" Boy meets Goddess, boy tries to get it on with Goddess "

   Title: Oh My Goddess! By Kousuke Fujishima, Kodansha, TBS and KSS films

   Format: Anime on VHS

   Reviewing Monkey: Chimpan-A

   The Hype: Join the adventures of Keiichi Morisato, the hapless college student who somehow managed to snag a girlfriend who's truly divine! Come on, what down and out nerd hasn't dreamed of exactly this situation?

      What This Monkey Thought...

   Animation: Very nice. Everything is quite crisp (allowing for VHS frailty of course). The animation style is on the cute side. Characters sport rounded faces, and the lines tend to be simple in most cases. Still it works very well for the movie, as the animation doesn't try to outdo itself. All of the settings look appropriate, as do the characters. Yep, no outrageously proportioned women here. Don't get me wrong the women are still quite alluring, just realistic (and isn't that all the more alluring?). Nothing seems to be out of place. 5 out of 5

   Action: Well, if you're looking for hack and slash, head exploding action- look elsewhere. Still, watching the story unfold is a lot of fun. The opening few episodes (of the five episode series) are quite humorous. Though the last episode gets more serious, by then you're into it enough that you watching it stays a lot of fun. The series is very clean, with no nudity, and no swearing. There are some adult-ish themes, but even the kiddies can enjoy this one. 4 out of 5

   Story: The story is pretty simple. Boy meets Goddess, boy tries to get it on with Goddess, Boy might lose Goddess, you know. Nobody ever said a simple story wasn't fun though! And though the story may be simple, the concept and variant are great. The adventures of Keiichi and Belldandy (his Goddess girlfriend) are fun and funny. The story is easy to follow and the antics of the characters move it along at a nice clip, keeping you interested. The story isn't disjointed, and the elements all come together. Of course the fact that this story covers the fantasy confessions of half the folk at Nerds Anonymous doesn't hurt either. 5 out of 5

   Music: Excellent music. The music is very nicely evocative of the mood they try to set for this series. Lighthearted when it needs to be, and solemn when that is called for. The quality comes through quite nicely too, and it never gets in the way of the action or voice work. The opening and ending theme songs are not translated, but they manage to remain decent listens. 4 out of 5

   Translation: Quite nice translation work. The dubbing is right on cue, and the entire dialog makes sense. If there are words that cannot be translated, The Japanese term/concept of "Sempai" for example, a handy translation subtitle pops up for a bit, complete with definition if necessary. Even signs that require translation (since the animated letters are obviously not going to be American) receive a nice subtitle. AnimEigo (the group who did the translation, as well as getting the series out over here) really did a nice job with this. 5 out of 5

   Rewatchability: Hmm, great story; awesome characters that just seem to grow on you; nice music, swell animation. Geez, I just can't think of a reason to replay this series... Hold on while I go watch it. OH YEAH! Seriously, even having to deal with five VHS tapes to watch the whole series doesn't impede the desire to see this one again. Each video is a story to itself, so even if you don't feel like watching the whole series, you can pop in your favorite. Just don't be surprised if you stick in that one and simply have to continue to the next one, or the one right before it. 4 out of 5

   The Verdict:

       Wow, this is some damn good anime. A rather romantic comedy, it's never the less a lot of fun to watch. They did an all around really nice job.

   The Good: A lot of fun, easy to watch again.

   The Bad: It's hard to find, and can cost a lot.

   The Overall Ugly: If you can find it, get it, it's definitely worthwhile.

   What it's Worth: The whole series will run you $50 to $60 dollars.