Ah! My Goddess: The Movie

Reviewed By: Kristy Isla

Geneon Entertainment DVD

Review based on 1 Disc

Rating 13+

What it’s (basically) all about: Keiichi is a college freshman who happens to be in love with a goddess named Belldandy. Belldandy chose to stay on Earth and be with her true love Keiichi and things are going good. However, Belldandy wishes that Keiichi could meet her mentor Celestin.  Wishes come true, when Celestin arrives right when Belldandy is at a low point after watching a bunch of girls flirt with Keiichi.  Celestin kisses Belldandy, essentially putting a virus in her and causing her to pass out.  When she awakes she has no memories of Keiichi and things start to get complicated as it seems a virus is set on taking over Yggdrasil (Goddess Headquarters) so they can’t cure Belldandy.  Also, we find out that Celestin is trying to destroy Earth so it can be reborn.  Can Keiichi win back Belldandy’s heart and help the goddesses save Earth from certain destruction?

Nitty Gritty: Overall, this is your typical love story gone awry movie. Keiichi and Belldandy are happy and in love, when someone from the past has to come and screw it up. In fact this anime watches like a TV soap opera, with body snatching, suppressed memories and lovers fighting. 

The language is pretty basic, minor words like damn and hell show up at times. However, watch for hysterical females and lots of crying, debating over “giving up love” because all you bring is sorrow, and lots more melodrama.  However, for fans of the TV series, this is the norm. 

One thing to note, the body snatching is kind of convoluted and the viewer is really not sure where it is going until the climax of the story.  Also some stylized nudity here during the body snatching, but you can’t see anything. 

As for the characters they are actually pretty well developed and, if you have watched the show, nothing has changed; it just adds more depth to the story.  However, one part worth mentioning is the scene in the Karaoke bar, where girls are flirting with Keiichi and Belldandy gets a little mad and ends up using her power to break anything made of glass.  The girls are complaining about how they “can’t get guys”; “maybe, if I were easier?”; and “Do you think these make me look easy?” (As the breasts, inside a bra and covered by a sweater, are thrust towards Keiichi). Obviously these girls are all drunk, but this kicks the movie out of the kid’s realm of knowledge and therefore out of the kid’s section.

The disc has special features including:

Art Gallery: All kid-friendly drawings of Belldandy and other female characters, no nudity.

Trailers for the Movie: These are all in Japanese, but the scenes shown are appropriate for ages

Languages: Japanese, English, or Subtitles in English (which are okay), but luckily the movie can be played in English!

Bonus: The first episode of the Adventures of the Mini-Goddess; age appropriate

Survey says: I would suggest that this go into the YA section of the library since the characters are in their late teens, attending college and all of the stuff that comes along with that (the bar scene).  There is no sex, minor language and only stylized nudity with blowing hair and feathers covering any important stuff. 

Personal Ad: Not necessarily a big fan of Ah! My Goddess.  Once again anime proves that no matter what happens, true love wins out overall; typical storyline, with a typical ending.  In fact I had a hard time writing this review because everything I tried sounded like I was writing for a soap opera.  Drama, drama, drama! However, this might be a good choice for an anime club showing, as all the important information about the characters is given throughout the film and who couldn’t use a little bit of senseless drama in their lives?  ***Have extra money in your budget? Order takeout for the anime group and make business cards as an activity…you’ll see what I mean when you watch the movie, and fans of the show will get a kick out of it.***