Oh My Goddess! Vol. 13: Childhood's End

ああっ女神さまっ [Aa! Megami-sama] #13

by Kosuke Fujishima

After lonely college student Keiichi dials a wrong number, his wish of having a goddess as a companion is granted, and many adventures ensue involving him, his goddess girlfriend, her older sister, and other unworldly friends.

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

216 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 1996

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

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Childhood's End" is in my opinion an essential key book about Oh My Goddess in more than one sense. The very title of the trade paperback is quite well chosen since not only the end of the childhood of Skuld, the younger of the three goddesses sisters but also it's the end of the childhood of the manga series in several ways, the art here has a quantum leap, you perceive the maturity in the drawings, and also Keiichi is about to finish his studies and starting to think what to do in his adult life and Belldandy starts to think how she can fit in that life of Keiichi. An important new character is introduced also, Chihiro, the former director of the motor club, I would like that she could look different since she looks too much like Megumi, maybe a different hairdo could do the magic, anyway, this book is essential as the first step to a new phase in the stories of Oh My Goddess. Highly recommended.

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful focus on Skuld!

World: The art is great, with the beautiful mechanics of the bicycle and the motor club stuff it’s detailed and delicate and light at the same time. The world building is solid too with call backs to the past and new characters.

Story: The Skuld stories are beautiful and light and full of heart. The way it’s written is well done and you feel warm inside after reading them. The motor club stuff was also fun and light with a focus on the past and comedy of characters that are not the mains but still really good.

Characters: The new characters like the boy that Skuld meet are well done and are great foils for development of Skuld as a character and so is Chihiru for the motor club, solid stuff.

Onward to the next book!

[S.E. Martens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a delight! Skuld learning to ride a bike and having her first crush was heartwarming. And the story "The Queen and the Goddess" is one of my all-time favorites. I still have the single-issue from when Dark Horse was releasing these as single-issue comics. The little demon that latches onto Sayoko and grows bigger as it "slurps" up her trust in others and ability to believe in anything, slowly crushing her, is such a good metaphor for mental illness. And the artwork is simply gorgeous!

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again this series showcases how it prepped itself with the intent of growing the cast. In this volume we see the elements of Keiichi working towards not only graduating from college but also working towards getting a job afterwards. It's this kind of long-term progress with characters which is welcome in manga as it showcases just how the characters are able to grow.

[Kirsten Simkiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was a lot of fun to read and begins to develop Skuld's personality more past the bratty little sister role. They also introduce Chihiro, who I adore. She's a hardass, but she's also a lot of fun. Additionally, they introduce Sentaro, who is a love interest for Skuld.

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skuld's story is my favorite.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood's End: Belldandy and Urd can ride a bicycle, but Skuld doesn't know how. Skuld keeps failing, and it's because she's depending on others to solve her problems, or depending on machines. A young guy comes along and helps Skuld learn how to ride.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love: The guy who helped Skuld was Sentaro. He visits and he and Skuld start hanging out.

The Queen and the Goddess: Sayoko wants to see Belldandy. There's a strange creature on Sayoko's shoulder, and Urd explains what it is. It causes Sayoko to lose trust totally. Belldandy tries transforming in front of her, but she still doesn't believe Belldandy is a goddess. They get the creature off her, but Sayoko thinks Belldandy's a witch and not a goddess.

Hail to the Chief: Chihiro makes her appearance. She's the past president of the motor club that Keiichi is the current president of. She and Keiichi race on really, really small motorbikes.

Forever Grrls: While cleaning up the clubhouse the group finds some kind of treasure map. Belldandy and Chihiro have a good talk.

Live to Work, Work to Live: Keiichi is looking for a job and Skuld and the others are helping. Skuld's help is more 'sort of' help. Keiichi will end up going to work for Chihiro.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one has little short stories, and Skuld learns a thing ot two about love.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición española, tomo 13.