Anime Chaos - DVD reviews, blunt and to the point.

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-Running Time: 650 Minutes (complete 24 eps series + the 2 DVD only episodes)
-Screen Format: 16:9 Widescreen
-Number of Discs: 6)
-Special: Collectors box available with vol. 1.

Keiichi Morisato is an engineering student, top driver of his campus motor club, and not very lucky with the ladies. But while calling for take-out food one evening, a wrong number puts him in contact with the "Goddess Hotline." One misplaced wish later, Keiichi finds himself blessed with Belldandy, the perfect girlfriend and a goddess in every sense of the word.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have any idea of how to act in the human world, and her presence quickly gets Keiichi kicked out of the dorms. Fortunately for Keiichi, his troubles have just begun.

Ah! My Goddess is a series that in every media it is part of, be it written (Manga), audio (drama CDs) or Anime, is almost universally enjoyed by everyone it touches. Other animated versions include the 5 episode OVA created in 1993 and the movie that was released to Japanese theaters in 2000. Before now however, there was quite a bit of liberty taken with the original source material, the Manga, when being animated. The TV series seeks to rectify that... mostly. I say mostly because even though it follows the Manga rather closely it still takes liberties with the stories from time to time or melds 2 or more stories into an episode. Even these episodes work really well. Lind makes an appearance... LONG before she should be.

The story goes that one day a college student, one Keiichi Morisato, is left to mind the telephone in the dorm while his sempai (seniors) go for entertainment elsewhere. When trying to place a call from the phone he was minding, he accidentally makes a call to a wrong number and this is the moment his life changes forever. The call connects him to the Goddess Help Line.

Once the call is placed, and Keiichi attempts to disconnect by hanging up abruptly, the beginning workings of the contract have begun and a goddess, Belldandy, arrives in his room through the mirror.

The Goddess Help Line exists to help people down on their luck and Keiichi seems to have a rough time of it. The way the Goddess Help Line assists is they send an agent, Belldandy in this case, to the person in question and this person is allowed to make a single wish. When Keiichi finds out about the wish he is unsurprisingly distrusting, believing it is an attempt by his sempai to make a fool of him. After getting the explanation of what is to take place, and he learns that Belldandy seems to be an unusually kind and beautiful woman, his wish is made: for a Goddess like Belldandy to be with him forever!

In a flash of light the wish is granted and the stirring of the System Force begins to form a way for these two to be together no matter the circumstances.

The ending closes all of the open storyline but leaves the human/Goddess couple in only a slightly less awkward situation from when they started. As it follows the Manga rather closely, which is still running after 17 years, things are left open for the recently begun second TV series, Sorezore no Tsubasa which recently ended its Japanese run as of this writing.

The opening theme "Open Your Mind ~Chiisana Hane Hirogete~" (Spreading Small Wings) sung by Yoko Ishida plays out across the opening animation. The opening animation is well done, matching the style and feel of the series. The animation is well chosen and well animated.

There are 2 ending themes and 2 ending animations. The first ending song, "Wish" is sung by Yoko Ishida while the second ending theme, "Wing" is sung by Yoko Takahashi. The first ending animation is what appears to be paintings of different scenes from the series that look really good and are finely detailed. The second ending animation leaves a lot to be desired though. All the second ending has to it is Keichii on his motorcycle and Belldandy in the sidecar riding down a vast stretch of highway near the sea. The lackluster second ending theme fits the lackluster second ending animation and I feel they would have been better served keeping the original ending animation and theme.

The animation in this series is a mixed bag. The characters all look fantastic as one would expect. The issue however is some of the actual animation. Anyone that has seen the anemic "dance" scene knows exactly where I am coming from. Thankfully the instances where the animation seems to be poor occurs only infrequently, the rest of the time the animation is at an acceptable level compared to other animation from the time. Assembling the animation staff from the 2000 movie helps keep the look and feel of the series in line with the most recent addition (prior to the TV series) of the series in animated form. Being from the movie, I had hoped for a little better, but it is still acceptable.

On the audio side both the spoken Japanese and English are presented in the original stereo surround in Dolby Digital Stereo. This type of surround sound works for a series like this that is more dialog and animation driven than full on action shows. English subtitles are available with a separate track with sign translations as well