The Oh My Goddess OVA series finishes with the second volume of shows. It concludes with a very good two-part story that tests the limits of Bell and Keiichi's feelings for each other. While the disc is still marred by some of the video problems that the first disc had, this volume is worth picking up for the satisfying conclusion of the series.

Series background:

Morisato Keiichi is a freshman in college hanging out in his dorm one afternoon when he tries to order some food. All of the places he calls are either closed or not delivering yet, until he accidently dials the Goddess Hotline. The voice on the other end says that she'll be right over, and the next thing he knows, a beautiful girl, Belldandy, is standing in his room. She explains that she's a goddess and will grant his wish. Keiichi is sure that this is a joke that his dorm mates are playing on him, so he tells the apparition that his deepest desire is to have her as his girlfriend forever. Belldandy's not a joke of course, but a real goddess. The 'ultimate force' lets her grant his wish, and she becomes his girlfriend.

Having a stunning looking girlfriend like Bell has it's problems too. First her older sister Urd shows up, gets into some mischief, and is banished to Earth. So she moves in with Keiichi and Bell. Then the little sister Skuld appears since she's lonely all by herself and moves in too. Believe you me, living with a house full of goddesses can be quite trying at times.

This volume:

Some strange things start happening at Keiichi's house. First, it snows. That wouldn't be so unusual, but it only snows at his house, nowhere else. Then Keiichi becomes magnetic, and things start exploding for no apparent reason. It turns out that some system bugs are somehow getting to Earth and causing trouble. Skuld soon determines that an exhaust port is created between Bell and Keiichi whenever they get near one another, so they have to stay apart until little sister can find a way to close the port permanently.

She doesn't have much time either. The girl's father has seen what's been going on, and he isn't too happy. He doesn't want bugs wreaking havoc on Earth, so he issues a recall notice to Belldandy. In three days he's going to open a portal and bring her home, contract or not. Neither Keiichi nor Bell is happy with the situation, but what can a goddess and a young man do when the ultimate power sets his mind on something?

This two-part story was more romantic that the earlier stories, but it was also very good. You see the depths of Keiichi and Bell's feelings for each other, something that doesn't necessarily come across in the other episodes. There's a good amount of humor too, with Skuld and Urd coming up with some dangerous schemes to keep Bell on Earth.

If there's one thing I hold against this OVA series it's that it is too short. With only five episodes important subplots that are clear in the manga are glossed over which makes it a little hard to understand people's motivations sometimes. Keiichi's sister moves in with he and Bell in one episode, and then she only appears at school after that. Bell's female rival isn't really explained or talked about either. This leads to a couple of odd moments in the show, though they pass quickly. Even so, this was a fun series.

This disc comes with Japanese and English tracks, both in stereo. I alternated tracks while watching the show as I always do and enjoyed them both. The sound in both languages was clean and clear. There wasn't much use made of the soundstage, with the voices centered on the screen, though the music and sound effects were in the split between the two front speakers. There are subtitles in English.

Video:

The full frame image was a little better than volume one, but not by much. The image had a pretty big problem with ghosting, everything was outlined but it didn't look like edge enhancement, more like poor TV reception. This was really distracting and made the picture look like it was out of focus. Cross coloration was also a bit of a problem with rainbow effects popping up every once in a while, especially during pans. The colors looked good and there wasn't any print damage, but the other defects really marred this disc.

Extras:

There are a few extras on this disc, starting with a commentary track on all three episodes. I'm not a big fan of commentaries on anime shows, but this one was even more dull than usual. The three commentators, who don't bother to introduce themselves, don't seem to realize that they are supposed to be providing comments for the audience at home. They just chat among themselves about scenes they like or dislike. Bring in a couple of friends who've seen the show and ask them to talk through it and you'll pretty much reproduce this track.

The other audio based extra is a presentation of the show with only music and sound effects. This is a neat idea, allowing a group of friends to make their own dub of the show. This would be a fun activity for an anime club or group, and I'm surprised that more companies haven't included this on their discs.

Final Thoughts:

This was a very good OVA series, and the main complaint I have is that it was way too short. There's a good amount of humor and the romance aspects never get too sappy. The video quality leave something to be desired, but even with that, this show is worth watching. Recommended.