Review of Ah My Goddess! TV: Volume 4

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 first series to the UK (Apparently, just as happened in the US, ADV have nabbed the second series, so expect a change of distributor for AMG in 2008).

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.

This fourth volume contains 4 episodes.

15. Ah! A Heart Stolen by a Goddess?
Seeing Keiichi and Belldandy going to college together gets Skuld nice and jealous, and she vows to get 100% of Belldandy`s affection. She starts by building her older sister an all purpose robot to help around the house. It isn`t a good start when Banpei RX blows the temple`s fuses. Keiichi`s problems are only beginning, as Banpei soon falls in love with Belldandy and refuses to let anyone else near her.

16. Ah! Misfortune Arrives and the Tea-Stalk Stands Upright?
Marller is up to her old tricks. This time she aims to bring misery to Keiichi, separating him from Belldandy, by targeting his little sister Megumi. One quick possession later and Keiichi`s in a whole heap of trouble. Add to that the unleashed God of Poverty Senbei, and things can only get worse.

17. Ah! What Do Talent and Hard Work Have to Do With It?
The Auto Club goes karting, and when they learn that there is a women only race on the schedule, it seems ideal for mechanic Sora Hasegawa to take part. Only Hasegawa is the shy retiring type, a girl who lacks confidence in her abilities and fears failure. It will take the intervention of divinity to help her with her problem. Fortunately there are three goddesses on the case.

18. Ah! Confess Your Love Under the Moon?
It`s summertime and Megumi convinces her brother to take Belldandy on vacation to the beach to get a little private time. It would have been a good idea if Urd and Skuld hadn`t invited themselves along. Urd insists on getting them together, while Skuld is determined to keep them apart. Then Keiichi hears a legend that if he confesses his love at an auspicious place under the full moon, then he and Belldandy will be destined to be together for eternity.

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.

Features

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

The further into the series we go, the fewer the extras on the discs. Here we get the textless closing, and a screenshot gallery with 20 images.

Conclusion

Ah! The Swimsuit Episode. It`s practically a natural law that if you have a romantic comedy anime series, then one or more episodes will be devoted to a beach or hot springs milieu, to allow the female cast to spend copious time in their skimpies, and for the male lead to suffer from egregious nosebleeds for the duration. We revisit the vacation episode from the OVA in this volume with Keiichi trying to move his relationship with Belldandy up another level, helped and hindered by Urd. However the other three episodes are seeing animation for the first time.

I was a little concerned by the previous volume, where the episodes seemed a little stale, and the advent of Skuld wasn`t as pleasant an experience as I hoped. The episodes in this fourth volume steer us out of that little rut and we`re back to the gentle, heartfelt comedy that I so look forward to. Most of this has to do with Skuld mellowing out. She quickly loses that brattiness that came with her debut, and she`s a more sympathetic character in these episodes, easier to empathise with. It doesn`t look promising with the first episode on this disc though, with Keiichi`s apparent monopolising of Belldandy making Skuld jealous once more. She decides to fight back by becoming indispensable to her sister, and creates a handy robot to help around the house. It`s when Banpei falls in love with Belldandy that things become more humorous, as the robot decides to defend her from all and sundry. What changes Skuld in this episode is that she is no longer purely selfish, as she begins to care about Banpei`s welfare as he becomes more and more self-aware.

The second episode offers some more Marller time, this time hoping to break Keiichi and Belldandy up by sheer bad luck. For that, she resurrects Senbei, the God Of Poverty, a ridiculous ten-inch figure of a man whose outlandish style, odd Japanese-English dialect, and catchphrase of "Shakkin!!!" certainly liven the proceedings up. His purpose in life is to cause others misfortune, and gain by their misery. He hasn`t counted on Keiichi and Belldandy`s divine relationship, but he tries his best, placing Keiichi in no end of awkward situations with other women. It also offers a tantalising hint of what an angered Belldandy would be like. We also get an episode that focuses on the supporting cast, in this case Sora Hasegawa, something impossible in the OVA. It`s nice as it expands the focus of the story, and allows for more character development. Here Belldandy has to help Sora overcome her severe lack of confidence. It`s a simple, familiar story but it`s told well with a lot of warm fuzzies. If you`ve had a problem with self-esteem, it`s easy to relate to.

We end of course with the swimsuit episode. As if we really need an excuse for gratuitous bikini clad goddesses. But the excuse is that they are on vacation, and while Keiichi needed some alone time for him and Belldandy, things aren`t made easy when her sisters join them at the beach. Just as in the OVA, time has passed and his relationship with Belldandy is just as difficult to define. Megumi suggests that a break will allow him to confess his feelings, and Urd is just as motivated for the couple to move things on. Skuld is just as determined to keep the two apart though. It`s your standard rom-com anime episode of fluffed opportunities, red faces, mixed messages and overblown gestures. If you are at all familiar with the genre, you know what to expect from this episode. But, the relationship does move on. Not in the post coital cigarette sort of way of course, this is anime, not Hollywood. But Keiichi makes just enough of an impression on Belldandy to get his feelings across, although the message is hardly delivered in the manner he intended. And we as the audience get just enough of a vicarious glow to remain interested in the show. Remember that anime romance is usually like Scully and Mulder in the X-Files. Ten years and one movie of will they/won`t they, and when it does finally happen, it happens off screen.

After volume 3`s slight dip in quality, we`re back on track with these four episodes of sweet gentle comedy romance. Skuld is infinitely less irritating than before, while Urd shows herself to be quite the brazen hussy when it comes to her choice in swimwear. Goddess, we about to bleed through the nose, salute you. And despite rampaging robots and vengeful demonesses, Keiichi and Belldandy inch inexorably closer and closer. What more would you want from Ah My Goddess!