Oh My Goddess! Ova series Collector’s Edition is a short anime series that covers about 6 or seven months in the lives of Morisato Keiichi and the goddess Belldandy.
College freshman Morisato Keiichi is, well, on the lower end of his dorm mates, he is short, plain and and just sweet. While his dorm mates are all strong muscular men, only in college to build bikes. One night, Keiichi is volunteered to stay at the dorm and answer any calls for his buddies while they go partying. After hours of just sitting there, hunger strikes. He has no choice but to decide to order take-out, but fails. It’s too late, all the restaurants are closed. Keiichi tries to find a place that is open but instead he dials the “Goddess Hot Line”. Then, out of the wall appears a beautiful maiden, who calls herself Belldandy. She tells Keiichi that she is there to grant one wish. Keiichi doesn’t believe Belldandy, and so he wishes her to be his girlfriend for life (he has had a hard time with girls). The wish goes through and Keiishi and Belldandy start living together, having wacky adventures and meeting new people, like Belldandy’s two sisters (who are also goddess).
Keiichi and Belldandy really don’t seem like they would be soul-mates, which makes this series humorous and almost unexpected. It’s great to watch the two go through the same situation and react to it differently. Like when the two had been living together for about a week and all of the sudden Keiishi’s younger sister shows up and decides to move in. Keiishi is annoyed that she was there and Belldandy was excited about her moving in. This series if full of moments that are unpredictable, which Belldandy explains is “the ultimate force”. These moments provide the majority of the comic relief, but the interaction between the character is also a contributer. All of these moments are what make Oh My Goddess! enjoyable and a great anime.
The extras are a little dull for those not an obsessive fan of anime, but for those who are, they are neat. I really liked the “Dub your own OMG, commentary”, although I suggest you do it with a group of friends, solo can be a bit self-depressing (when you think about it). The interview with producer Toru Miura was a bit disappointing because it was all text. It was still interesting though, I found out that the target audience is teenaged boys, which, coming from a female standpoint, I found that it wasn’t that obvious. Over all it makes for a nice Collector’s Edition.
The animation was well done for being remaster, it was clear and smooth, along with the audio which was easy to understand and hear. The story line had time gaps, but other than that, the story was flowing and coherent. Not once do you feel lost, except for the opening animation, which had characters in it that never get introduced, but this is covered in and extra with character bios. Finally, I enjoyed this series and am interested in the others.
Oh My Goddess! OVA Series was released in 1993, directed by Hiroaki Gooda, character design by Hidenori Matsuhara, produced by AIC and Toru Miura, and distributed by AnimEigo in the U.S.
ComicsOnline gives Oh My Goddess! 5 out of 5 eight legged bunnies.
