Aa! Megamisama! The Movie

I bought this DVD because I recognised the picture on the cover from an image in a 3D modeling competition.

At first, I thought I had bought myself a dud as the story starts off quite slowly. But then the plot thickens as the story starts to unfold.

It's difficult to place this movie under a singular genre as it contains a little of everything. The characters (even the more background ones) were developed well and one gets drawn in by both the main characters and the story line. I did not manage to guess what the ending would bring, up to the last few scenes. The music is emotional and lovely. The animation is brilliant and what's truly striking is the attention to detail the artists put into this movie. I cannot say a single bad thing about it.

This is a must see!!!!! Definitely worth buying the DVD.

Based on the OAV series, this one takes a few years after the series. Now a new semester on college, and a few members on the Motor club, this one is about Belldandy's teacher Celestin, he comes back, a little reunion, but there seems to be something wrong with him, he's wanted, and gives Belldandy amnesia. What is Keichi to do? what is Celestin's sinister plan, and does the new member of the Motor club have something to do with it? A wonderful movie, and beautiful and improved animation, and the characters are just marvelous, and Keiichi kind of looks like Tenchi now, and that girl Morgan looks like Motoko of Love Hina. And in this one, they tell the history and background of Belldandy and the other goddesses, a must see for the fans of the show. Watch it.

Nearly 6 years after the OVA, The A!MG movie is finally released. With a huge budget and a interesting story the movie really delivers. The movie takes place about 2 years after the events in the OVAs and charecters from the Manga make their screen debuet(personally I was very happy to see Peroth on the screen). The film features lavish hand done animation, It nearly brought a tear to my eye(not only because it was so good, but because hand-painted anime is quickly becoming a thing of the past). The Plot of the film basicly comes down to this(I don`t wanna give too much away)One day, a person from far back in Belldandy's past apears and Jepordizes Kenichi's Relationship w/ Belldandy. The Voice acting is what I would expect from this movie the voice actors do not deviate from their established charecters. I was very, very impressed by the sound. The Special Edition DVD has a wonderfull DTS mix, it is one of the finest ones I have ever had the privelege to listen to. All and all I would highly recommend the film if you are allready a fan of the OVAs.

Okay, I'll admit, I'm probably the only person out there who should not be writing a review about Ah! My Goddess (or Oh! My Goddess if you want to argue translational context) because...well, I have actually never seen anything Ah! My Goddess. Not the TV series, not the OVA, not even the manga themselves! The only real link I had to anything in this film is the name Nobuo Uematsu, a co-composer on the film. Most of us, I am sure, know the name of the good sir Uematsu from his work on the Final Fantasy video games (and now I see why he wasn't involved in Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within...He was spending his time on this! WELL SPENT if you ask me!). But actually, I didn't even know Uematsu was involved in this piece until I read the credits at the end of the film, after purchasing it and watching it straight through (something I almost never get a chance to do with movies).

No, it was an advertisement that drew me to this wonderful work of animated film. I was reading Animerica Extra when I saw the full-page, color ad on the back of an issue for the DVD that I almost immediately fell in love with it and purchased it as soon as I could! The animation reminded me of the First Tenchi Muyo movie, with its character designs and astounding production values. Its sound and picture quality are top notch theatrical quality. I also enjoyed the story. Everyone loves love stories, even poor single guys like myself. There is nothing in this world that complements outstanding audio and visual spectacles as a good narrative to give them all purpose. The character psychology surpasses almost every other film I have ever seen, from the devotion of Keiichi and Belldandy, to the raging jealousy of Morgan to Keiichi and Belldandy, to the domineering control of Celestin over Belldandy. Every character serves his or her purpose, there are no mini-parts...only mini-goddesses, and they do just fine thank you very much! I especially loved the character of Morgan, the fairy princess. She could be compared to Iago in her role in the film. And there is no better villain than a well-meaning one! It annoys me to no end that works such as this receive no theatrical venues in the United States. Fortunately (yet sadly unlike most of my fellow anime lovers) I have the astounding luck of having a rather elaborate home theater system which allowed me to fully immerse myself in what would be my first introduction ever to the world of Ah! My Goddess. I would urge anyone in recent acquisition of a home theater system (anime fan or otherwise) to go out and obtain this fabulous piece of animation.

After three years from when the story starts Keiichi seems to have gained some self-confidence. He no longer acts like the fully put-upon good-natured doofus who first dialed a wrong number while ordering a pizza and ended up with the "goddess help line." He seems to have found his place at school and at the Auto Club where he is a featured driver and respected member, but his progress with Belldandy has gotten to a remarkable partnership but no more. Megumi, Keiichi's sister, remarks that "when those two are clicking they are unbeatable." No matter. Even Skuld, Belldandy's kid sister who was passionately jealous whenever the idea that Keiichi might actually consummate the relationship and take her big sister away, is reconciled to them being together. Urd, the next sister who also lives with them, has put in abeyance her schemes to get Keiichi to make moves on Belldandy. Everyone seems to feel that it is just a matter of time.

The movie wisely picks up where the series left off. Instead of focusing its energy on silly romance issues, it introduces a rebellious god assisted by an disillusioned fairy princess to set up a literal apocalypse which Keiichi and the three goddesses he lives with must battle not only to save the world, but each other and their relationship. For what started out as a silly story gets pretty serious.

There is almost nothing not to like about Ah My Goddess but what deserves special mention is the artwork and the soundtrack. The pictures are just beautiful to look at, and the characters so faithful to their personalities it almost seems like the DVD would be watchable without a story in it at all. At one point the goddesses sing an aria (with the help of their angels) that really sounds like it could have come from angels, and works in the story.

A must-see for any age.