Morisato Keiichi is a college student at the Nekomi Institute of Technology. Stuck on call-duty one day, he accidentally calls the Goddess Relief Office. Imagine his surprise when a beautiful girl steps through a mirror before him. She is the goddess Belldandy, tasked with granting his any one desire. Thinking it a joke, Keiichi asks that Belldandy stay by his side forever – a wish that comes true.
The two live together in an old abandoned temple, their relationship slowly developing. However not everything always goes their way. Keiichi has to deal with the likes of the impatient second-class goddess Urd, jealous little goddess Skuld, and even his own sister, Megumi, who wants to come stay with him.
Even more troublesome is Keiichi’s sempais, always on hand to make his life difficult. All in all, Belldandy and Keiichi will have to work very hard to ensure their promise to one another lasts forever.
Oh My Goddess! is a short little OVA chronicling the love between a college student and a Goddess. It’s the kind of story that is aimed directly at young girls, showing them the warmth of true love. But it has its comedic moments as well, and it is a show that will leave you with a nice warm feeling after you watch it.
The length of the OVA is too short for any real story to develop, but the writer does well enough with the limited time at his disposal. The story covers the nine months that Keiichi lives with Belldandy, Skuld and Urd. The first episode introduces the main characters of Belldandy and Keiichi to us, as well as the relationship that begins to develop between the two of them. The next two episodes are used to introduce two major supporting characters into the story. The final two episodes cover the last moments that Belldandy and Keiichi have to stay together. The story actually isn’t badly paced, considering nine months are meant to go by. Because of its length, the OVA doesn’t drag on, something that might have been a danger should it have been a bit longer.
The animation for Oh My Goddess! is pretty much standard anime animation, but mention must be made about the beauty of Belldandy. The depiction of this Goddess is spot on. The animation uses a lot of facial expressions to bring across the humour, something that works well in this title that is sometimes serious, sometimes silly.
The Japanese voice track isn’t bad, but the dubbed version isn’t very good at all. The voices come across a bit whiny, and Urd’s voice just comes across as just plain ridiculous. The musical score is very nice, backed by beautiful and uplifting title and closing tracks performed by the Goddess Family Club consisting of Inoue Kikuko, Tooma Yumi and Hisakawa Aya.
I would recommend you watch this anime with your partner if you are looking for a warm cuddly moment, but other than that, it isn’t really that worth it. It is a cute little series, but you may find more pleasure from watching the spin-off series, Adventures of a Mini-Goddess! Still young girls should really enjoy this one.
(Historical Note: This was written way back in July 2003 – thankfully my writing has improved greatly since then.)
Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ah_My_Goddess