The rest of the cast is pretty small and of the supporting cast there are some memorable characters. Frankly Urd and Skuld steal the show and are much more interesting characters than either of the leads. I thought they complimented each other nicely, with each being very different personalities. Additionally I was pleasantly surprised that as they grew into the harem of pretty girls surrounding Keiichi they didn’t try to become love interests. Keiichi's sister Megumi had some early promise but she faded from the story pretty quickly. Most of the rest of the characters are forgettable and don’t get much screen time.

The artwork and animation quality is very good. You would honestly never know that it was made in the early 90s without being told so. The characters are very detailed and realistic looking. My only issue with the characters would be the much to youthful look for Keiichi. This is a minor annoyance though. The magic and special effects are well done as well whenever one of the Goddesses uses her powers.

The voice performances are the weakest link of the OVA. Keiichi's weakness is brought home by his un-masculine voice. Also Belldandy's voice is a bit irritating on the nerves too. While I have enjoyed Kikuko Inoue's roles before there is just something I don’t like about the way she voiced this character. Again Urd and Skuld steal the spotlight in the category as well. The OP/EN music were good however and fitting.

I was pleasantly surprised by my enjoyment of Ah! My Goddess. If you’re looking for a little light romance that is high on sweetness with a dash of comedy and very little perversion then I would recommend this series to you.
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How can there not be a review for this yet? Must be because this is the forgotten child of the franchise. With the manga and tv series all being far more popular and fleshed out, its easy to overlook the OVA here. But to ignore it completely is a mistake. The OVA episodes here are without a doubt a re-telling of the same AMG story we've come to know and enjoy over the years....but there are a few mildly interesting discrepancies.

So lets get down to it. You got Keiichi, Belldandy, and the rest of the gang. In fact, all the main characters show up with the exception of Marller. You got the 'sittin-at-home-waitin-for-a-phone-call-and-oh-shi-its-a-babe-in-the-window' inciting incident. After a little fast forwarding they get their temple house set up and then everyone begins to make their entrances.

This is where the aforementioned discrepancies begin. Sayoko and Belldandy meet on a beach five months later instead of at the university. In the same episode they pull the love potion Keiichi, Sayoko, and Belldandy story while switching out Marller for Urd as the antagonist of that situation. If that weren't strange enough, the third episode has them drag racing against Toshimas club for a bet that apparently be one-sided here.

But its in the fourth episode where the story really breaks down. There is some kinda crazy that keeps Belldandy and Keeichi from being near one another. Whats worse is that Belldandy has to go back to the Heavens in three days time and probably won't be coming back any time soon. The source of all their problems? Some goofing looking tree that has a connection to both Keiichi and Belldandys childhoods. Hmmmm, I'm sure I don't remember any of this in the rest of the franchise.

But thats not all. They even took a couple chances on changing characters. Take Keiichi for example. He is usually very shy, gentle, and understanding. Here he is more courageous and confrontational. Belldandy is pretty much the same, though I would say her "strong" moments fell short, and Tamiya and Ootaki seemed to be dialed way down.

As you can see, the OVA starts out as a missable re-tell, goes into a chopped up fast forward presentation, and finally evolves into a brand new story all its own. The names and setting remained the same, but the events and even the characters changed at least a bit.

So if you've skipped this in the past, re-think it. If you're looking for a different twist to the AMG series, check it out. The only thing you have to lose is about 2 and a half hours.
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