Aa! Megamisama! 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.

As implied in the title, I strongly recommend watching a couple, better yet all of the episodes of the TV series before this movie. Or, of course, read as many episodes of the manga as possible, but the TV series will be easier to acquire. The OVA might also help, of course, especially if you don't want to invest a couple of hours of "preperation" for the movie.

Why? First of all, obviously for chronological reasons, because the events in the movie occur ca. two years after the series ended. But more important is the fact that you will lack important background knowledge if you jump into the universe of "Ah! My Goddess" with the movie. For example, you would simply have to accept the fact that a Japanese student lives in a buddhist temple together with three goddesses without further explanation, among many other details (calling heaven via telephone - huh?).

One of the strong concepts of the series is that the key characters are slowly and sequentially introduced, allowing the viewer to grow on them. While it might not be necessary to actually watch all episodes of the series or the OVA, I think it is mandatory to watch at least the first ones until Urd and Skuld are introduced. The more, the better...

You will get sooo much more out of the movie if you don't have to wonder why the goddesses live on earth under rather mundane circumstances. Watching the romantic relationship between Keiichi and Belledandy being endangered will touch you far deeper if you are already acquainted to the AMG universe and actually watched it grow and blossom in the first place.

Imagine watching this latest Star Trek Movie with the young crew (e.g. Kirk and Spock being rivals in a time prior to their deep friendship) without knowing the series or earlier movies. You might enjoy the movie anyway, but will get only a fraction of the experience out of it compared to a trekkie.

I hope you get what I mean - watch the series first! :)

So far soo good. Well, what will you get out of the movie if you know the manga and/or the anime? In a few words: more than you would have expected! But let's first comment one some missing elements.

One would be the lack of near-nudity and (sexually) emberassing situations which would frequently occur in the series as comedic elements. No big deal - I loved them in the series, yet didn't miss them at all in the movie. Notable though, since they were one of the key elements in the series. I guess it's better this way, because the movie can be presented to a broader viewer spectrum.

Also I was a bit surprised that some key characters from the series did not appear at all in the movie (Marller, Hild and Sayoko). A new villain is introduced instead, and in a very clever way which makes it impossible to apply black/white thinking.

A refreshing element of the plot is that while in the series Keiichi ended up with some naked women, goddesses, even the devil himself in bed every other day, accidentally drank love potions etc, I cannot recall any episode where it was the other way round - and in the movie we actually get exactly this scenario. It is the first time (at least the first I can think of) that Keiichi gets a serious rival.

Furthermore, it is the first time since the invasion of the bugs at the very beginning of the series that the AMG universe has a really big problem and the future of the whole world is at stake.

There is not really much more to say... If you liked the series or the manga there is no doubt that you will love the movie. It is a worthy sequel for the series (as well as a worthy representative for the manga). The animation is beautiful and elaborate, the soundtrack is awesome. If you have a soft, romantic spot, prepare for it to be touched. If you don't, maybe you can enjoy the great artwork, but probably you will find most of the scenes a bit cheesy.

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.

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.

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.