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Image: Belldandy and Holy Bell.

  My Goddess! An Introduction

Image: Belldandy. Aa, Megami-sama! (translated into English as either Ah! My Goddess or Oh My Goddess!) is a manga series written and illustrated by Kosuke Fujishima. It is also, however, an animated OAV, an animated movie, two animated television shows, a novel, several PC and console games, and more. Sound confusing? You bet it is. Hopefully, however, this page will help the uninitiated sort out all of the various versions of Goddess that exist.

The basic story in each incarnation of this series is pretty much the same. Keiichi Morisato, short of stature and a self-confessed loser with women, was just an average college student at the Nekomi Institute of Technology, until a misdialed phone call changed his life forever. When Keiichi accidentally dialed the divine Goddess Technical Help Line, he suddenly found himself face-to-face with a beautiful goddess who emerged from a mirror in his dorm room. The goddess introduced herself as Belldandy (a Japanicized spelling of Verthandi), and offered to grant Keiichi one wish. Keiichi thought that the whole thing was a joke, a prank set up by his sadistic roommates. So in jest, he made his wish. "I want a girl like you to be with me forever!" But then Belldandy connected to Yggdrasil, the computer system that underlies Heaven, and approved Keiichi's wish. Belldandy was suddenly less than thrilled to realize that she was now bound by contract to stay by Keiichi's side forever - and Keiichi couldn't believe that "I was just kidding!" didn't seem to be working on her.

Image: Urd and Skuld. So then Belldandy was stuck, bound by contract to stay with Keiichi in Earth, and there seemed to be nothing that the two of them could do about it. The trouble started right away when Keiichi's roommates kicked him out of their dorm when they caught him with a girl; soon Keiichi and Belldandy were wandering the town of Nekomi late at night, searching for a place to stay. With Belldandy around, however, good luck seemed to come in spades. The two eventually did find a new place to live, a temple left to them by a very, very confused Buddhist monk. All of a sudden, things started to look good for Keiichi. He had a home of his own, and just happened to be living together with a real genuine goddess. Unfortunately, with Belldandy around, bad luck also seemed to come in spades. Just when Keiichi and Belldandy began to fall for each other (predictably), Belldandy's troublesome goddess sisters, Urd and Skuld, showed up to poke their noses in her business...

Ah! My Goddess remains popular among fans in both Japan and North America due to its gorgeous artwork, interesting characters, complex and fascinating storyline, and Fujishima's great sense of humor. While the story overall is somewhat light and fluffy, there are dramatic moments, and the whole thing is centered around a very sweet romance between Keiichi and Belldandy.

  The Manga

Image: Belldandy. The Ah! My Goddess manga series, written and illustrated by Kosuke Fujishima, is the original (and, in the opinion of many, the best) version of the Goddess saga. The manga has been published in serial installments in the monthly Japanese manga anthology Afternoon since 1989 and continues to this day. The Ah! My Goddess manga is available in a bewildering array of formats in both Japanese and English. To try to clear up some of the confusion, I've compiled two comprehensive guides to the manga, which you can find linked below.

Recommended Manga Resources ---------------------------------------->

<-------------------------------------------- Manga-Related Merchandise

In addition to the manga itself, there's tons of manga-related merchandise for all of you Fujishima fans out there to spend your money on. There are several Ah! My Goddess manga artbooks available in Japanese, most notably Ah! My Goddess Colors, and Ah! My Goddess Collection, as well as two postcard books. Colors is also available in English, translated by Dark Horse. There's lots of other merchandise associated with the manga, of course - everything from coffee cups, to shitajiki (pencil boards), to posters, to even music CDs! Not to mention a quiz video game that was based on the manga. For shopping suggestions, go here.

  The Novel

Image: Cover of the Novel. In July 2006, Touma Yumi, the one and only voice actress for Urd, wrote and published an Ah! My Goddess novel. The novel is titled Shoshuu ~First End~, which means the same thing in both Japanese and English. The novel features a cover illustration by Kosuke Fujishima, and interior illustrations by Hidenori Matsubara, Fujishima's most famous apprentice, and character designer for the animated movie and TV series. The Japanese edition of Shoshuu clocks in at 483 pages long, and is a rather difficult read for even advanced students of Japanese, so be careful before you decide to buy a copy! Plus, now that there's an English version of the novel available, buying the Japanese original is probably a moot point for most English speakers.

You can find scans of all of the cover and interior illustrations here. There are also excellent reviews of the novel posted here and here.

Soon after the novel was published, the official TBS anime homepage released a series of Gaiden ("supplementary") short stories about a new character, Freya, that overlapped with the events of the novel. The short stories are collectively titled Yumemiru Tsubasa ("Dreaming Wings") and can be found here.

In December 2007, Dark Horse released an English-translated version of the novel. You can find it anywhere that comic books or manga are sold.

  The OAV

Image: Screenshot of Keiichi and Belldandy from the final episode of the OAV. "OAV" (or "OVA") stands for "Original Animated Video" (or "Original Video Animation," it doesn't really matter which). An OAV is a short anime series in which each episode is released directly to video and/or DVD. The Ah! My Goddess OAV was produced by AIC in 1993 and consists of five episodes. The OAV is a re-telling of the first couple volumes of the manga, although it introduces an original twist in the story of how Keiichi and Belldandy first met. Considered by many anime and manga fans to be an indisputable classic, it should be essential watching for anyone with an interest in anime. Even if you watch it and then decide that you don't like it, still, I would definitely consider this OAV essential watching for anyone who hopes to pass themselves of as having a sort of "cultural literacy" in anime.

Recommended OAV Resources ------------------------------------------>

<----------------------------------------------- OAV-Related Merchandise

There's been a ton of merchandise associated with the OAV over the years, most notably many gorgeous artbooks, soundtrack CDs, and my favorite, shitajiki. My favorite and probably the most comprehensive OAV artbook is an oversized monster of a tome called Evidence of Existence, which is definitely one of those "If you only buy one anime artbook, buy THIS one" books. For shopping suggestions, go here.

  The Movie

Image: Screenshot of Keiichi and Belldandy from the climax of the movie. In the year 2000, AIC fulfilled the wildest dreams of Goddess fans by producing an absolutely gorgeous theatrical Ah! My Goddess movie. The movie is a self-contained, stand-alone story with a dark, dramatic plot, reminiscent of the more serious chapters of the manga. Without giving too much away, I will say this: Keiichi and Belldandy's love is sorely tested, and ultimately proven true. To say anything more would be to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. ;) The movie satisfies on every level that a fluffy anime movie can hope to satisfy - lots of eye candy and entertainment value.

Recommended Movie Resources ---------------------------------------->

<--------------------------------------------- Movie-Related Merchandise

First of all, the movie soundtrack, performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic and featuring a performance by the Warsaw Chorus, is not to be missed. There's more merchandise associated with the movie, of course, but as usual, my favorites are the artbooks. Kodansha has published three volumes of "film comics" which tell the story of the movie using screenshots arranged as comic panels; the "film comic" books also come with pullout posters and more original artwork. The real movie artbook, however, is called Field of Goddess, a gorgeous tome of production artwork, cast and creator interviews, and more. You can find these artbooks wherever import Japanese books are sold. For shopping suggestions, go here.

  The Television Series

Image: Screenshot of Keiichi and Belldandy from the opening credits of the tv series. AIC's new Ah! My Goddess television anime series began broadcasting in January 2005, and the first season was completed with the release of two final episodes direct to DVD in December 2005. The second season, Ah! My Goddess Sorezore no Tsubasa, began airing on Japanese television in April 2006, and was completed with the release of two final episodes direct to DVD in February 2007. Finally, a two-part sequel TV special, Tatakau Tsubasa ("Fighting Wings"), aired on TBS in December 2007. The television anime, like the OAV, starts all over again from the very beginning of the story, with the first fateful meeting of Keiichi and Belldandy. In my opinion, the television anime is a wonderful new spin on an old, familiar tale. Also, the series is very easy for anybody to watch, and no other familiarity with or knowledge of Ah! My Goddess is required. The Ah! My Goddess anime has been released on Region 1 (North American) bilingual DVD by Media Blasters (first season) and ADV Films (second season).

Recommended TV Resources ------------------------------------------->

<------------------------------------------------- TV-Related Merchandise

Soundtracks, DVDs, oh my! For suggestions on where to find TV-related goodies, go here. And if you don't mind a shameless plug, Visions of Goddess hosts scans of merchandise, magazine, and poster artwork related to the TV series, so you can check that out, too.

  The Spin-Off: Mini-Goddess

Image: Screenshot of Belldandy and Gan-chan. Kosuke Fujishima originally created a series of short, 4-panel comic strips about the adventures of mini-Belldandy, mini-Urd, and mini-Skuld, which he published in the back of the Japanese manga tankouban. Later, these comic strips were collected into one hardcover volume, titled Chichai tte Koto wa Benri Da Ne! ("Being Small Sure is Convenient!"), which later earned the English title of The Adventures of Mini-Goddess in the Handy Petite Size. The premise behind Mini-Goddess is that when Keiichi isn't around, the goddesses Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld use their powers to make themselves tiny and engage in various shenanigans around Tarikihongan Temple, including tormenting their friend, Gan-chan the rat. In 1998, Mini-Goddess was also turned into an anime series consisting of 8-minute episodes broadcast on television.

Recommended Mini-Goddess Resources -------------------------------->

<------------------------------------- Mini-Goddess-Related Merchandise

In my opinion, most of the Mini-Goddess merchandise out there is pretty lame, unless you like the soundtrack for the anime (which I didn't). I guess I just never got into the Mini-Goddess artwork style, it kind of squicks me. Well, anyway, for shopping suggestions, go here.

  Goddess Games

For computer and console games, I think there are about a million and one fan-created Ah! My Goddess games out there. As far as official games, there are only three that I know of:

Aa, Megami-sama!
A PC Adventure game by Studio Orphee, originally released in 1993. In 1997, an updated version, this time utilizing the voice talents of the OAV cast, was released in Japan. I know next to nothing about this game, other than what information I was able to scrounge up on the Japanese Wikipedia site.

Quiz! Aa, Megami-sama: Tatakau Tsubasa Totomo ni
Originally an arcade game, then released to the Sega Dreamcast on August 11th, 1998. The game used 3D polygon animation. You played as Keiichi, and had to answer trivia questions posed by characters from the manga. Check out this post from Ah! Keiichisama for tons of info and media from the game. Likewise, IGN has an extensive section devoted to the game, with a detailed review, some videos, and a large screenshot gallery.

Aa, Megami-sama!
Yes, that is actually the unimaginative title. Released for the Japanese PS2 platform in February 2007. For more information, as well as images and media downloads, check out Forgotten Song, a shrine to the game.

I'm pretty sure that the famous Skuld Bug-Smashing game was fan-made, and not official. If anybody can say for sure, though, I'd love to hear from you.

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