Oh My Goddess!

Original Title: ああっ女神さまっ
Romanized: Aa! Megami-sama!
Literal: Oh! Goddess!

Plot Synopsis

Meet Nekomi Technical College student Morisato Keiichi. He's a little unlucky with the girls due to his being... vertically challenged, but basically average. Until, that is, one day when he's sitting around the dorm playing answering machine. No sooner does Keiichi dial a wrong number while trying to order lunch than he's looking a goddess in the face and being offered a single wish. An offhand remark later, and he's nabbed himself his own permanent goddess, the beautiful and supernaturally sweet Belldandy. This would be great if it weren't for his men only dorm... and her sisters.

And that's only the beginning of the trials and tribulations that come with living with a beautiful goddess... er, exchange student. Make that goddesses: Urd, her older bombshell of a sister, and Skuld, the youngest of the trio and a mechanical genius.

Quick Review

Rating: 4.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2006-08-06

Oh My Goddess! has long been a fan favorite, and deservedly so--it has to be one of the sweetest anime series ever made. The story has its share of comedy, and dramatic moments too, but the overriding theme is just a good old fashioned so-sweet-your-teeth-hurt romance; you're just not going to find a cuter love comedy anywhere. The character and costume design are lovely, the art a pleasure to look at, and the veteran Japanese voice cast--Belldandy's pleasantly melodic voice in particular--everything you could hope for.

If you would even consider watching a sweet love comedy, this is the one to get.

US DVD Review

Animeigo originally released the series on two hybrid DVDs, then later on a combined special edition. The original discs boast digitally remastered video, audio commentary by voice actors Juliet Cesario, Scott Simpson, Pamela Widener and the dub voice director, Scott Houlel, a music and sound effects only audio track, and an image gallery.

The box set adds "Dub Your Own OMG," an interview with Producer Toru Miura, "Inside Nekomi Tech," karaoke, and even more images.

Content Guide

Almost nothing objectionable in the story, except for a few of Urd's not-so-subtle hints, making for a 10-up at most.

Violence: 1 - There are a few tense moments, but never anything serious.

Nudity: 1 - Some bathing suits.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Mostly just innocent romance, but Urd gets a tad raunchy once or twice.

Language: 1 - An occasional expletive.

Notes and Trivia

A five part OAV series based on the long-running and extremely popular manga series by Fujishima Kousuke (available in English from Dark Horse). Interestingly, Fujishima's other well-known work, You're Under Arrest!, also features an exclamation point in the title--the guy likes those, doesn't he?

Dark Horse's original English release of the manga (in standard comic format) skipped some parts, which later appeared in the now-defunct monthly anthology Super Manga Blast. There has since been a second edition of manga-style books published, which include the formerly skipped material.

As noted in AnimEigo's always thorough liner notes, the names of the goddesses are based on the Norse gods of the future, past, and present--Skuld, Urd, and Verthandy, respectively. Where did Belldandy come from? When you try to pronounce "Verthandy" in Japanese, about the best you can do is "Berudandi", which AnimEigo decided to translate as Belldandy. Another translation note is that the original title was Aa! Megami-sama!, which very literally translates into Oh! Goddess! Due to the very similar English expression, AnimEigo added the "my" to it.

As always, AnimEigo's extensive liner notes are available on their site.

Availability

Available in the US from AnimEigo on a 2-disc hybrid DVD set. Was previously available on two hybrid DVD volumes. Was originally available on 5 subtitled or dubbed VHS tapes, or a set of three bilingual LDs, all of course out of print.

Looking to buy? Try these stores: RightStuf (search) | AnimeNation | Akemi's a(nime)Store