© Fujishima Kosuke / Kodansha * Pony Canyon

Belldandy. Urd. Skuld. They're back—sort of! That's right, everyone's favorite goddesses are back, and this time they're on television. Unfortunately, though, someone seems to have washed them in hot water, as they've been shrunk.
Originally airing as part of the first line-up on the ANIME COMPLEX program, AH! MEGAMI-SAMA: CHICCHAI-TTE KOTO WA BENRI DA NE (AH! MY GODDESS: BEING SMALL IS CONVENIENT) is now being released on video. This is certainly good new for GODDESS fans, since the ANIME COMPLEX shows have never appeared on video before.
However, these are not the goddesses you remember from the OVA series. The entire series is done in a SD format, which certainly lends an air of "cuteness" to atmosphere. However, it's never really explained how they got to be this size, but believability is easily suspended once the comedy begins. Belldandy is still the sweet (but somewhat vapid) doting sister, Urd is still scheming and Skuld is inventing. But there's no Keiichi, so who is the foil for all of these doting deities?
Enter Gan-chan. A rat. Yes, a rat. He hangs out with the Goddesses, goes on adventures with them and, more often than not, winds up getting the short end of the stick in these episodes. In the course of these eight episodes, he will be given faulty equipment, married to a teapot, shot into the sky in a makeshift rocket, turned into a giant radiated monster and forced to go on a weight loss program!
When a show is done in a very simple animated style, what it really needs to succeed is clever writing. And the ADVENTURES OF THE MINI-GODDESSES has that in spades. There are terrible puns, parodies of famous movies and other anime shows, and a lot of slapstick. For example, in one episode, when the Goddesses with Gan-chan in tow go off to investigate a mystery in the attic, Skuld outfits them with "mecha" she built out of cell phones. They are called "Unit Zero," "Unit One" and so on. Does this sound familiar?
The first LD runs 60 minutes and contains 8 episodes (since the episodes are about 7 1/2 minutes long each). And while that may not seem like much, there are a lot of laughs contained in this video. There really isn't much more to say. This show is just plain funny and is one of the most original takes on a popular set of characters that I've seen in ages. You will find yourself rooting for—and pitying—Gan-chan as things go right and then horribly wrong. But it always winds up okay in the end.
So, until the AH! MY GODDESS movie comes out in theaters (and on video) later this year, you can still get your Goddess fix. And you'll even have enough room left over in your pocket for a bag of M&M's too.

Released by Pony Canyon
Laserdisc PCLG-0062, 60 minutes
ISBN 4-988013-697684
¥5800
Available now in Japan
Where to buy