Subtitled "Everyone has Wings" in Japanese. Media Blasters passed on their right to dub the second season of Ah! My Goddess, so FUNimation picked it up. They blessedly kept all the original voice actors, so whether you liked them or not the first time around, they're consistent. I technically have two more episodes to watch, but they're OVAs, so I'm going to write my review now. I haven't seen the OVAs for the first season yet, either.After watching season 2, I'm not sure I can ever un-biasedly review again. I knew deep down that season 1 was mediocre and was simply good for its genre--not actually good in any other sense of the word. I felt disappointment at the botched writing in the final story arc, which was actually improved from the manga. Granted, I only read the two chapters of the manga I was interested in, so maybe the whole beginning of the Lord of Terror arc is actually fabulous in the manga and just has a lousy ending, but... man, what a lousy ending. Maybe it gets half a point for playing on the term "deus ex machina" if you think about it long enough, but I highly doubt that was planned. But this season... this season I actually found pretty darned good at times.
The second season starts off with lots of Keiichi and Belldandy episodes, and develops both their characters and eventually their romance. (If you can call Keiichi blushing when they accidentally hold hands yet still wanting to live with this woman for the rest of his life and possibly the afterlife romantic. I'm pretty sure that's called "marriage" in most other cultures, dude.) At least this season they actually do hold hands. I'm pretty sure Belldandy kisses him on the cheek in that episode where he buys her a nice gift. At the same that the romance stagnates, Funimation and NYAV Post decide to drop the "Mr. Keiichi" about three episodes in. Belldandy still says "Keiichi-san" in the Japanese because half of her lines are "Oh, Keiichi" to match the number of mouthflaps, but I will take literally inaccurate over culturally awkward any day. Dropping the "Mr." also has the added benefit of catapulting their relationship forward about ten steps and making everything so much more comfortable to watch. Maybe the relationship hasn't actually progressed that far in Japanese, but I don't care.
The early bunch of episodes which are just a bunch of one-shots, are therefore fairly enjoyable. Belldandy hand-knits Keiichi a sweater, Keiichi, with Urd's help (in a character-developing and not bad-advice sort of way) gets Belldandy a Christmas present, and Belldandy gets drunk at Sayoko's Christmas party. All in all, a cute bunch of episodes with very little things-going-ridiculously-wrong plot lines and actual advancement of Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship thanks greatly to dropping "Mr. Keiichi".
This new closeness is very necessary for the next story arc with Peorth to make any sense at all. Peorth, yet another goddess accidentally summoned by Keiichi to fulfill a wish, confronts Belldandy with the fact that she's not doing anything romantically (see: sexually) for Keiichi. Belldandy and Keiichi struggle with whether or not their relationship is in the right place. Peorth provides a wonderful change of pace, despite the pool episode being one of the worst of the series. Did I mentioned I hate date-gone-awry humor? Peorth herself is smug and scantily-clad, even moreso than Urd. (Keiichi humorously points out that no one pays attention to Peorth in a bathing suit because she's usually that un-clothed to begin with.) Peorth has a grudge against Belldandy from long ago, but clearly looks up to her as a goddess. The misunderstanding between Peorth and Belldandy turns out to be silly, but at least the other characters have the sense to point that fact out. Despite her aggressive and arrogant nature, Peorth contrasts nicely with all of the other goddesses, and when her mission is complete, she actually leaves.
Then we move onto Skuld and Urd's story arcs, in which Belldandy and Keiichi fall into this weird parental role. Their love and relationship reaffirmed from the Peorth arc, they just sit in the background and provide moral support for a while. The arcs do wonders for both Urd and Skuld, though for Urd moreso in Skuld's arc than in her own. Finally, the last bunch of episodes go back to Belldandy and Keiichi... and fall flat on their faces. Hild, a new villain, is good for all of one episode, and then just becomes a stupid gag. Belldandy gets some more character development, and in necessary ways, but poorly executed. What this series really needed to end with was some actual romance.
Now to the technical aspects. Animation. Is. Horrible. Especially in the last 5 or so episodes. Gone are the days when I just complained about static shots. Proportions are all out of whack, from limbs to facial expressions to hair to everything. Just flat out cheap, bad animation. They save the budget for the last episode, which has an interesting concept, but a somewhat confusing ending. Voice acting for all the major characters is roughly the same. Skuld becomes a lot less annoying, though this might be more due to her character development. In some fun dubbing shout-outs, the OVA voice of Belldandy plays Peorth and the OVA voice of Urd plays Hild. Both fit very nicely into their new roles, and once I watch the OVA, I'm sure I will appreciate them even more. Veronica Taylor and Dan Green deserve mention as well, playing the old Auto Club manager and Urd's ex-boyfriend respectively. Dan Green is hilarious, even if I hate the way Urd's character is written at the end of the episode, and I do not agree with the decision to leave Troubador's performance in Japanese. Oh, and Eileen Stevens and Karen Neiil also deserve mention for their nice job singing in Sayoko's Christmas party episode.
The closing themes are nothing special, but the opening is almost as good as "Open Your Mind"! "Shiawase no Iro" uses bagpipes instead of violin and woodwind, and even suggests it is Belldandy herself playing the bagpipes and singing the song at times, which is pretty darned cool. I love Belldandy, did I ever mention that? I like the far-away cameos in the theme song to introduce some minor characters but not be as in-your-face as the typical theme song. The subtle cameos fit the music much better, and when the close-up theme song shots of Peorth and Hild do come up, it's when the music picks up and the electric guitars come in, so the change is appropriate. It's much better than the average theme song.
Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed the second season a lot more. I don't know if this was because I was already in the mood to watch it, if I had lower expectations, or if it really was better. The character development is much better for all characters, but once again, the writing quality is inconsistent. The beginning and middle are much better than the end. If they had just saved the Lord of Terror for this season. Just go watch the ending theme from the first season finale to help when you don't get enough romance. I plan on reading the manga now that I've invested all of this time into the anime and actually rather enjoyed it. I will also watch the movie, which I've seen lots of people cosplaying and has a cool other character.
+ Better character development and story arcs all around, minor roles get better voice actors, good opening, good at what it does--make you feel good and love Belldandy.
- ANIMATION. Romance episodes sometimes just remind us that Keiichi and Belldandy love each other and don't actually change anything, bad finale, inconsistent characterization and plot points. (Belldandy can't go back to heaven because it might take her 50 years to come back--anyone remember that from season 1? Certainly not the writers.)
Overall Rating: C+
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