I love Oh My Goddess; always have, after seeing it way back in the early nineties on NTSC video, it’s a breath of fresh Air for anime in the UK.
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The three Goddess take this lighter cover again each with their wings - Heavenly… The logo is a little lost at the very top being still white but this time on an even paler purple. The Back cover pretty much replicates the first volumes format, there’s a summary for each of the 2 episodes along with the list of extras, Urd and Skuld take the only screenshot. There is again no insert and the Disc is in full colour replicating the front covers picture.
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The menus are pretty much the same as the first volumes but with hints of green rather than pink some of the shows soft background music plays while different bits of animation play in the background, selections are easy to make and everything is clear, crisp and very easy to navigate.
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English and Japanese 2.0 stereo tracks are provided so you get the best of both worlds. Both tracks are fine with little difference in the mixing levels when switching between the two. Here though, your only concern will be which language? Both are well acted, and there’s again little difference between the qualities of each of them.
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- American Va’s commentary track
- Sound and music only audio track
- Production cells and slides gallery
- Clean opening
- Clean endings
There’s the return of the commentary track by the main English cast and director that runs for the two episodes and again is the best extra. The “Dub your own OMG” track that just music and sound FX also makes a return, along with the production slides gallery. The clean opeing and closing can still be accessed the same way as on the first volume but you can also get to a set via the chapter selection menu that has the set that was featured at the end of the fifth VHS release.
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(Content review will probably contain spoilers)
Things have settled down for Keiichi and the Goddesses at the start of this final volume’s two part story. Life is going great until strange things start happening, the temple finds itself covered by snow while the surrounding areas are fine.
Heavens system “bugs” are appearing on earth and causing havoc to Keiichi, after some investigation by the now settled down Skuld they discover that the space between Keiichi and Belldandy is where the bugs are forming and the closer they are together the worse the situation is. On top of Keiichi now not being able to see his beloved Belldandy she is recalled back to heaven giving her three days to put her affairs in order by erasing all trace of her from Keiichis life.
What’s a guy to do during the final days that he can’t see his loved one? Yep as with most animes he works his arse of both night and day saving all his money to buy belldanday a ring that he promised her. While the melancholic Belldandy sets about knitting Keiichi a sweater.
Skuld and Urd team up to try and find a way to stop their sister having to return to heaven.
There’s more to all this as Childhood memories are triggered within Keiichi about his Chilhood and a early time when he met a child Belldandy and made a promise to her that equalled a heavenly contract.
It’s all very dramatic in that early 90’s sort of way, that makes it sound super-cheesy It’s not…
The feeling Keiichi and Belldandy have for each other run deeper than the show lets on, it’s painful to watch Keiichi try and laugh off the fact that he can’t see Belldandy in her final days on earth while deep down it’s tearing him apart. Belldandy can do nothing either except hope that Keiichi will remember.
Skuld and Urd who are what would be the antagonists of this sort of show both team up to do what’s right for the happiness of their sister and Keiichi, even if it means going against heaven. Urd has a couple of moments with Keiichi that show her more subtle caring side in the face of what’s happening.
This sort of show sometimes has a reputation for not handling itself well, spending the entire series getting to the relationship rather than dealing with the actual relationship. While the first volume had some of those elements with the introduction of Urd and Skuld along with other supporting cast members. This volume benefits from the fact that Keiichi and Belldandy are happy together and everybody around them has come to terms with them and accepts them as a couple making what happens with them all the more worse.
As I said in the first volume review I hold this show in high regards, despite its age Oh My Goddess still holds up very well, it’s still very sweet and melodramatic in places but If you’re a hopeless romantic at heart, even after 10 years,
Oh My Goddess is still a refreshing breath of fresh air after all the angst that’s out there at the moment. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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A two-part love story that deals with the characters actual relationship rather than them getting to it, I must be a hopless romantic? I love it. "
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