Aa! Megami-sama! OVA

Title:Aa! Megami-sama! OVA
Ah! Megamisama! OVA
Ah! My Goddess OVA
Oh My Goddess OVA
Oh My Goddess! OVA
ああっ女神さまっ
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: FUJISHIMA Kosuke
HISAKAWA Aya
INOUE Kikuko
KIKUCHI Masami
R1 License - AnimEigo
TOUMA Yumi
The infamous tale of "loser" college student Morisato Keiichi who one day, instead of getting take-out delivered, wound up with the goddess Belldandy instead! Now that his wish that she stay with him forever has been granted, will he survive Belldandy's two sisters Urd and Skuld?
[OAV, 1993, 5 episodes, 27 min (ep.5=37 min), based on the stories from the first 8 volumes of the manga (highly compressed and rewritten for the OAV) of the same title. There are 30+ volumes of the "Ah! Megami-sama" manga and it is still being published in Japan.]

[edit] The ↗Aa! Megami-sama franchise:

Old releases (not based on manga material): Parody spin-off: TV series remake (partially rewritten/rearranged manga stories):
1:32min Series Opening - YouTube Video
Episode Details 
1, 2, 5
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 6 6 6 6 5 5 Ggultra2764 [series:133#1552]
This is an earlier anime adaptation of Ah My Goddess than the 2000s TV anime seasons made, albeit with reduced character depth and rushed storytelling due to the limited episode count of the OVAs. The first three episodes serve to introduce Keiichi and each of the goddesses, while the later two are a two-part storyline where Keiichi and Belldandy run the risk of being separated. While the two are shown to have at least gotten a little further in their relationship for this adaptation, they are still as bland and saccharine as their 2000s counterparts for me thus I still feel indifferent to them as a couple. May be something for fans of the 2000s anime adaptation of AMG to check out, but is nothing really groundbreaking for me.

Last updated Saturday, June 17 2017. Created Saturday, June 17 2017.
Watch Xenoknight [series:133#2967]
review coming after I rewatch the anime...

Check out my award list to see some of the best anime titles in the world!

Never forget Xenosaga.

Last updated Friday, December 05 2008. Created Friday, December 05 2008.
Rent 8 9 9 9 10 10 AtasteAnime [series:133#1051]
The two part OVA of Ah! My Goddess is perhaps not as well made as the more recently released movie. But this is where it all starts. The story all begins when Belldandy, the lovely Goddess first calss, steps out of loser Keiichi's mirror and grants him one wish. Later the audience will find out that Belldandy and Keiichi's romantic and intertwined history. By staying with Keiichi and helping him to relocate his lost memories, Belldandy knowingly violated the rules of heaven and was soon punished and recalled....knowing that he will lose Belldandy forever, Keiichi spent a good deal of time working over time to buy a present for his beautiful goddess.... Maybe I am just being overly sensitive, but I knew I shed a few tears while watching this anime. This is definately a classic worth keeping and it will probably remind you of your first love....

Last updated Thursday, November 13 2003. Created Thursday, November 13 2003.
Watch 8 9 7 5 7 9 Devil Doll [series:133#752]
[Score: 71% = Watch+. Recommended Romantic Comedy animes: Love Hina, Ai Yori Aoshi, Aa! Megami-sama! TV, REC]
From the number of reviews here, this must be a real classic, so I couldn't miss this one forever.
Although this is focused so much on the 'Yakusoku' element in the end it won't be fair to really compare this series to Love Hina where the makers had so much more space and time to really present the whole story.
But then, remove a little from the scenario, and then ask yourself isn't this just like the children's version of Video Girl Ai? At least the basic presumption (a love that would violate 'the rules') causes for the same type of sadness and uncertainties in both stories, and even this Kami-sama and the Gokuraku elder seem to be not that different. It is just that VGAi has the more interesting plot and the better characters, while these Goddesses - whose names are based on the ancient Germanic women Verdandi [= "to be", present time], Urd [= "having been", past time] and Skuld [= "to become", future], who are sitting below the holy world ash-tree Yggdrasil, taken from the Scandinavian "Edda" myth - are more kawaii.

In both cases the makers had to select stuff from a much wider manga story (of which they still publish new episodes in Japan these days). While Video Girl Ai decided to present the first quarter (and offered a reasonable end there), I originally believed that this OVA would be some condensed version of the manga; now that I have read all 29 available volumes I am surprised that the story of this OVA (at least episode 4 and 5 of it) isn't covered by the Manga at all! So all three publications, Manga, OVA and Movie, complement each other - and they're fully compatible as for the storyline.
Compared to the truely epic Manga, this short OVA loses out on the character development: The only character whom we really see growing is Urd ("how could this loser be the one Belldandy has to rely on?" was my thought half-way through the story, but in the end even she worked nicely ...). Including a number of cameo appearances of other characters who play an important role in the Manga (such as Sayoko Mishima or Hasegawa Sora) there are too many of them for such a short series. In this aspect Video Girl Ai (based on a 15 volumes manga as well) definitely did the better job, concentrating on no more than four characters and specifying their relation from the start, so that you can watch them growing.
One technical aspect: I watched this series twice, with English subtitles and with dubbed voices to my native language - and that was a hell of a difference. The voice translation nearly removed everything that was Japanese about the story (and even left out some important lines of the story!), while the English subtitles were short but seemingly precise. Don't watch this series dubbed!

So if you liked these goddesses already you might of course want to watch the much better Ah! My Goddess - The Movie (which isn't covered by the manga either but plays in a much later stage of the story where Keiichi's and Belldandy's relation has become more established). Then read the Manga if you want to learn about the whole story, including a fourth goddess (Peorth) in Keiichi's house, about angels and demons, about the future of the motor club, and about Morisato growing older, finishing university and going to work. And finally, the Aa! Megami-sama! TV series from 2005 covers the Manga in a much more complete way.
But if you do feel old enough for the adventures of 16-year-old, don't you miss watching (and reading) Video Girl Ai!

Last updated Friday, June 06 2008. Created Sunday, July 06 2003.
Buy 8 7 9 8 7 MasterYoshidino [series:133#598]
The OAV / OVA that spawned the acclaimed Motion Picture. The credits (intro/outro) are well done and the animation is clear. There are though issues with the quality of the actual MPEG2. _Serious_ rainbowing and some minor ghosting shows this was a rushed release with AnimEigo not caring as to how good it looks on a PC. The story itself will be to many long winded.

Last updated Wednesday, June 25 2003. Created Wednesday, June 25 2003.
Watch 9 9 9 7 5 kakyuu_prince [series:133#404]
Bah humbug. I don't see what the big fuss is about. A too-nice, disgustingly sweet, and submissive "hot magical babe" drops out of the sky (to use a figure of speech) and starts living with a boring "loser" guy and suddenly, they just have THE most fantastic romantic chemistry between them? Bull. I don't see any good reasons that are presented for Belldandy being so attracted to what'shisname.... oh yeah, Keiichi. (Took me a few minutes to remember the guy's name there, can you tell how memorable these charcters are?)
Despite the pitiful excuse for "sweet romance", Belldandy's sisters are really underappreciated by the OVA. They were far more interesting than the blandly sweet Belldandy. Putting aside the bad points there, (it's hard, but I'm going to try -.-) The music wasn't too bad and the art and animation were done quite well. In the end though, Ah! My Goddess is a pretty bland and downright boring entry into the romance genre.

Last updated Tuesday, June 17 2003. Created Tuesday, June 17 2003.
Rent 7 7 9 7 8 8 Greg Bread [series:133#763]
For the most part, this is a happy story about a loser who gets a girlfriend, It just leaves a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Humourous, romantic and sometimes depressing, its a good story that goes along smoothly without being over dramatic. All the characters are likable and for the most part get along with each other.
I would reccommend this to anybody that enjoys a short but sweet drama.

Last updated Friday, June 13 2003. Created Friday, June 13 2003.
Buy 10 10 10 10 10 10 Alexander [series:133#416]
This is a great anime, with characters that you will love. The only problem I have if it, is that it ends to damn quickly..sigh.

Last updated Tuesday, January 14 2003. Created Tuesday, January 14 2003.
Rent 10 10 8 7 9 8 Sesen Kelader [series:133#471]
For the OVA (or OAV whatever...) series, the story focuses on "Yakusoku," or "promise" (if it really has to be translated). The OVA series is actually done lone time ago, and I mean, long time ago. At that time the comic (which the OVA borrowed the idea from) just started short. Therefore, later on the comic builds up its own story and central idea, which personally I think the comic series goes "TOO FAR (beyond 30 volumes)," so far that the story is no longer exciting.
But the OVA series is much more compressed. The central idea is clear. The story is fast path. Humrousness and seriousness balance one each other. I didn't like Oh! My Goddess (Or Ah! Megami-sama whatever...)series because I only acquainted with the comics at the time, but surprisingly the OVA gives me refreshing feelings.
Maybe for some ppl, the reason to like Oh! My goddess is because Berudandi is such a kind girl, a girl that would be hardly possible to exist in the real world. But among the 3 goddess, I like skuld/Sukurudo most (And she goes to high school and beyond in the comic series!! Heheh....). Berudandi is such an unreal idealism that I scare to be involved too fondly (gee what I'm talking about). Nevertheless, the story becomes more touching and fonder for the 3 distinguishable characteristics the goddesses have.

Last updated Wednesday, January 08 2003. Created Wednesday, January 08 2003.
Buy 10 10 10 8 10 10 Akito [series:133#472]
This movie makes me on the verge of crying!!! It is so touching especially in the last episode. The love of Belle and Kenichi is done beautifully in this OAV. Even though there are only five episodes, this anime had successfully captured the main scenes in the comics. In additon, the plot is well done. This is a definite buy for anime fans!!!

Last updated Friday, January 03 2003. Created Friday, January 03 2003.
Buy 10 9 9 8 8 8 AstroNerdBoy [series:133#436]

This is a cute, sweet romantic comedy dealing with the Keiichi who upon being granted a wish by the goddess Belldandy wishes for her to be by his side for life. His wish is granted. The animation is really good, the characters are all very likeable, and one feels the pain when Belldandy and Keiichi are forced to stay apart in the final two episodes!

We have a variation of the harem genre of anime -- loser guy, hot babes. The difference in this series is that Belldandy and Keiichi are committed to each other right away so there is no questioning "will he pick a girl". Belldandy's sisters don't have the hots for Keiichi, but they do have a certain respect and by the end, I dare say like him (they are all living together).

So, what's the problem? Well, for starters, five episodes are not enough. The main characters (Keiichi and Belldandy) are not as developed as Belldandy's sisters. Between the first and second episode, five months have elapsed (as I understand it). All that seemed to have happened during that time was that Belldandy filled the role of a servant, howbeit a very loving one -- one who is a servant because it pleases her to do so. Both developed a love for each other (apparently) during this time, but I would have like to have seen it grow. An episode dedicated to them talking and flashing back into their lives prior to being together would have been very helpful. But instead, the writers chose a few select early manga stories (from ~9 volumes of manga) and developed those into this series.

Also, I think I would have liked for our couple to have shared a kiss at the end of the series, but this did not happen. You have to get the manga to see the couple share a very few kisses, and that mostly early in the manga.

Bottom line: Too short, not enough character development, but JUST enough to make you feel the pain of seperation the main characters go through in episode 4 & 5. Also, I highly recommend the manga which Dark Horse Comics put out the English translation. If you loved the series, you'll really love the manga!

Last updated Monday, December 06 2004. Created Thursday, December 26 2002.

Buy 10 9 10 7 9 9 nodoubt [series:133#399]
I admit it. While I claim I'm not into romantic animes, I have a soft spot for them. This anime, along with several others (specifically Love Hina), has found a place in my anime DVD collection. Ah! (or Oh!, whatever your preference is..) My Goddess is a short 5 episodes OVA made in the early 90s based on the successful manga. There are over 20 volumes of the manga and when you try to compress that into an OVA, you are going to lose alot. It does, but it retains enough of the story to make it a classic in my eyes. Character design is good, all the goddesses look great, especially Belldandy. However, I didn't like the character design of Keichi that much (much better in the movie though). Very well done. Watch the movie and read the manga if you like it.
10-14-02

Last updated Monday, October 14 2002. Created Monday, October 14 2002.
Buy 10 10 9 10 10 10 Anonymous #346 [series:133#346]
In episode 1, "Moonlight and Cherry Blossoms", a college student named Morisato Keiichi accidently dials the Relief Goddess office instead of Chinese take-out. A goddess named Belldandy then comes out of a nearby mirror. She says she'll grant him one wish, and he says he wants someone like her to stay with him forever. She misunderstands, and thinks she has to stay with him. When the other students return to the dorm, they get kicked out, because no females are allowed.
After spending the night in an old temple, Keiichi wakes up sick. Belldandy heals him and restores the temple, where they decide to live. Later on, the other students come by for a party. Keiichi walks outside for a break, and Belldandy sits with him in the moonlight.
In episode 2, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", 5 months have passed since Keiichi met Belldandy. His sister Megumi suggests taking Belldandy to the beach, but before he does, he recieves a videotape in the mail addressed to him. When he puts it in the VCR, he finds out it's a tape of a "sexy"-looking woman, who then crawls out of the TV. She introduces herself as Urd, Belldandy's older sister, and she is determined to heat things up between Keiichi and Belldandy.
Urd tries a couple of times to liven things up, but each time they get spoiled. She finally gives him a potion, and if he drinks it, he will fall madly in love with the first girl he sees. The first girl he sees isn't Belldandy, but by his schoolmate Sayoko, who had accidently ruined the first 2 plans. Belldandy sees them, and after dissapointment, she finds out it's Urd's work. After she calls Urd, who is no help, she kisses Keiichi, returning him to normal. Urd tries to go back up to the Heavens, but she is returned back to Earth, because she was slacking at her job, and this was her punishment. She ends up having to stay with Belldandy and Keiichi.

Last updated Thursday, July 11 2002. Created Thursday, July 11 2002.
Buy 10 10 10 10 9 9 _duo [series:133#327]
Great anime in my opinion. Classic little love story. The only thing that was wrong with it was the length (too short). But really worth buying for any anime fan.

Last updated Thursday, June 13 2002. Created Thursday, June 13 2002.
Rent 8 7 9 7 8 boo [series:133#262]
This really is a cute little love story. The characters are funny enough and belldandy is so adorable.
Truth be told the best reason to watch this OVA is to see the movie. While I felt the OVA was worth seeing, it was not as deep or enthrawling as i expected. This is entertaining. The animation is fluid and the characters are likable.
Very solid, a good date type of anime. WATCH THE MOVIE!!!

Last updated Wednesday, March 06 2002. Created Wednesday, March 06 2002.
Buy 9 7 8 7 8 Midnighter [series:133#94]
Oh My Goddess! is a sweet tale of love that found my soft romantic side and buried itself in it. Oh My Goddess! can be enjoyed by anyone of all ages, and only the most cynical of people would be unaffected by its charm. Incidentally, OMG creator Fujishima Kyousuke has stated in interviews that he prefers 'Oh My Goddess' as opposed to 'Ah! My Goddess' because it is a clever play on the english phrase "Oh My God." May this forever settle the dispute.
The plot is relatively simple, yeah, but the characters more than make up for it. Considering the rather short length they are all quite well fleshed out and even the English dub is good! The animation is really nice with beautiful backgrounds that are richly detailed and vibrant, and the character designs for the goddesses are gorgeous. Keiichi is in the standard Tenchi/Makoto style, though I like how he's slightly built and small. Emotionally, he has a kind of sweet vulnerability and innocence to him.I initially thought that it was a tad sexist, but as I watched it, it became evident that Keiichi is as devoted to Belldandy as she is to him.
It's just a sweet little love story.
The episodes all tell a larger story, and the last episode is really an excellent close. I was afraid that after such a good series they'd choke and have an unsatisfying ending, but no! They pulled it off!
Overall, Oh My Goddess! is a definate buy. It's now available on 2 DVDs, which is better than the individual VHS tapes. This is a wonderful anime that can be enjoyed by all.

Last updated Friday, March 22 2002. Created Friday, November 09 2001.
Buy Robbie [series:133#192]
Oh My Goddess is a cute little anime about a guy that falls in love with a goddess. This situation leads out to a really cute plotline. The story is great, the characters are drawn beautifully, and the animation is done very well. The only downside is that it's short. If you're looking for a good romantic comedy, then this is for you! Now that it has come out on DVD, Oh My Goddess is an anime that is definately not to be missed!

Last updated Wednesday, August 01 2001. Created Wednesday, August 01 2001.
Rent 9 8 9 7 7 7 Johan Gustafsson [series:133#195]
The biggest problem with Ah megami-sama is that it´s too short. Otherwise I think it´s sweet and funny. Great voice actors. (I only watch sub) I advise though that you rent it. The reason is that for some reason they only put one episode on each tape. I think 29 min. per tape isn´t enough when the price is as high as it is.

Last updated Wednesday, July 04 2001. Created Wednesday, July 04 2001.
Buy 10 10 10 10 10 Kaitou Juliet [series:133#137]

I love this series. The artwork is beautiful, the characters are lovable, and the story is romantic without being saccharine. What a shame there are only five episodes. Still, five is enough for what they set out to do: each of the first three episodes introduces one of the goddesses, and the last two episodes tell a two-part story.

I bought this one as soon as it came out on DVD. The DVD's have some great extras, and the English dub is one of the best I've heard. This is one of those series that I can watch over and over. In fact, I cheered myself up on the evening of September 11 (2001) by watching the first DVD. Highly recommended.



Last updated Wednesday, August 07 2002. Created Tuesday, March 06 2001.
Rent 7 7 8 6 7 7 Black Panther [series:133#142]
Very good anime this is, and a complete romance one at that! (Which I don't mind!) It has a very interesting god and goddess" side to it. Very mythological... The only thing I really didn't like was the "thats it?" feeling at the end of the show, but it was left wide open for a movie or a next season to follow in its place...

Last updated Friday, March 01 2002. Created Monday, February 19 2001.
Buy 7 7 8 6 7 7 Too Short [series:133#76]
This is a typical nice guy surrounded by women anime. Putting that aside, it is definetely a great series to add to your collection. Great character designs make this average story fun to watch. It has a good balance of humor and romance. Unfortunately, it is extremely short, and does not match the complexity of it's manga series counterpart.

Last updated Tuesday, September 05 2000. Created Tuesday, September 05 2000.
Watch 5 5 6 5 5 The Coyote [series:133#64]
If you happen come across this one go ahead and watch it but otherwise avoid it. It really starts out promiseing but seem to struggle to keep my interest after a while I loved the movie so there is a lot of potential in the characters. The end and the promise and the way it all finish's off left me wanting. in my opinion this is worth watching if you come acoss it. maybe even worth renting for back ground for the movie.

Last updated Monday, December 03 2001. Created Friday, July 28 2000.
Rent 7 6 7 5 8 CatWoman [series:133#65]
The first one, it is really cute, but the magic kind of botherd me, as well as the hole "Goddess" thing. It is funny and sweet and I think it, then I saw the second episode. I didn't think I would watch anouther one, but I did and I really liked it. It is much like the tv version of Wonders, sweet and If not for the oldest sister it would be one that I would not have a problem with kids watching!

Last updated Wednesday, January 10 2001. Created Thursday, July 27 2000.
Buy 10 10 10 9 10 10 Cenit [series:133#45]
Well, this must be the higer score i ever give, and probably i´ll never give any other like this one.
But Aa Megami-sama is entitled anything, is just great, great, and one other time, great. Maybe i´m not a good reviewre cuase i only write about the anime i really like.
Well the story seems to be easy (seems to be) the poor boy, Morisato mets a goddes that came out in his room, and told him that he can ask her any wish he wanted.
Of course, from the picture yo can note that this girl is really cute, and making one of the few intelligent acts in the series, ask her to have someone like her by his side.
Things is, she stays with him, and a star a whole new life to our young character. Small and little things happens after that, appears Morisato´s young sister, and also the sisters of Beldandi (the goddes) stay to live with them.
The real thing happens when Gos itself call her and told her that she has to came back, no matter what because Morisato is trying to "remember" something. Of course that doesn´t make happy to anyone in the house, Morisato can´t get even close to Beldandi cause everithing stars to break, glasses, windows, etc..., which makes Beldandi, more and more miserable.
Morisato gets a lot of jobs (even delivering Domino´s Pizza) to be able to buy her a present, a ring that he had seen in a dream, and later he saw it in a store, yeap, the very same ring that is shown in the picture, and thing is that the day is saved cause the ring, but i won´t say how, i don´t want to kill the emotion.
So i´ll gve it a score above Buy, sadly it doesn´t exist, so i´ll just say, buy it.
If you wanna know anything else, email me at Cenit_caronte@hotmail.com

Last updated Wednesday, August 23 2000. Created Wednesday, July 05 2000.
Buy Jenn-chan [series:133#31]
AMG was one of the first anime I ever saw, and what a good choice it was at the time. I think it's the perfect anime for those that want a taste of the romantic comedy genre. Belldandy is probably one of the most memorable characters in anime, more physically than personality wise.

Last updated Thursday, April 27 2000. Created Thursday, April 27 2000.
Buy 10 10 10 10 10 10 Tsuki [series:133#8]
Hee, a perfect score, I think! ^_^;
Aa Megami-sama! is a wonderful story and one of the most famous anime. The character designs (by Sonoda Kenichi) is memorable, as are the characters themselves -- in short, at least watch this anime... it's very charming.
Aa Megami-sama! is available as an OAV series, manga series, TV series, and there's an upcoming movie... o_O

Last updated Thursday, November 25 1999. Created Thursday, November 25 1999.

Other Sites
NameURL
Aa Megami-Sama Overanalysis http://www.concentric.net/~amagai/megamisama/
Explains some of the mysteries of the series. Check it out after you've seen the show at least once.
AnimEigo http://www.animeigo.com/Products/OMG.t
Oh! My Goddess dubbers
Gateway to the Goddesses http://g2g.iverse.com/AMG/Front_Page/frontpage.htm
An excellent fansite dedicated primarily to the manga since that's where most of the action is. There is a ton of information about all of the goddesses, an encyclopedia on the series, a manga chapter synopsis, and finally image scans.

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