Review of Ah! My Goddess: The Movie

I found the movie pretty ok. Though I am not much familiar with the anime/manga series, the movie in itself felt very self-contained without needing to have an in depth knowledge of the series. The characters were also likeable, though there wasn't any particular focus on them besides the lead protagonists. I found Keichi very bland and more of a damsel in distress pretending to be a Knight in shining armour. Belldandy was a strange character. I am usually not a big fan of such Mary Sue nearly perfect but also perfectly submissive female characters. But nevertheless her character was definitely likeable enough. I also liked Celestine. I think he was an interesting character but his motives were all over the place. I think a very simple message of finding love even in suffering and trials, was unnecessarily convoluted to give the protagonists another obstacle to proof the strength of their love and loyalty.

Overall, a passable anime movie that is pretty to look at but lacking in any depth when compared to beautiful love stories told by Studio Ghibli. For a seinen genre anime, this is as much depth you will ever get from it, and that is ok too.