Ah! My Goddess
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I get all giddy inside when I review an anime like this one. Ah! My Goddess or Oh! My Goddess in certain releases of the anime, had romance tagged up and down its beautiful goddess like visage and yes, the pun was intended. It was funny, quirky (what the heck does quirky mean), and an overall delight to watch. Also, it was pretty addictive to boot. Ah! My Goddess, revolved around an unlucky college student named Keiichi Morisato whose fortune quickly changes one fateful night when a seemingly normal phone call suddenly connects him to the goddess hotline. A beautiful blonde goddess named Belldandy comes bursting through his mirror, offering not only her charm and wit but also one wish.
Diving into this anime, I was excited from the git go. Two of my favorite genres were represented here: romance and comedy or the dynamic lovey dovey duo as I call it (self coined of course). I was hooked from the first episode as Keichii almost jokingly wishes for Belldandy, or a goddess like her, to live with him forever. Of course, being a Goddess, Belldandy was obligated to grant his wish, and the comedic/romantic antics ensue!
Belldandy’s innocence was refreshingly delightful. She wholeheartedly trusted Keichii with a child-like innocence despite the many awkward situations he would find himself in that is common in many harem/romance animes. Can anyone say freak gust of wind that knocks hand of protagonist into female secondary character's generous bosom? Talk about grope central, or perhaps I should say trope central. Despite these very frequent 'awkward' situations, Belldandy would continue to smile that cute little innocent smile of hers and continue on with her day. Alas, Belldandy possesses perhaps the number one quality I would like to find in a girlfriend. Blindness to perversion.
Despite the lovey doveyness between Keichii and Belldandy, I found their almost child-like relationship a bit irritating. They never kiss, they hardly ever held hands, and pretty much the only time Keichii could ever express his love to Belldandy, was if some outside force would intervene and force his hand into doing so. Belldandy’s two goddess sisters, Skuld and Uld, were often that outside intervening force. Skuld was definitely there for comedic relief, whereas Uld added a bit of a sexy edge to the anime. I guess the writers had no choice but to add in Uld's character. Things were simply getting too cute and pure.
On another note, there were a few episodes that involved a bit of action that thoroughly impressed me. Super destructive spells, collateral damage on a wide scale, robots, and valkyrie warriors, were just a few of the action themes that were exhibited though, the studio never lets the audience forget that Ah! My Goddess is a romance anime and not an action one. If Ah! My Goddess had been in the hands of a more action oriented studio, they could have really done something with this anime.
In the end, despite a few disappointments, I enjoyed this anime wholeheartedly. The story line was random, as is expected of an anime of this genre. I really enjoyed the music. The viewer was serenaded with a medley of beautiful Celtic music. The soundtrack was pleasant to listen to, prompting another thumbs up from me. Ah! My Goddess gets 8 out of 10 from me. I especially recommend this anime to romance and comedy fans who don’t mind spicing things up with a light seasoning of action.
