Oh My Goddess!

Oh My Goddess! (ああっ女神さまっ), also known as 'Ah! My Goddess!', is a Japanese seinen manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It premiered in the September 1988 issue of Afternoon where it is still being serialized. , the individual chapters have been collected and published in 40 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The series centers on the relationship between college sophomore Keiichi Morisato and the goddess Belldandy.

As the manga's popularity increased, a five-episode original video animation (OVA) was made based on it. With the OVA's success, the stage was set for two TV series and a film to follow.

Plot
Keiichi Morisato is a good-natured, yet hapless and girlfriend-less college freshman who is often imposed upon by his elder dorm-mates and brow-beaten into taking phone messages and doing miscellaneous chores for them. One day, while alone in his dorm, he accidentally calls the Goddess Technical Help Line and a beautiful goddess named Belldandy materializes in his room. She tells him that her agency has received a system request from him, so she has been sent to grant him a single wish. Skeptical and thinking someone is playing a practical joke on him, he wishes that she stay with him forever. To his surprise, his wish is granted. Belldandy must stay with him, but as his dormitory is strictly male-only, they are both forced onto the street.

They set off on his motorcycle to find alternative shelter, eventually seeking cover in an old Buddhist temple. In the morning, they are greeted by the temple's sole inhabitant, a young monk, who welcomes them and gives them permission to stay until they can find permanent lodging. He immediately puts them to work maintaining the temple grounds, but when he sees Belldandy use her powers to save Keiichi from injury, he begins to fear that she may be a demon or sorceress. He is eventually convinced of Belldandy's intrinsic goodness when he witnesses her solicitous care of the temple premises and her perfect meditation ritual. When he decides to go on a pilgrimage to India, the priest gives the couple permission to remain in the temple so long as they continue to maintain it.

Oh My Goddess! Universe
The Oh My Goddess! universe is fashioned quite loosely around the Norse mythology. At least three worlds are apparent, including heaven, hell, and earth. However, it has been stated that many other worlds exist as well. Heaven is the realm of the Lord and goddesses; while Hell, the Daimakaicho and demons. Earth is the realm of the humans, and until recently, is largely unexposed to the presence of either goddesses or demons, as they can unbalance the happiness in the world. Reality is controlled by an enormous and complex computer system, named Yggdrasil, similar to the tree of the Norse mythology.

Each goddess has a certain designation and may or may not have an accompanying angel, depending on their skill and power. Belldandy is a Goddess First Class, Second Category, Unlimited License. Class refers to precision and power level. Second category, for example, is a commercial license; and the limit indicates what you are permitted to do. Urd is a Goddess Second Class, Administration, Limited License. Skuld is a Second Class, First Category, Limited License. Other categories include the Combat division, to which the Valkyries belong. Goddesses may be penalized for dereliction of duty, which includes suspension of their licenses. A typical suspension can last anywhere from a week for the first infraction to 50 years or more, though attending a study hall in heaven can reduce this term. A Goddess using her powers during suspension will have her license permanently revoked. The licensing division is under the Goddess Assistance Agency.

Young goddesses often do not have angels, but are given an angel's egg. When their power matures, the angel's egg hatches and the angel becomes the lifetime companion of the goddess. The angels obey the goddesses no matter what, as they are reflections of the goddesses' inner self. The angels are generally born fully mature and cognizant of the world around them. Furthermore, the goddesses typically have three blue markings on their face, two on the cheek and one on the forehead; while demons are marked similarly with red markings. More powerful beings may have more complex designs to these markings.

Despite having phenomenal powers, the Goddesses wear power limiters. It is said that a first class Goddess at full power can easily destroy the Earth. Belldandy's power limiter is the second clasp on her left ear. Goddesses also possess particular proficiency in certain magical domains; Skuld uses water magic, Belldandy uses wind, and Urd uses fire magic, though both Belldandy and Urd are capable of using lightning magic. Furthermore, Urd is ascribed to the past; Belldandy, the present; and Skuld, the future. Goddesses may also need to recharge their power via various means, especially in the case of a system malfunction: Belldandy by sleep, Urd by drinking Sake, and Skuld by eating ice cream. Their repertoire of magical skills may vary as well. The goddesses can have various means of transportation: Belldandy by mirrors, Urd by television screens, Skuld by water, Peorth by camera lenses and Lind by windows. Moreover, it's probable that these are only the preferred ways to move (apart from Skuld, as she has less experience with magic) especially for long distances. We can see a few cases in which they show alternative methods of transportation: Urd, Peorth and Marller (or Mara, in some English translations) simply appear and disappear (they probably transported themselves to nearby places) and Urd again by water. Finally, the inability to lie appears to be part and parcel of being a first class goddess.

One interesting power demonstrated by the goddesses is a form of psychometry. By focusing their powers, a goddess can identify the aura of a goddess in contact with an object previously and replay the events surrounding that time.

The lifespan appears to differ quite a bit from humans. Their childhood seems to match that of a human, but their adulthood may last hundreds of years. However, the exact measurement of time is unclear, as time in heaven can pass much slower than that on Earth. As such, it is possible that in fact they do age at the same rate as humans, just appearing slower, because they live in a different realm. So, what seems like fifty years to us, maybe be only five days to them. Furthermore, old age has not been demonstrated in the series, so their elder years are unknown. In a chapter in the manga, it is stated that they do not grow old in the human world, and they witnessed various deaths already. The goddesses' metabolism also can vary from humans and from goddess-to-goddess as well. Belldandy, for example, becomes drunk on cola, something not experienced by humans or Skuld and Urd. They do seem to be able to eat all the same foods as humans, however.

The goddesses' purpose is to bring happiness to everyone around them. Toward that end, heaven has created the Goddess Relief Agency (The Goddess Technical Help Line in the manga), 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 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 never kill each other.

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, 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.

Other elements in the Goddess universe are programs that can be constructed by either the goddesses or the demons for any number of purposes. One example is the Ultimate Destruction Program, a program written by demons to create a world for demons by destroying humanity. Countermeasures include directly destroying the program or using a vaccine, a program specifically designed to nullify its target program. Programs designed to destroy systems and with self-replicative abilities are known as viruses, much like the computer viruses in the modern world.

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, 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 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, one of the principle 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 the September 1988 issue of the magazine Afternoon.

"Ah" or "Oh"?
Translating the original Japanese title of ああっ女神さまっ (Aa! Megami-sama!) proved to be problematic. Indeed, Fred Patten, 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 obtained the original video animation (OVA) rights, they titled the series Oh My Goddess!. This approach was also followed by Toren Smith and Dark Horse Comics 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 thus he 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's bilingual release of the manga used ''Ah! My Goddess'', as did Pioneer in their North American release of the film. and the 2005 Media Blasters' DVD release of the TV series.

When asked about the issue in Animerica, Fujishima stated 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 ("After all, there are movie titles that work much better after they're changed ..."). He did, however, state that he would prefer to see consistency between the titles of the manga and those of the animations.

References to Norse mythology
In creating Oh My Goddess!, Fujishima has borrowed extensively from Norse mythology.


 * The main example of this can be found in the names of the three heroines of the story — Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld. These are the names of the three Norns, the beings in charge of twining the thread of fate for all living beings. Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld represent the past, present and future in traditional Norse and the domains of the three goddesses match accordingly.


 * In English translations, Belldandy's name is not written as "Verthandi" or "Verdandi" as would be expected if it were a transliteration from the original Old Norse (Verðandi). This is because the spelling and pronunciation of the name were derived from the Japanese language transliteration used in the manga, not from the original Old Norse. The Japanese transliteration came about as a result of the phonology of the Japanese language. First, there is no [v] in Japanese, and so it is rendered /b/. Next, there is no [ð] in Japanese, so it is rendered as /d/. Finally, due to the fact that the phonotactics of Japanese only allows syllables to end in vowels or /n/, an epenthetic /u/ was added after the /r/. All these changes meant that the original name "Verðandi" was transliterated as, ベルダンディー -, Berudandī. This was then in turn transliterated into English as "Belldandy". In the Swedish translation of the manga, her name is Verdandi.


 * The other major example of Norse reference stems from Yggdrasil, the tree that holds up the world; the Norns are said to work at the foot of this holy tree. In Oh My Goddess, the power of the goddesses is regulated by the Yggdrasil system, a physically giant, hopelessly complex computer system. The Yggdrasil system is used to access and process wish requests transferred by the Goddess Technical Helpline and the Earth Assistance Hotline, as well as to enforce the implementation of the accepted wishes. This system is so important to the dimension inhabited by the goddesses that, when it breaks down after an attack by the Lord of Terror, the goddesses are not able to successfully fulfill their basic life functions. It is during this story arc that readers learn that the Yggdrasil system is also used to convert energy gathered from the earth into that which the goddesses can then use to function. This particular use of Yggdrasil is meant to add dramatic color to certain storylines, and is not strictly held to throughout the rest of the series, as the system seems to be working fine most of the time.


 * Other examples include the periodic cameos made by Sleipnir, the heavenly steed, and Belldandy's use of Norse runes throughout the storyline. Also, it is revealed later in the series that the demons have a counterpart system to Yggdrasil — the Nidhogg system. In Norse mythology, Nidhogg is the name of the dragon that is wrapped around the base of the Yggdrasil tree, continually gnawing at its roots.


 * Additionally, Peorth is named after one of the runes. Peorth is the mysterious fourth goddess who is employed by a rival agency to Belldandy's. Not much is revealed about her past, except for that she and Belldandy worked together at the Yggdrasil debugging station. However, readers get the direct impression that Peorth is a fun-loving risk-taker who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Her name makes sense, then, as the Peorth rune is classically interpreted as risk-taking and mystery. Tied to Peorth is her use of the Vanir bird to refresh Belldandy's memory. The Vanir are another set of Norse gods tied to fertility and peace — the Vanir bird's function is to reveal the past, and thus bring peace between friends.


 * Hild, the CEO of the infernal realm, is named after one of the Valkyries, the battle spirits who take the ghostly spirits of fallen soldiers to Valhalla. According to several sources, Hild means "The Battle."


 * In the most recent installments of the manga, a fifth goddess is introduced into the character set. Her name is Rind, and she is a member of the Ah! My Goddess version of the Valkyries — special agents who are trained in the ways of battle. In traditional mythology, Rind is an ice giantess who becomes pregnant with Odin's child. In the English translation, her name is Lind.


 * Skuld's second android invention is given the name Sigel by Belldandy after a story arc revolving around the question of whether machines are alive. Sigel wants very much to be alive, and so her name is also appropriate — the Sigel rune is the rune of life.


 * In the Lord of Terror arc Mara utilized the urn Mao Za Haxon, which contained the Ultimate Destruction Program's bootup protocol, which eventually led Urd to summon a huge dog-spirit named Fenrir. In Norse mythology, Fenrir or Fenrisulfr is a monstrous wolf, the son of Loki and the giantess Angrboða, who is destined to kill Odin at Ragnarok.


 * In another installment an exorcist in training accidentally summons Garm. In Norse mythology, Garm is a huge dog which guards Hel, the land of the dead, alongside of Hræsvelgr. Garm was the greatest of all dogs and lived in a cave called Gnipahellir.


 * In the movie adaptation of Ah! My Goddess, Peorth is given the order to nullify the threat to the world-tree by using the eradiction spell Gungnir. Gungnir is the name of the enchanted spear used by Odin, the king of the Norse gods.

Manga
Oh My Goddess! premiered in the September 1988 issue of the monthly Japanese magazine Afternoon. The series is still ongoing and as of the August 2009 issue, 251 chapters of the series have been serialized in the magazine. The individual chapters are collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The first volume was released on September 23, 1989; as of July 23, 2009, 39 volumes have been released in Japan.

The series is licensed for an English-language release in North America by Dark Horse. The company initially published the first 112 chapters individually, with the first chapter released on August 1, 1994, and chapter 112 on September 1, 2004, until volume 19/20, after which they only published the collected volumes. They also serialized individual chapters in their defunct manga anthology, Super Manga Blast!. The first three volumes have had three different releases; they were initially published in a single abridged volume titled "1-555-GODDESS" on November 1, 1996, and were later re-released in unabridged volumes between June 5 and October 7, 2002. The first 129 chapters were redistributed between volumes 1 through 20 so that each volume better followed story arcs; after this reordering, the English release had 19 volumes. The fourth volume was released on October 15, 1997; volume 19, which Dark Horse numbered "19/20" and which ended on the same chapter as the Japanese volume 20, was released on January 19, 2005. After this release, they began republishing the first 20 volumes, this time following the Japanese chapter layout and using a new translation; they also continued publishing volumes from 21 on, these also followed the original Japanese chapter layout. The third re-release of volume 1 was on December 7, 2005, and the re-release has reached volume 12, which was released on June 24, 2009. Volume 21 was published by Dark Horse on July 6, 2005, and volume 33 was released on August 29, 2009.

Light novel
The first novel of the series, ''Oh My Goddess! First End'', was written by Urd's voice actress, Yumi Tōma, with the illustrations done by Fujishima and Hidenori Matsubara, 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, who released it in North America on December 12, 2007.

Original video animation
In 1993, Anime International Company, KSS, Tokyo Broadcasting System and Kodansha teamed up to produce a five-episode original video animation (OVA) series based on the manga series. Directed by Hiroaki Gōda and distributed by Pony Canyon, the first episode was released on February 21, 1993, and the final was released on May 17, 1994.

The OVA was licensed for release in North America by AnimEigo, which released all five episodes across two DVD volumes in 2001, then re-released the episodes in a single "Collector's Edition" set in 2006. AnimEigo's license expired at the end of February 2010.

The Adventures of Mini-Goddess
A 48 episode TV series called Adventures of Mini-Goddess (ああっ女神さまっ 小っちゃいって事は便利だねっ) and featuring shrunken versions of Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld in a comedic super deformed style was produced by Oriental Light and Magic and premiered on WOWOW in 1998 as a part of the omnibus show Anime Complex. 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.

Film
A film, titled Ah! My Goddess: The Movie (劇場版ああっ女神さまっ), 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 and in North America and United Kingdom by Geneon Entertainment 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.

Anime
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, and produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). The season began in Japan, on TBS, on January 6, 2005, and ended on July 7, 2005. Bandai Visual released the episodes in Japan between April and November 2005, as eight DVD compilations each containing three episodes. The two original video animations (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. 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 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.

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, and produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System, the series covered the adventures of Keiichi and Belldandy 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. Media Blasters, who released the first season, passed up on this season and it was licensed to ADV Films instead. ADV Films released the season on six DVD compilations, each containing four episodes, between May 2007 and March 2008. The rights were then transferred to Funimation Entertainment, 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, and produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System. The episodes aired on December 8, 2007 and Bandai Visual released the episodes on a single DVD in Japan on February 22, 2008. The episodes have not been licensed for a Region 1 release.

It was announced, earlier this year on (March 2010), that TBS was producing a brand new 7-minute OVA for release only with a repackaged and redesigned boxed set for Season 1. Currently, no plans exist for licensing that special OVA episode. The OVA is the first new anime production since "Fighting Wings" was produced for the 20th anniversary of the manga series.

Soundtracks
The seiyū, or "Japanese voice actor", of the series are also professional singers. Either in the form of Goddess Family Club or an original soundtrack, the series has led to over a dozen albums.

Video games
An adventure game titled ''Aa! Megami-sama!'' for the NEC PC-9801 was released in 1993 by Banpresto. An enhanced port was later released in 1997 for the PC-FX which added voice and other improvements.

A Dreamcast quiz game titled Quiz: Ah! My Goddess was released in August 1998.

In February 2007 an ''Ah! My Goddess'' game developed by Marvelous Interactive was released in Japan for the PlayStation 2. 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. Currently there have not been any plans for the game to be licensed and translated into English.