Japanese/Bilingual Manga Guide

This page should help anyone who wants to read the Japanese version of Kosuke Fujishima's Ah! My Goddess manga sort out all of the different versions and editions out there. I've also grouped any of Kodansha's bilingual manga publications on this page, because they are published only in Japan (not in North America) and you will have to buy them from an import retailer anyway.

Afternoon Magazine

Image: Cover of Afternoon magazine. Every month, the latest chapters of the Ah! My Goddess manga are published in this Japanese "phonebook" manga anthology. This magazine is called a "phonebook" anthology for a reason - it's literally the size of a phonebook! In addition to Ah! My Goddess, there are also about three dozen other manga series in each issue. Of course, this should go without saying, but Afternoon magazine is written in Japanese ONLY.

One advantage to following the manga in Afternoon magazine is that you always get the latest chapter of the story. Second, and to me most importantly, Afternoon's large, oversized pages are the perfect medium for Kosuke Fujishima's delicate, detailed artwork. His drawings never look quite as good once they're shrunk down to fit the much smaller pages of the manga tankouban. The only caveat is that Afternoon is printed on thin, crappy paper with cheap, nasty ink - just like the pages of a newspaper, the pages of Afternoon can smudge ink on your fingertips. ^^;;

Another reason to potentially invest in an issue of Afternoon is that each issue comes with some sort of free extra goodie, called furoku, which in the past have included Ah! My Goddess figurines, stickers, postcards, and more. However, not every issue is guaranteed to have Ah! My Goddess furoku - in fact, most issues have furoku related to the many other manga series currently running in Afternoon.

Original Tankouban

Two or three times a year, the latest chapters of the Ah! My Goddess manga are collected into small paperback volumes called tankouban. Each tankouban measures 18x13 centimeters, comes with a glossy, full-color dustjacket, and a few have even included special pull-out posters as well. There are currently over thirty tankouban collecting over 200 chapters of the Ah! My Goddess manga so far, and more on the way in the future.

Volume 01, 08/89 ISBN 9784063210095 Chapters 001-009	Volume 02, 03/90 ISBN 9784063210132 Chapters 010-016	Volume 03, 09/90 ISBN 9784063210170 Chapters 017-023

Volume 04, 05/91 ISBN 9784063210217 Chapters 024-030	Volume 05, 10/91 ISBN 9784063210231 Chapters 031-036	Volume 06, 04/92 ISBN 9784063210255 Chapters 037-042

Volume 07, 10/92 ISBN 9784063210286 Chapters 043-047	Volume 08, 03/93 ISBN 9784063210309 Chapters 048-052	Volume 09, 11/93 ISBN 9784063210378 Chapters 053-057

Volume 10, 05/94 ISBN 9784063210408 Chapters 058-062	Volume 11, 10/94 ISBN 9784063210446 Chapters 063-067	Volume 12, 06/95 ISBN 9784063210491 Chapters 068-072

Volume 13, 04/96 ISBN 9784063210576 Chapters 073-077	Volume 14, 04/97 ISBN 9784063210675 Chapters 078-082	Volume 15, 09/97 ISBN 9784063210743 Chapters 083-090

Volume 16, 11/97 ISBN 9784063210767 Chapters 091-097	Volume 17, 09/98 ISBN 9784063210910 Chapters 098-104	Volume 18, 11/98 ISBN 9784063210934 Chapters 105-112

Volume 19, 09/99 ISBN 9784063142198 Chapters 113-120	Volume 20, 11/99 ISBN 9784063142228 Chapters 121-129	Volume 21, 06/00 ISBN 9784063211146 Chapters 130-135

Volume 22, 10/00 ISBN 9784063211184 Chapters 136-141	Volume 23, 10/01 ISBN 9784063211290 Chapters 142-148	Volume 24, 05/02 ISBN 9784063211368 Chapters 149-155

Volume 25, 11/02 ISBN 9784063211429 Chapters 156-162	Volume 26, 06/03 ISBN 9784063211504 Chapters 163-169	Volume 27, 11/03 ISBN 9784063211542 Chapters 170-177

Volume 28, 03/04 ISBN 9784063211580 Chapters 178-182	Volume 29, 09/04 ISBN 9784063211634 Chapters 183-188	Volume 30, 11/04 ISBN 9784063211665 Chapters 189-194

Volume 31, 09/05 ISBN 9784063211696 Chapters 195-200	Volume 32, 12/05 ISBN 9784063211733 Chapters 201-206	Volume 33, 7/06 ISBN 9784063211771 Chapters 207-212

Volume 34, 11/06 ISBN 9784063211801 Chapters 213-218	Volume 35, 6/07 ISBN 9784063211856 Chapters 219-224	Volume 36, 12/07 ISBN 9784063211863 Chapters 225-230

Reprinted Tankouban (A!MG Complete)

Starting in 2005, Kodansha is re-issuing the entirety of the Ah! My Goddess manga in new, larger, deluxe tankouban editions. These new editions of the manga are sold under the title Ah! My Goddess Complete. The new Complete editions also include new artwork on the cover jackets, and more full-color artwork in the inside pages. The Complete tankouban also measure 21x15 cm, much larger than the original tankouban.

Image: Cover of A!MG Complete volume 01.

Volume 01, 01/05
ISBN 9784063349276
Chapters 001-013

Image: Cover of A!MG Complete volume 02.

Volume 02, 02/05
ISBN 9784063349702
Chapters 014-023

Image: Cover of A!MG Complete volume 03.

Volume 03, 03/05
ISBN 9784063349801
Chapters 024-034

For a limited time, you can also buy a special Terzetto Version (AKA Deluxe Version) of the first three Complete volumes, each of which comes with a special figurine of Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld, respectively.

But you know what? I've been checking Japanese bookstores and Kodansha's website for over three years, and I've never seen any Complete volumes beyond #3 ever listed, or on any sort of publishing schedule. Maybe the Complete project was halted after volume #3? If so, that would be a shame.

"Iidokoro" (Highlights) Manga

The Ah! My Goddess Iidokoro manga volumes serve as a condensed "best of" version of the manga, useful for new fans who want to catch up on the early storyline without wading through hundreds of chapters of manga. These three manga volumes were published by Kodansha in 2006. They are slightly smaller than the regular tankouban and use recycled cover artwork. Each of the Iidokoro volumes contains several whole, unedited chapters from the original manga run, selected around a certain theme in each book. Before each manga chapter there is a brief, one-page "The Story Up Until Now" section to fill in the gaps between selected chapters.

#1 "Entrance Volume"
Contains Chapters:
001, 014, 032,
033, 046, 066

#2 "True Love Volume"
Contains Chapters:
007, 011, 043
055, 073, 074

#3 "Machine Volume"
Contains Chapters:
012, 022, 023,
048, 056, 076

Bilingual Manga

Kodansha has published five volumes of the Ah! My Goddess tankouban in bilingual format, with both Japanese and English text on each page. Each volume measures 19x11.5 cm, which is taller and narrower than the original tankouban. However, ONLY FIVE tankouban are available in this bilingual format. In addition, these bilingual tankouban were published quite a few years ago and are now out of print. However, you can still occasionally find them in used, rare, and out-of-print bookstores.

Volume 01, 09/01 ISBN 9784770028617 Chapters 001-006	Volume 02, 10/01 ISBN 9784770028624 Chapters 007-012	Volume 03, 11/01 ISBN 9784770028631 Chapters 013-018

Volume 04, 12/01 ISBN 9784770028648 Chapters 019-024	Volume 05, 01/02 ISBN 9784770028655 Chapters 025-030

Special Books & Miscellany

	Mini-Goddess bilingual manga (BILINGUAL text) Kodansha, 1996 Hardcover (18 cm tall) ISBN 9784063300253 Published by Kodansha, this lovely hardcover book collects most of Kosuke Fujishima's original Mini-Goddess 4-panel comic strips, and publishes them with both Japanese and English text. The only strips missing are those from tankouban volume 24 and onward. This book also collects most of Fujishima's color artwork of the mini-Goddesses.
	*Ah! My Goddess Colours* (JAPANESE text) Kodansha, 2001 Oversized Paperback ISBN 9784063343793 This gorgeous, oversized artbook reprints four chapters from the Ah! My Goddess manga series, re-done in full color. The book also includes a foldout poster of Belldandy and Holy Bell, a small sampling of Kosuke Fujishima's color illustrations from the manga, and an encyclopedia-like reference of manga trivia in the back of the book. This book is now available in English.
	*Ah! My Goddess Collection* (JAPANESE text) Kodansha, 2004 Paperback ISBN 9784063349146 This chunky paperback book is filled with over 350 pages of detailed, comprehensive information about the Ah! My Goddess manga universe, including every goddess, demon, angel, or mecha ever to appear in the pages of the story. The book also includes color plates of Kosuke Fujishima's illustrations from 1998 to 2004, as well as a really awesome Banpei papercraft kit in the back of the book.
	Ah! My Goddess Manga-Related CDs In addition to the soundtracks related to the various Goddess anime, you can also buy a few CDs related specifically to the manga. The first is Aa, Megami-sama! Music and Short Story (shown at left), released in 1991. The album is a collection of songs and sound dramas, which features a different cast of voice actors than would appear in the anime later. The second is Tokuten-Ou, again a collection of songs and short sound dramas, released by Pony Canyon in 1993. The third and final is Kami no Karaoke, released in 1994, which includes karaoke tracks of songs from Tokuten-Ou and other anime-related soundtracks. Tokuten-Ou was also re-released as Tokuten-Ou PLUS in the year 2000.

Manga Artwork

Kosuke Fujishima has never truly published a collection of his Ah! My Goddess color artwork in book form (save for the few pages in Ah! My Goddess Colours and the color plates in Ah! My Goddess Collection), which is a shame for manga fans everywhere. However, if you are a fan of Fujishima's watercolor artwork, and do want to collect his illustrations for the Ah! My Goddess manga, there are still several options open to you, other than the books mentioned above.

	Ah! My Goddess Postcard Book I Kodansha, 1995 ISBN 9784063300048 This book of 32 thick, glossy postcards consists exclusively of Kosuke Fujishima's Ah! My Goddess color artwork. Each postcard measures 5x7 inches, and the front of each is a full-color illustration from the Goddess manga, without a single letter of text to mar Fujishima's gorgeous artwork.
	Ah! My Goddess Postcard Book II Kodansha, 2002 ISBN 9784063301564 This second collection of thick, glossy postcards consists exclusively of Kosuke Fujishima's Ah! My Goddess color artwork. Each postcard measures 5x7 inches, and the front of each is a full-color illustration from the Goddess manga, without a single letter of text to mar Fujishima's gorgeous artwork.
	Ah! My Goddess Manga Calendars Kosuke Fujishima has published a number of Ah! My Goddess calendars over the years. Shown at left is the 2005 calendar (ISBN 9784063579437). In case you're unfamiliar with Japanese wall calendars, they usually come with six or seven sheets, and each sheet is the size of a HUGE, gorgeous poster, with about two month's worth of dates printed in a small, unobtrusive font somewhere near the bottom of the image. If you're a fan of Fujishima's color artwork, one of his calendars is just about the best gift that you can buy yourself.
	Ah! My Goddess Poster Box Since I don't own this item, I'll copy and paste a description from AnimeBooks.com: "A really unique set of posters and artwork based on Fujishima-san's art for the manga, OVAs, series and feature film "Ah! Megami-sama". The box folds out to show all the manga covers and special editions. Set includes full color and black and white poster sized artwork One poster is a computerized mosaic of the manga covers that when viewed from a short distance become a portrait of Belldandy. Another shows the voice actors and their characters. A scale-down set of patterns is on the back of some of the posters so you can make a cos-play costume of the outfit worn by Belldandy in the final battle sequence. A "family tree" of all the major and minor characters from the manga and animations is on another poster. The centerpiece is a beautiful poster of Bell with CMYK (cyan, yellow, magenta and black) mixing instructions for the animation cell that is included. You can paint the cell using paints mixed to the instructions given. Other posters are included including movie and manga ad posters."

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