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, or ''Ah! My Goddess!'' in some releases, is a Japanese
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series written and illustrated by
Kōsuke Fujishima is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He has created several manga series, the best known of which are ''You're Under Arrest (manga), You're Under Arrest!'' and ''Oh My Goddess!.'' Fujishima is known for his love of automobiles and ...
. It was serialized in
Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
's manga magazine ''
Monthly Afternoon is a Japanese monthly manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as '' Oh My G ...
'' from September 1988 to April 2014, with its chapters collected in 48 volumes. The series follows college
sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...
Keiichi Morisato is a major fictional character in the popular manga ''Oh My Goddess!'' and in the anime of the same name and is voiced by Masami Kikuchi. His name is often abbreviated as "K1" (1 in the Japanese language is "ichi"). Description Keiichi was a ...
and the goddess
Belldandy is a fictional character in the popular anime and manga series ''Oh My Goddess!''. She was created by Kōsuke Fujishima as one of three Goddesses who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato, and she serves as his love interest. She is de ...
who moves in with him in a
Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...
; after Belldandy's sisters Urd and
Skuld Skuld ("debt" or "obligation"; sharing etymology with the English "should") is a Norn in Norse mythology. Along with Urðr (Old Norse "fate"Orchard (1997:169).) and Verðandi (possibly "happening" or "present"Orchard (1997:174).), Skuld makes ...
move in with them, they encounter gods, demons and other supernatural entities as Keiichi develops his relationship with Belldandy. The manga series has been licensed for English-language release by
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
. The series was adapted into an
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...
produced by
Anime International Company , often abbreviated as AIC, is a Japanese animation studio founded on June 15, 1982 and located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. On December 10, 2015, AIC RIGHTS Company, Inc. was established through a company split, in which AIC Rights received the tr ...
(AIC), and an
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
series which aired from 2005 to 2006. Additionally, AIC has developed two OVAs and a film, and
OLM, Inc. , (formerly Oriental Light and Magic), is a Japanese animation studio, animation and film studio headquartered in Setagaya, Tokyo, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, founded on October 3, 1990, by former Gallop (studio), Studio Gallop and OB Planning employe ...
has also developed an anime series as well. Companies have developed thousands of types of merchandise, such as video games, and a light novel. The OVA was licensed by
AnimEigo AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to licens ...
, while the film was licensed by
Geneon Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Min ...
, and the various TV series were licensed at various points by
Media Blasters Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American mar ...
,
ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gr ...
and
Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
. As of June 2020, the manga had over 25 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series. In 2009, ''Oh My Goddess!'' won the 33rd
Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...
for the general category.


Story


Plot

Keiichi Morisato is a major fictional character in the popular manga ''Oh My Goddess!'' and in the anime of the same name and is voiced by Masami Kikuchi. His name is often abbreviated as "K1" (1 in the Japanese language is "ichi"). Description Keiichi was a ...
is a college sophomore who accidentally calls the Goddess Help Line. The goddess
Belldandy is a fictional character in the popular anime and manga series ''Oh My Goddess!''. She was created by Kōsuke Fujishima as one of three Goddesses who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato, and she serves as his love interest. She is de ...
materializes and tells him that her agency has received a system request from him and has been sent to grant him a single wish. Believing that a practical joke is being played on him, he wishes that she will stay with him forever, and his wish is granted. Since he is unable to live with Belldandy in his male-only dorms, they are forced to look for alternative housing, eventually seeking shelter in an old
Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...
. They are allowed to stay there indefinitely after the young
monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
living there leaves on a
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
to India upon being impressed by Belldandy's intrinsic goodness. Keiichi's life with Belldandy becomes even more hectic when her elder sister Urd and her younger sister
Skuld Skuld ("debt" or "obligation"; sharing etymology with the English "should") is a Norn in Norse mythology. Along with Urðr (Old Norse "fate"Orchard (1997:169).) and Verðandi (possibly "happening" or "present"Orchard (1997:174).), Skuld makes ...
move in as well. A series of adventures ensue as his relationship with Belldandy develops.


Setting

The ''Oh My Goddess!'' universe is fashioned loosely around Celtic/Norse Mythology; various names and concepts are recycled for humor. Three worlds exist in the Universe of Oh My Goddess: Heaven (Valhalla), Hell (Niflheim), and Earth. Heaven is the realm of the All Mighty and goddesses, Hell is the realm of Hild and demons, and Earth is the realm of humans. Reality is controlled by an enormous and complex computer system, named
Yggdrasil Yggdrasil () is an immense and central sacred tree in Norse cosmology. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in t ...
. Each goddess is assigned Class, Category, and Restrictions. Class indicates power and skill in performing pure magic. First Class goddesses are held to a stricter standard regarding the prohibition to lie. There are also three categories: Administration, Commercial (Field), and Special Duty. Limited and Unlimited restrictions indicates boundaries on permitted actions. Goddesses may be penalized for dereliction of duty and may have their license suspended for a time. A goddess using her powers during suspension will have her license permanently revoked.
Belldandy is a fictional character in the popular anime and manga series ''Oh My Goddess!''. She was created by Kōsuke Fujishima as one of three Goddesses who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato, and she serves as his love interest. She is de ...
is a Goddess First Class, Second Category, Unlimited License. Urd and Skuld are Goddesses Second Class, First Category, Limited License. Goddesses also wear power limiters, usually in the form of jewelry. The goddesses' purpose is to bring happiness to everyone around them. Toward that end, Heaven has created the Goddess Technical Helpline (also called Goddess Relief Agency), designed to bring happiness to the people of Earth, especially those with great virtue but terrible misfortune. A competing institution named the ''Earth Assistance Center'', also is staffed by goddesses. In most scenarios, a goddess appears before one that the system has deemed worthy and grants him or her one wish. The wish must be approved by the system, after which a contract is created between the human and the goddess and stored on the
Yggdrasil Yggdrasil () is an immense and central sacred tree in Norse cosmology. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in t ...
system as a file. The wish contract file is protected by a passcode known to the Goddess. As demons work toward the opposite end, the total happiness on Earth must remain in balance. Heaven and Hell strictly abide by an agreement to work through contracts and to prevent bloodshed between them, each god is linked to a demon by a life contract, thus if one of them is killed, the other perishes as well, with their memories of the contract erased to ensure no one knows who is paired with whom. Demons have similar class and license restrictions, and are accompanied by familiars instead of angels. A seal exists between the demon world and Earth, named the Gate to the Netherworld. It was "created by the gods and can only be broken by an instrument of the gods." As such, demons require a catalyst to manifest on Earth. The demons possess a system similar to
Yggdrasil Yggdrasil () is an immense and central sacred tree in Norse cosmology. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in t ...
, named Nidhogg. Both demons and goddesses possess the power to seal beings away. The demons also operate in a fashion similar to goddesses by creating contracts with humans and offering them wishes, but often at a price. A goddess does not have an angel automatically, but receives one in egg form. When her power matures, the egg hatches into an angel, becoming a lifetime companion."Ah! My Darling Cupid!." Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy. Dir. Hiroaki Gōda. TBS, Tokyo, Japan. 06 July 2006. TV. The angel always obeys the goddess, being a reflection of the goddess' inner self. Other creatures that exist in the Earth plane are a multitude of spirits that are responsible for almost every aspect of life. These include the spirits of Money, Wind, Engine and such. More specific entities include Earth spirits, which are guardians over a specific area of land.
Morgan le Fay Morgan le Fay (; Welsh language, Welsh and Cornish language, Cornish: Morgen; with ''le Fay'' being garbled French language, French ''la Fée'', thus meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morgant Mor ...
, a villain from the movie, is probably a high ranking Earth spirit (or a being from another dimension, but that is less likely because her tragic love story with a human must have happened on Earth) who demonstrates great strength fighting
Belldandy is a fictional character in the popular anime and manga series ''Oh My Goddess!''. She was created by Kōsuke Fujishima as one of three Goddesses who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato, and she serves as his love interest. She is de ...
and Urd, even though her powers are less potent than the ones of goddesses of their level.


Production

Before starting work on ''Oh My Goddess!'', Kōsuke Fujishima created the manga '' You're Under Arrest!''.
Miyuki Kobayakawa The Japanese manga series '' You're Under Arrest'' features a cast of characters by Kosuke Fujishima. The series centers around two female police officers of contrasting personalities and their activities at Bokuto Station. Main characters ...
, one of the principal characters of ''You're Under Arrest!'', was featured as a goddess character in a four-panel gag strip in the manga. While the exact relationship between this initial goddess character and the ''Oh My Goddess!'' series is unclear, there are suggestions that ''Oh My Goddess!'' can be viewed as a spin-off series. Irrespective of the origin, the concept of a goddess "as a job" interested Fujishima, leading to the first appearance of the ''Oh My Goddess!'' series in
Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
's ''
Monthly Afternoon is a Japanese monthly manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as '' Oh My G ...
'' in September 1988.


Title discrepancy

Translating the original Japanese title of proved to be problematic.
Fred Patten Frederick Walter Patten (December 11, 1940 – November 12, 2018) was an American writer and historian known for his work in the science fiction, fantasy, anime, manga, and furry fandoms, where he gained great distinction through a substantial ...
, in writing the preface to the collection "Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews", stated that fans were still debating whether "Ah! My Goddess" or "Oh My Goddess!" should be used at the time of writing, approximately 15 years after the first ''Oh My Goddess!'' manga was published. When the United States anime import company
AnimEigo AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to licens ...
obtained the
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...
(OVA) rights, they titled the series ''Oh My Goddess!''. This approach was also followed by
Toren Smith Toren V. Smith (April 12, 1960 – March 4, 2013) was a Canadian manga translator and founder of Studio Proteus. Early life Smith learned to read by the age of four, and by the age of 12 had won his first award for writing from the Calgary ...
and
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
when translating the manga, released in concert with the OVA series in 1994. Smith has since stated that he saw the title as a play on "Oh my god!", and felt that there was no problem when translating it. Smith confirmed that his interpretation of the author's intent was correct by consulting with Fujishima. Nevertheless,
Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
's bilingual release of the manga used ''Ah! My Goddess'', as did
Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...
's North American release of the film, and
Media Blasters Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American mar ...
's 2005 DVD release of the TV series.TBS's anime television title
Fujishima stated in
Animerica ''Animerica'' was a monthly magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), ...
that "Oh" was closer to his intent, but acknowledged that the title should be rendered so as to make sense within the country that it is published, and specifically stated that films may warrant different titles than other works. He did, however, state that he would prefer to see consistency between the titles of the manga and those of the animations.


Media


Manga

Written and illustrated by
Kōsuke Fujishima is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He has created several manga series, the best known of which are ''You're Under Arrest (manga), You're Under Arrest!'' and ''Oh My Goddess!.'' Fujishima is known for his love of automobiles and ...
, ''Oh My Goddess!'' started in
Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
's manga magazine ''
Monthly Afternoon is a Japanese monthly manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as '' Oh My G ...
'' in September 1988, and finished after a 25-year run on April 25, 2014. Kodansha collected its 308 individual chapters in forty-eight volumes, released from August 23, 1989, to July 23, 2014. The final volume of the manga was also released in Japan as a limited edition box set containing a special edition of volume 48, a mini book of all the ''Adventures of Mini-Goddess'' comics that appeared in the first volumes of the manga, a drama CD featuring the anime voice actors, and a selection of high quality prints of past volume covers, and the final volume cover. A spin-off manga series, titled , written by Uhei Aoki and illustrated by Kumichi Yoshizuki, focused on Keiichi and Belldandy's lives during a recession, was serialized in ''Monthly Afternoon'' from January 25, 2019, to October 25, 2021. Kodansha published the first ''tankōbon'' volume on September 20, 2019. The fifth and final volume was released on January 21, 2022.


English release

In North America, the series was licensed for English release by
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
and first published in a left-to-right format. The company initially published the first 112 chapters individually from August 1, 1994, to September 1, 2004. They also serialized individual chapters in their defunct manga anthology, ''Super Manga Blast!'', from March 29, 2000, to April 25, 2001. The first three volumes were initially published in a single abridged volume, titled "1-555-GODDESS", on November 1, 1996. After this release, the following collected volumes contained the regular unabridged chapters (although with different amount of chapters from their respective Japanese volumes, so that each volume better followed story arcs), starting from volume 4, released on October 15, 1997; the first three volumes were later re-released as unabridged volumes between June 5 and October 7, 2002. The 19th and last volume of this edition, numbered "19/20", which ended on the same chapter as the Japanese volume 20 (129th chapter), was released on January 19, 2005. From volume 21, released on July 6, 2005, Dark Horse Comics published the volumes following the Japanese right-to-left chapter layout and using a new translation; the first twenty volumes were republished in this format from December 7, 2005, to February 22, 2012. The 48th and last volume was released on October 20, 2015. In July 2014, Dark Horse Comics announced that they would release a fifteen-volume omnibus edition. The first volume was released on July 29, 2015. As of March 27, 2024, seven volumes have been released.


Light novel

The first novel of the series, ''Oh My Goddess! First End'', was written by Urd's voice actress,
Yumi Tōma , known professionally as , is a Japanese voice actress, narrator, author and singer from Chiba. She has been part of the singing group Goddess Family Club. Tōma once worked for Aoni Production before she founded her own agency ALLURE&Y. Becau ...
, with the illustrations done by Fujishima and
Hidenori Matsubara is a Japanese anime character designer and director. Biography In 1988, Matsubara joined Gainax. In 1996, after finishing the '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'' series, he left Gainax and worked as a freelancer for various TV series and OVAs. He was ...
, the animation director for several of the series' animated adaptations. The story follows the manga, taking place three years after Belldandy and Keiichi first meet. The novel was first published in Japan on July 20, 2006 by Kodansha; it was then licensed in English by Dark Horse and released in North America on December 12, 2007.


Anime


Original video animation

In 1993,
Anime International Company , often abbreviated as AIC, is a Japanese animation studio founded on June 15, 1982 and located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. On December 10, 2015, AIC RIGHTS Company, Inc. was established through a company split, in which AIC Rights received the tr ...
, KSS,
Tokyo Broadcasting System (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as ...
and
Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
teamed up to produce a five-episode
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...
(OVA) series based on the manga series. Directed by Hiroaki Gōda and distributed by
Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...
, the first episode was released on February 21, 1993, and the final was released on May 17, 1994. The screenplay was written by Kunihiko Kondo and Nahoko Hasegawa, and the music was provided by Takeshi Yasuda. The character designer was
Hidenori Matsubara is a Japanese anime character designer and director. Biography In 1988, Matsubara joined Gainax. In 1996, after finishing the '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'' series, he left Gainax and worked as a freelancer for various TV series and OVAs. He was ...
. The OVA was licensed for release in North America by
AnimEigo AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to licens ...
, who released all five episodes in individual VHS volumes in both English-language and subtitled Japanese-language editions between June 29, 1994 and August 31, 1994. AnimEigo had released all five episodes on
Laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
on two laserdiscs in Japanese language with English subtitles and on three laserdiscs in Japanese language with English subtitles on one side and English language on the other side by November 1996. They later released all five episodes across two DVD volumes in 2001, then re-released the episodes in a single "Remastered Collector's Edition" set in 2006. AnimEigo's license expired at the end of February 2010. In March 2010, TBS announced they were producing a brand new 7-minute OVA for release only with a repackaged and redesigned boxed set for the first season. The first OVA was bundled with the 42nd volume of the manga, released on February 23, 2011. A second OVA was bundled with the 43rd volume, released on September 22, 2011. A third OVA was bundled with the 46th volume, released on August 23, 2013.


Film

A film, titled , premiered in Japan in 2000. It saw the return of the main cast, along with several popular characters from the manga who had not appeared in any of the previous anime. It is distributed in Japan by
Shochiku is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed '' kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establis ...
and in North America and United Kingdom by
Geneon Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Min ...
in 2001. The plot does not seem to follow any of the existing canon, but uses plot devices from several different story arcs from the manga, mostly the ''Lord Of Terror'' arc.


TV series


=''The Adventures of Mini-Goddess''

= A 48 episode TV series called and featuring shrunken versions of Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld in a comedic
super deformed ''Chibi'', also known as ''super deformation'' (''SD''), is an art style originating in Japan, and common in anime and manga where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby with stubby limbs, oversized heads, and ...
style was produced by
Oriental Light and Magic , (formerly Oriental Light and Magic), is a Japanese animation and film studio headquartered in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, founded on October 3, 1990, by former Studio Gallop and OB Planning employees. They are best known for producing the ''Pokémon ...
and aired on WOWOW from April 6, 1998 through March 29, 1999 as a part of the omnibus show
Anime Complex ''Anime Complex'' was a series of omnibus Japanese anime shows broadcast on WOWOW and Kids Station. It featured two unrelated series from various producers (notably Bandai Visual and Pony Canyon) of 15 minutes each per airing, and cycled as one ...
. It is distributed in Japan by Pony Canyon and in North America by Geneon Entertainment. This series departs the most from the original manga storyline, and has almost no continuity with the previous series. The series revolves around the three goddesses and their rat companion Gan-chan, following their adventures in their temple home. The goddesses remain constantly in miniaturized form, for apparent freedom of space and in order to properly interact with Gan-chan.


=''Ah! My Goddess''

= ''Oh My Goddess!'' saw another TV iteration under the name ''Ah! My Goddess'' in 2005. The episodes, which followed the manga closely, were directed by Hiroaki Gōda, animated by
Anime International Company , often abbreviated as AIC, is a Japanese animation studio founded on June 15, 1982 and located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. On December 10, 2015, AIC RIGHTS Company, Inc. was established through a company split, in which AIC Rights received the tr ...
, and produced by
Tokyo Broadcasting System (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as ...
(TBS). The season began in Japan, on TBS, on January 6, 2005, and ended on July 7, 2005.
Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...
released the episodes in Japan between April and November 2005, as eight DVD compilations each containing three episodes. The two
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...
s (OVAs), which had not been broadcast, were released on a special DVD on December 23, 2005. The series was licensed for a Region 1 release by
Media Blasters Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American mar ...
. Six DVD compilations, containing all twenty-six episodes, were released between September 2005 and July 2006. Each DVD contained four episodes, excluding the first two, which contained five each. A premium complete season box set was released on November 7, 2006; the regular set followed on November 27, 2007.
MVM Films MVM Entertainment, also known as MVM and MVM Films, is a British licensor and distributor of Japanese animation. The company also sub-licenses anime titles from US anime companies such as Media Blasters, Geneon, Nozomi Entertainment, Urban V ...
distributed the series in the United Kingdom, with the individual volumes released between February and December 2007 in six similar DVD compilations. The box set followed in July 2008. Media Blasters confirmed on Facebook that the license to ''Ah! My Goddess'' has been expired, leaving the series out-of-print, but these episodes are still available on Hulu despite the license expiration. The success of the first season inspired a second season titled ''Ah! My Goddess: Everyone Has Wings'', released as ''Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy'' in North America. Also directed by Hiroaki Gōda, animated by
Anime International Company , often abbreviated as AIC, is a Japanese animation studio founded on June 15, 1982 and located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. On December 10, 2015, AIC RIGHTS Company, Inc. was established through a company split, in which AIC Rights received the tr ...
, and produced by
Tokyo Broadcasting System (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as ...
, the series covered the adventures of Keiichi and
Belldandy is a fictional character in the popular anime and manga series ''Oh My Goddess!''. She was created by Kōsuke Fujishima as one of three Goddesses who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato, and she serves as his love interest. She is de ...
in the aftermath of the Lord of Terror fiasco. It premiered on TBS on April 6, 2006 and concluded on September 14, 2006, picking up the story from where the series left off in season one. Season two concluded with episode 22, although the Japanese and North American DVD releases include episodes 23 and 24. It was released to DVD in Japan between July 2006 and February 2007 by
Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...
.
Media Blasters Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American mar ...
, who released the first season, passed up on this season and it was licensed to
ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gr ...
instead.
ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gr ...
released the season on six DVD compilations, each containing four episodes, between May 2007 and March 2008. The rights were then transferred to
Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
, who released a box set on November 25, 2008. In 2007, ''Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings'', a two-episode special to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original publication of ''Oh My Goddess!'', was released. It was directed by Hiroaki Gōda, animated by
Anime International Company , often abbreviated as AIC, is a Japanese animation studio founded on June 15, 1982 and located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. On December 10, 2015, AIC RIGHTS Company, Inc. was established through a company split, in which AIC Rights received the tr ...
, and produced by
Tokyo Broadcasting System (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as ...
. The episodes aired on December 9, 2007 and
Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...
released the episodes on a single DVD in Japan on February 22, 2008.


Soundtracks

The Japanese voice actors of the series are also professional singers. Either in the form of Goddess Family Club or an
original soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured ...
, the series has led to over a dozen albums.


Video games

An adventure game titled ''Aa! Megami-sama!'' for the
NEC PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or simply , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit Personal computer, personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2003. While based on Intel processors, it uses an in-house architecture making it inc ...
was released in 1993 by
Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Ba ...
. An enhanced port was later released in 1997 for the
PC-FX The is a 32-bit home video game console co-developed by NEC and Hudson Soft. Released in December 1994, it is based on the NEC V810 CPU and CD-ROM, and was intended as the successor to the PC Engine (known overseas as the TurboGrafx-16). Unlik ...
which added voice and other improvements. A
Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...
quiz game titled ''Quiz: Ah! My Goddess - Stay With Fighting Wings'' was released in August 1998 for the
Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...
Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...
. Player plays as
Keiichi Morisato is a major fictional character in the popular manga ''Oh My Goddess!'' and in the anime of the same name and is voiced by Masami Kikuchi. His name is often abbreviated as "K1" (1 in the Japanese language is "ichi"). Description Keiichi was a ...
answering to questions posed by characters from the
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
/
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
such as
Belldandy is a fictional character in the popular anime and manga series ''Oh My Goddess!''. She was created by Kōsuke Fujishima as one of three Goddesses who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato, and she serves as his love interest. She is de ...
,
Skuld Skuld ("debt" or "obligation"; sharing etymology with the English "should") is a Norn in Norse mythology. Along with Urðr (Old Norse "fate"Orchard (1997:169).) and Verðandi (possibly "happening" or "present"Orchard (1997:174).), Skuld makes ...
, Urd,
Lind Lind is a surname of both Swedish and Estonian origin. In Swedish, it is the word for the linden tree. In Estonian, it is the word for bird. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 36.1% of all known bearers of the surname ''Lind'' were resid ...
and Peorth. In February 2007 an ''Ah! My Goddess'' game developed by
Marvelous Interactive (MMV) was a multinational corporation that produced animation, music, video games and television series. MMV is known for its involvement in the ''Story of Seasons'' series. They merged with AQ Interactive in 2011 and became Marvelous AQL; ...
was released in Japan for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
. The game was only released in Japan and was released in 2 editions, the limited edition (also known as the "Holy Box" edition) and the regular DVD edition.


Reception

As of June 2020, the manga had over 25 million copies in circulation. In 2009, ''Oh My Goddess'' won the 33rd
Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...
in the general category. Volume 41 of the manga was the tenth best-selling manga in Japan upon its release that week according to the Oricon Japanese Comic Rankings charts. The film ranked #28 on ''Wizard's Anime'' Magazine on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America". In the
American Anime Awards The American Anime Awards were a series of awards designed to recognize excellence in the release of anime and manga in North America. The first (and only) annual American Anime Awards balloting was supervised by Milton Griepp of industry websit ...
from 2007, the anime series was a nominee in the category Best Comedy Anime, but lost to ''
FLCL is an anime created and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, written by Yōji Enokido, and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which consisted of Gainax, Production I.G, and King Records. The series tells the adventures of the ...
''.


References


External links


Official TBS ''Oh My Goddess!'' anime website
* {{OLM 1993 anime OVAs 2007 Japanese novels 2007 anime OVAs 2011 anime OVAs ADV Films Anime International Company Anime Works Comics set in India Dark Horse Comics titles Fantasy anime and manga Funimation Geneon USA Harem anime and manga Kodansha manga Madman Entertainment anime Norse mythology in anime and manga OLM, Inc. Romantic comedy anime and manga Seinen manga TBS Television (Japan) original programming Wowow original programming