Ah! My Goddess: The Movie

We must ask the evergreen question: for someone who is unfamiliar with the manga, or with any other iteration of the material, how would a full-length film hold up on its own merits? Well, the fact that we're thrown headlong into the plot from the outset without even the slightest exposition is not encouraging. Who is Belldandy? What are her powers? What is her connection to Keiichi? Who is anyone? These super-powered beings are also all standalone conduits for some type of universal celestial Internet, apparently? The best case scenario is that we'll find all this out in time; in the worst case scenario, maybe we'll just have to figure it out for ourselves as the minutes tick by. Even setting this aside the writing feels terribly forced and inorganic from the get-go, with heedlessly brusque, swift pacing, rough sequencing, rushed and inchoate plot development with lacking elucidation, incomplete character writing, and so on. It's a rather inauspicious start for 'Ah! My goddess: The movie.'

Such issues persist as the length draws on, never entirely going away and giving the unknowing viewer a very disparate and very patchy rendition of what should be a whole image communicated with total fidelity. The good news is that the picture does actually dispense more information bit by tiny bit, gradually revealing more about the universe in which the saga operates, our characters, the scenario, and the plot as it progresses. It's an extremely challenging approach taken here, and a risky one, that is decidedly uncommon in fiction at large: it's one matter to tell audience members more as a story goes on - that's the fundamental nature of narrative fiction, of course - but it's another to withhold enormous chunks of basic, crucial concepts until the story has already been moving forward. In some measure I admire the gumption that produced that course, whether the responsibility lies with screenwriters Yokote Michiko and Tomizawa Yoshihiko, or filmmaker Goda Hiroaki. Still, the fact is that the doing here is clunky, unwieldy, and questionable, making a very poor impression at the outset. Bold moves require a delicate touch to pull off, and the success here is very mixed at best.

Provided one can get past the initial upset, it could still be argued that the film is somewhat imbalanced as the presence of goddesses in Keiichi's very normal life on Earth as blended unevenly with the development of a plot beyond the bounds of our world - a tale of conspiracy, manipulation, rebellion, and a hubristic grab for power, set against the unyielding dominion of Heaven. Nevertheless, by the time the first third of the runtime has elapsed the feature has begun to gel, and even with the sorry start, there's a lot to like here. The story is compelling and rich with flavors of fantasy, action, adventure, and romance, and I can easily see how its compression into a single full-length movie is not its ideal form; the extended expansion of an anime series or manga does seem the natural and preferred way. Even at that Yokote and Tomizawa give us an absorbing saga, with what turns out to be fairly strong scene writing, and treatment of characters, and in the very least, I have a taste for more. Commendable voice acting and Hamaguchi Shiro's dynamic, enticing music are just nice bonuses.

Meanwhile, even if it's not the absolute top of the line, we can consistently rely on animation houses in Japan to turn out superb work, and AIC's contribution here is really just as great as we'd hope. With some arguable occasional exceptions the animation is terrific, in most all the ways we anticipate: gorgeous backgrounds, whether interiors or exteriors, landscapes or structures of civilization; splendid, often imaginative designs for characters, creatures, and other active elements; excellent detail and texture, and consideration for lighting, shading, and perspective; fluid movement and dazzling action, marvelous and eye-catching effects, and judicious, sparing use of 3D stylization; and so on. Wonders can be achieved with animation that simply cannot in live-action fare, at least not without gargantuan expenditure of money and resources, and even as I've only recently begun to dip my toes into anime, it readily seems to me that the industry in Japan has a veritable stranglehold on mastery that the most esteemed counterparts in the United States or elsewhere can scarcely dream of. This title has its problems, but its animation is definitely not one of them.

The beginning is difficult, the writing is flawed generally, and there's no doubt in my mind that the material is being shortchanged all the while, to one discernible extent or another. Yet even with all its troubles I see the outstanding ideas that 'Ah! My goddess: The movie' boasts, notions that are ripe for a much bigger and grander epic. If at first this flick had me doubting, the sum total can claim value that well outshines its most dubious weaknesses - and considering how harsh my judgment was at the outset, that's saying a lot. It won't appeal to all comers, and I can understand how others will impugn it more heavily, but I find myself pleasantly surprised at how this turned around and proved its worth. Faults and all, 'Ah! My goddess: The movie' is entertaining and satisfying, and both its storytelling and its animation are ultimately a real treat. It's hardly a must-see, but if you do have the opportunity to watch and are willing to abide the shortcomings, then I'm quite happy to give 'Ah! My goddess' my warm recommendation.

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.

Like most anime based on Kosuke Fujishima's comics and character designs, this visually splendid film presents a lush, romantic and rather lightweight story. The original audience was presumed to have already read the books and seen earlier shows, and therefore to be familiar with the characters, general setup and a fair amount of back story that precedes the events here. However the story--what there is of it--is so straightforward that even the uninitiated viewer will probably get the general idea. In the universe of this film, heaven is an enormous, multi-layered bureaucracy (an ancient concept in Asian fiction) staffed by various "gods" and "goddesses," some of whom have come to live with Japanese college student Keiichi Morisato in Tokyo. Over the course of a few days, the actions of a rebellious archangel disorder heaven, endanger the earth and present serious relationship problems for Keiichi and Belldandy, the goddess-first-class to whom he has become romantically attached. Along the way other characters familiar from the previous series make mostly cameo appearances. All in all a light, beautifully animated, non-threatening and enjoyable film.

This movie takes place two and a half years after the events chronicled in the original Aa Megamisama video series. As such, the relationships between the main characters (in particular Keiichi and Belldandy) have evolved offscreen to a certain point, and some characters that had been introduced in the manga only now make their first onscreen appearances.

However, that doesn't detract from this wonderful film, which, though very much a fantasy, is a story that is sweet, without being boring, and if a touch melodramatic, then not excessively corny.

Aa Megamisama the movie seemingly follows two tracks - examining the relationship between the mortal Keiichi and the seemingly submissive goddess Belldandy who has come to live with him - and examining Belldandy's own past, which is not as perfect as one would think. Especially when someone from that past starts a chain of events that could bring down all of Heaven.

It might take a while for this movie to be distributed on US shores, but it'll certainly be worth the wait.

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.