I have told many of you again and again my general dislike for manga and anime. From cartoons to comics, I felt the art style was far too exaggerated and silly, and the story style was far too hazy and random to fit my tastes. Granted, I had not sampled every possible kind of manga on the market, but when one does not like apples, they tend not to go about trying every single kind of apple out there until they find one they like, now do they?

My personal tastes aside, however, Manga comics are a legitimate and somewhat popular style, and there can be no doubt that there is a devout fan base of the genre out there. I finally realized through my work on this column (and the X-World Newsletter in particular), that I continue to know next to nothing about that branch of comic art. If I were to consider myself an authority of any kind on what comics you should be reading, I felt to completely ignore that genre all together (covering only the manga hybrids I personally liked) would not be keeping in that goal.

The vast majority of Dark Horse’s comic line-up falls in the realm of the manga comic, so I thought it would be best to start there in exploring the manga genre for the purposes of this column. My selection this week – Kosuke Fujishima’s Oh My Goddess.

Cast of Characters

Keiichi Morisato, frantically dialing the phone trying to find a restaurant that is open, accidentally dials the “Goddess Technical Help Line. Belldandy, a Goddess for the service, is dispatched to him to solve the “problem,” and she grants him one wish. Thinking is just an elaborate prank (probably from his dorm roomates, who find pleasure in abusing him), Keiichi wishes that Belldandy would be his girlfriend, forever. Of course, it is not a joke, and Keiichi’s wish is granted. Keiichi is kicked out of his “all-boys” dorm for having a girl in there, and Belldandy takes him to the temple where he will live with her.

Urd and Skuld are the two sisters of Belldandy, and they live with her and Keiichi in the temple. Urd is the oldest and flashiest of the three sisters, most akin to the party girl, and often pushes Keiichi to become more confident with his sister if they are to be “together.” In the issues I read, her magic license was revoked (perhaps having something to do with the fact that she is part demon), and while still a goddess she has none of the powers that go along with it.

Skuld, the youngest of the three sisters, is more of a technological wiz than, content on building her mechanical marvels rather than relying on magical gifts. After being bored with her job as the “Systems Manager” in heaven, she decides to come down to Earth to stay with her sisters. Among her creations is the robot Bampei, who is a regular character in the series.

Thoughts

Contrary to everything I expected, I really enjoyed what I read of Oh! My Goddess (Just where in the heck is that “!” supposed to go, anyway?). It is lighthearted and funny, and very, very easy to get into.

The art style is not as exaggerated as some of the cartoony manga that I really despise, but it is still very distinct. One positive thing I can say about it is that when recalling the issues I read, I actually remember them as animation. I am not really sure if that is due to the art style, or the slow storytelling style. Unlike most American comics that I have read, there was very little in the way of dialogue or narration. I could very easily see four or five issues of Oh My Goddess being squeezed down into one issue of your average American title.

Another thing I found interesting was the recap at the beginning of each issue. Unless it was the beginning of a brand new story, you are “retold” what happened in the last page or so of the last issue. It helped give the story a greater sense of continuation, and made things much easier to follow. I liked that idea a great deal, and would not seeing that sort of thing done in other comics I enjoy reading.

Of all of the comics I have read in a very long time, I think that this is the most ideally suited to market towards the young female audience. There are romantic themes throughout this title, but not the oversexed lust-fest that seems to go hand in hand with romance in some American attempts at a young girl’s book. Keiichi and Belldandy’s story is a very sweet and innocent one, and extremely G-Rated. This is not to say that this book is all about romance, but it does play a large part of the plot from time to time.

Bottom Line-

As luck would have it, a brand new issue of Oh My Goddess is due on shelves this Wednesday, February 11th, and it is the first part of a brand new story arc. I think this title is much better suited to the digest sized Traveler format that is popular with similar manga books today due to the slow, steady storytelling style, but dropping nearly $20 on one of those just to try out a new title is a bit much. There is also a cartoon of this cartoon, though I have not seen it, and it might be another way to get a good idea of what this title is all about. It does follow a roughly similar story line. I don’t know if they show it on TV or not over here, but you never know.

In the end, I am glad I put aside my dislike for the more obnoxious brand of anime/manga to give this book a chance. No, this is not going to turn me into a hardcore mangaphile, but it is nice to know that there are some real gems in that genre. I can almost guarantee that you will see other manga titles covered here sometime in the future.

Credit Where Credit is Due –

Created, Written, and Drawn by Kosuke Fujishima.

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