REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- the complete manga series

Like all good things that turn sour, I used to love this series. It had so much promise. Alas with each passing volume things never really kicked up a gear. The characters never grew and just stayed being the same. things became stagnant and pretty much stayed that way. The timeline is messed up. One could argue that the series took place over about 6 years, and yet everyone was still doing pretty much the same things they were doing originally, apart from Chihiro and Keiichi who ended up working together in their own garage. Even then K1 was officially still at Uni. What about Tamiya and Otaki? They were far older than Keiichi and were what, still at uni? See this is the problem with this manga. It was like the Simpsons in that there was no real aging or character development.

during my transition from loving the series to loathing it, I once came to a compromise and thought the series was split into 3 different universes. Fujishima was constantly evolving the series and altering its mood and changing previous events to fit the more recent stories. These 3 versions, or universes, were an 80's version; the first 3 volumes, a 90's version; ending before the introduction of the angels, and the cannon story; as the lack of angels in early volumes was a bit of a head scratcher.
Fujishima had a chance to shake things up around its peek at volume 20, but in my opinion it failed. From here on the story becomes dull, stale, boring and somewhat pointless.

Volumes 1-3 feel completely off compared with the rest. Technology is another issue. The series is always somehow set in the year the chapter was released, making it seem as if technology moves on extremely quickly in the space of what must be no more than 6 years. I'm talking about everything from CRT's, LD's and Betamax to more modern appliances.

I got confused with Keiichi's school terms at Nekomi tech. I mean how long can one be at uni for anyway?

By far the worst thing about this series is the reason why everyone was sucked into this series in the first place; the relationship between Belldandy and Keiichi.
As a reader you would always be wanting to see their relationship flourish but we never saw that.
We thought we were seeing Belldandy falling more and more in love with Keiichi as the series progressed, until the end when apparently she loved him before she even MET him. This was stupid.
Also, it was confirmed towards the end of the series that a spell was put in place over K1 and Bell's love for each other. Fate was literally repelling their love for each other, despite the fact it was apparently super strong.

On hindsight what was the point in this series? You cant say it was about Bells and K1's relationship as it was hardly EVER mentioned or touched upon. The relationship may have been the drive to continue on with reading the series, but now its over and nothing was accomplished from that, why was it the drive to read on? What is the hook? The comedy? The story? What story? All the story did was have good characters that never really grew to be stronger. Theres nothing to make me feel like re-reading the series again. And I mean it I probably wont.
I have sold my entire manga collection. I really feel this series was a waste of time and money.

Dark Horse released the series originally in a flopped format. I waited until 2006 when they started re-releasing the series in an unflopped format, which was a lot more uncut from the original. This trend they also aligned with their current releases, which were volumes 21+ from 2006. I bought these but I never read them until I caught up. They literally just sat on my shelf until volume 20 was re-released in 2012.

4-10. Progressively great artwork (that gets worse again from volume 20) but otherwise piss poor.

Anyone who hasnt done so already please read Love Hina instead! Its far shorter, tighter, has characters that grow, a better love relationship between the main characters, a better payoff at the end of the series and works to an accurate timeline.

REVIEW: Oreimo / My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute

I'm going to keep this brief. Anything that promotes blood related brother and sister incest should be made illegal. For most of these 2 anime series I felt like they were just a couple of siblings that had fun together. Then towards the end shit got real. This makes things 10000x worse than say KissXSis where in that show the siblings are NOT blood related. Its wrong. In nature incest breeds disorders in the offspring. Its pretty much impossible to see a brother or sister as a potential mate because of this. This anime and its franchise is quite frankly SICK. Japan I am disgusted in you for allowing this project to get off the ground.

My girls ＼ (^ ∇ ^) ／

Saw this and loved it! What a great picture to represent my blog this past year!

My Top 10 Charts as of end of 2012

Anime series:

01. Samurai Champloo
02: Psalms of Planets Eureka seveN
03: His and Her Circumstances / Kare Kano (then into manga vols 8+)
04: Cowboy Bebop
05: Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex
06: Fullmetal Alchemist (2nd TV series universe)
07: Cardcaptor Sakura
08: Ergo Proxy
09: Trigun
10: Macross Frontier

Manga or Japanese novel series:

01: Haruhi Suzumiya (novel series)
02: Spice and Wolf (novel series)
03: Nagasarete Airantou
04: Kare Kano
05: Love Hina
06: Excel Saga
07: Oh My Goddess!
08: Detroit Metal City
09: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Murakami novel)
10: Tetralogy of the Rat (Murakami novel series)

Anime movie series:

01: Whisper of the Heart
02: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
03: Kiki’s Delivery Service
04: My Neighbour Totoro
05: Akira
06: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
07: Evangelion + Petit Eva ~Evangelion@School~
08: Tokyo Godfathers
09: Princess Mononoke
10: Howls Moving Castle

Thoughts: Oh My Goddess!

Yeah I dunno what happened. I decided in the summer just to read them all in one hit. So i did. I tried to blog my way through them, and kept a review in edit which was on the permanent back burner. It needed to be completed, so i did it just now. My love for the series diminished completely. Fujishima just keeps retconning things to the point that it ends up being nothing like the original vision. Im not saying its a bad series, its just been overdone. Things would have worked better if it just ended, and not come out with boring lack luster events. This series was all about K1 and bell's relationship, which may be getting sorted out now after the hell arc, but things still dont feel right. The movie did it better.

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volumes 29-

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Volume 29:

The Polka-Dotted Cat and the Broom Race arc (continued):

Belldandy and chibi Hild are still racing. Bell damages her broom and starts to slow down. Watching on TV at home, Velsper comes up with an idea to help out. As Hild and Belldandy passes overhead, K1 thwacks the poor hairy cat with a baceball bat into the sky, which is timed perfectly so she can join Belldandy. the cat uses itself to stabilize the part of the brush that is damaged, so the broom can get back to full power.

Eventually Hild looses because Gluhende Herz is apparently a short range racer.
As the loser, Hild has to tell them what to do to sort out Velspers problem. She needs to name her recently acquired angel. Thats it.

Urd and Skuld spend the next chapter pestering Velsper about what name she has chosen for her angel. After chacing the cat around town, belldandy reminds urd that the naming process requires 2 goddess witnesses and must be done by the time the sun sets after the name is chosen. The cerimony begins and the name velsper chooses is 'Wasp of the Blue Lance'.

Urd: First Class Goddess Candidate arc:

Peorth informs Urd that she has been chosen to become a first class goddess. apparently its one of the resons Peorth is on earth in the first place.

Urd was originally turned down when they were kids. After passing a test from belldandy a spell is cast upon urd which sees her first class powers unlocked, which is immense. Urd is tested a few time.

Volume 30:

One of the tests is to make K1 truly happy by the time its sun set.

The scene then changes to the past and to the time that Urd was originally rejected. I personally thought she was rejected because of racism, but it turns out that it was because of another reason. Either way young urd told young belldandy
that it was because she 'lied'.

Belldandy and K1 are walking around town. Urd causes it to rain in the hopes of the couple foring to find shealter in a love hotel.
Sex isnt on the mind however for belldandy and she asks K1 if its alright for her to use her powers to make the rain stop. K1 then buys an umbrella and they walk out into the rain. Its the act of being forced to shair an umbrella that makes K1 truly happy, which then makes Urd pass this test. In the end though urd chooses to stay a second class goddess, not because of being able to lie, but because she doesnt want the power to protect the universe, but the power to protect her family. i also suspect that having too much power may be a bad thing for if the devil in her turns it to the gods disadvantage.

The "I love You" arc:

Peorth and later on Chihiro try to teach K1 to say the three magic words to Belldandy. Peorth tells K1 that he has a "limiter on his heart" which is holding him back. So she tries to help by forcing him to ignore it. K1 practices saying it to Peorth and Belldandy walks in the room.

Volume 31:

Its painfully obvious that they were just practicing, and nothing comes from it.

Peorth is teasing him. he ends up next to bell and is about to confess his true feelings to her when Urd forces him to swallow a pill. K1 goes to say how much he loves her, but the word forces her to collapse in emotion. this is urds pill at work.

skuld interfeers and he says the l word to her too, which makes hr collapse too. in the end, the other goddesses get caught in the trap too.

The Gate arc:

Peorths time on earth is over, but she cant get back. The gate functionality is wrong. it turns out that he gate is a living being, in the shape of a girl. It/she explains that she is on strike because she wants experiance living a life like everyone else do. all she ever gets is a copy of peoples memories when they pass through her, but he says she wants to create her own memories.

they let her have fun, and she even kisses peorth which is funny. but she next wants to kiss the others. she kisses urd and skuld, and wants to kiss bell and k1.

things are sorted out when K1 says love to her. yup, his spell is still in effect. in the end she turns back into a proper looking gate, but will only allow Peorth passage under a certain speed because shes just rebooted, or something.

Volume 32:

Miss Gate is transfered to another plane so she woulnt be board.

Beach Vacation arc part 1- The Lorelei:


Chihiro decides its time for a beach vacation, leaving Otaki and Tamiya to run the shop.

K1 and Bell are on the beach. K1 cannot swim and starts to drown, and notices a mermaid like creature in the water at the time. Bell saves him and the issue of his lack of ability to swim is brought up with the others.

Back at the inn K1 collapses due to a song he hears.

Something causes him to run about frantically to find Bll to tell her how much he loves her.

That night a song forces him to sleep walk to the beach to meet a mermaid like creature called a Lorelei. But the goddesses follow.

The female Lorelei tries to kidnap K1. Belldandy starts brewing up another one of her jellousy storms, this appears to be more powerful then in past situations. Other Lorelei turn up and explain something about a love festival.

A song is sung, K1 is treated and everything is normal again. Male lorelei turn up and the females make for a quick exit. Why would they retreat if they are celebrating a love festival? Maybe im thinking too much into this.

Volume 33:

Beach Vacation arc part 2- Motor contest:

Chihiro asks K1 what sort of motor he would like to build. She asks her local friends for help, and soon enough they are building two different vehicles, to be swapped for their test drive. Urd and Skuld interfeer. K1's is built for fun, whilst Chihiro's is built for speed. Bell learns that the other two goddess have sabotarged the bikes, so goes off on Chihiro's bought bike to rescue them, which she customises along the way using her power. She really hadnt have bothered because things are fine. Chihiro rides her custom bike home, and fails to notice it changing back along the way. FFS.

Volume 34:

Back home, Otaki and Tamiya have made a mess of whirlwind. Stuff happens regarding a bike.

Sentaro makes Skuld control her powers a little better.

Volume 35:

Sentaro was worried about moving, but it turns out to be nearby.

The next story is about a old style camera that holds memories.

Megumi gets dumped.


Volume 36:

Everyone looses there memories due to something to do with skuld and urd. Things are sorted out when K1 recites his wish to Bell.

Volume 37:

Chrono arc:

Goddess Chrono arrives in town. Apparently the songs of the world are being deleted. They have adventures around town to find and repear the program, or something.

Volume 38:

Oh yeah, she also has a thing against cats.

The Hell arc:

The longest arc ever. this should mark the end of the tired series.

Hild gets overthrown, and its up to the gang to go into hell and sort it all out, defeating demons one at a time.

Volumes 39,40,41,42,43:

Still in the hell arc. nuff said.


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Go here http://lanssidequest.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/thoughts-oh-my-goddess.html

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volume 28

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The Lost Voice arc:

Belldandy catches a goddess related illness called the 'Ahem Bug'. It means she looses her voice. Urd helps out and gives her some pills. She says the illness should pass by 3pm. Peorth then finds out and gives Belldandy her own potion.

At Whirlwind, Sora turns up and says that there is a crisis with recuiting new members at this years freshers fair.
They go there to help her out with recruitment. Otaki and Tamiya turn up and soon a karaoke contest is being held, where the winner gets to kiss a club member, which would have to be Sora as she is the ONLY club member. K1 sings for some reason, and Belldandy says that its the 1st time she has ever heard him sing. REALLY?? REALLY THOUGH?! Surely they would have all sung together in at least one of the group parties by now? Aoshima turns up and sings, thinking he would get to kiss Belldandy for some reason. Belldandy checks the time. its after 3pm which means her throat is cleared up and she can join in and sing too. She does, but the two potions she took causes her singing voice to be so powerful that it hypnotizes everyone to signing up to the Motor club afterwards, including Mara who was planning on scheming nearby, but whom never got a chance too. At the end of the day they got hardly any new members.

---

There are a number of problems with this arc. It implies that a new college year has begun. Does this mean that K1 graduated? Or is it really taking him 2 years to study German? The story implies that he has. on pages 32 and 33, they are walking around the club recruitment stalls around campus. K1 says "Its the same chaos as every year, but it makes me feel nostalgic. And i realize, this is a place i can never return to even though it was precious to me".
Belldandy then thinks to herself, "Keiichi, time can't be reversed. And in the twinkle of an eye, this moment will become the past. But knowing you cant go back is proof of your progress. its a very wonderful thing". WTF? So he has graduated?
OK then, what about Aoshima, Sora Hasegawa, Otaki and Tamiya? They were all present in this arc. I had thought that Den & Dai-chan had graduated and moved on already, but Sora refers to them as "upperclassmen". HU?! What about Aoshima? Why hasn't he moved on in life? remember, this is 4 or 5 years later from the beginning of the series, in which K1 had already spent one year at uni. What, is Aoshima studying for his doctorate or something?! My god, is Den & Dai-chan studying for a doctorate??! Is Sora studying a masters? Did they all flunk at least 3 years worth of uni?

The Polka-Dotted Cat and the Broom Race arc:

The household is making fun of Velsper and her (not his) white polka-dots. they cant think of a way to make Velsper normal again, unless they have help from a demon like Hild. Belldandy realizes that chibi-Hild is spying on them nearby via a fly on the wall. She seeks her out and asks for help. Mara is willing to help, only if Belldandy wins against her in a broom race. The broom Bell uses is String-Fellow Hawke, who had his own chapter a while back (yeah even though its a broom it can talk and move like its alive. In fact i think it IS alive if i remember, as inanimate objects are also sometimes classified as such in this series). Its revealed that Belldandy and String-Fellow Hawke have won the heaven broom race championship six times.
The broom Hild uses is Velspers mechanical 'broom' (its actually a vacuum cleaner), called Gluhende Herz. Velsper explains that in the past, she/he would use it to fly up and break into heaven. She also explains that Gluhende Herz has been used in the demon world to win their broom race championship eight times.

Just before the race starts, Hild explains that if she wins, the goddesses have to leave earth and return to heaven (although she doesn't say 'for good'). The race then begins and Hild is mostly in the lead. the course is around Nekomi. End of volume 28.

---

There are a few pictures of when Velsper broke into heaven on Gluhende Herz. Heaven is shown to have weird looking beings other than gods and goddesses walking along a bridge. Could they be deceased? The manga has yet to explain that side of heaven >.<
I may have suggested before that Hild may be trying to secretly make the goddesses improve upon their power, but having such high stakes on the line which could mean that they have to go home may show that Hild is indeed trying to maintain the goddess/demon market share on earth. Thinking about this though, her constant presence on earth would be keeping the balance of goddess/demon power on earth.

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volume 27

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Rubber Band War arc:

Volume 27 continues with another story involving sisterly rivalry, only this time, ITS WAR, with rubber bands, and Peorth gets involved. It was only two chapters (172,173). I liked how Bell kept telling them "No fighting", followed by Urd and Skulds childish replies of "OKAAAAY".
Urd hid behind Peorth against one of Skulds attacks, and naturally Peorth got hit. This was when the epic war of doom got turned up a notch, because the pissed Peorth started firing fan belts around.

In the end the temple was trashed. Belldandys reaction to this was something like 'I told you no fighting, clean it up now please', followed by the other three goddesses responding in unison, "OKAAAAY" XD

Machiners arc:

Its getting late in the working day at Whirlwind. Chihiro remembers something about 'Thunderbird' and dashes off, leaving K1 to wonder if she didnt set her VCR to record an old episode of Thunderbirds. Theres a knock at the door and K1 opens it to be greeted by a robot. He (it?) asks for Belldandys help. K1 asks Bell if its one of Skulds creations, but she explains that its from a race called the 'Machiners' from another dimension, one in which the earths axis is tilted slightly, or something. Belldandy says her powers dont work too well on their race, so K1 goes to fix him, and is rewarded with a spanner. The next day Chihiro explains that the Thunderbird she was talking about was a bike up for sale that she agreed to go visit in the evening, but it wasnt the one she was hoping for. Another knock at the door turns out to be from three more Machiners. they deal with Chihiro and get her out the picture so K1 can fix them too. Again after fixing them K1 is rewarded with more tools. The process happens one more time regarding a flying machine that cant land properly (a reference to Thunderbirds episode 1 is mentioned). After this is resolved and K1 gets more tools, the next day he finds out these tools have some sort of special power that makes machines work better, or at least something along those lines. Chihiro ends up getting more jealous of his workmanship.
This ends volume 27.

The Mini Goddess RPG special from last time continues at the end of this volume.

-----------------

These two side arcs were OK i guess. The rubber band war was a good laugh.

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volumes 25, 26 and part of 27

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Fighting Wings arc (part 2):

Volumes 25 and 26 continue the Fighting Wings arc.
According to Lind, Urds angel 'World of Elegance' has indeed been eaten by the angel eater, and that its been here all along. Soon Peorths angel 'Gorgeous Rose' is taken too. When everyone is thinking of what to do, we learn a bit more about Lind and her personality in finding joy in battling. Belldandy and Lind go to take a bath together, but Belldandy is also hit by the angel eater right in front of Linds eyes. Lind realises that its coming out from within her. The commotion is heard all over the temple and everyone comes running. Lind forces everyone out of the bathroom and seals the room from within. Lind explains through the door that the angel eater is like a parasite and is hidden within her. Lind realises that demons must be pulling the strings, and on cue out come Mara and chibi-Hild.
Lind and Chibi-Hild start fighting within the bathroom, and Mara goes to rob Skulds angel egg out in the hallway. However, she is easily dealt with by K1, Skuld and Sigel. Hild reveals Linds angel out of her back, which is found to be carried by the angel eater in its claws. Lind is feeling pain and rips out her angel with the parasite out of her own back herself. This shows her skill as a combat goddess because she does not faint like the other goddesses did when it happened to them.
Now that the angel eater parasite is let loose, it tramples around and ends up outside.
Chibi-Hild wants to experiment a bit and forces a 'Familiar' egg into the unconscious Belldandys back. 'Familiars' turn out to be the demon equivalent of Angels. Its Hilds theory that familiars may make goddesses become demons. Lind, Skuld and K1 regroup in the bushes outside and come up with a plan that involves Skuld eating her egg and reincarnating her angel 'Noble Scarlet'. But the plan also involves K1...
They go to attack, Skuld eats her egg and Noble Scarlet is reincarnated at full size this time. This must show that Skulds power has increased from last time she said goodbye to her angel. This is just a decoy though and out of nowhere K1 uses his surprise attack by summoning 'his' angel called Cool Mint, a one winged angel (on her right hand side, unlike Linds angel 'Spearmint' which is one winged on her left side), which goes to attack chibi-Hild. The attack is in vain however because out appears a demon looking Belldandy (her costume is ~hawt). Belldandy summons her familiar which shocks everyone. The fight then turns from the angel eater to suppressing Belldandys power. But after a few seconds Belldandy looks at the group and tells them shes not a threat anymore. The familiar then changes form into an angel, much to the shock of chibi-Hild. K1 and Cool Mint attack the angel eater and freeze it. This allows Noble Scarlet to fly into its mouth and rescue the non-chewed up or partially digested (?? why not?) angels of Urd, Bell and Peorth. They all fly back to their respective goddesses. Now its just Spearmint left to rescue from the clutches of the angel eater. Lind turns to K1 and asks for her angel to be returned to her, which he allows. He then falls to the ground clutching his chest like some part of himself has been removed. Somehow he says that the goddesses must have felt the same thing but 10 times worse when it happened to them. Lind then goes to attack the angel eater and chibi-Hild, and this marks the end of volume 25.

Volume 26 starts where things left off, and Lind uses one hell of a powerful fast move to rip the legs off the angel eater, freeing her angel. She then turns her attention to the demons. A very quick fight results in the destruction of the temple (lol again). The angel eater goes berserk and Mara and Hild make their getaway. Belldandy, using her newly gained demonic powers, and Urd with her natural demonic powers, help to open a gate to hell in the ground. Everyone apart from K1 now helps to force the angel eater into it. For the first time ever in her life, Lind summons both Cool Mint and Spearmint simultaneously, and fly's straight up high above tokyo harbour, only to fly back down as fast and as powerful as she can to force the bloody thing into the portal, which doesnt initially work. Scare tactics however do work when Urd, Skuld and Peroth show their weapons to the creature, and it retreats down the hole to hell of its own free will. Meanwhile Belldandy is attending to the passed out K1. He wakes up to two breasts in the face XD
More laughs happen next as everyones combined spells to rebuild the temple mess up and create something that looks right out of Disneyland. Lind smiles for the 1st time, and thanks K1 for teaching her the importance on relying on the help of others. Turns out the reason why she couldnt summon both of her angels at the same time was because she never relied on both of their power simultaneously. All this time she thought it was her own power that was lacking in being able to summon both at the same time, and it was this that made her want to train to become as strong as she possibly could. Lind leaves before telling K1 that he is now an incredibly important person in her life.

Fighting Wings aftermath arc:

All that household stuff that was initially sealed by Lind is still sealed, including for some reason Velsper the cat.
At Whirlwind and at home, Belldandy seems to be having trouble supporting two angels. Its explained that Lind can support two because they are twins, but for everyone else it would be a struggle.
K1 comes up with a plan and suggests that he should host the ex-familiar/angel. Urd, Skuld and Peorth blow a fuse at this suggestion, probably out of some sort of jealously (though i cant see how, although it might be because there is now no way they can ever consider K1 a normal human from now on). All of a sudden the ex-familiar forces herself out of Belldandy and enters K1. Belldandy inspects K1 and tells him he's acquired an 'angel receptor'. After this, K1 goes around not accustomed to having power. He wants to bath and transports himself into the bath. He wants to get into his futon and instead the futon wraps around him. After a day at work, Belldandy and K1 return home to be cornered by Skuld, Urd and Peorth. They attempt to seal them both, saying that as much as Bell and Kei are trying to save the life of an ex-familiar (its not mentioned but implied that Belldandy is still somehow connected to the angel via K1), they are trying to save the lives of them both. K1 uses his angels bat like wings to fly off, appearing to be in berserker mode, and so ends volume 26.

Volume 27 starts with K1 flying off, and Belldandy breaking Peorths seal to give chase. After some usual antics, K1 recovers and comes up with another idea, to transfer the angel to a demon who has no familiar. At first everyone thinks this is a bad suggestion, but then they realise that Velsper would be the perfect candidate.
They find the cat frozen among other possessions that were sealed by Lind. They phone Lind and ask for her to send them the password to the seal. Skuld adapts a microwave that unfreezes everything. The cat awakens and K1 talks to the cat about the proposal. Velsper reluctantly agrees, as long as he can reveal his demonic self to Belldandy.  Although risky, Urd comes up with the pathetic excuse to Belldandy that Velsper is a demon cat sent to earth to study earth cats. Unbelievably, Belldandy believes the story. It turns out that the recommended way in which to transfer angels from person to person is via a kiss. Hilarity ensues and K1 and Velsper kiss. Just before transferal, the angel asks K1 to name her, which K1 declines on. Sometime later, Velspers black fur is dotted with white spots. This is because of the angels heavenly power. END OF THE ARC.

-----------------

I counted 21 various pictures of female/angel butts in this arc. 4 of which belong to Belldandy, and thats not including the numerous pictures of her naked. Just saying. ;P
Call me crazy but I have an inkling that Hild is not as evil as she may seem. I get the impression she is challenging the household to
a) see how powerful their skills are, and
b) make them stronger.

K1 being able to support angels and being called a 'receptor' is a major breakthrough to the series. If anything it shows that he has now transcended from a normal human being. Given time this could mean something bigger, like being able to support god like power, or be changed into a full god without much effort, if the story ever goes in that direction.

In all I loved this arc. It's about time we had another major story arc. It reminded me of a movie, though it could have been more epic.

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volume 24

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Keiichi and Megumi's Parents arc (part 2):

Volume 24 continues the Parents arc.
Keiichi and Megumi's mother (Takano), sent her husband (Keima), on a bike race against K1 around the mountain roads. K1 had to win in order to prove his love for Belldandy.
A stone pops up and hits K1's front light, affectively making him drive blind. Chibi Belldandy who is tagging along, helps out by using her power to create small floating balls of light.
The race goes on for a while and K1 looses. Somehow this is all right and all ends well. Takano finally gets round to asking who Belldandy really is, but the question gets avoided. Eventually the parents leave, realising that K1 and Belldandy are a private couple, that are keeping some secrets but its probably OK.

Road trip arc:
Due to a lucky ticket, Belldandy and K1 win a break for two at an onsen. Chihiro tags along to get in the way of their romance (bloody typical!).
On the day of departure all three cram inside a mini and make their way to the onsen, which is located west, many miles away. This is an interesting arc because it explores the idea of boredom when traveling, what to do when the car breaks down, frustration getting stuck in traffic, sleeping in the car, singing in the car, taking short cuts and getting lost. At this point they decide to call it a night and with a little help from Belldandy, a small open air hot spring is located deep in the mountains. They decide to relax here instead after their day on the road. They hang up a makeshift barrier to separate the mens side from the womans, and hilarity ensues when the wind blows the tarpaulin sheet up, revealing the womans side to K1, with two naked chicks ;p

Fighting Wings arc:
A tea party is underway in the temple grounds to celebrate the coming together of 3 angels. Skuld feels left out. Out of nowhere, a new goddess turns up, from heavens war division. She is called Lind and has an angel with only one wing. She warns the household that someone stole an 'angel eater', and that the 3 goddesses Belldandy, Urd and Peorth could be targeted. some sort of magical barrier is put up by Lind to cover the property. At the end of chapter 155, Urds angel 'World of Elegance' is seen to run off and probably disconnect from Urd, causing Urd some shock.

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Its been a while since reading this. I should have released this review (if its even that) weeks ago. sorry about that. Its good to finally hit the Fighting Wings arc. I really dont have much to say about this volume. Its still good stuff though. I really should be able to power through to the latest volumes from here on, but my current endeavors mostly include playing Pokemon Soul Silver.

EDIT!
I FORGOT TO SAY THERE WAS A NEW MINI-GODDESS SEGMENT! YESSSSSSS!!!!! AFTER GAN-CHANS CAMEO IN THE LAST VOLUME I JUST KNEW FUJISHIMA MISSED HIM ENOUGH TO BRING HIM BACK!

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volume 23

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Keiichi and Megumi's Parents arc (part 1):

Megumi interrupts in on K1 working at Whirlwind, saying that Keima is coming. Keima turns out to be Megumi and Keiichi's father, who has a rather big issue of not being comfortable around any woman (apart from Megumi and his wife Takano). Its explained that in their household, Megumi and K1 refer to their parents by their 1st name.

Chihiro accidentally touches Keima, and he runs out the building, grabs his motor bike and drives off. Everyone else chases after him on their bikes, where its established just how fast he is. The only way to stop him is for K1 to shout "FATHER!", which makes Keima stop, get off his bike and punch K1 in the face, saying "don't call me FATHER!". lol.

In the next chapter, Keima has directions to go on ahead to the temple, where he 1st meets Segal, who challenges him thinking he is a trespasser. He does well defending himself against her, but her cry for help gets Banpei on the scene, who summons mini Banpei's to attack him.

Hiding for cover inside the house, Keima meets Skuld, Urd and Peorth, which is funny because he ends up sandwiched between all 3 girls with the mini Banpei's surrounding them.

Things calm down after the others arrive at the temple. Keima finds out that Belldandy and K1 are a couple, and so does Takano, who overhears and introduces herself not long afterwards.

Takano wants K1 to prove his love for Belldandy in a bike race against Keima, who K1 has never won against before. The race starts and it goes round the back mountain roads. This ends volume 23.

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I read this volume in one go. It was very easy to read and a nice relaxing story. I guess its about time the parents were introduced somehow, although the reason for having them turn up out the blue wasn't that convincing overall.

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volume 22

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Everyone is having a chat in the temple regarding how to sort out Peorth. Its worth mentioning that Hild names the demon realms computer system as Nidhogg. Its also worth mentioning that she dumped The Almighty One, not the other way round. Wow. I knew their relationship was taboo to say the least, but somehow I thought he would be the one to enforce the rules and come round to ending their relationship, not the other way around.

K1 said something to stand up to Hild, so she 'kisses' a spell towards him. Belldandy 'kisses' a counter-curse spell before Hilds reaches K1. They collide in the air and ricochet around the room. They catch their spells (Belldandys is in the shape of a heart, Hilds is in the shape of a spade, like out of a pack of cards). Hild idly tosses hers away, only for it TO HIT GAN-CHAN!!!!!!! WHO TURNS HIM INTO A SPIDERY FROG!! ROFLOL XDDDD.

Hild shows off her powers outside by creating a magic circle program in seconds. Everyone sings a spell to lift Peorths curse, and she turns into an adult again.

The relationship between Urd and Hild seems an interesting one. Urd refuses to admit her love for her mother, saying that if she ever did, she would instantly become a demon. The others don't believe this to be true, but its very clear just how much she really does love her.

Hild finds Velsper in an alley, who was trying to keep away from her. She finds him and brings him back to the temple, where Belldandy finds out her pet cat can talk. she nearly questions why but doesn't. Hild wonders what to do with the cat, and lobs him to K1. K1 demands to know what curse she did to Velsper, but she says "just a teeny one, mostly harmless". She then disappears back through the clouds to the demon world.

Holding Velsper by the neck, K1 stares at the cat wondering what curse he's got. He then realizes that Velsper is in fact a she. The faces on Urd, Skuld and Peorth at this realization are priceless, but Belldandy then says that Velsper was always a girl. This is strange. It means that Hilds curse on Velsper was not a sex change, though Urd suggests that the curse might be handed down to Velspers kittens- "I can see the sign now, 'FREE KITTENS, FREE CURSES'". This ends the arc.

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Hild becomes very intrigued in the household during this arc, testing the goddesses wits and realizing just how special a human K1 really is. I don't consider her a bad person, even though she is queen of the demon realm. Both the goddesses and demons have the same job after all, ensuring a balance of good and evil in the universe(s?). Out of all the demons, no one should know this better than Hild. This is why I don't consider her a bad person.


I'm not too sure why Hild is talking about herself in third person. It doesn't sit right with me, unless she has split herself up into many many different copies (like in the next arc.)

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Chibi Mara and Chibi Hild arc (part 1?):

Because of her new found interest in the temple household, Hild decides to leave behind a copy of herself on Earth, which looks like a small child of around Skulds age. She has a small portion of her real body's power, but its still lv 1,000,000.

She decides to catch up and hang around Mara, who is happily playing arcade games in her abandoned game centre. Mara is not alone though, she has 3 new rat minions, who talk and act human, who are also sporting lab coats. Hild asks Mara about how their market share is doing, knowing full well she has been slacking around. Mara presents her new toy, the 'Goddess Catcher', a teapot that will trap anyone who kisses it. Hild 'fixes' it so that it appears to its victims as something cute enough to kiss.

They decide to chibi-fy themselves and leave the teapot outside the temple. Peorth, who is still hanging around, is the 1st victim. Then soon after its Skuld, Urd, Chihiro (who is also visiting), Velsper and K1. Interestingly, the kettle appears as Belldandy to both K1 and Velsper. This could indicate that Velsper is in love with Bell (even though he is now a female feline!).

Belldandy sees the kettle as a kettle, which makes sense because she loves tea culture. She takes it to the kitchen and washes it under a warm tap. This is the kettles weak spot and everyone is released.

Urd, Skuld and Peorth help to throw it outside into the sky, and whilst they bicker over who destroys it, Velsper fires a beam from her forehead which destroys the kettle/demon device, thing.

Chihiro wonders what the hell is going on, and has a worried look on her face when K1 says to her shes going to consider this all just a bad dream (with Skuld about to hit her her with her hammer, Urd holding a syringe, and Peorth emitting sleep inducing rose pollen.)

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I dont know what happened to him, but Senbei isn't around anymore. He seems to have been last seen towards the end of the Clone/demon Urd arc.

Dark Horse translated one of Maras words as PWNED! (and this is in 2005!) Which made me laugh.

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As a whole, this was a good volume. However I do think its time for another epic arc to happen. Velsper has become a really interesting character and it will be cool to see him/her in another storyline.

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volume 21

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

A new arc starts here. Its about Peorth being stuck as a child.

Peorth arrives on Earth at the temple, wondering if the other goddesses can help her predicament of physically looking like a child (caused by events from the Velsper arc). She has her power back, and her angel is clearly in adult form, its just her own physical body that's the problem.

Belldandy asks why she is stuck as a child, but everyone cant tell her because Belldandy doesn't, and shouldn't know what went on during the Velsper arc.

Peorth explains how the only one who can cure her is the one who made her this way- Velsper himself.
Enter Velsper the cat (he hasn't had much of an appearance lately). The 3 goddesses do everything they can to help Peorth, but to no avail.

Peorth, Bell and K1 go to the beach to play. We learn how sad K1 is in not being able to be with Belldandy for HER whole life. Peorth says its fine, as he will live forever in Bell-chans heart. awww.

Unbelievable epicness of extreme proportions happen next, as Gan-chan makes his first appearance to the canon manga! OOOHHHHHH YYYEEEAAAHHHH!!!!!
Naturally he is experimented on, eating one of Urd's pills designed to be consumed by Peorth to make her older again. The rat grows spider like legs and scuttles off. I absolutely love Gan-chan and love how he was just idly in the room with the others like he belonged there! Brilliant!

Later on everyone in the room apart from Belldandy are sitting together at a loss of what to do, when out the blue Velsper the cat starts talking!
It turns out he cursed himself before he was reincarnated, so that he could remember himself before the change. whilst explaining that he still has his powers, he jumps on Gan-chan, who is still scuttling about the floor with spidery legs XD

Peorth demands him to change her back, but he says he cant. He says the only one who can change Peorth back is Hild, the CEO of the demon realm, the most powerful demon, and who turns out to be Urds mother. Urd phones her up and she comes down to earth almost immediately. Being the demon that she is, Hild will only change Peorth back if she can reclaim Urd to the demon realm, of which Urd refuses.

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Peorth talks in much heavier French than in earlier volumes, which is annoying. I didn't learn french so i have absolutely no idea what shes talking about. The French language was relaxed somewhat in her 1st appearance back in around volume 11 or 12, So I'm kinda expecting the french to be relaxed in later volumes again (if she turns up again that is).

This volume felt like a VERY quick read. Each volume will start to be fewer and fewer pages, which wont be good. I do however think that the way the panels flow is very much like a storyboard. so in affect it reads more like your actually watching it on TV. This is a good thing ^_^

REVIEW: Oh My Goddess!- Manga volume 20

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The Sora Hasegawa arc starts in volumes 19, and finishes here in volume 20.

Sora refuses to accept her new role as Director of the Motor club. Chihiro, the founding member of the club, gets involved (its a slow week at Whirlwind). Sora may successfully refuse her position as Director only if she wins a race against the current director, K1. Fate (or rather the universe, as Belldandy puts it) has it in store for her to take over, but she suffers from lack of self confidence again, hence her refusal. She reveals that every time throughout her life where she has become director of a club, the club quickly disbands not long afterwards. She loves the Motor Club and doesn't want to see it die. Belldandy practices on the go kart with Sora, and Sora quickly manages to overcome her problems. Eventually the race between Sora and K1 starts.

Otaki and Tamiya turn up, as check points. The race continues indoors because they are short cuts across campus. Sora drives through a Womans changing room. K1 doesn't want to follow. Urd and Skuld turns up. Urd kisses K1 on the lips, and forces him to swallow a potion (its a real proper kiss though), whilst Skuld works on the go kart. Under the control of the potion, k1 goes though the womans changing room and follows Sora outside. K1, under the influence of the drug, flies off the side of a hill and crashes in a pile of garbage. After getting up and carrying on, the kart starts to break apart, and K1 passes out.

Bell turns up, and its implied that she kisses him with a spell that neutralizes Urds potion. K1 (as well as the readers apparently? I've never seen this Belldandy 'kiss' mentioned by other fans?) hasn't got a clue about how Belldandy brought him back to normal. He quickly fixes his broken kart to a moving skateboard type motor, and goes off to catch up to Sora. he catches up, but she wins by a nose.

Having won the race, Sora decides to be the director after all, with the idea that she can delegate management tasks to other members of the club, ensuring it stays alive and active.

Otaki, Tamiya and Chihiro are found handing out flyers for the new range of go karts that are for sale. I would say these karts are Den-chan and Dai-chan's project at whatever garage they are now working for (maybe their own company?). The reason I say this is because in volume 19, Chihiro bought a pair after seeing an advert for it. So helping to sell the karts with Otaki and Tamiya suggests they are ones who made them and are selling them.

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This volume sadly is the last of the thick volumes (which starts the trend in volume 15). It also sadly marks the end of the beautiful artwork. From here Fujishima tries to tweak the character designs to make them look younger and as lolicon as he can make them.

I used to think of this series as one where you could drop in during the beginning of any arc without much life changing stuff ever having happened to them to make it matter so much. This isn't the case so much any more. I would say this is well inside the 2nd era of the series- One in which K1's completely left NIT (bar having to learn German as a second language in order to graduate). Otaki and Tamiya are GONE, save for the occasional cameo like in these chapters. K1 and Bell work at Whirlwind, Chihiros garage. I love it. Its fresh and opens up ideas such like this arc, where Sora has to accept her fate as the head of the Motor Club.
TBH the only ones who haven't changed are Urd and Skuld. So naturally their mini arc at the end of the volume was a throwback to the days of the 1st era of the series. This arc also finally explained why they dont just buy another TV if they are always getting in each others hair over control of it. Its because they like to fight over petty every day things.

Overall a nice volume, and a nice long arc.

Oh My Goddess! It's 2012 at last!

I remember waiting patiently back in 2003 for OMG! to be re-released in the original right-left reading format. At the time it was the new industry standard and thought it best to wait. I had to wait a few years, but it was worth it. As well as reading the new re-released volumes for the first time, I started collecting volumes 21+ without reading them. I don't know how many dedicated fans there are out there that did the same, but somehow I overcame the temptation to read ahead. Back then I had worked out that the catch up would hit in 2012. It seemed like a long way off, but nevertheless here we are! As I sit here typing this, I see my collection now spans all 40 volumes! I also notice something special, and that's how the colored spines from volumes 18-20 start blending in with the white spines that start from volume 21! Its a nice touch! :D

Here we are at last- all 40 volumes of Oh My Goddess!