Ah! My Goddess: The Movie

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.

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.

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.