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.