Thursday, April 10, 2008

Ah! My Goddess - Season 2



The second season of Ah! My Goddess, entitled Flights of Fancy, continues from the first, and there is some continuity there, it's just hard to care so much when not much really happens with the characters. The show is still well animated and charming, but Keiichi's inability to do anything with his life starts to wear on your nerves after about 40 episodes. Yeah, it's not so easy getting closer to someone when her magical sisters are always making you explode, but he's about as spineless as you can get. It's the same Japanese nerd fantasy of an introvert like them ending up in a good situation but being unable to do anything with it you see quite a bit, but it comes off as more tolerable because the circumstances around it are more interesting. I wish it was a little more creative instead of ripping off Norse mythology so much (apparently Japan can't get enough of the Yggdrasil Tree), but in general it's pretty entertaining.

There's some new plot developments, like the introduction of Peorth, another angel, who competes with Belldandy for Keiichi's affections. This might have proven interesting if there was any chance of him changing his mind, but he's too loyal and good-hearted to ever betray anyone. There's a story arc near the end involving sexy demon mothers and time travel and those sort of fun things. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it wants to be a romantic comedy with action elements or an action show with romantic comedy elements, although it usually leans towards the former. In any case, the general wet blanket personalities of the two leads make for some frustrating moments, but the show usually overcomes it with everything else being pretty solid. I'd be fine watching a third season, which should be doable with all the manga there is to adapt.

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