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Title:
  Adventures of Mini-Goddess vol 1 - The Gan-chan Files

UK Distributor:  MVM (DVD Only)

BBFC Certificate:  PG

Suggested Retail Price (SRP):  £19.99

Episodes:  1-12 (of 48)

Audio Options:  English 2.0, Japanese 2.0

Subtitles:  English

Reviewer:  Rich (Webmaster)

 

With a new TV series of Oh! My Goddess currently on air in Japan, now seems a great time for MVM to release this bizarre spinoff which eschews the romance that underpinned the original other entries in the franchise in favour of surrealism and slapstick humour.

Those unfamiliar with Oh! My Goddess need not worry - The Adventures of Mini-Goddess doesn't really require any knowledge of the original series past the basic plot that three goddesses are living in the house of a lonely schoolboy called Keiichi.  The premise this time is that when Keiichi leaves the house during the day the goddesses keep themselves amused by shrinking down to about 4" high and having adventures with a talking rat called Gan.  This may sound like the usual dopey premise for a Hamtaro style pre-school series, but thankfully The Adventures of Mini-Goddess is anything but.

This series is split into little bite-sized episodes which are under 10mins long, and in this volume focuses heavily on the impetuous goddesses Urd and Skuld and the aforementioned Gan, who is pretty much comic relief despite nearly all of the episodes revolving around him.  Homely goddess Belldandy meanwhile - whilst the main female character in the series, OVA and film - is reduced to a near cameo role in most episodes, which is a shame, but more of that in a bit.

The first episode starts with Gan wishing for romance and, after some 'help' from Urd, ends with him marrying a kettle.  Yes, the kind you put tea in.  Believe me this is just the tip of the surreal iceberg - in the space of just 12 episodes the goddesses send a rat into space, battle against Buddha (kind of) and mutated mould monsters, meet aliens, invent some extreme ways of losing weight, fight evil curses and still find time for a bit of baseball!  The Adventures of Mini-Goddess certainly doesn't take itself seriously, and is all the better for it!  This DVD is filled with plenty of surreal humour and slapstick (usually involving poor old Gan and one of Skuld's weird inventions...) plus a couple of homage's to well known films like Godzilla and Aliens.  It also manages to be cute without falling into saccharine Hello Kitty territory, and is funny without being repetitive.

The only real minus is Belldandy's small role, she is funny when she has a part to play but she rarely has more than a walk on appearance, which just seems like a waste.  Also, there are some references that will fall flat to those who aren't familiar with the likes of Gundam or Godzilla, although this doesn't really impact on the enjoyment of the show itself.  The disc doesn't have many extras either, with just a couple of trailers and a short profile and image gallery for (ironically) Belldandy.

At the end of the day if you like complex plots, character development and thought provoking philosophy look elsewhere.  However, if you want to laugh and be entertained then The Adventures of Mini-Goddess is for you.  It's watchable, fun and a bit silly, with plenty of appeal for all but the most cynical of viewers.  One of the most enjoyable anime releases of the year so far.

Extras

Uninspired, gallery, clean opening and closing sequence and a character profile.

Ratings

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