Token Asian’s Anime Blog

Even though the goddess I like the least out of the original three is Skuld, I must say that this little freeware game is a nice way to take a short game break between long periods of work. That and it’s a good way to feed your AMG addiction now that the television run of season 2 is over. Ah, the plight of a goddess fan!

It’s a very solid game with good production values and decent gameplay. There’s not much to it. You play as Skuld smashing those pesky “bugs” from Yggdrasil. And being Skuld, your weapon of choice is a mallet. Press the space bar to use the mallet and arrow keys to move and jump. Each stage has progressively more intense waves of bugs and a “boss fight” where you fight a blue-ish bug that takes multiple hits to kill (and it can turn invisible and thus invulnerable). You can also chain kills for higher points. The longest killing spree I managed was 32 bugs. Pick up ice cream cones (that magically float down from the ceiling) for extra lives.

The only downside to this game is that you’re restricted to only one arena (Skuld’s room). At least it is well-decorated with all the things you would associate with Skuld’s personal domain. It’s still a good game for something originally released in the late 1990s. Geez, I feel old now! Anyway, I think the game could have been easily upgraded with the use of more goddess characters (perhaps Urd with thunder spells) and powerups (Skuld bombs!). Overall, this game is a treat for any AMG fanatic.

Download available here! I am 99% sure that this is a legal download despite the supposed shady business practices of the site in question. At least this link should be reliable enough to guarantee yourself some nice bug-bashing!

For those of you wondering if the second season of Ah! My Goddess is over or not… well, it’s definitely not over. The problem is that there are some varying camps of opinion on interpreting the “insider” information and other sources. We can divide this into two primary schools of thought.

The “1-22, 23 & 24″ Group
-the series will have a 22 episode run on television.
-the DVDs include in the extras section two special OVA episodes (similar to episodes 25 and 26 last season), numbering episodes 23 and 24.
-therefore, all episodes in the second season that were made for television have been aired.
-the last DVD with the OVAs will be released in late spring 2007.

The “1-24, 25 & 26″ Group
-the series will have a 24 episode run on television.
-the DVDs therefore will include the two extra OVA episodes, numbering episodes 25 and 26.
-meaning the made for television episodes are on a brief hiatus for some unknown reason.
-the last DVD with the OVAs will be released at a presently unknown date.

If you ask me, both scenarios work fine. Personally, I’m all for more made for television episodes as long as this brief hiatus business is for the sake of making a better ending arc. And here’s to hoping that the special OVA episodes are as great as the last batch. I’d like seeing more of those zany out of character episodes. In any case, there’s no need to worry as there’s plenty more AMG stuff on the horizon.

I’m bored.

Not much in the way of new goddess stuff this month. Already got myself the new PVC statue, the tote bag, and a couple of those tiny AMG coffee mugs. Apparently the Japanese aren’t that big on mega-mugs of coffee. I guess Asians are bigger on tiny cups of tea or something (don’t ask me, I’m a Ghiradelli cocoa drinker… despite being Asian).

At least chapter 216 of the manga was fun. Skuld ditches television and fighting with Urd for a date with mini-K1 (Sentaro). Here’s to hoping that Fujishima continues on this story in chapter 217. Anyway, it was a manga chapter that didn’t suck for once.

Oh yeah, so there was some updates on the AMG PS2 game. Geez, every single time I look at this site, the graphics look crappier and crappier. I hope it’s just low quality screenshots and that the game is still “in development.”

Anyway, it appears that Keiichi and his harem of divine beauties end up on some deserted island with a crapload of puzzles to solve and SOMEONE has lost their memory (if it’s Bell AGAIN I’m going to tell someone to perform an anatomically impossible action). And then there’s this silver-haired lady who everybody thinks is “Freya,” theorized to be Belldandy’s mother. Well, at least all the fanboys are associating a sexy lady with Bell’s ancestry (fair enough).

However, I see no goddess markings on her face. We should be able see the emblems on the lower cheeks at the least. Even Hild, the highest of the demons had markings, so therefore a high-level goddess such as Bell’s mother should have SOMETHING. Hmmm, I would lean on the side that argues this is NOT Bell’s mother. And I doubt that Fujishima would take such an important plot development and use a PS2 game to reveal it.

A more likely theory is that this woman is the villain, in league with Marller (also in one of site’s updates) and causing havoc with the goddesses’ memories. Or perhaps Marller is causing this silver-haired woman to suffer memory loss and the entire goddess gang has to solve puzzles to get it back. Hey, for all I know, Marller could be cloning an army of Belldandys (Belldandies? Belldandii?) to take over the world and this silver-haired female is the first of a line of cybernetically enhanced ninja goddesses with laser beams for eyes.

Remember that one really crappy Tenchi Muyo movie where the entire gang goes back in time to save Tenchi’s mom from being assassinated by an escaped criminal? All I really remember is the unusual ending song during the credits roll… anyway, I’m digressing. ANYWAY, remember how AMG fans are always complaining that Tenchi Muyo was a blatant ripoff of Fujishima’s work? Well, I guess is the original idea ripping off of the ripoff… okay, headache.

It appears that this rather non-manga inspired story begins with Hild chilling in the house with everyone. Obviously, this is out of the ordinary but the thing most of the ordinary is that Keiichi takes it all in stride and is coming on to Hild. This is normal behavior for K-1? Apparently something has changed the Keiichi they knew, which becomes clear when they find a photo of Keiichi in high school with Hild. And of course, now the entire gang has to travel back in time to prevent Keiichi from being seduced by Urd’s mom (not that most men would object to having Hild around).

Have you ever gotten your driver’s license revoked? Or even worse, found yourself with the wrong license altogether? Aiiya, well, Belldandy finds herself with a license to terrorize as a demon. Too bad she absolutely sucks at being evil. The worst thing she can probably do is get herself totally bombed on Coca-Cola (not Diet Pepsi, to Burnskvi’s sadness).

Of course, this is a happy anime and we have to get this issue resolved before the end of the episode. Much happiness came into this Token Asian’s heart as Peorth comes along in a cute outfit to make things all better… right? Are things really going to be 100% again? Or are things going to go to Hell once again (pun intended)?

WTF is that Hild in bed with Keiichi? RAPERAPERAPERAPERAPE! AGH! Is this time for a jealousy storm? The final showdown between Bell and Hild? An action-packed final episode with magic flying back and forth? Actually, none of the above. We’re finally getting Bell in a schoolgirl outfit.

OH MY FUCKING GODDESS WHAT THE HELL IS THIS

Well, I guess it was inevitable. They had to make a video game out of this franchise somehow. I was just hoping it would have been a first person shooter. I’d have liked to play online with AMG fans around the world and frag people with Skuld bombs. This looks like your standard third person RPG in the vein of perhaps Kingdom Hearts.

I hope this gets imported. If not, I’ll be very sad.

Took another closer look at the episode teaser at the end of episode 20. Went through it slowly… and I saw this:

Not your standard goddess emblem, eh? Looks like Belldandy is turning to the dark side in the next episode. I bet Marller’s got a hand in it. I suppose this is the anime version of the “Belldandy turns into a demon” arc. Except I see no Welsper or Lind in sight yet. Perhaps in episode 22? Well, I doubt everyone’s favorite kitty will make an appearance. At least Lind, I’d hope.

Also note the scan from Animedia magazine hosted on Visions of Goddess:

Shame on you, Belldandy. She’s just as tipsy as a Lehigh University sorostitute! But as you can see, she’s clearly lacking her goddess emblems and has something more red and demon-like. That and I don’t think Belldandy would willfully start chugging cola if she wasn’t showing a more “naughty” side.

If Burnskvi-san reads this, do you think Bell is more of a Diet Pepsi fangirl or a regular Pepsi kind of gal? And would a demon Belldandy smash vending machines in Baltimore hotels for her daily fix?

PS: Don’t quote me on this… but was it confirmed that there are only to be twenty-two episodes total?

It’s moving day at the Morisato residence, though it’s stuff moving in, not out. It starts off with just the Motor Club gang coming by to put their stuff in storage but it begins escalating. Sure, letting Chihiro stash some junk here and there isn’t too bad. Unfortunately, I guess Sayoko needs to store “some” (a truckload) of her junk as well, but I guess she’s too much of a stingy b**** to pay for it. Who needs to pay for something when you can just mooch off of K-1?

Of course, Skuld comes up with a technological solution… build a space expander! Don’t ask me to explain the physics of it because I’m a history major, but I do know it involes an SNES controller and Skuld, which is bad news. So one room of the house is now in violation of the laws of physics. Let’s put everyone’s valuables inside! And maybe we can let Keiichi fiddle around with it! Nothing could go wrong, right?

Well, at least now they can store an infinite amount of junk in this room. TRAPPED IN INFINITE SPACE… my head hurts thinking about it. Too bad Belldandy isn’t the type to look at yard sale ads in the Sunday paper and acquire ridiculous amounts of tchotckes. Or maybe she just hasn’t heard of yard sales. Do they even have yard sales in Japan? I think Bell would be the type to collect dolls. Not sure why, but it just sounds right. In any case, Bell and Keiichi finally get some “alone time,” though not exactly in a good way.

I’m not sure how the next episode goes as the teaser is pretty vague, but I do know one thing…

NIKU-SEMPAI KILLS HAGU-CHAN! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Marller is back at doing what she does best… coming up with weird plans to defeat the goddesses that really end up doing nothing at all. Nothing new in fact, but this time she has a twist to her usual plans. NINJAS! Now, Belldandy obviously isn’t a pirate so this should be an easy win for the ninjas, correct?

Unfortunately, these ninjas don’t really go for the standard “assassination at night” thing that they’re so famous for. This is more of a “let’s get into Keiichi’s pants” plan that, um, makes for some interesting visuals. Of course, Belldandy takes it all in stride…

Let’s not also forget that these ninjas aren’t the full-sized version. Go figure that Marller works on the cheap and summons the tiny version of their real-life counterparts. Just goes to show that Marller is probably the most incompetent planner of all time. And as usual, the plan falls apart with some love and kindness from Belldandy, complete with sparkles and pretty lights.

But will nobody save us from seeing Keiichi get it on with a giant rat? Guess not.

At least the next episode looks promising. It appears to be the story where they’re storing the Motor Club’s junk in the house and Skuld creates a space expander because they can’t fit everything but an infinite amount of space is accidentally created. However, the preview didn’t show anything about a giant floating whale, so we’ll see what’s going to happen next time.

Even demons fall on hard times. Marller’s having the time of her life (sarcasm) working down at the local 7-Eleven. Kind of an interesting parallel between Belldandy’s old part-time job. Kind of makes you wonder about the pay you get for being a demon or goddess. Minimum wage job? Geez, I guess Kami-sama and Hild are real skinflints. But I guess the retirement plan is pretty good. I mean, eternity and all.

Regardless, Marller is still everyone’s favorite bumbling villain, perhaps a bit too much so, as Hild drops by to pay a visit in reduced-fat version (well, that sounds better than “chibi” or “deformed, so sue me). After some hiccups and false starts, these two scheming demons come up with what they think is a foolproof plan to defeat the goddesses… a magical pot that traps anyone that kisses it… and this little teapot has the ability to visually morph itself into cute things tailored specifically to whoever is looking at it!

With a trap so devious, will the demons defeat the goddesses this time? What will Belldandy see the pot as? Better question, what did Keiichi see? I don’t even want to know what Tamiya-sempai saw! Okay, now that I wrote that, I guess I can’t take that back. Animeblogger.net is not responsible for the scarring of your mind. All comments made here are mine alone!

And while we’re on the topic of things not safe for the mind… in the next episode, we have Keiichi stripping down in front of Belldandy. And no, it’s not for a bath. Apparently he’s doing his darndest to seduce her. Maybe Keiichi is turning over a new leaf and finally getting down to business?

Judging by this next screencap… I think not.

It’s a ninja, think about it. See you next week!