RHW5000

I am a hard core fan and connoisseur of animation. I've been this way all of my life as far back as I can remember. Groomed on Walt Disney, after seeing their 1974 animated version of ROBIN HOOD, I thought there no equal. Who could match the depth of this cartoon? After seeing Disney's PINOCCHIO, I completely surrendered to Disney and declared them the best ever. Warner Brothers, though, hilarious cartoon shorts served as a good change of pace from Disney's more conservative style, and Hanna-Barbera fascinated me with the likes of Scooby, Yogi, and Huckleberry Hound. Those cartoons I felt were the extent of animation. It could not get any better, more inventive, more well-produced than that. When I first saw Don Bluth's SECRET OF NIMH, I felt I had finally met the last worthy adversary to compete with my love for Disney, Warners, and HB...in 1997, I found out I had a whole lot to learn about animation. Even in the wake of the revival of animation in the mid ninties (Simpsons, Captain Planet, Rugrats, Doug, etc.) to late ninties (Cow and Chicken, South Park, etc.), the most original cartoons were not made in the United States. I found out in 1997 that they were made in Japan, and this is the series that convinced me of that fact. Aa! Megamisama(or Ah! My Goddess! or Oh! My Goddess!)is the best animated story I have seen in this decade. Never have I seen a story so fluid, and so effortlessly told. Unlike Disney, you cannot see any formula.

It is an original self-standing adventure that will draw you into a world that United States cartoon watchers are not familiar with seeing in a cartoon. Belldandy, Keichi, and the other characters electrify the screen with personality. These characters do not live as the cliched images we are so use to seeing in the USA. They are introduced and rounded out as new animated personas undigested by American pop culture--they show off their sexual urges for starters; when was the last time you saw that on an American cartoon? As for the story, I will only tell you this: its a story of a how a goddess forever changes the life of a lonely down on his luck college student after he calls to order take-out. Please check this one out. You will not regret it. :)

From the makers of Monty Python comes this frolic. A gang of dwarfs working for God swipe his map and use it to hop-scotch through time or riches. One day they find themselves in the closet of a boy named Kevin, and seeing nothing better to do, he joins their group. What follows is a weird and funny adventure that ends on a rather peculiar note. Please don't miss this one...and don't miss the cute end title song by George Harrison.

They don't make cartoons like this in the United States, one filled with the kind of creativity that this one holds. This 2 and one half hour plus adventure will change the way you view the animated film.

Romance? Its got plenty. Comedy? Mr. Fujisawa will keep your sides splitting. Action? The visuals are nothing short of kinetic. All of these wondeful elements are mixed together in a captivating story of unselfishness and sacrifice. Brilliant!