Oh My Goddess! Vol. 4

ああっ女神さまっ [Aa! Megami-sama] #4

by Kosuke Fujishima

Ever since a cosmic phone call brought the literal young goddess Belldandy into college student Keiichi's residence, his personal life has been turned upside down, sideways and sometimes even into strange dimensions! Half-goddess, half-demon, Belldandy's big sister Urd continues her campaign of naughtiness when she brews up a luuuuuv potion that, of course, goes horribly awry, infecting everyone but her poor intended target - Keiichi. But random passion in the streets may be the least of the gang's worries as a seemingly harmless CD could turn out to be a portal from the underworld, unleashing a most pesky demon and any other random nasties that happen to be near her!

Genres: Manga, Romance, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels Manga

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 1991

About the author

Kōsuke Fujishima (藤島康介, born July 7, 1964) is a Japanese manga artist.

Born in Chiba, Japan, he first came to public attention as an editor of Puff magazine, his first job after completing high school. Fujishima originally intended to be a draftsman, but took the editorial role after failing to get a drafting apprenticeship. He later became assistant to manga artist Tatsuya Egawa in the production of the Making Be Free! manga, and in 1986 began his first original manga series You're Under Arrest. His second manga series Oh My Goddess!, also translated as Ah! My Goddess, is extremely popular and has made Fujishima a household name in Japan. In addition, he is also well known as the character designer for several games in the Tales RPG video game series and Sakura Wars.

He is known for his love of automobiles and motorcycles, and several of his series and their characters reflect this, such as in éX-Driver and Oh My Goddess!.

Reviews

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little slice of life goodness.

World: Art is getting gorgeous and full of character. World building only when needed.

Story: Quiet little moments and hijinx are the order of the day. It's sweet and endearing.

Characters: Little development here but it's all little pieces of micro moments that make up the characters. It's just charming good arc. Mara makes me giggle.

Onward to the next book!

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before of this volume, you already can get how Kosuke Fujishima knows to merge his passion for motors and vehicles into his stories but here definitely he became fast and furious, hehe. The art is still not in his peak, you can bet that art will be even better later, but it´s now very beautiful and as I told you, very detailed. And even, you haven´t seen many unforgettable characters still pending to appear in next volumes.

[Anthonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love romance stories with a mix of humor and some antics in manga's. Talk about more problems for Keiichi when another goddess pays him a visit. This new goddess is something else and she has the same powers as Bellandy. I enjoyed reading this manga a must read.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another classic Fujishima volume, though I have to retract what I said in some of my prior reviews (that I don't feel like looking up at the moment), since this volume ENDS on a cliffhanger story—Mara shows up and doesn't quite go away. MOST of the other volumes, especially these "flopped" editions, are relatively self-contained, in as far as if you know the basic story (Keiichi lives with a VERY LITERAL goddess or three), then you pretty much have all the backstory you need, and things more or less wrap up within the same volume.

I dislike:
- their bath area has a VERY accessible window for any Peeping Tom (or... Tammy?) to just peek in
- the titular "Love Potion No. 9" on this edition is ONE story, vs. most of the rest of the stories are about the Motor Club and their shenanigans
- (well, okay, THREE of the six stories are, which is still MOST)
- how thirsty everyone is—I know it's a romantic comedy, but... probably why this series fell off my radar as I found more interesting things to read
- the race testing checkpoints (what do those have to do with racing, other than Aoshima trying to fix the race?)

I REALLY like:
+ when Keiichi in particular is able to prove his value by pulling off "cheats" without relying on Belldandy's magic (driving over the concrete blocks buried under the sand at the renovated beach)
+ how much Belldandy tries to get a "happy" ending where even a demon like Mara is just sent home—rather than sealed away for 500 years JUST for being a slight pain
+ the Shinden II (even if it spirited away with Keiichi, haha)
(- though Belldandy defaults the Shinden to having a male identity, which might be a translation thing but is still vaguely annoying)

Overall a good read, but not my favourite volume.

[Doc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking flight

For those that like to keep track of what stories they enjoyed best by volume here is a quick summery of what to expect throughout. With the troubles created by Toshiyuki Aoshima the Motor Vehicle Club has had better days but with the destruction of their club house a little divine dowsing discovers a rare relic from the past that can boost the clubs image if only it can take to the sky. Next we see Urd trying to help Belldandy and Keiichi get even closer by brewing a love potion but when she decides to test it out and trouble ensues. After this we get to meet Mara, a first class demon, who enjoys making trouble as much as Belldandy enjoys bring joy leading to several examples of potential trouble as the goddesses and company work to fix it. Finally with the club house still gone plans are being made to replace it when a conveniently misdelivered letter with an offer for a grand prize of 500,000 yen for creating the best economic vehicle for the contest and it will take team work as usual to beat those that love to cheat.

As always although Kosuke Fujishima's artwork continues to improve as he matures as an artist I can't help but love the trouble that follows Keiichi like an ominous shadow nor the love and assistance Belldanady offers to help him as they continue to grow closer together. Part love story and part mechanical fanboy lessons we learn about engines and classic airplanes such as the Shinden while also being treated to a bit of awkward romance and family friendly shenanigans from the supporting cast. :)

[Kirsten Simkiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kosuke Fujishima's art and story telling continue to improve. In this volume, he not only continues to develop his art style and his existing characters, but adds yet another goddess, Skuld who is my sister's favorite goddess, to the Morisato mix. It's really fun rereading these and seeing Fujishima grow into his art style and his craft.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun volume with some history and intrigue thrown in!

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty great manga so far, really great art/Character development and pretty good story 😁❤️

[Hayley]

These comics are a lot hornier than I remember them being...

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though Urd has a way of making mischief, the appearance of Mara is true chaos. The demoness makes it her duty to make Keiichis life a nightmare. Luckily he's got goddesses on his side.

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mara is introduced. I remember her from when I was a kid, reading these for the first time (and completely out of order!) This was a good volume.

[Cosmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

More comical adventures! Also a new character/enemy?! Yeah it happened. This series may have a new antagonist, and they are of the supernatural type.

So yeah more adventures. Token “love potion” story happens and it was funny. Mara, the new villain, is a big part of the second half of this volume.

I liked it. I have to get the rest of the series while it is on sale. Does anyone actually read my reviews?

[Starbubbles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ah, so this one was volume 4, not 2. hahaha! All books should be numbered when there is more than one involved. It's still cute to read, but I can't see myself getting hooked as I do with so many others.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one... the demon(ness) Mara shows up, and I had to love the love potion story. The Shinden was also weird and hilarious.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición española, tomo 4 de lo que sería finalmente un total de 48, aunque todavía me faltan algunos tomos sueltos para completarla.

[Pam Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of falling away from the rom com I fell in love with, but I still enjoyed it's lightheartedness! This is always a breath of fresh air to read.

[S.E. Martens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Making my way through the '90s editions of Oh My Goddess! for nostalgia's sake. These are incredibly sweet and Belldandy is lovely in every sense of the word.