(n.b) I was one of those former members who was left sad by the closure of what was the most definitive site on all things AMG left...the Goddess Relief Office. One of my favourite parts on the site was the Goddess history and Norse mythology section. I spent a lot of time there immersing myself in the history of the manga and the thinking behind it. This posting is from that site, and was made by a respected senior member there...Timotheus. It is reposted for information sake.All thanks to 'Timotheus' for originally creating these articles which helped many a first timer like me back in 2014/15 make sense of the manga .


#1
Posted February 1, 2011
EXAMINING THE ORIGINS AND EARLY HISTORY OF OH/AH MY GODDESS - 2/1/2011

The following topic does not represent the beliefs and opinions of the Goddess Project Administration and is presented here for informational and discussion purposes only. All subject material is the work of Timotheus and represents his research and opinions. Please direct all questions, comments, criticisms, profanity, and death threats to him and not our beloved administrator who is getting stressed out.

The Ojiisan Clause: I should also add that it is entirely probable that Mr. Fujishima has never thought things through to this degree and is just “winging it” as he goes. This is an interpretation of what he’s shown and represents an attempt to develop a rational system of interpretation from his writings. Mr. Fujishima has more than likely developed his own ideas on the subject based on his own beliefs, readings, and experience, but feels no obligation to be consistent in their use. If he wants to change how things work in his world, he can (and has), and all I, or anyone, can do is scramble to alter our own ideas to catch up when he does.

Spoiler Warning – THIS IS A DISCUSSION TOPIC AND AS SUCH WILL BE USING EXAMPLES AND REFERENCES TO STORIES THROUGHOUT THE OH/AH MY GODDESS SERIES, BOTH MANGA AND ANIME. ALTHOUGH I WILL TRY TO KEEP THINGS AS VAGUE AS POSSIBLE AS FAR AS EXACT PLOT IS CONCERNED, SOME OF THESE WILL BE STORY SPOILERS. SO BE AWARE!

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF OH/AH MY GODDESS BY KOSUKE FUJISHIMA

This article is intended to be an introductory source of information about the manga and anime series “Oh/Ah My Goddess” by Kosuke Fujishima. The manga is published in Japan by Kodansha and in America by Dark Horse while the anime versions have been produced through Kodansha and AIC in Japan and distributed by a number of sources. It’s purposed is to provide some basic background about the series to people who have just discovered the story, either through the manga or anime, to help them understand what’s going on, or for people who are looking for information about the series to see if they might be interested in it. The further down the list you go, the more obscure the information will become, but its all background on the series.

1.0 - First, Why Oh/Ah My Goddess?

1.1 - For many newcomers to Mr. Fujishima’s world of goddesses and mortals, the first thing to strike them is what to call it. The story is referred to as “Oh! My Goddess” and “Ah! My Goddess” almost interchangeably by different fans on the forums while the anime and manga releases are titled by both versions in marketing and in stores. So what’s going on?

1.2 - The English phoneticized title of Mr. Fujishima’s story is usually rendered into “Aa! Megami-sama” which can be further translated as either “Oh! My Goddess” or “Ah! My Goddess”. The more likely translation for how it’s spoken in Japanese would be Ah! My Goddess; as in “Ah! She’s so wonderful”, but when Dark Horse, Studio Proteus, and AnimEigo were first preparing to bring their English translations of Aa! Megami-sama to America, they questioned Mr. Fujishima directly as to which way he wanted the title translated to avoid error. At that time (in 1994), he felt that a pun-like title based on the phrase “Oh My God!” would be the better way to go (he does love his word-play), so the English title became “Oh! My Goddess” for both the American anime and manga releases.

1.3 - Unfortunately for future continuity, the independent fans and self-translators, who tend to be rather purist about such things, all raised a fuss about this, insisting that it should be Ah! My Goddess and continued to refer to it as such. Then, to add fuel to the fire, when questioned about this at a later convention, Mr. Fujishima went on record as saying he really didn’t care what it was called as long as it was what the fans who spoke that language wanted. Thus the great divide was formed. Dark Horse and AnimEigo, who had copyright and legal contracts tied up with the name, would continue to use Oh! My Goddess while Sony/Pioneer/Geneon/Anime Works/Funimation/etc. (who wanted to separate themselves from the AnimEigo OAV anime copyright anyway), would use Ah! My Goddess, along with many independent translators and fan sites.

1.4 - So which version is correct? Actually, both of them are. The version most people use usually depends on how they were introduced to the series. If it was through Dark Horse’s manga or AnimEigo’s OAV anime they’ll use Oh! My Goddess. If it was through the TV animation or independent translations they’ll usually go with Ah! My Goddess. And sometimes they’ll get rather paternalistic about it, but not nearly as much as they used to (especially since Mr. Fujishima has kept waffling in different interviews over which HE prefers). But rather than chose sides or aggravate some of the more virulent partisans of either version, I’ve adopted the habit of using the term Oh/Ah My Goddess to cover both sides. Yes, I’m a pathetic wishy-washy fence sitter, but my computer isn’t all that flame retardant.

2.0 - IT BEGINS WITH AN ARTIST AND AN IDEA

2.0.1 - To begin any good origins article, we need to discus the background of the author who created the work and the manga he initially created.

2.1.1 - Kosuke Fujishima (or Fujishima Kosuke as it would be written in Japan) was born on July 7, 1964 in the Chiba region of Japan. While never achieving Human First Class status, he was discovered to have a B blood type and a fair amount of artistic talent which was applied toward drawing, mechanics, story telling, and music. In school he devoted much of his time to both mechanical designs and artistic story telling, although he claims the latter can only be called manga by default as he wasn’t consciously trying to be a manga artist. By high school he was creating multi-page cartoon stories with word balloon dialogue, but he really didn’t like showing them off and was still more inclined toward becoming an anime producer (please note, not an anime artist) than manga artist. And being a practical sort worked toward a certificate in technical draftsmanship.

2.1.2 - He graduated from high school in 1981-82 with a degree in technical drafting, but after failing to find an apprenticeship in that field he took a job as the editor of Puff, a comic news magazine. While there he allegedly created a parody comic called `X'-pa no Yoko-chan that ran in Puff but never took credit for. As the editor, one of his jobs was to interview new and popular manga artists, one of whom was Tatsuya Egawa in 1984-85, who was at the time just beginning to publish his ground-breaking serial Be Free! in Kodansha's Comic Morning magazine. After the interview, Mr. Fujishima rather boldly asked Mr. Egawa if he was looking for any new assistants. Mr. Egawa liked what he saw in Mr. Fujishima’s portfolio and hired him on.

2.2.1 - Tatsuya Egawa was born in the Aichi Prefecture of Nagoya, Japan. He has a degree in applied mathematics and taught middle school math for five months before switching to a career as a manga artist. After studying under the prolific manga-ka Motomiya Hiroshi for four months, Tatsuya's break came when his story "Don't Give Up" won Comic Morning’s open artist contest which gave him a slot to run his own series in the magazine. He has done several other noteworthy manga and anime titles and also directed live-action pornographic (!!) films. Tatsuya is known for his drawings of over-the-top facial expressions and always giving credit to his staff for their contributions to his creations, the cover credits usually reading something like "Egawa and his assistants". In 1985 one of these became Kosuke Fujishima who would work for Mr. Egawa for about a year and a half. (This may explain where Mr. Fujishima got the inspiration for his occasional displays of over the top distorted facial features for Keiichi and others.)

2.2.2 - In 1986, Be Free! was made into a live-action theatrical movie and Mr. Fujishima did a manga style story on its creation called the Making of Be Free! that ran in Comic Morning and gained a great deal of popularity on its own. Mr. Fujishima considers this his first professional work and in the process created two policewomen characters to help tell the story who would later become known as Miyuki and Natsumi. At least one fan letter was received by the editorial staff at Comic Morning that made such an impression in its ravings about the two policewomen that Mr. Fujishima was invited to create a series based around them. With this as his inspiration for his first début series as an author and illustrator, You’re Under Arrest began running in Morning Party Extra in November 1986 and continued for 79 monthly chapters until May 1992.

(It was sometime between when he got out of high school and becoming one of Mr. Egawa’s assistants that Mr. Fujishima finally decided to make a serious try at being a manga artist. While he had originally considered a career in anime production and had learned some of the background skills, he had concluded that he wouldn’t be able to earn a living at it. Some of his conclusions about the life of an anime artist are spoken by Belldandy on page 38 of the second chapter of Oh/Ah My Goddess, Lair of the Anime Mania.)

2.3.1 - There’s a small amount of controversy over what happens next. While it is universally agreed that in August of 1988 a You’re Under Arrest Promotional Gifts Contest (T-shirts, pictures, key chains, etc.) was held for which Fujishima Kosuke did a promotional advertisement, just what that advertisement was is a matter of some disagreement.

The version with the most visual evidence is a page sized cartoon featuring Miyuki as a goddess and Natsumi as a girl who needs help with her You’re Under Arrest T-shirt. This cartoon has actually been reprinted and can be found on-line (go to Gateway to the Goddesses).

However, Studio Proteus and several other reliable sources have all described the advertisement as a four panel gag cartoon which featured Miyuki and Natsumi and/or other characters from You're Under Arrest! praying to a goddess of luck to please let them win the same contest. While this cartoon has not been reprinted, this version has been reported quite widely and for a much longer time than the first.

It’s certainly possible that both cartoons were created and used and Mr. Fujishima was inspired by the goddess characters in both of them, but however it works out, Mr. Fujishima was extremely pleased with how the goddess character turned out and this inspired him to reuse it when he was offered a chance to do another manga series for Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine.

2.3.2 - Afternoon is a seinen publication, meaning it’s orientated toward young males of high school and college age, and since Mr. Fujishima hadn’t shown much interest in action/adventure manga it seemed logical this new effort of his would be another light romance/comedy like You’re Under Arrest! So starting with a drawing of a goddess and the idea of a romance/comedy manga series, Mr. Fujishima began laying out the elements to base it on.

2.4 – The Birth of a Manga

2.4.1 - In Kosuke Fujishima's own words, “I thought it might be an interesting idea if being a goddess was (just) a job, an occupation.” and for the goddess’s background, “I based it on Norse mythology, which is relatively unknown in Japan.”(in 1988) From there he decided to make her one of the three Norns, again in his words, “They are from the three Norns in Northern Europe legends. They have existed with the gods since the ancient times, and they guard the world tree Yggdrasil. They make prophecies of all existences. Urd decides the past, Bell(Verth)dandy decides the present, and Skuld decides the future. As you can see, they aren't that different from the manga.” This also shows that Urd and Skuld were included as part of the story from the very beginning.

2.4.2 - The next thing that was needed was a setting. Having decided to center his story on the idea of a goddess living an ordinary life with her supernatural aspects just being what she did for a living, he needed to decide where she would be doing this and under what circumstances. The general location he chose was, as he describes it, “somewhere in Canto [East Japan]. Somewhere on a map in Chiba prefecture, in a town called Urayasu, is a region called Nekomi [as spelled in kanji]. Actually, the pronunciation is “nekozane”.” This location was further confirmed by a number of fans whose efforts are described in the topic – “Location of Nekomi, FOUND!” in the History Section.

(See the topic - Location of Nekomi, FOUND! - for more information.)

2.4.3 - Of special note within that topic, a fan going by Kamatari pointed out that as Mr. Fujishima said, the place with the same kanji as Nekomi and that was called Nekozanen was actually a small village that had been consolidated into a larger town called Urayasu and now only the eastern district of Urayasu was called Nekozanen. He also pointed out that the Nekomi Institute of Technology campus was said to be modeled after the engineering campus of Waseda University in Shinjuku, which is fairly close to Urayasu and Nekozanen.

2.4.4 - Also to be found in the “Location of Nekomi, FOUND!” article is the information from global observation sites and ground maps searched by various fans that there is a temple complex in the area, Tokyo Disney as seen in the Peorth arc and the Makuhari Messe Exhibition Center from the movie and Lord of Terror arc are nearby, the area is close to a series of ridge lines that roads are seen to twist through, and that the location of the coastal island where the two mile long Kujukuri Beach complex that includes the Katagai Beach area from chapter 13 and many of the other beach stories are located is not very far away.

2.4.5 - So it seems logical to say that Mr. Fujishima picked a location for his story that he was familiar with (he was born in the Chiba region) so he wouldn’t have to invent too much geography and which would feel familiar to his readers.

2.5.1 – Having already settled on his story being a men’s romantic comedy, Mr. Fujishima next needed a plot and a male protagonist to make it work. How and why he came up with pairing his goddess with a diminutive, nondescript, down at the heels college student in a college campus setting is unknown, but his own personal interests in motorcycles and engineering certainly helped lay out Keiichi’s background. But it should be pointed out that especially in the first manga stories Keiichi is purposely depicted to be as unremarkable as possible. There is no hint given that he has any great skill as a driver or mechanic and in fact the first chapter emphasizes that his sidecar is busted and he lacks the skill to fix it. It’s Otaki who comes to the rescue and has repaired the sidecar, probably inspired by the System Force. It’s not until later in the story that Mr. Morisato’s abilities in these areas become apparent, initially he’s just a VERY average and un-noteworthy college student.

2.5.2 - The naming of Morisato Keiichi seems to give us some insight into Mr. Fujishima’s interests and his associates. It’s reported that he prefers listening to DMX (a digital, commercial-free radio service) while he works and likes a wide range of music, from classic American hard rock such as Van Halen and Bon Jovi to Japanese idol singers to jazz. There is in fact a rather convincing rumor that the name "Morisato" is based on the name of the idol singer Moritaka Chisato. But the evidence for where he got Keiichi is even stronger

2.5.3 - According to Wikipedia and a couple of independent sources, Mr. Fujishima was inspired to name Keiichi after a real-life racecar driver and jazz musician named Keiichi Tsuchiya. Both sign their name using the shorthand version K-1 ("one" being pronounced as ichi in Japanese), both are noted as using drift techniques when racing (Keiichi Tsuchiya is called the drift king), and both wear green firesuits when racing. (I’d love to find out if “Radio Z” the song Keiichi is singing in the Karaoke contest is a play on one of Mr. Tsuchiya’s songs.)

2.6.1 - On September 25, 1988, Chapter One of Oh/Ah My Goddess! – The Called Number is a Wrong Number was published in the November issue of Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine in Japan, and our story of goddesses, college students, motorcycles, temples, demons, robots, and any other anime or manga cliché Mr. Fujishima could think of began. For awhile he also did an occasional series called Striker about a baseball player but that seems to have faded away and I could find little information about it other than the name and main character. So from 1988 to the present day Oh/Ah My Goddess! has been Mr. Fujishima’s main artistic production. He’s occasionally commented about ending it and starting something new, but then admits he still has stories to tell about the characters and he doesn’t want to quit until they’re told.

2.6.2 - By the way, did you notice the word "Cliché"?

That's right; one of the overwhelming themes of Oh/Ah My Goddess is Mr. Fujishima's use of other well known manga themes and styles as basic plots for his story chapters. He will take something like a sports or gaming or racing or transforming robot or robot girl or young love or supernatural or (you get the idea) manga, adapt it to his characters and then run with it, poking fun at all the stereotypes and clichés of that type he can. And he'll throw in a few cameos of well known manga characters of those genres as well. This is one of those things he does so well you really don't notice unless you're looking for it, and then you start finding it everywhere.

2.6.3 - Chapter 58, Let’s Have Fun (Play the Game), released April 1993 is an excellent example of this sort of thing. In the story, Yamagata Mitsuru, Nekomi Tech's baseball team captain, is thought to be based on Hanagata Mitsuru, a famous baseball manga/anime character in "Kyojin no Hoshi", which was an extremely popular sports series in the late '60s.

2.7.1 - Besides You’re Under Arrest and Oh/Ah My Goddess!, Mr. Fujishima has a wide range of interests and hobbies, so many in fact that it’s been described as ridiculous - building plastic models and garage kits, playing electric guitar, playing with computers, video games, watching anime, caring for his numerous tropical fish, owning, riding and repairing several motorcycles and three cars, along with dabbling in all sorts of other things. He’s also friends with many of the other manga-ka and anime artists and spends a great deal of time hanging out with them (and they with him). This is why there are so many crossovers and guest appearances of characters in different manga and anime in Japan, it’s almost required if you’re part of the fraternity.

2.8.1 - To conclude this part of the topic, here’s a list of titles Mr. Fujishima has been associated with, the years involved, and in what capacity he was involved. This is in no way complete.

You’re Under Arrest - -1986-1992 - - Author / Illustrator

Oh My Goddess! - - 1988-Present - - Author / Illustrator

Striker, the Shining Star - - 1992-1993 - - Author / Illustrator

Sakura Wars - - 1997-2000 - - Character Designer

Note: Mr. Fujishima is still involved with the Sakura Taisen series even after 2000. He is rumored to have consulted with Hidenori Matsubara for the new NY Kagekidan character designs of Sakura Taisen 5 (the latest title in the series), released in 2005

eX-Driver - - 2000 - - Character designs and settings

Tales of Phantasia - - 1994, 1999, 2003, 2006 - - Character Designer

Gungrave - - 2002, 2003, 2004 - - Mechanical Designer

Piano - - 2002, 2003 - - Character Designer

Tales of Symphonia - - 2003, 2004 - - Character Designer

Tales of the Abyss - - 2005 - - Character Designer

Paradise Resident - - 2009-present - - Author / Illustrator

2.9 – Table of References

A - Nationmaster.com - Encyclopedia > Kosuke Fujishima

B - Studio Protius and Dark Horse Biography of Kosuke Fujishima

C - Interview with Makoto Shinkai and Kosuke Fujishima in the April 2004 issue of Afternoon, a Japanese monthly manga magazine (release date February 25 2004). Interview was staged as a Talk Article in Afternoon Filmography in honor of Voices of a Distant Star starting in Afternoon.

D - Animerica Interview with Fujishima Kosuke, Volume two, Issue two, February 1994

E - FUJISHIMA KOSUKE Q&A!? - From Newtype, June 1993

Translated by #Anime! Deedlit, slight editing by #Anime! Keiichi

3.0 – The Story

3.1 - Characters and Plot

3.1.1 – The first aspect of the beginning of Oh/Ah My Goddess to be considered is just how far ahead did Mr. Fujishima plan his story when he started it? The answer, based on the evidence, seems rather mixed. As far as actual story plots and events were concerned, it doesn’t look like he’d given much thought to more than the first few chapters, possibly up to the arrival of Urd during chapter 14. After that the stories seem to be conceived and written in batches as he comes up with them until he gets to the Terrible Master Urd/Lord of Terror arc and then he begins switching to a longer, multi-chapter format with a start to finish story arc style.

3.1.2 - We also see a few changes in how the stories are structured after chapter 14 and in the visual and textual elements that are used (Belldandy’s forehead marking stops changing size and her speech pattern becomes more formal.), but no really major changes again until the Lord of Terror/Terrible Master Urd arc when both art and story styles seem to get a major overhaul.

3.1.3 - What he does seem to have done at the very beginning of the series was to create a series of very complete personality profiles for the key and secondary characters he was planning on using in his story and to develop long term revelation guides for them that started from the very first chapter and extended far into the story, probably culminating with what is to be revealed at the end of the manga

3.1.4 - That these guides could be added to or slightly modified as the story has progressed is obvious, but basically he hasn’t seriously altered any of these original backgrounds and individual guidelines as far as can be determined. Evidence for these background profiles can be seen in Mr. Fujishima’s answers to these questions in his 1993 Newtype interview and in the text of the Oh/Ah My Goddess novel, First End, whose author (Yumi Tohma, Urd’s seiyu) would have had access to such profiles.

FUJISHIMA KOSUKE Q&A!? - From Newtype, June 1993

Translated by #Anime! Deedlit, slight editing by #Anime! Keiichi

Note: This whole translation was done on-line on IRC... Deedlit's various comments are placed in [ ]. Also, please note that this is far from a perfect translation, and there are bound to be some errors. However, it'll definitely give you a good idea of what Mr. Fujishima's saying.

Q: What are the strong points of the three goddesses / What do the three goddesses represent / What do you like about the three goddesses [Or something along that line]?

A: For Belldandy it is "Arigatou [thank you]", "???" [i have no idea], Urd is "complete combustion", and Skuld is "wholeness" and "mechanical beauty" [can also mean dexterous, good at sports, and active type person].

Q: Belldandy said she is a "first class goddess, second category, unlimited". What does that mean?

A: That's mainly a classification of their power levels. Category is either "normal" (first category) or "commercial" (second category). Limited, limited also refers to their power levels.

Q: What do the three goddesses like?

A: Belldandy likes red tea and chocolate. She especially likes the "Daishirin" [somewhere in the borders of China; probably near Mongolia, or the Silk Road, or Himalayas], as well as the "Prince of Wales" brand. Urd likes high class wines such as [2 name brands of Japanese sake]. As for Skuld, she likes 131 Ice Cream. (Not 31 Ice Cream!) (General laughter)

Q: What are the dislikes of the three goddesses?

A: Urd hates singing. Skuld doesn't like useless mecha... Belldandy has no dislikes so far, or rather; nothing that we have discovered so far.

Q: How close are you to Belldandy and co.?

A: Very close. I keep thinking about them all the time.

Q: Why is it that Urd is so good with medicines/potions, while Skuld specializes at mechanics?

A: It's mainly a matter of personal interests. Besides, Skuld isn't very strong at her magic levels, so she has to rely on gadgets. As for Urd, it has something to do with her past. It's unclear what it is right now. Refer to the originals...

Q: Finally, what will be the developments in AMG?

A: It will concentrate on depictions of the psychologies of the characters. [as in, more in character developments] More efforts in the character relations. [and some other stuff like whether new characters will show up or not]

3.2 - The Very Basic Plot

3.2.1 - In its simplest terms, the plot of Oh/Ah My Goddess is very a standard and traditional one and I will present it here in the most generic terms possible just to show how common it is.

3.2.2 - Two (or more) people from totally different backgrounds are forced in some way to be together for a long time due to unusual circumstances that continuously place one or both of them in unfamiliar and/or unusual situations and which they must cope with together. In the course of helping each other survive these various exploits the two discover their similarities and individual strengths and weaknesses and from this develop a personal bond between them, either of friendship or romance, which ultimately proves them to be stronger together than either of them separately.

And that essentially is what the story of Oh/Ah My Goddess is about, along with several hundred thousand other stories as well.

3.2.3 – This is, however, not a very satisfying introduction to the story or its characters so let’s see if we can do better.

4.0 - HOW THE STORY BEGINS, THE ORIGINAL MANGA VERSION, dated September 25, 1988

4.0.1 - This is mostly about the original manga version of how the story begins and should be considered the primary one for background purposes. The other two versions (the OAV and TV anime ones) are essentially variants of this one, with added details and plot elements, but basically telling the same story. Certain bits of trivia within this story have been expanded on, along with footnoted references as to the sources of the explanations.

4.1 - The Inner and Outer Story

4.1.1 – The first thing to remember when dealing with the origin and background of a work of fiction such as Oh/Ah My Goddess is that you are dealing with two very different but inexorably connected stories; the made-up history of the characters and the world they inhabit and the real-life history of how the creator or creators came to develop that made-up history. The two go hand in hand and it is very often impossible to gain an understanding of one without referencing the other. This is especially important to remember when dealing with story elements that were true at one point in the story but may have been changed or seem to be forgotten at a later point. An excellent example of this is how Belldandy’s forehead marking used to change size in response to her emotions.

(See the topic - Goddess-Demon Facial Markings - for more information on this subject.)

4.1.2 - This concept is especially true for a long running series such as Oh/Ah My Goddess that has not only been in publication as a manga for many years but has also been cross-produced into four different anime versions, a novel, and a series of audio works, all of which involved the initial artist and the same key production personnel to various degrees. Still, the basic opening story of Oh/Ah My Goddess remains fairly straight forward and most of the complications, changes and plot evolutions that have occurred over the years have been on the surface while the core of the tale has remained untouched

4.2 – Opening text

4.2.1 - Nekomi Kodai, Ed Chang translation…

Skipping first two panels

Keiichi (hanging up): Huh, why can't they buy an answering machine? I'm sick of it.

Tamiya (background image):

Keiichi (cigarette in mouth): Yeah, yeah...

Keiichi (while dialing): Aoyama-senpai has come to rely on me to answer the phone. (Aoyama is never mentioned again in the story)

Phone: *Pururu... gacha* Yes, this is the "Goddess Relief Office"

Keiichi: Ah, got a wrong number...

4.2.2 - Dark Horse translation version two…

Skipping first two panels

Keiichi (hanging up): This sucks… Jeez…I wish he’d get himself a damn answering machine!

Tamiya (background image): Make sure… …ya take muh phone calls, boy!

Keiichi (cigarette in mouth): Yeah, right!

Keiichi (while dialing): He told me to give him a call if he got any messages… Opps…

Phone: Brringg klick Hello! You’ve reached the Goddess Technical Help Line!

Keiichi: Uh, sorry wrong num.--

4.3.1 - As the manga begins we are first introduced to Keiichi Morisato, a less than stellar mechanical engineering student at the Nekomi Institute of Technology who has, as is customary with lower class students (he’s a sophomore at this time in the manga) been bullied by his senior student dorm-mates (his senpai) into once again sticking around their dorm to answer the phone and take messages for them (not that he had anything better, like a girlfriend or a life, to attend to). The dorm room is a typical male “rat hole” of somewhat substandard hygienic standards and while Mr. Morisato was never much of a smoker he’s currently seen with a cigarette in his mouth, a habit he’s been beginning to pick up as something to do during these long periods of sitting around in his dorm room doing nothing (1).

(1) – First End, the Oh! My Goddess novel

4.3.2 - Having finished taking a call for one of his senpai (originally a mysterious Aoyama-senpai, who is never mentioned again, later changed to Tamiya by Dark Horse and Studio Proteus in the English Translations (2)), Keiichi proceeds to then make another phone call to a different number where this senpai is supposedly at in order to let him know his call came through. It is here that the story begins, for by some means mystical or mechanical his phone call is directed to a goddess whose job it is to come and grant him a wish.

(See section 7.0 - Who or What Was Keiichi Calling When He Was Redirected to Belldandy? - for a deeper look at this topic involving the manga and anime.)

(2) – The encyclopedia section in Oh! My Goddess, COLORS and various independent translations

4.3.3 - After introducing herself over the phone, the goddess proceeds to transport herself into Keiichi’s room through a mirror (much to our student’s surprise) after which she presents him with her business card (following proper Japanese business protocol) and then has a brief but complex conversation with him that covers such areas as whether Belldandy (the goddess) is some sort of prank being played on Keiichi by his senpai (and revealing the implication that she can read his mind), that the range of wishes available to the selected recipient is unlimited (but self limiting, “we prefer to avoid doing business with that sort of customer”), that Belldandy cannot tell a falsehood, why Keiichi doesn’t have a girlfriend and how Belldandy doesn’t understand why that would be so, and finally, that Keiichi is ready to make his wish.

4.3.4 - And what a wish it turns out to be.

(See section 5.0 - Just What DID Keiichi Wish For? - for an in depth examination of Keiichi’s wish.)

4.3.5 – Blurting out that his wish would be for “a goddess like you to be with me always” Keiichi immediately tries back paddling to avoid embarrassment by starting to say this is a just a humorous statement, but unfortunately for him (or perhaps fortunately) it’s too late. Belldandy goes into a trance state, everything in the room begins flying about in an vortex whirlpool, and an energy bolt shoots from her forehead symbol through the ceiling and roof and up into the heavens. Stunned by this release of energy (and possibly from having her internal programming redone (1)) Belldandy falls to the floor in a faint where Keiichi, gentleman that he is, races to catch her.

((1) – This is a rather involved observation that involves a great deal of background on the nature of the goddess’s world and would be excessive at this point. See the topic - Divine Physics, Metaphysics, Anatomy, and Biology, parts 1, 2, 3, & 4 - for an in depth explanation of this.)

4.3.6 – Regaining consciousness, Belldandy is initially confused over what has just happened (again, this may be an affect of having her programming altered) and immediately “borrows” Keiichi’s phone to call the heavens and find out what has just happened. This is the first solid example (Keiichi’s earlier phone call is more “iffy”) of what is to become a major theme of Oh/Ah My Goddess – the use of common objects and technology for spiritual and supernatural functions. The example being a goddess using a phone (and dialing the number) to call the heavens for instructions from a “higher” authority. Later Belldandy will continue this theme by explaining her wish granting function in terms of data transmission via broadcast antenna.

4.3.7 - Having been convinced of her new status in regards to Keiichi, Belldandy seems to be rather accepting of the situation. Keiichi however is in full panic mode, as among other things, he is living in a men’s only dorm in which women are not permitted. Here again we have the first example of another theme of the story, that of Belldandy not quite understanding the significance in human terms of a situation as she blithely dismisses Keiichi’s worries since “I’m not a woman… I’m a goddess.”

4.3.8 - It’s during this conversation that the “System Force” is introduced; an aspect of heavenly wish granting where once a wish has been granted the forces of probability and cause and effect are employed by the heavens to make sure that the wish is carried out. Since Keiichi cannot stay in the dorm with Belldandy, he is quickly discovered in an embarrassing situation with her by his senpai and then kicked out of his room. When he then comments on how there will still be a problem since the side car of his motor cycle is broken so there will be no place for Belldandy to ride with him, it is immediately revealed that one of his senpai, Otaki, had earlier fixed the side car for him. Recognizing defeat when it stares him in the face, Keiichi seats Belldandy in the sidecar and the two of them drive off into the night toward what awaits them next.

(See the topic – System/Ultimate Force - for a more detailed look at this subject.)

4.3.9 – From here on it’s Belldandy and Keiichi together side by side as they each face their individual problems adjusting to their new lives outside of their former places in the world. They encounter a number of fellow travelers along the way - students, relatives, and supernatural phenomena, some of whom stay around for the ride, and all of whom add to the mish-mush of plot and story that comprises Oh/Ah My Goddess.

4.4 - Variations on the Theme

4.4.1 - One of the more intriguing things for any serious observer of the worlds of Oh/Ah My Goddess is the great diversity of opinions that have developed concerning some of the story’s elements when in fact these elements are relatively consistent in their presentation. Part of this unfortunately has been due to several misprints and/or mistakes in translation in the earlier days of the English releases that have been carried down through subsequent generations of fans until they have almost more power of tradition behind them than the real words.

4.4.2 - Two excellent examples of this are how the use of the term “Father” in the OAV anime voice dubbing has led to so much confusion over the idea that Kami-Sama is one of the goddesses’ parents (There is no actual evidence one way or the other for this in the Japanese text.), and that the idea that Keiichi was calling for take-out when he first called Belldandy. While this is true for the first OAV anime series, it doesn’t appear in any other version.

(See the topic - Why Do People Think the Goddesses' Father is Kami-sama? April 18, 2007 - for information on this and other such subjects.)

(See section 7.0 - Who or What Was Keiichi Calling When He Was Redirected to Belldandy? for a deeper look at this topic involving the manga and anime.)

4.5 - Various Story Introductions for Oh/Ah My Goddess From Different Sources and Times.

4.5.0 – The following collection of the various introduction blurbs for Oh/Ah My Goddess is presented to show the differences and similarities in how the series was presented at different times and for different formats.

4.5.1 - The description synopsis for Dark Horse comic book #1 released August 1, 1994 and for the Trade Paperback introductory story summary for the original Oh My Goddess! Volume 1, 1-555- GODDESS (1996):

Can a phone call change your life? This one quite possibly could! Morisato is spending another Friday night alone in his dorm room, plugged into the television, with his greatest aspiration a double-cheese pizza. When he misdials the delivery joint and gets the goddess Belldandy instead, he's unknowingly bitten off more than he can chew. Belldandy grants Morisato a single wish, and he jokingly wishes for a beautiful goddess like her. But the joke's on him when he gets what he wished for!

4.5.2 - The description synopsis for the AnimEigo OAV anime series Oh! My Goddess (2001)

Collage freshman Morisato Keiichi gets more than he bargained for when he goes dialing for dinner and gets an unexpected delivery - Belldandy, a real live, honest to goodness Goddess! Belldandy grants him a wish, and Keiichi decides that what he really needs is a girlfriend just like Belldandy! And that's exactly what he gets. The mysterious "Ultimate Force" that enforces all Wish Contracts comes into play, and Keiichi and Belldandy are now inseparable. That's when Keiichi remembers that his dorm has a strict rule: NO WOMEN ALLOWED! Can Keiichi and Belldandy find a new place to live? Will everyone buy the story that she's a foreign student? And does Keiichi have the guts to put the moves on a babe who is LITERALLY divine? Don't miss the comic book by Dark Horse and Studio Proteus!

4.5.3 - Trade Paperback introductory story summary for Oh My Goddess! replacement Volume 1, Wrong Number (2002):

At long last, the "lost" Oh My Goddess" stories are collected for the first time, in this new, remastered first volume of the popular manga series, the first of three new volumes that restore the complete Oh My Goddess storyline and fill in early details of this delightful, funny, and exciting tale of college student Keiichi Morisato, who accidentally dials the Goddess Technical Helpline and is delivered the living, breathing, literal goddess Belldandy...and one wish. When he jokingly asks for Belldandy to stay with him forever, he gets his wish, and one hilarious headache after another as Keiichi and his Goddess-out-of-water adjust to the inevitable clash of the Spiritual Plane and the Material World. Also includes material from the previously published 1-555-Goddess.

4.5.4 - Trade Paperback introductory story summary for Oh My Goddess! revised and unflipped volume one (2005):

“Alone in his dorm on a Saturday night, Nekomi Tech's Keiichi Morisato dials a wrong number that will change his life forever-reaching the Goddess Technical Help Line. Granted one wish by the charming young goddess Belldandy-a wish for anything in the world-Keiichi wishes she would stay with him always! Complications are bound to ensue from this; the immediate first being the new couple getting tossed out of the dorm-it's males only!”

“As the hapless student and his mysterious "foreign beauty" ride around looking for a new place to stay - risking the different dangers of seeking shelter with an otaku convinced Belldandy is an imaginary woman, and a Zen priest convinced she's a sinister witch-Keiichi's still got his classes on Monday morning! How is his new "exchange student" companion going to be received on the N.I.T. campus? A little too well for normal life to ever return ...”

4.5.5 - From the Novel, First End -What is Oh My Goddess!? (2007)

Keiichi Morisato, a student at the Nekomi Institute of Technology, is short, poor, and a total failure with the ladies. One day, he finds himself visited by a real, live goddess. The goddess Belldandy offers to grant him one wish, and Keiichi responds, “I want a goddess like you to be with me always.” His wish comes true, and before long Belldandy is joined by her elder sister Urd and younger sister Skuld. Thus begins the trials and tribulations of an ordinary college student living with three goddesses.

4.5.6 - Anime News Network - Oh My Goddess - Manga - Plot Summary (2009):

While staying alone in his dormitory, college student Keiichi Morisato was trying to call some restaurants for delivery when he accidentally called the Goddess Help Line. Suddenly, the mirror near him glowed and a beautiful goddess named Belldandy appeared out of it. She granted Keiichi his one wish for her to be his girlfriend forever. After being kicked out of the dorm, Keiichi and Belldandy now live in an old temple with her sisters Urd and Skuld.

4.5.7 - Media Blasters/Anime Works – Ah! My Goddess – TV Series - Volume 1 - Always and Forever – DVD Description (2005):

Kosuke Fujishima’s unforgettable story of every hapless college boy’s dream comes to life! Keiichi Morisato is an engineering student, top driver of his campus motor club, and not very lucky with the ladies. While calling for take-out food one evening, a wrong number puts him in contact with the “Goddess Hotline”. One misplaced wish later, Keiichi finds himself blessed with Belldandy, the perfect girlfriend and a goddess in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have any idea how to act in the human world and her presence quickly gets Keiichi kicked out of the dorms. Fortunately for Keiichi, his troubles have just begun!

5.0 - Just What DID Keiichi Wish For?

5.1 - One of the central facets of the world of Oh/Ah My Goddess is the wish that Keiichi made at the very beginning of the story that first bound Belldandy to stay with him here on Earth. That this is the first major plot element of the story that sets up the entire series of events that will lead them to grow close together and come to share so much of their hearts and feelings is obvious, but it also leaves some confusion behind.

5.2 - The problem lies in what exactly Keiichi asked for in his wish and how did this effect his relationship with Belldandy from the start. Was she forced by Yggdrasil to be his companion and act the way she did at first because of the wish and it was only later that her compulsion to act the part of an affectionate companion was gradually replaced by her own personal feelings?

5.3 - Was she merely voluntarily playing the part of a perfect companion with Keiichi at first in order to comply with the terms of the contract (desiring to always appear to be the ideal First Class Goddess that she wants to be) until she made the startling discovery that she had true feelings for this human and then had to come to terms with it?

5.4 - Or was she basically just content with the way things worked out and was doing her best to keep up her part of the contract and their relationship has just grown naturally out their being together?

5.5 - These are three possible scenarios for the start of the manga (you can easily create more variants), and one of the key pieces of evidence as to which of these is more likely is what Keiichi actually wished for based on what he said.

(That Belldandy was initially startled and surprised by the wish’s turn of events is shown by her frantic phone call back to the heavens immediately after the wish is transferred. She wasn’t expecting what Keiichi asked for and is obviously worried about what its effects are going to be, especially for her. However, by the time she’s finished the phone call and turned back to Keiichi, her face is once more composed and she in full acceptance of the situation. Why she behaves this way is the basis of the previous three speculative questions.)

5.6 - The trouble is; no two translation sources are completely in agreement. Outside of the OAV dub (which had a whole series of problems and is therefore the least reliable translation), they all agree in principle, but there are just enough differences between them to cause some questions as to which are closest to Mr. Fujishima’s actual intended meaning.

Keiichi’s Wish - English Variants

Ed Chang/Nekomi Kodai - "A goddess like you... ..I want one to be by my side forever!"

Dark Horse manga - "I want a goddess like you... ...to be with me always!!"

OAV anime sub – That I want a girl like you to be with me forever!

OAV anime dub – I want you to be my girl friend forever! (most suspect translation)

TV anime sub – I’d like a goddess like you… …to always… …stay by my side.

TV anime dub – I’d like for a goddess like you… …to stay by my side forever.

5.7 - So in an attempt to get a better handle on what the original Japanese version was saying, I asked Kotetsu if she could look up the original Japanese text for the wish and for anything she might know about the phrases used. As usual, she came through with flags flying.

From chapter 1, page 11, panels 3 and 4 of the manga, the Romanized Japanese manga text of what Keiichi asks for is:

“Kimi no youna megami ni… …zutto soba ni ittehoshii”

The first part - “Kimi no youna megami ni…” corresponds to

“A goddess like you…”

“I want a goddess like you…”

The second part - “…zutto soba ni ittehoshii” corresponds to

“...I want one to be by my side forever!”

“...to be with me always!!"

5.8 - The meaning of the various words - as obtained from a online Japanese Dictionary

kimi – you (feminine, familiar)

no - possessive particle

youna – (not found)

(yousei - claim, demand, request, application)

megami - goddess

ni – takes after (suf)

zutto - consecutively

soba - side, vicinity, proximity, besides, while

ni – takes after (suf.)

itte - a method, a move (in a game)

hoshii - wanted, wished for, in need of, desired

From this it becomes rather clear that Ed Chang’s translation, "A goddess like you... ...I want one to be by my side forever!" is probably the closest to the manga’s, but that the Dark Horse/Studio Proteus version isn’t that different. The key point being in which part of the phrase is the “I want” located and does it make a difference? In general it doesn’t, but it might make some difference in how Mr. Fujishima phrased the second part of the wish, which could have an effect on its over-all meaning.

5.9 - Interpretative analysis of the key second phrase “…zutto soba ni ittehoshii” by Kotetsu; in her words:

“In Japanese, "zutto soba ni ittehoshii" has pretty much the exact same meaning as "I want us to be together always" in English. Yes, it is something that you'll hear a lot in romance stories uttered between lovers (or potential lovers). But it's also something that you might say to a sibling or a close friend. It doesn't automatically have romantic connotations, even if it's something that's used a lot in a romantic sense.

On the other hand, *because* it's used so often in a romantic sense, it's hard to interpret a single guy saying that to a pretty lady as NOT meaning it romantically, especially if there's no previous relationship (i.e. being siblings or friends) between the two of them, therefore no other possible meaning for the utterance (can be avoided).

Yeah, we know that when Simba tells Mufasa "You'll be with me forever, right?" (Which was translated into Japanese as "zutto soba ni iru," the same as "zutto soba ni ittehoshii" but without the "-tehoshii" which adds the "I wish” element) he obviously doesn't mean it sexually or romantically. The obviousness is only because they're father and son, though.

When Keiichi tells Belldandy "I want a goddess like you to stay with me forever," it's pretty clear to me that there is at least some element of romantic longing in that wish. I mean, why *else* would Keiichi want a beautiful woman to stay near him forever, to use her head as a hat stand? I think not.”

5.10 - So with Kotetsu’s commentary in mind we are left with three observations we can make about the most likely form of Keiichi’s wish.

5.10.1 – It formally does not require any services of Belldandy. All it asks is that a goddess like her should remain by his side forever. He is not asking her to be his lover, girlfriend, servant, assistant, or anything; just to be his companion.

5.10.2 - It’s also not insisting that it be Belldandy that stays with him. If we look at the Japanese words used in the first phrase and transpose them to the English, it’s clear Keiichi really is saying “a goddess LIKE you”, so it was either Belldandy’s or Yggdrasil’s decision to assign her - not Keiichi’s request (although what may have been in his heart is another story).

5.10.3 – And finally, the wording of the wish was intended to be subtle and very insubstantial in how it expressed Keiichi’s hopes. During the short time they’ve been together in his room Belldandy’s comments and answers seem to have broken through Keiichi’s defenses against being hurt by life’s little cruelties and soothed these open wounds he has silently carried so long. This has awakened within him a desire for someone to stay at his side and continue to calm and heal his inner pains. And that is truly his heart’s desire, to be made to feel whole and complete and no longer hurt inside.

5.10.4 - But he also somehow knows he’s treading on dangerous ground here. He can’t just ASK for someone to be forced into playing that role for him, it would either be slavery or a totally artificial sort of healing. So his wish comes out carefully worded (by Mr. Fujishima, who is trying to make this a very specific message and not some random utterance by a confused college student) that what he wants is someone who will treat him the same way THIS goddess has been (although it could be another goddess) to stay with him. He isn’t demanding that she do anything for him that she doesn’t feel like, just to be there with him and hopefully keep doing what she’s been doing since they met. And that’s as far as Keiichi feels he can push it.

Still, while Keiichi isn’t formally asking for a girl friend, or even hinting at it, there’s a glimmer of hope there. That’s his secret wish, the one he doesn’t utter but implies in his phrasing. He could never try and force someone to be his girlfriend by wishing it on them; but he can hope it might happen by their choice. That’s why that phrase is used and it tells us a great deal about Keiichi’s inner personality right there in the first chapter; unsure, unaggressive, but capable of having big hopes.

5.10.5 – This also leads to a possible interpretation of the wish situation which causes Peorth to show up. Since the secret, unspoken part of Keiichi’s wish was to have Belldandy as his acknowledged girlfriend (to have her declare her love for him); Peorth was sent to complete the contract which still remains unfinished. She initially misunderstands Keiichi’s inner wish to be for a girlfriend in the physical sense (which he does want) but the core wish is just for Belldandy’s admission of love. Peorth has a hard time seeing this for various reasons and instead tries different ways to provide what she thinks Keiichi wants until it at last becomes obvious even to her.

6.0 – What Are These Missing Chapters I’ve Heard About?

6.1 – Another area of confusion for some newcomers to the world of Oh/Ah My Goddess are the occasional references to lost or missing manga chapters in older articles or discussions about the early days of the series. This can be even more confusing as there are no missing manga chapters to be found now, but at one time there were.

(Please note that there are NO corresponding missing chapters or episodes as such in the TV anime. If a manga chapter wasn’t included in the TV anime series it was because they were purposefully left out by the producers. After the first few episodes the TV anime abandoned the manga chapter sequence and has been mixing, altering, and/or rearranging the stories as they felt necessary; and some have been skipped entirely.)

6.2 – The missing chapters story goes back to the very beginning of the English language release of the Oh/Ah My Goddess manga. When Toren Smith first brought Oh/Ah My Goddess over to America and convinced Dark Horse to publish it in English, there were some interesting conditions involved. First, he would cover any losses Dark Horse incurred if it didn’t sell. Second, the initial run would be for only six magazines (comic books). And three, it would be tied in with the release of AnimEigo’s English language release of the OAV anime series.

6.3 – Since Mr. Smith was quite certain that Oh/Ah My Goddess would be a success in America, he readily agreed to the first condition and had already set things up for the third one with AnimEigo, so when episode 1, Moonlight and Cherry Blossoms (dubbed, the subbed came later), was released on VHS tape on June 29, 1994, Dark Horse was prepared to release their issue 1, Wrong Number, on August 1, 1994 (with the caption, “As seen in the AnimEigo video release!” on the cover), approximately one month later. (The second AnimEigo dubbed VHS tape, episode 2, Midsummer Nights Dream, came out sometime in late August 1994.)

6.4.1 – As for the second condition, Toren Smith and the Japanese publishers (including Mr. Fujishima) had decided it would be best to just pick out six of the better chapters that introduced the main characters and would keep the manga story up with the release point of the OAV anime series. At that time only two of the OAV anime were out and the story had progressed as far as including Urd, Sayoko, and Aoshima along with the first episode crew of Belldandy, Keiichi, and the NIT MC members, so manga chapters 1, 14, and 20 covered their introduction.

6.4.2 - As an interesting sidelight, the next three chapters (25, 27, 28) are all primarily about introducing Mara, who it turned out was not in the OAV anime. But internal evidence seems to show that she was intended to be part of the series (Mara and Senbei are featured prominently in the opening credits) and there are plenty of hints that a second OAV anime series centered on her was being planned at the time. So it may have been decided to get her introduction done at that point while waiting for OAV episode 3.

6.4.3 - Assuming the comic book release had been successful for Dark Horse, the next two chapters (32 & 33) would introduce Skuld, which would correspond with the third OAV anime release, and then finally Kodansha chapter 17, Turkey with all the Trimmings, would be released; the chapter that takes place on Keiichi and Belldandy’s first Christmas together and takes place chronologically at the same point as where the OAV anime five ends. That would bring the English manga releases up even with the OVA anime as it was then being planned. After which Dark Horse could go back and pick and choose whatever of the earlier chapters it wanted and slide them into the following chapters’ release schedule.

(That Mr. Fujishima was so willing to go along with this can in part be explained by how he has stated he feels his early art work really isn’t that good and he prefers not to show it. So not reprinting it wouldn’t bother him too much. It could also have something to do with some other theories involving the relationship of the anime and OAV manga, but this would be pure speculation and is best left out of this article.)

6.5 - So it was that the first English released chapters of Oh/Ah My Goddess were (in order) Kodansha chapters 1, 14, 20, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, & 17 followed by 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, and onward in sequence…

If you examine this list you’ll discover that Kodansha chapter numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, & 16 are never listed as having been released, and that’s because they weren’t. These are the so-called “lost chapters” because Dark Horse never published them initially.

6.6 - The official story is that they were going to translate and release them sometime in the next year or two after the initial year of publication, but that independent translators had so saturated the market with unauthorized copies of these chapters, even selling them at conventions in front of Mr. Smith and the Dark Horse and Japanese Reps, that it was decided that it would be economically unviable to bother with them at that time. So for six years there were no official English translations of these 14 chapters and only rumor and the word of independent translators that the OAV anime version of the beginning of Oh/Ah My Goddess was substantially different from the manga version.

(As an interesting mind exercise, only read chapters 1, 14, 20, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, & 17 and then watch the OAV anime. Wait a day, then think back and compare the anime and manga stories to each other based only on what you saw.)

6.7 – Eventually, when Dark Horse started publishing its manga magazine Super Manga Blast, it was decided to start it off with the “lost chapters” of Oh/Ah My Goddess. So on March 29, 2000, Super Manga Blast #1 came out with Kodansha chapter 2, Lair Of The Anime Mania, followed on a monthly basis with the remaining 13 chapters. Once all 14 had been released, Dark Horse wasted no time in resorting the first 20 chapters back into their proper order and then replacing the original first Trade Paperback, 555-GODDESS, with three new ones, Wrong Number, Leader of the Pack, and Final Exam. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a great deal better than it had been.

6.8 - Now, with the latest reissue of the unflipped and restored Trade Paperbacks, all of the chapters have been returned to their proper sequence according to their Kodansha chapter numbers. (Now all we have to worry about are the chapters that Kodansha has numbered out of sequence for their release dates, but that’s a different story.)

6.9 - The First Nine Chapters Released In English By Dark Horse in 1994 - 95

Dark Horse Issue 1 – August 1994 - (Wrong Number) The Number You Have Dialed Is Incorrect

Kodansha chapter 1 – September 1988

Dark Horse Issue 2 – September 1994 - (Sexy Sister) Oh My Older Sister

Kodansha chapter 14 – August 1989

Dark Horse Issue 3 – October 1994 - (Belldandy's Narrow Escape) Belldandy in Danger

Kodansha chapter 20 – March 1990

Dark Horse Issue 4 – November 1994 - (The CD From Hell) The Nemesis

Kodansha chapter 26 - July 1990

Dark Horse Issue 5 – December 1994 - (Mara Strikes Back!) Mara’s Counterattack

Kodansha chapter 27 - Aug. 1990

Dark Horse Issue 6 – January 1995 - (Scales of Love) Balance-Ball Amour

Kodansha chapter 28 – September 1990

Dark Horse Issue II-1 – February 1995 – The Third Goddess

Kodansha chapter 32 – February 1991

Dark Horse Issue II-2 – March 1995 – (The Goddesses Big Crisis) The Goddesses’ Greatest Danger

Kodansha chapter 33 – March 1991

Dark Horse Issue II-3 – April 1995 – Turkey With All the Trimmings

Kodansha chapter 17 – November 1990

In the current Dark Horse Trade Paperbacks these are all listed in their correct sequence order by Kodansha chapter number.

2.10 – Special reference for this section was a reply by Toren Smith to a question about the missing chapters on Mon, Sep 08, 1997 in the Fan Questions section of the Studio Proteus website.

7.0 - Who Or What Was Keiichi Calling When He Was Redirected to Belldandy?

7.1 - There are several popular myths concerning the world of Oh/Ah My Goddess that often confuse newcomers to the story. One of these is that Keiichi reached Belldandy in all of the story’s versions by dialing a wrong number while trying to order take out. Sadly, this myth was even supported by Dark Horse’s own advertisements at one point in its early comic books (see 7.1.5) and Media Blasters/Anime Works DVD description for volume 1 of the first TV anime series. Unfortunately they’re both wrong and this particular version only applies to the old five part OAV anime.

7.2 - While it is true that Keiichi does believe he has dialed a “wrong number” when he first reaches the “The Goddess Technical Help Line” (or “The Goddess Relief Office” or “The Goddess Helpline”) in all the other versions, what he was attempting to do was call some location where the mysterious Aoyama or one of his other senpais was supposed to be in order to inform him of the phone call he had just received. As the least senior member of the dorm community, Keiichi had been forced to remain in the dorm that Saturday night to answer the phone and take messages for all the other dorm members, although as even he had to admit that was no actual great loss since he really didn’t have anything else to do. And it’s while trying to dial this call that Keiichi is rerouted to the heavenly phone system.

7.3 - This version of the phone call is used in both the manga version and the novel and is repeated in the TV anime version as well. It was only in the five episode OAV anime that Keiichi is depicted deciding to try and call for take-out food when he is unexpectedly connected with Belldandy.

7.4 - So why is the take-out version so widely believed to be the standard version? It goes back to section 2.0 and the six years that the AnimEigo OAV anime had a monopoly on the introduction of fans to the series. This gave the OAV anime’s version of the opening a big boost as the most commonly accepted one. Even after all the lost chapters were finally released and available in Trade Paperbacks, the OAV anime was still the only anime version available with the origin in it and it continued to be the most accessible means of introduction to the series. The movie and Mini-Goddesses anime don’t even mention the introduction sequence, so the five episode OAV remained as having the greatest influence. It’s only been since the TV anime came out that the manga’s version has achieved equal billing with the anime’s.

7.1.5 - The description synopsis for Dark Horse comic book #1 released August 1, 1994.

“Can one phone call change your life? This one quite possibly could! Morisato is spending the evening alone in his dorm room, taking phone messages for his brutish roommate. When he mis-dials his take-out order and instead of dinner gets the goddess Belldandy, he's unknowingly bitten off more than he can chew. She grants him a single wish and he jokingly wishes for a beautiful goddess like Belldandy. But the joke's on him when he gets what he wished for!”

8.0 - Speaking Of Which, What Is The Name Of The Place Belldandy Works For?

8.1 – This is probably a good point to go into all the different names that the agency Belldandy works for in the first chapter has been called in the English versions. As mentioned above, depending on the source, Belldandy has told Keiichi that she’s from The Goddess Technical Help Line, The Goddess Relief Office, or The Goddess Helpline, all of which have been somehow derived from the Japanese phrase Otasuke Megami Jimusho. They are all probably reasonable translations of the phrase and barring a statement from Mr. Fujishima can be all considered correct. For my part, I think the Goddess Relief Office is probably the closest, but that’s just my opinion.

8.2 - Names of the Place Belldandy Works for In the Heavens

And their English Language Sources

Otasuke Megami Jimusho

Japanese text as phonetically provided by Kotetsu and Elgordo

(O- reputable or public)

(tasuke - assistance, help, support)

(megami –goddess)

(jimusho - office)

Goddess Technical Help Line

Dark Horse, Studio Proteus,

Goddess Relief Office

Nekomi Kodai, Ed Chang

Goddess Miyaku Team

Ah! My Goddess, the movie, sub and dub

The Goddess Helpline

AnimEigo OAV anime, sub and dub

TV anime, sub and dub

9.0 - Okay, what did you mean by, “Now all we have to worry about are the chapters that Kodansha has numbered out of sequence” back in section 6.8?

9.1 - Well, having brought it up, I guess I should explain. This is one of those things that unless you are a real fanatic about useless (or nearly useless) details you will never have to worry about and can live a long and full career as an Oh/Ah My Goddess fan without knowing about, so skip it if you wish.

9.2 - The following was discovered by Jimmy C of the Goddess Miyako Team while he was researching some release dates for his own projects. He very kindly passed the information on to me and I’m passing it on to anyone who reads this article. This information is also included in Oh/Ah My Goddess Timeline.

9.3 - The chapter numbers by which the different stories in the Oh/Ah My Goddess series are usually referred to are actually numbers assigned to them by Kodansha when they are gathered together and reprinted in book collections called Tankoubans, the Japanese version of Trade Paperbacks. The actual stories are first released without any assigned numbers and only have their titles and the issue month of the Afternoon magazine they are included in to identify them by.

9.4 - As an aside, the issue month of a copy of Afternoon Magazine in Japan is actually two months later than the month it is released. The issue date is always the 25th day of the month preceding the month before the month on the cover. So for example, the first chapter of Oh/Ah My Goddess was in the November, 1988 issue of Kodansha’s Afternoon Magazine, but it was released to the public on September 25, 1988. That makes the actual anniversary date for the start of the series in September even though it was in the November issue of the magazine. This can be confusing if you’re trying to compare release dates between stories and other events in the outside world but otherwise has no real effect on appreciating the story.

9.5 – Now normally the Tankouban chapter numbers are assigned in the same sequence as their issue dates, so the stories are numbered and arranged in the Tankoubans in the same way they were released and are thus in the order in which they were to be read. But back in 1991 and 1992 in Tankoubans 3 and 4 there was a little confusion, resulting in chapter numbers 20 to 30 not following the sequence in which they were issued. Why this happened is unknown and it does not appear to have reoccurred since, but it did happen then. While this doesn’t really effect most fans enjoyment of the series or understanding of the story (there being only two of the chapters that are really out of place), it can still cause some confusion if a person is trying to achieve an accurate chronology of the story at that time.

9.6 - The following Shows the effected chapters in their correct release sequence

Sequence Number - 19

(Final Exam) Upon Close Examination

Manga Date – March 1990

Release Date – January 25 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 19

Sequence Number - 20

(Love Potion #9) Let’s Take the Love Seeds

Manga Date - April 1990

Release date – February 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter – 25

Sequence Number - 21

(Belldandy's Narrow Escape) Belldandy in Danger

Manga Date –May 1990

Release Date –March 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 20

Sequence Number - 22

(The Secrets Out) Exposing a Secret

Manga Date – June 1990

Release Date – April 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 21

Sequence Number - 23

(Winner Take All) Who Will Win the Champion Flag?

Manga Date – July 1990

Release Date – May 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 22

Sequence Number - 24

What A Miracle

Manga Date – August 1990

Release Date – June 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 23

Sequence Number - 25

(The CD From Hell) The Nemesis

Manga Date - September 1990

Release Date – July 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 26

Sequence Number - 26

(Mara Strikes Back!) Mara’s Counterattack

Manga Date – October 1990

Release Date – August 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 27

Sequence Number - 27

(Scales of Love) Balance-Ball Amour

Manga Date – November 1990

Release Date – September 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 28

Sequence Number - 28

(A Wing And A Prayer) The Flying Motor Club

Manga Date – December 1990

Release Date – October 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 24

Sequence Number - 29

(Mystical Engine) Engine O’ Mystery

Manga Date – January 1991

Release Date – November 25, 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 30

Sequence Number - 30

(Sympathy For The Devil) The Worst Day of a Demon

Manga Date – February 1991

Release Date – December 25 1990

Tankouban Chapter - 29

Sequence Number - 31

(Valentine Rhapsody) Valentine Capriccio

Manga Date – March 1991

Release Date – January 25, 1991

Tankouban Chapter - 31

9.7 - In the timeline that is posted in the History Section the chapters are listed in their correct manga/release date sequence with the Tankouban chapter numbers left out of sequence for these stories.

10.0 - What’s Meant by Flipped Versus Unflipped?

10.1 - It's very likely that most manga fans know what the terms flipped and unflipped mean, in much the same way anime fans think of dubbed and subbed. But there are always newcomers to the fold who are unaware of the older days when these were hot button topics and not the more nostalgic terms they are today, so perhaps a brief explanation is in order.

10.2 - Flipped and unflipped refer to the custom of reversing the direction a manga is read to make it more comfortable for Western readers. Japanese writing (and therefore graphic stories) is read right to left, starting at the upper right hand corner and proceeding to the left hand side. Thus the book pages also turned left to right as you read right to left. Western languages like English read left to right, so the book pages written in English turn right to left. This is just how it is.

10.3 - In order to make Japanese manga more marketable in America, the page sequences are sometimes reversed so they can also be read left to right, making them more familiar to the Western readers and improving their market acceptance. However, this also includes “flipping” all the artwork as well, meaning the page layout and drawings are also inverted graphically so the panels tell the story in the same sequence and direction. This of course makes all the lettering impossible to read, but since it was already being translated and replaced it wasn't any more work.

10.4 - The problems arose when only some of the artwork and page layouts were graphically reversed to save time and money and the story sequence was lost, or more importantly, when relationships between the panels and drawings were lost in the process and the visual part of the story suffered. It was also true that some artwork just didn't look right when it had been inverted, errors and visual tricks that worked fine as drawn became glaring problems when shown in mirror image. Some manga artists went so far as to actually redraw key pages for foreign editions to avoid this situation.

10.5 - This reversing of manga for sales purposes was very common in the early days of the introduction of manga to America and it was probably a necessary evil despite its problems. Although many purists decried the practice (along with dubbing anime) manga wouldn't have made it into the bigger markets without it. It was only after there was a demand for manga that the debate over flipped and unflipped could take place with economics being the deciding factor.

10.6 - Unflipped, as should be obvious, means to present the translated manga in its original right to left format the same as it appears in Japan. It takes a bit to get used to when you’re used to reading the other way but it isn't that hard to do and it does improve the visual comprehension of the story. Most modern manga being imported now is being published in unflipped format and only the really mass marketed for little kids stuff is still being flipped along with a few older titles that retain being flipped for continuities sake because of their lengthy history of flipped material.

10.7 - As for Oh/Ah My Goddess, all of Dark Horse's original comic book releases and the Trade paperbacks they were collected in were initially flipped. Then in 2004 they announced the end of the comic book issues and switched to just Trade Paperback collection issues. Along with this came the news that all future releases would be in unflipped format and that they would go back and re-release all the older Trade Paperbacks in unflipped format as well. This along with the missing chapters from the early releases and the occasional recombining of stories makes keeping track of the Dark Horse release dates and issues for some Oh/Ah My Goddess stories very complicated.

10.8 - This is why you may get confused over talk about multiple release dates and versions of the Dark Horse stories. You really do need a chart to keep track of how it went in the early days.