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Title:
  Adventures of Mini-Goddess vol 3 - The Urd Files

UK Distributor:  MVM (DVD Only)

BBFC Certificate:  PG

Suggested Retail Price (SRP):  £19.99

Episodes:  25-36 (of 48)

Audio Options:  English 2.0, Japanese 2.0

Subtitles:  English

Reviewer:  Rich (Webmaster)

 

Adventures of Mini-Goddess has been a bit of a surprise hit with me this year, but there were signs in the last volume that it was beginning to run out of ideas.  Several episodes revolved around the romantic escapades of Gan the rat, and although it was still highly enjoyable there were signs that this would wear thin if it carried on.  Luckily though things take a turn for the better.

This disc starts with a two part parody of Die Hard, with Gan battling against a group of rat mercenaries lead by the mysterious Urd lookalike Marla.  The parody is well observed for the most part, but it's the introduction of Marla - who becomes a major character on this disc - that breathes new life into the series.  Marla is a demonic sorceress whose sole purpose is to make Belldandy, Urd and Skuld's lives miserable because of the knock-on effect their despair will have on humanity, however, her hair-brained schemes are reminiscent of Tom & Jerry, and are just as successful as Tom's more elaborate mouse catching ideas.  Marla's introduction gives the series a bit more focus, and plenty of humour - her desperate attempts to upset the goddesses are made all the more funny as the targets generally don't notice, and to make matters worse they consider her a friend rather than an enemy.

Marla doesn't appear in all of the episodes on the disc, but the series is back on song and is at its enjoyable best throughout.  This time Gan romance plots are put on the back burner for the most part, apart from an episode in which Urd and Skuld use a machine to manipulate his dreams to include Belldandy (the episode has a very funny ending when they try to use the machine on Belldandy...), and instead the focus is firmly on comedy.  High points include an episode in which Gan (skilled fisherman) and Urd (overly competitive) have a bass fishing duel, and an episode in which Marla attempts a complicated plan to capture Gan and the goddesses by tempting them with their favourite things - which turns out to be afternoon tea for Belldandy!  This also leads to pretty much the only ongoing plot to occur in the series so far, with Marla replacing her inept rat mercenaries with a trio of ninja which she conjures from an old computer game, but by far the highlight of the disc is the episode Rainy Day.

Rainy Day is nothing like the rest of the series, it is completely free of comedy and dialogue and follows a reflective Urd as she drifts aimlessly around the city in the rain.  This episode took me completely by surprise I must admit, it's a beautifully contemplative and atmospheric vignette which is complimented by some excellent music and is strangely reminiscent of Raymond Briggs' The Snowman.  It is probably the best episode in the series so far, and despite the lack of comedy it does not jar with the other episodes on this disc - brilliant stuff.

Once again Adventures of Mini-Goddess provides great easy viewing entertainment, packed with comedy and light-hearted action and this time there's even a bit of thought-provoking contemplation too.  The art and animation is clean and cute, the dubs are good in both languages and the episodes themselves are great fun, this won't tax you in any way and the extras are minimal, but if you want some enjoyable viewing with plenty of replay value then Adventures of Mini-Goddess is well worth your money.

Extras

Character profile, clean opening sequence and a gallery.

Ratings

Feature:   Extras:
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