Tong: Ah! My Goddess The Movie

So this week we have left the ancient Japan of 'Princess Mononoke' and transitioned to the modern-mystical world of 'Ah! My Goddess'. The movie seems to take place some time after the actual introduction of the major characters, because the relationships between all the major characters are already established by the start of the film. The first scene is of someone getting released from a prison on the Moon, and then we're introduced to a group of friends that consists of supernatural beings (and no one finds it odd). It's soon revealed that Keiichi is a normal teenage boy who encountered a goddess named Belldandy some time before the events of the film. The goddess granted Keiichi one wish, which was for the goddess to stay with him forever. So now, at the start of this film, Keiichi and Belldandy are in a heavily-invested relationship; the two are lovers, companions, partners. Other major characters consist of two other goddesses, Belldandy's older half-sister, Urd, and her younger sister, Skuld. It's soon revealed that the escaped prisoner is Belldandy's past mentor, Celestin.

So instead of reviewing 'Ah! My Goddess' this week, I have to cover three important topics discussed in this week's chapter of 'Samurai From Outer Space', which concerns women. One of the major aspects of this chapter concerns women in positions generally owned by men. Japanese anime tend to reflect the Japanese's actual changing society, with more and more women working than staying at home and doing domestic duties. 'Ah! My Goddess' relates to this transition of women in male-dominated fields in the racing scenes. In the film, Keiichi and Belldandy are a great racing team, and the actual competition is a mixed-gender race. This is slightly odd because usually it's just men who are shown racing, and 'Ah! My Goddess' features numerous women in competitive races.

Another major topic covered in this chapter is the equality or inequality of men and women. Sure, women are quickly progressing in society and becoming equals with their male counterparts. However, come anime are still showing powerful women who are under the leadership of more powerful men. This is depicted in 'Ah! My Goddess' with the leading goddesses back in Heaven. Throughout the film they're shown as strong, capable, and intelligent women who are the protectors of Heaven. But when it came down to deciding the fate of Celestin, a group of leading male gods were there to do so, not the female goddesses.

Another ongoing trend depicted in anime is the lack of motherly figures. Many anime shows and films that concern adolescents and teenagers do not really depict their mothers. This chapter in 'Samurai From Outer Space' explains that mothers tend to control the actions of their children, thus they're purposely excluded from anime. 'Ah! My Goddess' is an example of this, as Keiichi does not have a mom, and instead lives with his three goddesses (man, he sure does sound like Charlie Sheen right now, lol). Though Urd, and sometimes Belldandy, are sometimes motherly and take care of domestic duties in the house, they're still not mothers to Keiichi.

I am now posting a song that is sung by a fairly well-known singer, and I think the song is somewhat about this woman's empowerment even when the world, or men, cut her down:

Picture 1: http://cdn102.iofferphoto.com/img/item/123/981/215/LbF2XsGa0AfeTkm.jpg
Picture 2: http://www.rubberslug.com/user/05d0ec7034824623901dce363681cdd6/262352-3957728-celestin.jpg
Picture 3: http://www.rubberslug.com/user/b84da672523d4249ac13c41ced8ec093/231494-8142008-Ah%20!%20My%20goddes%20-%20Keiichi.jpg
Picture 4: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/2301245283_892e45cf6b.jpg