Aa! Megami-sama! (TV)

8/10
+Heartwarming, mature romance that resonates with adult viewers
+Solid Animation, score and musical themes
+Likeable male lead deserving of positive change
-Underdeveloped female lead that is too perfect
-Some supernatural elements lose credibility with the viewer
English Dub: A

What if your wish actually came true? Poor, hapless college student Keichi Morisato can’t seem to catch a break, until he’s suddenly bestowed with a wish-granting goddess. While the premise itself is completely unrealistic, this empowerment story based off the 1988 manga offers a fun setting, a diverse cast, and one of the most heartwarming, mature romance seen in anime.

Unlike many heroes presented in this genre, Keichi’s personality embodies the positive ... change in us all. Despite his shortcomings, he’s hardworking, he’s not a coward, and he’s kind. His actions in the series prove he is the hero deserving of the goddess Belldandy’s divine intervention. That said, the show does a poor job of following its established magical rules, and Belldandy herself is far too perfect. Most episodes use supernatural elements to create conflict instead of organically progressing the couple’s relationship. Technically, classical artist Yoko Ishida delivers a soft, breezy ballad for the show’s opening/ending themes, and the character designs remain iconic to this day.

Despite its issues, Ah! My Goddess! is so likable that the viewer will easily forgive its overall presentation. Don’t miss this feel-good classic.

I was disappointed with this anime since the concept could've been enjoyable, the characters and supporting cast were good, and most of the episode plots were great. Although the anime wasn't particularly mature, it was still fun and offered a lot of creativity and comedic moments. Both Morisato and Belldandy were enjoyable, but there were other goddesses that some people preferred to Belldandy. Nevertheless, I don't think anyone else could have been the primary love interest.

My major issue with Ah! My Goddes was that some of the episodes felt like they were struggling to come up with a main plotline. Although I'm a huge fan ... of character development, I don't think the story should suffer because of it. I remember a few episodes that I would have skipped to enjoy the anime more.

Another issue I had was that they revealed the fun mystery parts too early, and it became almost like a slice of life in a fantasy world show, which didn't work either.

Overall, I think the script could have been much better. There was so much more potential, but they took the easy road and produced a bunch of throwaway episodes that, while fun, weren't anything special.

Overall Impression: Aa! Megami-sama is a romance about a college student, Keiichi Morisato, that is visited by the goddess Belldandy and granted one wish to balance out a run of misfortune, and so he wishes for Belldandy to stay with him forever, thus beginning their life together. It's a slice of life series with occasional multi-episode arcs, and is mostly light-hearted save for a few bits of drama here and there. Overall, while the series isn't without its merits, I was unimpressed by the romance and the main characters. This is one that can be skipped unless you're a big fan of the manga.

+ Positives: ... Belldandy's goddess sisters Urd and Skuld (but especially Urd) are very entertaining. The strongest episodes in both seasons tend to be the ones that ditch the main duo and focus on one of these two. The side characters in general are one of the strongest elements of the show, though they could stand to be given a little more to do, as many disappear for long stretches. Character designs are also quite good, and are both distinctive and attractive. The music is a frequent highlight, in particular the OPs for both seasons. Solid voice acting.

- Negatives: Embarrassingly chaste romance for a series with college-aged characters. Keiichi and Belldandy have zero chemistry together and make little discernible progress as a couple over the course of 26 episodes (including the two special episodes). Keiichi is dumb as a brick and has half the charisma, while Belldandy is an utterly vacuous mother-wife with no interior life beyond doing chores and loving Keiichi. They are constantly overshadowed in their own show by the supporting cast and their relationship is so bland and devoid of passion that I had no desire to see them get together as a couple. Their elementary school-tier courtship is outright cringeworthy at times, with characters in their 20s going red in the face over the mildest possible stimulation like holding hands. Skuld, an actual elementary school aged character, makes more romantic progress with the kid that teaches her how to ride a bike over the course of two episodes in the 2nd season than Keiichi and Belldandy, who are adults, do in the entire series. The animation is also quite poor. It doesn't look "bad", but it's pretty lazy and unambitious. There isn't much action in this series, and the few scenes that are dynamic are usually rendered as glorified slideshows, while lower key scenes tend to turn into close-up shots where only mouths and eyes are moving for significant stretches of time. Technically, this is a comedy, but it won't really make you laugh. The humor is pretty lame and uninspired.