I have just watched this series for the second time, and many of the impressions I had when I watched it for the first time seven years ago have been reinforced.
One of those impressions is that _Aa! Megamisama!_ is a fabulously produced piece of work. The animation is superb for an OVA, the voice acting is good, and the beginning and ending credit songs are imaginative.
Now for the bad news . . .
The main problem with this series is that it is too short: four 30-minute episodes and a 45-minute one. As a result, it spends most of its time setting up the story and introducing the characters; the third goddess, Skuld, does not make an appearance until episode #3. In fact, the entire series plays more like a prologue than a complete story. This is fine if more series are to follow, but the only follow-up so far is the movie (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the "Mini Goddess" series is a direct sequel to this).
Another shortcoming was the general tone of the series, a tone which is excessively light and airy. No, I don't think that all anime has to be dark and serious. But I would have liked something that didn't look as if it were aimed at ten- to twelve-year-olds. I think it's good that such anime exists (for those too young for _Akira_), but since AnimEigo, the series's American distributor, seems to be marketing this to adults as well as children, I would expect something more substantial. Adding to this problem is the simplicity of the smaller plots of the individual episodes, as well as of the larger plot of the series in general. The smaller plots generally involve some immediate problem which gets solved at the end of the episode. While this approach works well with TV series anime, the viewer who commits himself to watching an OVA wants more of an ongoing story and less of a sitcom-style plot. As a result of these issues, _Aa! Megamisama!_, IMHO, becomes that dreaded term "a piece of fluff," though a well made piece of fluff.
--POSSIBLE SPOILER-- One thing I found interesting in this series was the theme of commitment, symbolized in the ring that Keiichi buys Belldandy and in the ending credits song. The entire series becomes something of a celebration of purity and virtuosity, undoubtedly influenced by the fact that Keiichi's love interest is a goddess who cannot be sullied. This wholesomeness is something often missing from anime, though it makes me wonder if the target audience for _Aa! Megamisama!_ is much younger than I am.
I don't dislike this series. In fact, it was a welcome change from the usual stuff. I plan to watch the movie, and would watch a sequel series if one ever came out. I have never read the manga, so maybe I'm missing something. At any rate, it's worth watching for the animation alone.
One of those impressions is that _Aa! Megamisama!_ is a fabulously produced piece of work. The animation is superb for an OVA, the voice acting is good, and the beginning and ending credit songs are imaginative.
Now for the bad news . . .
The main problem with this series is that it is too short: four 30-minute episodes and a 45-minute one. As a result, it spends most of its time setting up the story and introducing the characters; the third goddess, Skuld, does not make an appearance until episode #3. In fact, the entire series plays more like a prologue than a complete story. This is fine if more series are to follow, but the only follow-up so far is the movie (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the "Mini Goddess" series is a direct sequel to this).
Another shortcoming was the general tone of the series, a tone which is excessively light and airy. No, I don't think that all anime has to be dark and serious. But I would have liked something that didn't look as if it were aimed at ten- to twelve-year-olds. I think it's good that such anime exists (for those too young for _Akira_), but since AnimEigo, the series's American distributor, seems to be marketing this to adults as well as children, I would expect something more substantial. Adding to this problem is the simplicity of the smaller plots of the individual episodes, as well as of the larger plot of the series in general. The smaller plots generally involve some immediate problem which gets solved at the end of the episode. While this approach works well with TV series anime, the viewer who commits himself to watching an OVA wants more of an ongoing story and less of a sitcom-style plot. As a result of these issues, _Aa! Megamisama!_, IMHO, becomes that dreaded term "a piece of fluff," though a well made piece of fluff.
--POSSIBLE SPOILER-- One thing I found interesting in this series was the theme of commitment, symbolized in the ring that Keiichi buys Belldandy and in the ending credits song. The entire series becomes something of a celebration of purity and virtuosity, undoubtedly influenced by the fact that Keiichi's love interest is a goddess who cannot be sullied. This wholesomeness is something often missing from anime, though it makes me wonder if the target audience for _Aa! Megamisama!_ is much younger than I am.
I don't dislike this series. In fact, it was a welcome change from the usual stuff. I plan to watch the movie, and would watch a sequel series if one ever came out. I have never read the manga, so maybe I'm missing something. At any rate, it's worth watching for the animation alone.