Oh My Goddess! OVA Collector's Edition 1993   AnimEigo   Buy It Now

My first experience with the Goddess anime came in the form of the Ah! My Goddess movie UMD. I was surprised to find that the movie was a serious drama, as opposed to something more like a romantic comedy, which I had assumed it would be. Now, I have the Oh My Goddess! OVA series and it is in fact a romantic comedy. How such a difference came to be between the original OVA and the movie is probably a product of the series’ evolution over time, but I wouldn’t know- I haven’t seen them. Suffice to say, differences notwithstanding, both this OVA and the movie are equally worth watching.

Considering that this OVA has already been thoroughly reviewed, including episode guides, elsewhere on this site, I am not going to rehash all that info here. Presumably, anyone interested in this set will most likely be a fan of the series wondering if this new Collectors Edition will be worth a purchase if they already own the original OVA release, so I will stick to what differentiates this edition from the previous, and that is special features. This set is loaded with them.

There are a few things held over from the original release, such as the “Dub Your Own Oh My Goddess!” feature, which basically removes the language track so those of you with a MST3K fetish and a six pack of beer (or something of a more leafy persuasion) can knock yourself out. I can see this being all kinds of fun for someone with a few friends, a PC with microphone, and far too much time on their hands. I don’t know if I personally would take advantage of this feature on a fine anime series such as Oh My Goddess!, but I have actually wished for something like this for the Star Wars: Episode 1 DVD. Now I know the technology exists, and the idea is alive in the industry. Someone now needs to hit George Lucas over the head with a shovel and make him turn his attention from remaking his six film opus in 3D to removing the language tracks- the *worst* of us out here could do a better job than he with dialogue, I think.

Other things, such as the no audio altogether option, have been removed. How someone could have thought adding something anyone could do with their mute button to a DVD as a “special feature” is beyond my humble abilities to grasp, but apparently, I wasn’t the only one, because that feature is a feature no more. Somehow, I doubt the Goddess coinsure will miss it.

There are commentaries with some of the English voice actors and their director included on all the disks, but I am sure the Goddess coinsure will not be interested, as most will probably never listen to the English dub in the first place, as they tend to be less than stellar performances, both in acting and translation. In this set, they are passable, but not recommendable. There is an interview with series producer Toru Miura, but it is text rather than video or audio. Folks with a good enough TV might enjoy this, but I tend not to want to read something on what is by definition an audio and visual medium. Still, the fan of this series (and there are a ton of them out there) might enjoy it.

There are character cards which are, just as you might imagine, cards that have pictures of the characters and their names in Japanese. Also included are sketch art, stills galleries, program notes (which are quick synopsis’ of the characters and episodes), more in depth notes on the episodes, karaoke versions of the beginning and end songs, and previews of other AnimEigo releases. There is also the obligatory clean opening and closing segments.

If it seems as though some of the features, such as, program notes, and series info might overlap, they do. Either would suffice in giving the viewer whatever info they might need, but again, for the die hard fan, too much info is never enough. One feature presents a quick synopsis, while the other goes into more detailed episode guides. If you haven’t the time or energy to actually watch the episodes, those guides will certainly bring you up to speed. But if that is your situation, then you most likely have issue that can only be solved by therapy or a visit from the head in the shovel guy who I hope pays Lucas a visit someday. But, to each his own, and if you really like this series, you will definitely like all the goodies AnimEigo has included especially for you.

On top of all these features, there are a few more, regarding Nekomi Tech. They have included a student manual, a school newspaper, and even a blank student ID card. Those of you who are the hardest of hardcore Goddess fans can truly “get into the series” with this stuff. Goddess cosplayers will now be armed with authentic Nekomi tech goodies (assuming they have a PC they can take screen caps of and are halfway decent with Photoshop), and one must caution them sometimes, fandom can cross the line from a health outlet for ones hobby to a freakish and disturbing fetish- use these tools of power with caution, Goddess coinsures. Seriously, these items add a real flavor of involvement for the true fan, and it’s pretty cool to see them on the disk.

All that said, I can definitely recommend the Oh My Goddess! Collectors Series DVD set for the, well collector. It is one of the most feature packed collectors editions I have ever seen, of any kind, movie or anime. The show is fun to watch, and the extras will give fans hours of added enjoyment- the perfect definition of “getting your moneys worth”.

-Ed-