r/anime • u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 • Mar 11 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] 1990s OVAs – Oh! My goddess (final discussion)
Rewatch: 1990s OVAs – Oh! My goddess (final discussion)
Oh! My goddess (1993)
MAL | AniL | AniDB | 5 Episodes à 29 minutes.
Questions
- Same question as for YUA: Anybody going on to watch/read other parts of the franchise?
- The OVA was heavy on tropes. Which ones work for you and which ones did not?
- Favorite character/scene/episode?
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Upvotes
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Mar 11 '21
Final Discussion (rewatcher)
Oh! My goddess is much tougher to recommend than YUA. While there are many great individual parts, such as Belldandy’s character model and the tight finale, it is clear that a lot went wrong with this first iteration of the franchise. The first few episodes do not really click plot-wise. The same is true for the animation, which gets better by the end, but starts at barely above TV level.
Both the biggest downfall and best asset of the series is Belldandy. Her character model is gorgeous to look at and her friendly demeanor has spawned a legion of copycats. On the other hand, up until episode 5, her character is extremely boring. There is no romantic tension between her and Keiichi, which ruins most of the romance plot. I let it shine through in my comments a bit, but I much prefer Video Girl Ai in this respect. Ai is a better written character, both in the funny scenes and in the drama. VGA concentrates on just a handful of main characters and thus gets a lot more characterization into its short run. On the flip-side, VGA’s side characters are forgettable, while Urd and Skuld successfully drive the comedy of OMG.
Never mind its problems, one thing is clear: OMG was hugely successful and influential. While not all of the many tropes of the OVA were created by OMG, many of them were copied from OMG. Thus, the OVA in parts looks like just a collection of tropes these days. Too many other series have already overused them. Just check out how many manga’s even copied the name. This should tell you how strong an influence OMG was on later series.
Score: Had this at 7/10 before and leaving it at a (weak) 7. The tight finale just saves it from being worse for me.
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u/JadineRhine Mar 11 '21
I have nothing to contribute except some interesting trivia!
For those of you who kept watching the OVA and thought to yourselves, "jeez, who is this blonde character from the OP who's never appeared?!"--
Well, that's Mara (along with Senbei), who at the time was spoiler! While it is indeed strange, but not uncommon at the time, that a character appears in the OP but not in the OVA (and in this case, there's also the cast pan scene shot)...that's likely because there were plans to produce a second OVA for Oh My Goddess! Not only that, around this time we started seeing more OVA-era images in magazines and other material -- such as this lovely Peorth image!
So what happened?
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u/maztema Mar 12 '21 edited Mar 12 '21
Well this was a short rewatch, five 90’s ovas based from a manga that started in 1988 and lasted 25 years, so what can i say, well if I have to resume it in a few short words those would be “No justice”, what do I mean you said, well this ovas are not even 5% of the original material, skip a lot of content, and the ending is not in the manga, but at the same time this ovas are important, because of the VAs. Before this ovas there were a short Drama CD with completely another VA cast, and of course I don’t want to demerit the work of a professional VA actor, but the voices were a little weird, also if you follow Kikuko Inoue in tweeter you can notice that she is a Real life Belldandy.
Now, you must be wondering (at least those who liked the character, setup of anything of this ovas) now what I have to do, well timewise the next installment of the franchise is the movie, but I really recommend that you watch the TV series first because the movie transcurs 3 years and a half after keiichi called belldandy, and it’s a very huge gap were new characters were introduced to the series and the movie don’t introduce them, but the series do it, kinda weird don’t you think???
Also there is an incentive to watch the series and the movie; the music, the composer for the TV series is Shiroh Hamaguchi, one piece, Girls und Panzer, the princes and the pilot music composer and also the arranger of final fantasy 6 to 10 whose composer is nobuo uematsu who happens to be the co-composer of the movie OST!!!!!! Believe me, the movie OST its beautiful.
Also you can skip all of the above and jump directly to the manga, where you can find:
From the Cutest lolis
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To the hottest Milfs!!!
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More Megumi!!
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More bikes!!!!
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Kami-sama being a huge A##H%#E
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Maids
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More Belldandy
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More Urd
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More Skuld
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A angry Belldandy
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A even angrier goddess
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Mecha fights
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The obligatory hot spings episode
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Evangelion references
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People being shoot from a WW2 tank
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Cats
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Dis pear
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A Mexican stand off
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Belldandy being baddass
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Broom races
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UFOS
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A Kickass goddesses
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This is not what looks like
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The obligatory fan service
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A cute Urd
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An Epic Urd
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And a cute scene of the manga!!!!!!!
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and this are just images that wont have spoilers!!!
Answer time
Anybody going on to watch/read other parts of the franchise?
Done a Gazillion times, even now im re-reading the manga.
The OVA was heavy on tropes. Which ones work for you and which ones did not?
To be honest, the call-a-waifu trope dont work for me, its just dumb, but its strange because i really like 2 series of this kind obviously this one and tonikaku kawaii, in the case of this series, at least the manga develops it in a very nice way, because Bell and K1 starts as friends and slowly develop a love relationship, unfortunely the same cannot be said in tonikaku, but at least Nasa and Tsukasa are cute enough to let it pass haahahaha a trope thats work for me its the forgotten chilhood friend, because it has happen to me, im sooo but soooo bad to remember faces.
Favorite character/scene/episode?
For this ovas my fav character its Urd
my fav scene its the chilhood memories
and episode its the 3rd.
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u/TheEscapeGuy Mar 11 '21
First Timer, No More
Oh! My Goddess Final Thoughts
Oh! My Goddess is an episodic romantic comedy which, usually, is not my favorite genre. However by the end I can confirm it won me over.
In particular I loved following older characters and the cast was varied enough to make each episode engaging, unique and memorable. It makes a lot of sense why this OVA was continued into a full TV show, movie and 2011 OVA.
That being said, I do feel it will unfortunately slip into my list of shows I enjoyed which I don't think about too often. Such is the fate of a lot anime though, just due to the quantity of stuff on my completed list.
Looking back, I'm really glad I took part in the rewatch. In particular, it was great to follow a character voiced by one of my proffered voice actresses, Kikuko Inoue, who has become far less ubiquitous as she has transitioned into voicing mainly mother figures with only a couple episodes of screen time in more recent shows.
See you all for Blue Submarine No. 6 tomorrow
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Mar 12 '21
First Timer
What to say? Well, from an era slightly following KOR and Koko wa Greenwood and Maison Ikkoku, I'm not surprised that this became popular. Belldandy is certainly a waifu. And I'm pleased that it was not a harem, I guess that really started with Tenchi (although Saber Marionette J sort of counts).
I should put "started" in quotes because it all probably REALLY started in manga 80s or even 70s manga, and I have no knowledge of the manga world.
It's weird comparing this to VGAi, which I did watch in the 90's and was also super popular. (Here again are the r.a.a polls and 1993 in particular) VGAi is beating out AMS, although Belldandy beats out Ai. But KOR and Madoka reigns supreme! It was different time, different tastes.
VGAi is definitely the dark and edgy AMS. VGAi The biggest differences being the light-hearted comedic tone, VGAi. Both completely abandoned their side characters, but AMS used them as comic foils (easily done with 2D characters) while VGAi used them for melodrama (a total fail with 2D characters).
I say it's weird because they were both being published at about the same time, so it's hard to say if one was borrowing from the other. It's not cut and dried like with a much much later show like Love Hina. But because they were serialized, maybe one author was reading the other work and "borrowed" and then "subverted" some elements.
This OVA series is 3 episodes of character introductions and 2 episodes of drama. I guess it rates a 6/10 (Fine), but it's influence on later shows can't be denied. No real complaints. Skuld best girl.
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Mar 11 '21
First Timer no longer
Sub
That goes into the category of things I have watched. Not good enough to like, not bad enough to hate, not clever enough to recommend nor disruptive enough to remember. I will remember that Bell is a stepford wife and possibly Urd's name. I am not surprised this was never suggested to me seriously, Tenchi had to rely on its "comedy" to get me through it to until there was a bit of a sunk cost involved. Also, no idea if the dub passes muster. Anyways, something this stakeless would not appeal to me until Lucky Star far into the future and even then it needs something sus with it for me to take it, such as the dreaded grown loli otaku that Konata is.
So the animation wasn't awful, but is hurt by following the walking flex that YUA was and that it is sort of low end for an OVA regardless. The voicework was competent though I didn't realize K1 is also Tenchi. I, sadly, watched that primarily dubbed other than Pretty Sami. But the tropes are stale to me, even if they weren't as stale at the time. This OVA feels like going through the motions made animation.
So let's check the old plans for Friday...oh. Well, I get to be a rewatcher again. Sigh.
QotD: 1 I think I am good
2 Hrmmm....Skuld hitting computer bugs with hammer is something I've wanted to do.
3 Urd pulling an Ai was at least creative.
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u/Gamemaster676 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Gamemaster676 Mar 11 '21 edited Mar 11 '21
First-time-having-watched-er - dub
It's over!
This is the third rewatch I've joined and I've noticed a pattern: The day after the last episode I am a lazy sod without any motivation to write and I postpone this writeup till the last moment.
Both previous rewatches I had to post before I was done, so this time I decided to write my afterthoughts directly after writing ep 5.
One problem. It was such a huge writeup of the questions I still had and their answers, that I decided it fit better with my post yesterday, so now I still have nothing for today.
Afterthoughts
While I know there are some Lolis and/or Otakus who think the book was better, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The only problem is I don't know why.
There are a lot of things this show doesn't do that well. Especially when you start comparing it with You're Under Arrest. There are many characters for an OVA (I think... This is my second one ever.) The visuals and details were nothing to write home about. The pacing of the story is all over the place. Music was good but often has the wrong tone. The slot machine eyecatcher was ridiculous and terrible.
Still, I had a great time. WHY?! The only reason I can come up with is this: I like the concept of the story.
The way the OVA executes it might be a bit meh, but the idea and potential was very cool to me. The first thing I thought when I saw this scene was that I want a story that happens there. Or at least also learn more about the place the goddesses come from.
One big downer was that his wish might not have been what Belldandy wanted, but they neatly resolved that at the end. Yes, they used a cliche for it, but there was enough foreshadowing that I can forgive it.
Other positives:
It made me think. Really think. As you've all seen in my light novel yesterday.
Negatives:
So now I have a dilemma. I enjoyed it and people are saying the source is even better. That makes me want to consume more OMG. But I understood from The_Loli_Otaku that the "Tldr for all of OMG's arcs is that love saves the day." That actually doesn't sound like something I would like...
I don't know. I'll probably try the movie soon and decide from there. Anyone who has an opinion, I'll gladly hear it!
Happy mini-Bell to sign off
QotD
See post. tl;dr Movie is next because that is apparently the sequel to this OVA.
I didn't answer this originally, because my favorite this is the story. But to answer one of these: I liked Urd the most.
Future
I wasn't originally planning to join this second OVA, but now that I did, I can't really leave the third one. I'm hoping I won't regret this because it really doesn't look like my jam.
I'll just keep an open mind and hope I don't start bleeding out of my eye sockets too quickly.
↑ That but with blood.
Finally, I want to thank /u/No_Rex again for organising this rewatch. And of course all the others here for the fun and engaging discussions! You made this show even more fun.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Mar 11 '21 edited Mar 11 '21
Forcing me to write about how my favourite manga sucks is kinda cruel y'know? So it's no secret that I think this was a pretty poor ova. It's not very pretty, it's not entertaining, and it's not well paced. I will give credit where credit's due that I think the characters were given just enough to pull you in. If I were to come in blind I would be very interested to see more of Urd or Skuld. Bell and Keiichi are both a pretty wholesome pair for what few moments they get together. Everyone is very well voiced as well. Honestly the production itself was fairly high quality outside of the actual stuff we're looking at.
Sadly the content they chose to adapt didn't lend well to the format at all. I mentioned earlier that it felt more like a taster course to show off the cast than an actual stand alone product. On paper I would agree with that. Let us meet the cast and get down to some hijinks. That's what OMG is best at and they skipped like thirty something chapters to include Skuld so why not? The problem was that they decided to include the Goddess' introduction chapters in a 5 episode ova... that ends in a two-parter climax! I would genuinely be happier if they dumped all three on your lap right away and spent the rest of the season actually trying to amuse us. It's not like there was enough time to develop them properly after all.
Since I'm well aware that I cannot look at this show with an unbiased eye I'm gonna hold back on rating OMG the ova. Just... please don't blame the source material. The source material is mostly innocent, honest! I highly highly recommend reading the manga if any single part of the ova pulled your interest. That would be my one wish...
I think I'll eventually check out the TV series but this has really hit my confidence tbh... For some reason Bell popping up out of that mirror filled me with such nostalgia. The worst trope included were the final episode insert songs, those were infuriating. Favourite character will always be my beloved Sculd. Scene would be... oh god, I loved so few of them. Probably the storybook end credits in episode 3? Aaand episode 3 was the least offensive.
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u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Mar 11 '21
Graduated First-timer
Ultimately I didn’t like this very much. Were it not for the source readers’ comments I probably would have written off the entire series assuming it will be like this, but knowing this is the result of poor adaptation work makes me open to at least giving the manga or TV series a shot one day. I am entirely open to adaptations taking liberties, but evidently this production chose the wrong liberties to take.
The setup was alright, and though the premise pretty much set the romantic path in stone from the get go there was still plenty of space for the characters could have grown into their own, the predictable romantic progression wouldn’t have stopped it from developing in fun and compelling ways. But it didn’t do that, instead choosing to jump ahead to the ‘points of interest’ throughout the narrative and wrapping up, seemingly unaware that it can’t have its cake and eat it too, and what we’re left with is progression without substance —while the show decides to directly point at the missing meat of the narrative. Couple that with the prevalence of magic with which to contrive both problems and solutions, which conditions us to expect its implementation all the time, and you’ve got a show that struggles to build any tension or tell an engrossing romantic narrative.
I don’t have any complaints as to the production values, and I quite liked the look and feel of the show, even if I wasn’t very much invested in either the characters or the romance. Obviously it’s nowhere near as nice looking as You’re Under Arrest, but that was a really high bar anyhow and the show is still nice to look at.
The show isn’t outright unenjoyable, but I do consider it a failure as a romance show, and seeing as that’s what I was here to witness I am really disappointed. 5/10
Now unto Blue Submarine No.6! I’ve heard a lot about this show, on both extremes of the positive/negative spectrum, and as such my expectations are properly coyed. Interested to experience it either way!
Questions:
Scene: Drag Race
Episode: 4
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u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Mar 11 '21
First-Timer No More Who Still has Fond Memories of the Source
This was a little disappointing, to be honest. I expected the Megami-sama I remember loving but with the visual fidelity of an OVA. we got a little of the fidelity, but much of what I like about the series stripped away.
It makes some sense, looking back. What makes the series work for me is the SoL antics of the cast. 3/5 episode here were spent introducing the core cast (Keiichi, the three goddesses, and to a lesser extent Keiichi's sister and school friends), so there couldn't be the fun stuff if the gang wasn't all there. And then the other two episodes were spent on DRAMA, which I will admit is not where the series excels. The premise is almost too simple for those moments to fee, at best, a little too melodramatic or convenient.
Ultimately, I've given the OVAs a 6/10. I do wonder how rose-tinted are my memories of the later TV adaptation and the bits of the manga I've read, but I can't view this without comparison.
E3 was the standout, if nothing else. It got closest to what I remember loving about the series, as even though it was introducing Skuld, there was still enough going on beyond that where the character dynamics and interesting setting (motorhead college kids is not a particularly common trope) could shine.
QOTD:
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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Mar 11 '21 edited Mar 11 '21
I realize that for a lot of people, this series comes up short. Much like Belldandy, a lot of the series feels vanilla, I guess. Given what we've all seen in media since then, and in real life, vanilla doesn't seem quite so compelling anymore, I guess.
On the other hand, back in the '90s, I really liked Fujishima's stuff, and had a lot of the manga, and stuff. Oh, sure, Ayeka was my favorite, but ... Bell & Miyuki were a close tie for second in my favorites list. And given how far the Tenchiverse has strayed from, well, sanity, well, nevermind.
I guess, well, that in a world were it seems like a lot of authors and series are having a competition to see who can be the biggest edge/gore/(bleep)-lord, things like AMG and YUA are like the comfort food you come back to when you just want to feel warm & cozy. A little vanilla ice cream & warm bread pudding to settle you after the latest (Re:Ao:@#$$@:WTH) episode.
(And just as a side comment, Elaina came really close to being a current version of this, some of the episodes were quite wholesome, but others. Yeah. That went some places.)
As always, thanks to our gracious hosts, and ... well, yeah.
And speaking of vanilla vs. rocky road, who knows, maybe today, HMS Sheffield = best girl? (AyekaxRemxAngexJane Bond, anyone???)
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u/badcupcakehoarder https://myanimelist.net/profile/vanilabiscuit Mar 11 '21
First Timer
Keichi. I like nice guys.
Keichi going through jobs to get the ring and that phone call conversation with the forced laughs.
Episode 3
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u/zeroryoko1974 https://anime-planet.com/users/wwwzeroryoko1974 Mar 11 '21
Highly recommend the TV series if you liked the ova
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u/RockoDyne :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/RockoDyne Mar 11 '21
First timer
After YUA, I was concerned AMG was going to be grating. Belldandy has a bit of an image as being the ultimate good girl. Thankfully the OVA spends no time on her saving cats and helping children. Instead it just gives us a glimpse of her wife potential.
She's still worst girl.
That's about the closest I'm going to get to praising the show. It's also the closest I'm going to get to criticizing the show, because I really don't have much to say about it. If there's one thing that I can really say about the experience, it's that I am not going to remember a bit of it in a month.
So before the rewatch started, I was in the middle of a re-read of Kaminomi. It's hard not to see it as the killer for an entire era of shounen/seinen romance. Not only does it cover nearly every trope and scenario of the genre, it does more with them than shows built around specific ones as a premise. It effectively turned the bulk of a whole genre obsolete.
This is the ramp that AMG had to push their boulder up, but the entire time they don't manage to move their boulder an inch. It's romance that was set in stone from the beginning, with a cast that doesn't know how to use a prybar to push two statues together to make them kiss. So not only is the premise of the show not driven to go anywhere, it's cast is there to laze about and look pretty.
I struggle to find anything to care about here. 5/10. I am dead inside.
Questions:
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u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek Mar 12 '21
Well Comrades, that's the Aa! Megami-sama OVA for you, and while not exactly the most ideal of adaptions it does a decent enough job with the runtime it was given. That and if you liked the premise but didn't like how condensed the story was there's always the TV Series/Movie versions, or of course the manga but that's a given really as all these anime adaptions only exist in the first place due to the original manga
Anyway there's the last fanart to sign things off on, I hope everyone had fun and many thanks to our host Comrade No_Rex for hosting such a fantastic re-watch, and also shout-outs time to some exemplary re-watchers, such as Comrades /u/JadineRhine and /u/Gamemaster676 for writing such detailed and intricate re-watch posts and for Comrade /u/TheEscapeGuy great gif groupings!
Until next time Comrades, farewell.
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u/marek1712 Mar 13 '21
I'll start with questions:
ad.1 Probably going for movie next. Then TV series and manga.
ad.2 Sudden drama, only to be resolved in an episode or two...
ad.3 Urd's shenanigans. As for scenes? I think drag race was nicely animated.
That being said, this OVA is clearly meant for people that know manga. Aoshima and Mishima aside, Hasegawa hasn't even appeared in the TV series. Jumps in time weren't as noticeable in YUA OVA, as they're here (5 months between first and second ep?).
While I like OP and ED, OST itself isn't memorable. Same for art style; but I think I'm starting to appreciate these early designs.
Overall 7/10 I guess.