ああっ女神さまっ ~それぞれの翼~ 1

Sacriligous, I know. I should have waited for the widescreen version instead of watching a VHS-ish quality version, but March Madness Champion Belldandy… with bagpipes. BAGPIPES! That’s just more sacriligous. I had to watch and join the riverdance.

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Welcome back.

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I’m really starting to dislike Yoko Ishida. I still think The Goddess Fantastic club should sing the OP/ED. Always. Always. Always. Then I hear the bagpipes kick in and then see Belldandy playing the bagpipes. I like Yoko Ishida even less (keep in mind I own two of her CDs). My main problem with Open Your Mind was that it was waaaaay too Celtic. My main problem with Shiawase no Iro? Waaaaaaaaay too Celtic. Then again, since the goddesses were inspired by valkyrie lore, it’s kinda appropriate.

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Otherwise, fantastic visuals for the OP (and doesn’t have the cheesy CGI that the first 26 episodes had) and tons of characters– Peorth…

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… Hild…

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… Noble Scarlet…

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… megami-tachi…

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… Chihiro… I’m kicking myself for not waiting for the HD version. Kick. Kick. Kick. Hell, even Belldandy with bagpipes is looking good.

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The episode begins by reminding us of all the characters. Would any non-ああっ女神さまっ fan be watching this? The monk who originally occupied the temple comes back to visit, only to be chased off by Urd and Skuld’s shananigans.

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I’m missing Adult Skuld already.

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Loli-Urd too. Damn, I hope Loli-Hild makes it into this series now.

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Meanwhile, someone who looks like Peorth pays K1 a visit in his dreams? Foreshadowing. Heck ya. Later on, Bell talks a bit about other goddesses, and they show a picture of a rose… mmmm…

(Though if Peorth speaks even one word of French, I may go on a seven state killing spree.)

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Unfortunately, after their last battle with the Lord of Terror, K1 and Bell need to establish a new contract. K1 is informed of this by none other than Kami-sama, which K1 could not hear or comprehend in the manga. Yep, I’m proudly wearing my Belldandy fanboy badge now. Since 1997.

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Don’t worry, though, Rind is on the job, and I’m wiping drool off of my fanboy face. Rind rhymes with wins.

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Axe >> bagpipes. Though I would prefer to see Belldandy duel-wield teacups.

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K1 needs to re-establish the contract, through the phone, but gets denied by the goddess services. Urd and Skuld offer their usual “helpful” advice, and Belldandy goes ballastic at them.

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I’m wondering how she compared there to Tomoe, but too bad they only show Urd developing an eye tick after getting yelled at by Bell. Maybe too scarring for the BBB (Belldandy Battle Battalion) if Belldandy shows her Shinn/Mai/Van/Tomoe/Kaede impression.

(I’m also terrified that the BBB will lynch me because this post doesn’t praise Belldandy enough. Nothing scarier than the omega Belldandy fanboys. Nothing. Not even hearing “Sunrise is taking over production of the next 25 episodes of それぞれの翼.”)

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To take their minds off the matter, Bell suggests that the two go to the university, where they’re harrassed by the original haardo gay pair. Yep, Bell flying around in class… I was fully expecting Maika to pop out of nowhere and bash everyone with that anmesia hammer.

(I’m definitely hoping Chihiro shows up soon… she’s fantastic. One of my favorite characters, if only for her ability to goad K1 and completely dismantle Otaki and Tamiya.)

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Meanwhile, Urd travels to Yggdrisil to work out the system bugs with Rind. Last time I checked, Rind was a combat goddess… so why is she suddenly doing sysadmin stuff?

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And Bell works for AM PM. I mean, wow… when did this happen in the manga? They desperately need to have K1 graduate and introduce Chihiro… I mean… Bell… working at AM PM… sacriligious. That’s worse than the bagpipes. AM PM… *sigh* For fanboy appeasement, may I suggest Soapland for a job instead?

(Meta: Intermission as members of the BBB beat the crap out of jason.)

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Back at the temple, Skuld and Urd are trying to help in their unique ways, ah, just like usual. In other words, total chaos.

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K1 suggests that Bell and him go out on a date instead to get their minds off of the contract problems. Genius. I’m hoping for love hotel, a la Kazuya and Ayane, but I know it’s not happening. They’re going somewhere romantic, sweet, and simple… definitely not a hotel with a heart-shaped bed that charges by the hour.

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K1 is still a mega-wuss. I guess Hand in Hand hasn’t happened yet as K1 is too scared to hold Bell’s hand during their date. He also fails at paying for the date as well as almost dies during the date. What girl could resist that?

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They go to Bell’s favorite place (“where the winds intersect”) and enjoy a delightful time together… and with a backdrop of a romantic sunset by the sea, K1 makes his wish again, and it’s accepted. It begins. Again. It’s always good to have more Belldandy back in our lives.

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ああっ女神さまっ is one of my favorite manga series, and I’m always happy to see it get more anime screentime. I still think that the pinnacle was the movie… just gorgeous animation quality and a high quality soundtrack. There’s just no way the TV series could compete on that front, but the TV series does well in that it brings out so many elements from the manga. It’s like an orgy of goddess happiness and appeasement for any fanboy who waited 17 years for a real anime series for the long-running and beloved manga.

As for this new batch of 26 episodes? I’m not worried at all. As long as Hiroaki Gohda is involved, he’s not going to butcher the show a la Sunrise, and from the pacing, lightness, and just feel of the first episode, he nailed the essence of ああっ女神さまっ… even if Belldandy is playing bagpipes. The animation quality is up to par with the first 26 episodes, but the raw I watched was just atrocious in quality. I’m hoping for a beautiful HD version, but that’ll have to wait three more weeks. (I still do not understand why HD doesn’t run side-by-side with the SD shows in Japan… in the US, HD runs concurrently with SD content… completely baffles me.)

Anyway, fans of the series rejoice… ああっ女神さまっ is on tap for another season, and Belldandy and K1 are just as strong as ever.

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(Even if K1 has suddenly grown monkey ears… wtf?)

22 Responses to “ああっ女神さまっ ~それぞれの翼~ 1”

  1. I wonder if Belldandy’s bagpipes are going to be involved in one of those crazy polls sooner or later…

  2. WTH is going on?

    Why are they deviating so far from the Manga!

    Personally I like Celtic Music (have a ton of it on my Ipod, so i’m good with the Opening scene)

    Since when did Bell have a Job outside Whirlwind?!?

    Actually I think Peorth speaking French fits the character, but that’s just me.

    I was never a big fan of the Movie, but I agree the Animation was far better in the movie than in the series, but what really irritates me about the series is how they totally deviate from the Manga

  3. Never read the manga, so I don’t care about “that”. This is TV, so watch it for what it is – distracting eye candy.

    Now, I did kind of chuckle at the notion of “Belldandy w/Bagpipes” but I think that’s kind of her secret fetish since she obviously will never get any love action from that spineless boyfriend of her’s.

    URD with her mom! MILF! MILF!! Yummy :)

    Definately something’s up with Peorth, oh, and getting a “phone call from God”, that was priceless.

    It feels like more of the same but hope they will develop something more interesting as time goes on.

  4. Man, I cannot wait for this one to be subbed! Do not worry about the French either: she only speaks French in the Dark Horse version, not the Japanese version. In Japanese she speaks… Japanese (wow, imagine that!). The manner by which she speaks changes dramatically at times, from very haughty to almost crass (hence the French/English mix in Dark Horse’s version).

    Man, the Fourth Goddess arc animated… I am drooling already!

  5. The ‘HD’ won’t be beautiful, since it’s airing on BS-i. ;) It will be big and widescreen alright… just not beautiful. ;) At least we get a widescreen version earlier than DVDs this time around…

  6. Hild-sama!!

    sounds interesting, although a bit WTF @ Bell with bagpipes =/

    Belldandy’s face looks rounder and wider (a tiny bit) and eyes further apart

    seems they have taken liberties in changing a few things yet again >_

  7. Well, now that Hild’s animated… there’s no reason for her NOT to go to the MILf list.

    Chihiro, the Plum Tree spirit, Mara, Sentaro… and the cute spiritualist who gets Belldandy all jealous (Shiho Sakakibara)… yes, this could be interesting if the follow through with some of the manga storylines that accompany all those characters (Auto Club Presidency, the Shiho makes Bell Jealous, Miss Keiichi) in this series, it should be a better season than the first. They didn’t exactly follow the manga religiously in the first series either… but if they can do Miss Keiichi properly, I’ll forgive them for that. Ditto if Bell actually gets JEALOUS of Shiho getting time with Keiichi, since that was one of the better points of that storyline, showing she really was a person rather than just a manifestation of Keiichi’s wish.

  8. “Never read the manga, so I don’t care about “that”. This is TV, so watch it for what it is – distracting eye candy.

    Now, I did kind of chuckle at the notion of “Belldandy w/Bagpipes” but I think that’s kind of her secret fetish since she obviously will never get any love action from that spineless boyfriend of her’s.”

    Haven’t read the Manga?!?! Dude you get so much more understanding of the characters if you read the Manga, for example in the Manga, Belldandy says she’s not ready to fulfill all of Keiichi’s desires just yet.

  9. Yup. You get the feel more.
    My heart shouted every few seconds watching this episode. I didn’t use body gestures cuz my parents was around. Think I’m gonna watch it again full focus and see what I can feel.

  10. With a Bagpipe, Belladandy won’t be able to sing. I guess somebody must have read my criticism of singing and music in the series. I still maintain, all the female singers in my choir sings better than what we heard from Belladandy in Animation, and even my former choirs can sing better and more difficult piece than what we heard from chorus of angels in the animation.

  11. Regarding the BBB (Belldandy Battle Battalion) how dare you underestimate their numbers it should be at least a Brigade! To say battalion is saying that there are about 300-700 fans, bah! There are at least 3000 of us if not more, but since you want only to use a single letter brigade is about as high as you can go. If your willing to dabble in and consequently slaughter German then use Belldandy Battle Bundeswehr (15,258,931 strong and G36s all round).

    Regarding mismatch of jobs to skill, it happens plenty of occassions in the military when a CO doesn’t know where to put that new Ensign or LTJG.

    As for the Bag pipes, I say that its a plus! All she needs now is a claymore (Claymore > Axe), and a kilt. Whether she decides to go “regimental” from then one is pure speculation, that I leave to you.

  12. I like the deviations from the Manga. I don’t want the same story told to me that I already know. Just remember ‘Open Your Mind!’.

    And do it! Give something new a chance before you play purist, just because it’s not canon to what WE Know doesn’t mean it isn’t from Fujishima’s design. He could very well have approved every change and liked it even better, for all we know!

  13. i dont mind the changes in the anime, it doesnt bother me a great deal. I think im more of the type who like to see every part of the manga animated right down to the enth degree ^_^;;

    but i also suppose its good to have fresh stuff as well. As long as they keep major plotlines and majority of events i’ll be happy

    the widening of Bell’s face annoys me a little bit but i’ll get over it soon enough lol

  14. I think its more beautiful tthan ever, looks more like the latest manga. Banzai!!!

  15. More AMG is always good. Always.

  16. I agree to that 100% percent, no, 1000%!!!

  17. The face in manga isnt as wide but she still has large eyes

  18. HAHAHAAH!!!!FINALY ARRIVE!!!thanks to TBS and to this blogsite! very nice blogsite!!

  19. Yeah. Nice and really uptodate. Bell is sooooooooooooooo gooood!

  20. Actually, it depends on which version of Aa! Megamisama you watch when it comes to Peorth. In English, she speaks bits and pieces of French. But in Japanese, she speaks very much like a well to do Japanese Noblewoman. At least that’s what I understand it as. But with the series, I’m happy that it worked out so well. While Bell at AM PM isn’t at all related to the Manga, overall it’s not a bad first episode. And I’ll comment on the bagpipes as well, since when did Bell play bagpipes? o.O?? But oh well, not a bad tune at all, and it’s just another attribute to a growing and continuing series.

  21. The series Aria has far better music and singers. They even had music of Monteverdi for the festival, which is the correct choice for venetian setting.

  22. Celtic music for Scandinavian goddesses?

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