Anime Review: Oh My Goddess Oav
Review Oh My Goddess Oav
Wouldn't you just love to have the perfect girlfriend? And I mean truly perfect, like the girl is a goddess Well, so would Keiichi Morisato, at least until a perfect girl arrived, a girl by the name of Belldandy. And she is a goddess, sent to grant Keiichi a wish. And what does Keiichi wish for? Like the dateless loser that he is (Keiichi is the prototype for all dateless loser's in anime) he wishes for her to be his girlfriend. However, Keiichi lives in a all male dormitory, so when his dorm mates find him with Belldandy they promptly kick him out. So Keiichi and Belldandy have find a new place to live, but that is only the start of their troubles, as can be expected from a romantic comedy. Things get really interesting when Belldandy's two sisters Urd and Skuld show up.
There is no big action scenes in Oh my Goddess so the main attraction is the character interaction. The relationship between Keiichi and Belldandy is one of shonen tradition in the classic sense. It is about a weak and unconfident man who gains the affections of an extremely kind and gentle girl. And Belldandy is an extremely nice girl, just about the nicest in anime or anywhere else. In fact this may be the biggest obstacle for some to enjoying this show, Belldandy to some is a wimpy and unrealistic girl. However, I feel differently about the issue. Belldandy while a nice to the extreme, is still her own person. However, there is not only Keiichi and Belldandy in this show. Oh my Goddess features a whole cast of quirky and entertaining characters, ranging from Keiichi's brutish schoolmates to Belldandy's intrusive sisters.
The artwork of Oh my Goddess is very good as befits an Oav. The center piece of this is the wonderful character designs. Each character is brought to live and each design help clue the viewer in on the personality of each character. Also worthy of mention is the house that Keiichi and Belldandy eventually move into. The house has a warmth and verisimilitude that that you rarely find in an anime house.
I usually do not mention the soundtrack to a show in the review as usually do not notice it beyond the Opening and Closing themes. This show is completely different. The background music in Oh my Goddess is extremely good adding mood to many scenes. Instead of being something that I did not notice it was one of the many pleasures of watching this show.
Many of the snobbish folk of Otakudom state that often an excellent manga series is ruined when it is converted into anime. Although this is not the case with this series there is one big problem with it, five episodes is not nearly enough for a show this good! This problem is rectified by getting the manga series. If after watching Oh my Goddess you like it, I heartily suggest you pick up the manga.
As I have said before Oh my Goddess is the story of Keiichi and his magical girlfriend. Oh my Goddess is one of the classics of anime. It (along with some other works) is the progenitor for an entire genre. Like many progenitors Oh my Goddess is better than many of the shows that follow in it's footsteps. I give Oh my Goddess a rating of excellent.