Ok, It's a new year and that means I should stop being lazy and get back to reviewing my anime. I came to the conclusion that I've been neglecting some of my dvds. Buying them and then never getting around to watching them. Well that's about to change. I am now determined to go through my dvd collection alphabetically watching and then reviewing. So I'm hoping to get a review up at least once a week. So that being all said and done, the first anime in my collection to go up on the block is "Ah! My Goddess - The Movie". I bought this one a long time ago. Back when I was first getting into anime. What really attracted me to this one was cover art. I had no idea what "Ah! My Goddess" was about beyond the description on the back of the dvd. (since the OVA was already out) Anywho, everytime I went to Best Buy I'd stop and just take a look. It's very well done with one of those slipcovers holding the case together. On the cover is Belledandy in her ceremonial clothes granting a wish (or at least that's what it looks like to me). So finally I said what the heck and got it. Being new to anime at the time when I watched this for the first time, I was a tad confused with the plot. Like what exactly is the Goddess Relief Office or whatever, and what is the difference between Heaven and a computer? But as I watched it the more I enjoyed it. The plot of the movie is Celestine (voiced by David Lucus a.k.a. Steven Blum) escapes from the prison on the moon with the help of Morgan le Fey ( voiced by Lia Sargent). He plans on remaking the world without descrimination and interference from the Heavens and he plans to use Belledandy (voiced by Ruby Marlowe) as a way of hacking the central computer to start disrupting things. By useing her to do this, he also intends to free her of her Goddess duties and null out Keichi's (voiced by Tony Oliver) wish for her to stay with him. This all means in layman's terms that Belledandy get's amnesia specifically about Keichi. And so Keichi, Skuld (voiced by Sherry Lynn), and Urd (voiced by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) need to cure Belledandy and stop Celestine and Morgan. The animation is wonderful in this movie. Very detailed and good stylization of the characters. I particularly like Morgan's Fairy form design with the blend of human and butterfly. Her ears resemble little wings and butterfly wings coming off her back and arms are interesting placement. I also like the way her body is designed with the look of tattoos curving around her and her fingers. Another plus is the music. There are some wonderful orchestral pieces in the movie, light and airy, some quite uplifting movements. Also for the plus side there are some good extras, such as an episode from the Adventures of Mini-G, an art gallery and movie trailer. The only downside to the movie is some of the dialogue particularly from Belledandy is this goody-two-shoes preachy sound to it. After a while I just got tired of her talking. On the whole, I did enjoy this movie. I give it 2.5 stars. It's worth renting and then deciding if you would want to purchase.
Boma at 4:00 PM
