Ah! My Goddess: The Movie

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.