Keiichi Morisato has just landed the ultimate dream
girl. Summoned by an accidental call,
the Goddess Belldandy has come to aid the hapless repair man and ends up
becoming joined to him for eternity.
This means nothing can split them apart no matter how hard anyone
tries. It might look like the beginning
of a blossoming romance but when Belldandy’s sisters come searching for their
missing sibling, heavenly havoc is bound to ensue. But hey no one said dating a Goddess was
going to be easy.
The tales of the battles over who is “Best Girl” are as
old as time began.
Many, myself
included, proclaim many of these beauties to be on a Goddess level of quality,
i.e. Rin Tohsaka from Fate/Stay Night or Marin Kitagawa from My Dress Up
Darling.
But what if the candidates for
Best Girl were actual Goddesses themselves?
Feels like a long winded opening already, point is, today we’re kicking
off our required Romantic themed Anime for the month of February today with the
OVA classic Oh! My Goddess.
But seriously
though, the battle for Best Girl in this show is gonna get pretty intense so
buckle up.
Anyway, onto Part 1 of our 2
Part stay with this sort of forgotten 90’s gem.
Oh! My Goddess is a Romantic Harem Anime from the early
90s that, at first glance, seems like it will follow in the tried and true
footsteps of Tenchi Muyo.
The OVA even
has the same animation studio and several very familiar sound effects sprinkled
throughout, almost makes you think Oh! My Goddess and Tenchi took place in the
same universe (sadly no but that would be a fun crossover).
While Oh! My Goddess’ first few episodes do
have a bit of Tenchi DNA in its lovely female cast and Keiichi’s unintended pratfalls,
the OVA does its own thing focusing more on the relationships and less on
Goddesses beating the mess out of each other with their divine powers.
This is very much a lay back and chill out
Anime and we can all use a title like that every once in a while.
Naturally, nothing about a Romance Anime works if the
main couple isnt worth caring about.
Fear not, Belldandy and Keiichi a perfect without having to do much to
earn that distinction.
Just seeing them
together on screen, smiling and enjoying each others company is all that it
takes to get you invested, the Goddess angle on Bell is just a bonus.
Granted, Bell lives up to the title with her
beauty and capabilities: from restoring decrepit temples to pristine conditions
to curing a really nasty fever.
Bell is
the girl next door who will do anything to make you happy.
There are some discrepancies in how the
Goddess system in this world works and I’ll talk about that more in a
moment.
As for Keiichi, he’s fine as the
male lead.
He’s a nice guy who certainly
loves Bell and is committed even if he’s surrounded by the always required bevy
of beauties.
Is there anything
extraordinary about Kei?
Not really, but
sometimes basic is just fine.
If Belldandy is the cute girl next door Goddess, then wow
her older sister is the naughtier, more exotic type who can easily challenge
her for Best Girl/Character in the show.
The second Urd arrives in a very sexy Poltergeist entrance, you know the
show is about to get a lot more fun.
This playful Goddess of Love isnt wicked and cruel.
It’s clear Urd wants Bell to have a happy
love life with Kei and is sick of Kei treading water with her.
To this end, Urd lays on the sex appeal at a
level of over 9000.
Her design, her
wardrobe, her naughty personality and penchant for getting into trouble, she’s
clearly supposed to be the equivalent to Tenchi Muyo’s Ryoko in this series,
aka the Wild Card.
It is refreshing that
Urd has no romantic interest in Keiichi, perfectly content to let Bell have him
all to herself.
In fact, no other girl
seems to want to challenge Bell for Keiichi’s heart, is that even possible in a
Harem Anime?
There’s other lovely ladies gracing the series but most
of them are either one off’s (so far) or kind of fade into the background after
a little while.
Keiichi’s classmate
Sayako is pretty but kind of just vanishes after the second episode (given what
happens to her I don’t blame her).
Keiichi’s little sister Megumi is fine, I liked seeing her help her
brother build a bike for a race, but she’s kind of just there.
And then there’s the weakest of the three
Goddess, Skuld (don’t really get the name choices in this show tbh).
As the youngest and most immature of the trio
(even more so than Urd), Skuld just whines and complains and just becomes
grating after a while.
Which is a shame
because her intro episode shows she’s actually good with mechanics, figuring
out and fixing a flaw in Keiichi’s Auto Clubs bike design.
But right after that she’s back to trying to
sabotage Kei and Bell’s relationship so Bell can come back home with her.
Yeah, Skuld, not my favorite.
Speaking of “Back Home”, the Goddess Hotline.
Yes it was pure accident that Keiichi dialed
the number and got connected to Belldandy but is this a widely known
thing?
The number was still in that
brochure Kei was flipping through.
Yet
he’s shocked when Belldandy shows up and proclaims she’s a Goddess before
proving her power and making a contract with him.
Then there’s the contract.
There is an air of “is this wrong?”
considering Keiichi makes his wish and it just so happens to come true.
It makes one question if Belldandy’s love for
Kei is genuine and not forced upon by their binding agreement to be together
forever.
It’s a possibility to ponder
but personally, the pair are so endearing and loveable that you forget that and
just watch how happy they are just cuddling.
It helps that Keiichi isnt some letch or disgusting pervert (we’ll just
gloss over how Urd shows up though).
Still, I have a few more questions about how the Goddess Wish Granting
System works and no amount of feel good animated shenanigans can erase them
completely.
So far Oh! My Goddess is living up to its reputation as a
fun romantic harem comedy with fun leads and just an air of chill
enjoyment.
Some characters are annoying
and the world holds a few questions I wouldn’t mind answered.
Still, this is only Part 1 of 2.
Can this short OVA deliver the Goddess level
goods for a finale?
We’ll find out soon
enough as we’re back with Oh! My Goddess on Monday right here at the Gundam
Anime Corner.
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