mai vs bell, dr jack style
Categories: anime, belldandy, commentary, mai hime/otome, march madness
Tagged: belldandy, mai hime/otome
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This Mai vs Belldandy match intrigues me, and I definitely can see the appeal for both. Having worked on sake, bugs, and angels for a few years, I have my own preference… can I match up the two objectively? Let’s do this, Dr. Jack style.
BTW, if AWO can talk about the “Hunter S. Thompson of anime fandom” for fifteen minutes and not have an audience rebel, I’ll toss out a reference to Dr Jack Ramsey. (Off-topic, but Hunter S. Thompson was most known for his drinking, gambling, and womanizing. So I’m assuming that any Hunter S. Thompson of anime fandom is a heavy drinker, gambler, and has divorced at least three times while writing stuff like, “Nekomimi meido 4eva.” No way in hell does Patrick Macias qualify. He looks too healthy. Maybe “the Hubie Brown of anime fandom” would be a more appropriate title. I’m waaaaaaaaay off-topic at this point. Sorry.)
Anyway, let’s break down the Mai and Belldandy fight:
Hawtness
Mai: Bouncy. Very bouncy. Shapely with a round ass to boot. Definitely sekushi with that girl next door look. Her hair is lacking and looks like $9 at Supercuts. She mostly wears the Fuuka’s uniform which do not accept her assests properly. In real life, her ceiling would be Sports Illustrated swimsuit model.
Belldandy: Bouncy. Not as bouncy as Mai. Shapely like a goddess. Sekushi with the charm of a goddess. Awesome hair. Bell also looks great in everything from goddess robes to a miniskirt. In real life, her ceiling would be Estee Lauder model/Chairwoman of the United Nations/Cylon template.
Looks are important for any heroine, and, for some people, kawaii trumps sekushi. Both of these lovely ladies are definitely in the sekushi category, but Belldandy has a goddess charm to her as well as the better hair style. Edge: Belldandy.
Love Interest
Mai: Tate, who almost sunk Mai Hime singlehandedly and whose reincarnation as Wong is sinking Mai Otome (with help from the writers). There’s also Reito who passed up a Mai buffet.
Belldandy: Keiichi, who is the perfect complement to Bell in terms of being a nice and genuine person.
While a typical Mai/Tate scene would be about shy looks and odd misunderstandings, they always end with some discomfort. For example, there’s Mai ready to kiss Reito at the festival, and Tate looks like he’s dying on the side. You feel bad for him, but he’s like a third wheel at that point and just kills the Mai/Reito action. Basically, they’re Ross and Rachael. A typical Bell/K1 scene always leaves a warm feeling afterwards, like how the two won the off-road rally by working together and getting through all of Aoshima’s traps by trusting each other. There’s just no equal… if I had to choose a couple to send through the Gates of Judgement to save mankind, I sure wouldn’t pick Mai/Tate over Bell/K1. Edge: Belldandy.
Cooking Ability
Mai: World-class ramen, but she isn’t good at anything else (as witnessed by the cooking episode where she said, “I can only make ramen.”) At least Mikoto approves.
Belldandy: World-class cook. Her ceiling would be Estee Lauder model/Chairwoman of the United Nations/Cylon template/Iron Chef Japan.
No contest. Who wouldn’t want to eat one of Bell’s home cooked meals? (And if you haven’t heard Bell’s cake song yet, shame on you.) Edge: Belldandy.
Lesbian Tendancies
Mai: She is probably has the least lesbian tendancies of the main Hime characters, or at least they make her look pale. It doesn’t help that she spends more of her time with bishounen Reito or loser Tate instead of private sessions with Shizuru.
Belldandy: None whatsoever. She’s just innocent like that, even when she gives Peorth CPR.
Neither lady even crack the hawt girl on girl power rankings, but at least Mai has Mikoto. Edge: Mai.
Support “Mecha”
Mai: Kagutsuchi, a pissed-off dragon thingie.
Belldandy: Holy Bell, a mute angel thingie.
No contest. Holy Bell doesn’t do much besides sing. Kagutsuchi would eat that and get indigestion afterwards. Edge: Mai.
Family
Mai: Sickly brother who has too many Brokeback Mountain moments with his roommate. Though if Akira was really a guy, I think it would honestly have improved Mai Hime.
Belldandy: Skuld and Urd. Adult Skuld and Loli-Urd.
No contest. Edge: Adult Skuld.
Combat Ability
Mai: Fire-user who can fly and toss fireballs.
Belldandy: Wind-user who can fly as well as use goddess magic.
A heroine has to be able to dish out damage, and while Belldandy is stronger (has a limiter so she won’t destroy the world) she is more reluctant to use her powers unless Keiichi is in danger. Mai? Very liberal destruction and has been known to battle into outer space to take down a little ten year old choir girl. Bell would never do that. Edge: Mai.
Hawt Passionate Nights
Mai: Was ready to sleep with Reito, and he didn’t even buy her dinner.
Belldandy: Keiichi must take a lot of cold showers.
I still can’t believe Reito passed up a Mai smorgesbord. Edge: Mai.
Personality
Mai: Pretty much angst teen going through her first love. In other words, if the WB made a drama about a lesbian boarding school, Mai would be the main character there as well. She’s not sure how to handle it, and she’s unable to confide in anyone, including her brother, roommate, or Shizuru. Eventually, all the bottled frustration boil over, and Mai transforms into emo-Shinn.
Belldandy: Goddess in every which way. Just no equal in anime. In volume 22, where Mara and loli-Hild spring the lamp that can capture people by tricking them with visions of what they desire, only Belldandy wasn’t tricked since she saw what the lamp truely was and saw what the lamp desired rather than what she desired. Now that’s a goddess.
Inner beauty is important too, and it’s really not a contest. It’s Bell-frickin’-dandy. She’s able to make random strangers as well as the ones she loves happy. She always thinks of others before herself and always sees the silver lining of things. Decisive edge: Belldandy.
Popularity Longevity and Conclusion
Mai: Roughly 30 episodes. More if we count the time we’re pining for her in Otome.
Belldandy: 5 OVAs, 1 real movie, 40+ Mini-G episodes, and 26 + 26 episodes of TV goddess.
Shinn will get another series before Mai does, and Bell continues to chug along. Mai isn’t even the best character from her own series (Shizuru takes the cake with Natsuki tied up inside it). Bell? ã‚ã‚ã£å¥³ç¥žã•ã¾ã£ is synonymous with her. Bell has been eternal having lasted over 17 years of manga goodness as well as anime that spans two decades. People of all age groups and gender can appreciate her character. Honestly, I think more big breasted and emo female leads (*cough* Ayumi, Karin *cough*) will come along, but there’s only one Belldandy. For an industry like anime where themes (nekomimi, meido, harems, giant robots, siscon, etc) get repeated endlessly, Belldandy hasn’t. That’s what makes Bell special. Final edge: Belldandy.
30 Responses to “mai vs bell, dr jack style”
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You forgot one important component – seiyuu. And for me, Kikoku Inoue is heads and tails above Mai Nakahara… but that’s just me. :D Then again, they both appear in Hime and Otome too….
Nice work Jason
All points were right, I don’t know for sure, but Belldandy is like a member of modern society, because after 17 years since Ah! My Goddess manga came to life; she still has her appeal intact. She is beauty, cute, innocent, do the right thing at the right moment. As an otaku for more than fifteen years, Belldandy is my favorite female character ever, for the things you said, for the things I love of her.
Anyway, I’m with Belldandy
I have huge problems with Belldandy. I have problems with how Kei’ichi “deserves” her. I have problems with how utterly, completely perfect she is. I just can’t accept her as anything more than an idealized male fantasy figure.
I guess to try to explain just how perfect and idealized I see her, we can compare Belldandy giving CPR with say, Shizuru. In both cases you can be like “Oh man, lesbians. That’s hot.” However with Shizuru, she still leaves this less-idealized fragment in my head where there’s still a danger to her yuri. We might get to see or imagine now, but she can be hands-off if and when she wants to be. But with Belldandy, not only do we get to watch, but we can also rest assured that we’d never have to feel threatened by the yuri when Belldandy is involved. There is absolutely nothing at all about Belldandy which could be threatening in my eyes, and that complete idealization really really really bothers me.
Belldandy may lose to Mai in some categories, but when looking overall conclusion no way Mai could win. And Kikuko Inoue is one of best VAs i have heard.
Bell, beat that girl.
Barring the gross underestimation on your part on Kikuko Inoue’s talent, you forgot the Father in Law. Belldandy with an almighty pop or Mai with errr…Tate? A dad you can and WILL respect or some purple pissing coward who I’d have field day sninping at with a .50 cal HMG. Assuming of course we’d all do the right thing and introduce ourselves to our future in laws…
One could argue that Belldandy is also in her first relationship as well, but is infinitely more mature about it. Belldandy knows she can beat Keiichi to a pulp over any funny business. Mai’s defense against weaklings with hormones however is as mighty as the heel of one Achilles. Indeed a finer heel has yet to be found.
I guess Mai’s appeal is that she is “attainable” with little to no effort, whlie you have to aspire to impress Belldandy.
Man the poll`s are moving crazily now.
it`s back to 50-50 again.
i smell a rat.
LOL, when I voted back when it was first out, it was 50-50.
It’s stil 50-50 now. Dang, jason, really, did you have to swing the vote so much :P.
It’s back to Mai leading as of 3/11 – I smell many pedos on the Internet.. along with people with no taste or losers with a thing for lesbians. :P
Still, comparing Mai’s family with Belldandy’s… and there’s no comparison. If you wanted the big… assets.. you could just look at Urd for a while. Or Adult Skuld. Besides, I’d have to say Belldandy has the better personality, even with her (not often seen) fits of jealousy or anxiety.
Hey! Rat; come back here with those votes
Florida… Florida… Florida… Florida… ^_^
I know Belldandy looks to good for real, but she is so suit, gentle, beautiful, innocent, did I said beautiful?, OMEGA KAWAII
Wait a minute, how could it be 50-50, if May has 127 votes and Belldandy 126, I smell something rotten here… we need a better math program.
Perfect women are overrated. Mai all the way. *waves banners, passes out fliers, head-band, loudspeaker, the works!!*
Oh come on…I thought Bell had a better following than that >_
I wonder what happens in a tie.
Is there a walkover or what?
Hehehe for me Urd is better than Belldandy but that is only cuz I like her personality.
I own all of the mangas of OMG as well as the movie and the first 26 chapters of the series, and I can not figure out the part where you have an adult Skuld and a loli Urd, can you tell me? Thanks
Trials of Morisato in the manga. Episodes 25–26 of the TV series.
Belldandy now leads by 5, its gonna be a nail biter folks
As much as Mai-HiME rocked, you’re right, Mai isn’t the best character from it. She just gets the title and the most screen time. Belldandy IS Ah! My Goddess. Besides, she’s Bell-freaking-dandy. No contest.
MAI FOR THE WIN! I will vote from different IPs if I have to!
belldandy is goddess how could some one not one some one as holy and loving as a goddess (heh the zuse in angelium sure as hell did not one one haha , its a hentai but i find it more funny then sexual . kinda like most of the hentai’s)
And a Mai supporter has claimed openly that they’ll cheat to make sure Mai wins… which completely invalidates Mai’s entries, as far as I’m concerned. :D
All of Mai’s entries/votes even.
This is a good fight
50-50 again, but I hope Belldandy still take the lied until the end…
How many days Jason, one more?
Yay! it`s 50-50 again.
Episode 22-23 should rake in more Mai votes.
Especially 23!
Yes, this is an amazing fight between two of my favorite female lead characters. Although I’d rather see neither of them lose, my vote will have to go to Belldandy since I’ve watched and read anything involving her more so than Mai. Oh yeah, and also because Belldandy’s seiyuu did the voice-acting for the equally innocent/adorable/cute Kasumi from Ranma 1/2 as well. So Belldandy FTW (though a tie would be even better).
Maybe we’re going to need an OT to settle the score here
^_^ 50-50, 173-173 wow!
Do you want a fight? Better than Tyson vrs. Hollyfield
No bites please!
The Belldandy crew have called in reinforcements, Belldandy has skyrocketed ahead by 25 votes
YATA!! Ureshii! ^_^
Hontoni Ureshi
Okay, I can’t figure something out. I voted for Mai (thinking it would be an upset vote, I like upsets). How was Belldandy ranked lower than Mai?
As I wrote in the original post, Bell and Nanoha were “at large” bids since they didn’t have a previous poll attributed to them. They got the two lowest seeds. Mai destroyed Arika so she got a good seed. Suigintou barely escaped Suiseiseki so Suigintou got a not so good seed.
D’OH!
I remember that now! Oh well, at least I *checked* before voting this time. :D
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