The story opens with a first year student at the Nekomi Institute of Technology named Keiichi Morisato who was left home alone by his dormmates. He becomes hungry and tries to order dinner; in the process of doing that, he accidentally dials the Goddess Relief Office, and this summons a goddess named Belldandy to his dorm room. Belldandy says she can grant Keiichi a wish.Thinking it's a prank set up by his dormmates, Keiichi wishes for Belldandy to stay with him forever. When Belldandy says his wish has been granted, Keiichi is taken aback because women are not allowed to be in the dorm. At that moment, his dormmates return and find Belldandy; as punishment, Keiichi and Belldandy are kicked out of the dorm.
Keiichi tries to find someplace to stay for the night, but he is unsuccessful. Through overuse of her magic, Belldandy leads Keiichi to an abandoned temple. The next morning, Belldandy uses her powers to restore the temple, and the two of them begin living there. Suddenly, Keiichi's younger sister, Megumi, drops by. She's about to start attending the same school that Keiichi goes to, and needs a place to live. Belldandy invites her to stay.
A few months pass, and everything is fine... until Belldandy's older sister, Urd, appears. Urd begins meddling with things in order to try to advance Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship. Unfortunately, everything she tries backfires. Her last resort is a love potion that she gives to Keiichi; the effects of this potion almost tear Belldandy and Keiichi apart. As punishment for her interference, Urd is banished from the heavens.
Belldandy's younger sister Skuld also makes an appearance. She's lonely and wants Belldandy to return with her to the heavens. Skuld tries to interfere in order to break up Keiichi and Belldandy, but it doesn’t work. A few months later, bizarre things start happening at the temple, and it must be determined what is happening and how it will affect Keiichi and the goddesses.
This DVD release of Oh My Goddess! is a three-disc set. The first two discs have two episodes, while the third disc only has one episode. All of the discs contain these bonus features in common: Special Audio Options (Dub Your Own and Commentary with the American voice actors and directors), Image Gallery (includes stills from the OVA done in a slideshow format), and trailers for various AnimEigo properties.
The first disc's extras also include Character Cards (a slideshow of character artwork), Character Designs (a slideshow of character model sheets), and Program Notes (a text-only history of the series and a primer on Japanese sounds for pronunciation). The Program Notes are done in a slideshow manner, where the viewer cannot control how quickly the slideshow goes by. If you can't read all the text fast enough, you keep having to go back with the "back" button on the remote until you’ve read it all. After a while, this became rather annoying and frustrating.
On the second disc, the extras also include: information for the two episodes included on the disc (various pictures and text related to the episode, including storyboards and text-only interviews). Unfortunately, these are done in the same slideshow manner as the Program Notes on the first disc. There are also Program Notes on this disc, which include the credits and lyrics for the opening and ending theme songs.
The last disc's extras also include a text-only interview with producer Toru Miura, which is done in the same slideshow style of the Program Notes on the first disc. There's also information on the episode included on the disc, which is done in the same way as the episode information on the second disc. There’s also a "manual" for Nekomi Institute of Technology included (which features a campus map and information on the clubs), as well as a mockup of a student newspaper and an ID card.
You can also see a karaoke version of the opening and ending theme songs, complete with Japanese lyrics printed on the screen. You can also see a textless version of the opening credits, as well as of all five versions of the ending credits.
When it comes to this DVD set, I would recommend it for the episodes alone. While the bonus features contain a lot of information, the emphasis on the text-only features done in a slideshow format that the viewer can't control became rather frustrating after a while. The episodes in the series itself were compelling, and left me wondering what would happen next. The storytelling and animation make this DVD set worth the money you pay for it. However, now that it's out of print, be sure to look around at various outlets that sell used DVDs and try to find the best bargain.
I wrote this review after watching a copy of this DVD box set that my husband and I purchased.
| Moonlight and Cherry Blossoms Midsummer Night's Dream Bonus Features | Burning Hearts on the Road Evergreen Holy Night Bonus Features | For the Love of Goddess Bonus Features |
