Review of Ah My Goddess! TV: Volume 3

Introduction

Ah My Goddess was the 5-episode OVA series that proved to be the hit of the nineties, as countless anime fans fell in love with the elegant charms of the goddess Belldandy. Start an impromptu poll on any anime forum, and Belldandy will rate as most people`s ideal animated woman (Admittedly some think she`s a wet fish, but there`s no accounting for taste). A full-length anime series based on the long running manga has been a long time coming, but finally prayers have been answered, and MVM bring the series to the UK.

Ah My Goddess takes its cue from the sitcoms of the sixties, shows like Bewitched and I Dream Of Jeannie, where an average Joe would meet the girl of his dreams, only there would be more to her than meets the eye, causing his life to change in unexpected ways. Here Keiichi Morisato is the average Joe, but Belldandy trumps the witch and genie by actually being a goddess, a celestial being who comes to Earth to grant one wish. Life isn`t all celestial perfection for Keiichi though, and the mayhem increases when Belldandy`s elder sister Urd, and younger sister Skuld also move in.

The episode count goes down for this third volume, which contains 4 episodes.

11. Ah! The Demon Arrives and Wreaks Havoc?!
Keiichi`s having nightmares and Belldandy is worried. With good reason too, as Keiichi`s senpai at the Auto Club has bought a second hand CD that contains more than just satanic rock music. Playing the CD unleashes the demon Marller, who has been aching for revenge against the goddesses who sealed her away. The way to get to Belldandy is to attack those she cares for.

12. Ah! Choosing Between the Goddess and the Queen
Campus Queen Sayoko is drowning her sorrows when she runs into Marller. Soon a contract is in place that will rid them both of Belldandy, and let Sayoko regain her standing as the most desirable woman on campus. Marller shifts the balance of Keiichi`s heart to make him fall out of love with Belldandy and in love with Sayoko.

13. Ah! Who Does Big Sister Belong To?
There`s trouble in heaven as bugs start infecting the celestial computer Yggdrasil. Soon the effects are being felt on Earth, with Keiichi taking the brunt of the symptoms. Belldandy`s younger sister Skuld arrives to fight the cute menace (the bugs look like demented bunnies), and immediately states that the problem will only be solved when Belldandy ditches Keiichi and comes back to heaven.

14. Ah! Teaching a Lesson Called Competition?
Skuld is happy to be with her sister again, but doesn`t want to let her out of her sight lest Keiichi gets too close. When Keiichi`s sister Megumi shows up, Skuld feels that her professional competence as an engineer has been challenged, and the two enter a competition to design and build robots to prove who is better. But Skuld`s competitive nature masks a deeper problem.

Video

The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer on this disc is clear and problem free to my eye. That`s with the usual disclaimer about digital banding and other such niggles that are usually associated with anime. This is as good as television anime usually gets. As for the animation, especially compared to the OVA, it`s a case of swings and roundabouts. The character design and world detail is simplified in comparison to the original episodes, but the animation is much more fluid, with CGI blended in seamlessly as is the case with most modern anime. The world is also more expansive, with a lot more of the background detail filled in.

Audio

It`s just your basic DD 2.0 English and Japanese for Ah My Goddess, with optional English subtitles and signs. The English track sounds a tad louder to my ears, otherwise there is little to differentiate them. I also feel that the English dub sounds a little goofy in comparison to the original language track, but I guess that`s a matter of personal preference. If like me, you prefer the original language tracks, it`s worth noting that the original cast reunite after 12 years for this series, providing a nice degree of familiarity to fans of the OVA.

The thirteenth episode marks the halfway point in the series, and it also signals the change of the end theme. Gone are the Celtic strains of Negai, and in comes the light swing styling of Wing. It isn`t as catchy, but still suits the story.

Features

The usual MVM presentation as always for this disc, complete with jacket picture, animated menus and DVD credits page.

The extras diminish even further for this volume, with 13 images in a line art gallery, and 20 images in a screen shot gallery to look at when your pause button breaks.

Conclusion

Another volume of Ah My Goddess offers ninety more minutes of dreamy bliss for this fan, and I have to make an extra effort to be dispassionate about a show, which I don`t want to be finding fault with. If you are familiar with the premise, then you`ll be pleased to learn that the third volume offers more of the light, warm relationship shenanigans that mark the first two volumes of the series, a little bit of mysticism and magic, and absolutely nothing to wipe the rose tint from your spectacles. I always enjoy Ah My Goddess, and this volume maintains my enthusiasm for the series and the characters.

But… Were I to look at this volume with the cold hearted dispassion required of an objective reviewer, then I would have to say that the promise of the first volume hasn`t been fulfilled by the subsequent discs thus far, and Ah My Goddess Volume 3 shows every sign of entering a comfort zone of doing just good enough and no more. Once again, elements from the OVAs crop up, but as they were just minor plot elements in the stand-alone episodes, they aren`t as obvious. In the OVA episode, Midsummer Night`s Dream, Urd cooked up a love potion that went wrong. The results of that potion form the basis of the second episode on this disc, although the motivations behind the spell cast on Keiichi are strikingly different. While the infestation of celestial bugs merely heralded the start of Burning Hearts On The Road, they get a whole episode to themselves here.

Where the episodes on this disc go off in a new direction is with the introduction of the Marller character, Demon First Class. Her previous screen appearances were initially limited to the Mini Goddess spin-off, and it`s nice to see her interacting in Keiichi`s world for a change. The goddesses do need a nemesis of celestial dimension to keep things interesting, otherwise they could solve every problem with a twitch of a nose, and Marller`s first act on this disc is to turn Keiichi into a moped, a spell to which only she has the password. Marller is something of the anti-Urd, similarly volatile in temperament, and just as Urd is vulnerable to Japanese Enka music putting her to sleep, Marller can`t help dancing to rock and roll. When Marller`s first attempt to defeat the goddesses fails, she turns to a proxy to carry out her plan, and sees about getting Keiichi to fall out of love with Belldandy and in love with Sayoko instead. A little demonic tampering with Keiichi`s heart soon does the trick, but as we know, no magical meddling can long thwart the path of true love. What`s sad about this episode is the postscript, where we learn that Sayoko`s pursuit of Keiichi may be more than just an attempt to regain her status.

The final two episodes of the disc are concerned with the arrival of the youngest of the heavenly sisters, Skuld. Just as in the first episode on the disc, Keiichi is the victim of divine mayhem, as the bugs in the system threaten the integrity of Earth. Skuld assigns the blame to the imbalance that Keiichi is causing in Belldandy`s heart, but what it boils down to is that Skuld is missing her sister, and is taking advantage of the breakdown to get Belldandy back home. Skuld is brattier than I remember from the OVAs, and her sulk continues into the final episode on this disc when she meets Megumi. Belldandy manoeuvres her younger sister into the robo battle competition, as it would give her opportunities to be around people. Unfortunately her pride in her own abilities leads her to go it alone, and she gets even more sulky when she sees Belldandy helping Megumi.

Ok, I`ll come clean, even my rose tinted spectacles when it comes to all things Belldandy were beginning to get steamed up by the end of this disc. Skuld arrives as another impediment to Belldandy and Keiichi`s relationship, but I don`t recall Skuld being quite so annoying and childish. The thing is that Ah My Goddess is at its best when Keiichi and Belldandy are being tested, as in the first half of this volume. Skuld turns out to be a distraction from that, and when the sweetness and charm of the couple`s growing relationship fades into the background, the series loses its focus, regardless of how entertaining the episode may be. The first of the Skuld episodes at least has an emotional strength to it, with a younger sister missing her elder sibling, but the disc finishes on a comparatively low note, with the robo competition not really adding anything to the overall story. Hopefully Skuld will mellow out in the subsequent volumes and we can get back to the main point of the series.

Ah My Goddess is still heart-warming entertainment that I don`t hesitate to recommend, but with this volume, it`s steered itself into a little rut. As long as it doesn`t get any deeper and the show steers itself out again, then Ah My Goddess will remain on the top of my must see anime list.