Belldandy

For the Norse mythology deity, see Verdandi.

Belldandy
Oh My Goddess! character
Belldandy and her Angel Holy Bell
First appearance	Chapter 1
Created by	Kosuke Fujishima
Seiyū	Kikuko Inoue (adult) Akemi Okamura (mini eps 1-13) Yumi Touma (young in anime) Mio Shionoiri (young in movie)
Voice actress	Juliet Cesario (OVA) Bridget Hoffman (Movie, Mini) Chloe Thornton (Movie) (child) Eileen Stevens (TV) Circe Luna (OVA Spanish Version) Rose Marie Barin (Philippine Version)
Profile
Species	Goddess
Gender	Female
Information
Rank	First class, second category, unlimited license
Dimension	10th (Yggdrasil)
Elemental Affinity	Wind, Air
Angel	Holy Bell, Blue Lance (temporary)

Belldandy (ベルダンディー -, Berudandī) is a fictional character in the popular manga Oh My Goddess! (OMG) and in the anime of the same name. She is voiced primarily by Kikuko Inoue. She is one of three Goddesses who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato (as well as his love interest).

History

Keiichi Morisato, a hapless and girlfriendless college student, accidentally dials the Goddess Relief Office (the reason is simply explained as fate in the manga and anime adaptations) and as a result Belldandy visits Keiichi to grant him a wish. Convinced that the whole incident is a prank played on him by his seniors (Senpais), Keiichi half-jokingly wishes her to stay with him forever. ("I want a goddess like you to be by my side forever"). The heavenly computer Yggdrasil grants Keiichi's wish and now the girlfriendless Keiichi is bound by a heavenly contract (enforced by Yggdrasil) to have a Goddess by his side forever.

Ever since, Belldandy dwells with Keiichi at the Tariki Hongan Temple in the city of Nekomi, Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo. The Temple was turned over to them by its former guardian, Koshian, a Buddhist monk who was overwhelmed by the purity of Belldandy's spirit and her unparalleled skills in polishing the Temple altar, in cooking, and in Zazen meditation. He left for a pilgrimage to find spiritual perfection, turning over the temple to their care, without realizing Belldandy's true nature as a Goddess. Later on Belldandy's two sisters (Urd and Skuld) started dwelling with them as well.

She recharges her energy by sleeping and bears the emblem of the present.

Relationship with Keiichi

Although Belldandy was sent to grant him a wish and nothing more, Belldandy expresses many times that she has enjoyed her time with Keiichi and that her purpose is to make him happy. The contract really is an excuse for her to stay since in Episode 8 Season 1 " Ah! A Devil Comes and Bestows Misfortune", her rival Marller, a first class demon, has stated " that she can cancel a contract with a human anytime". Belldandy had then stated that she did not want to, because Keiichi was a special person in her heart. The first time Keiichi and Belldandy met, Belldandy expressed great affection towards the fact that he repairs and takes care of old electronic items that others do not, along with many other reasons in his personality Belldandy has grown an attraction towards him.

Description

Belldandy is unflinchingly kind, patient, and warm, not only to Keiichi but to everyone, without exception. However, this does not mean that she is to be taken lightly; Belldandy is licensed as a goddess first-class, unlimited, and as such is highly skilled. Her power is so great, in fact, that she is required to wear a special earring on her left ear which constantly seals the full brunt of her magical strength. The only time at which she has ever revealed her true strength is during the Lord of Terror arc. At the end of this arc, Belldandy completely reconstructed their home from rubble, mentioning that doing so only took one ten-millionth of her power.

Belldandy's capacities and talents are diverse, whether magical or worldly. Not only can she change the appearance of her clothing and levitate (and, by extension, fly) as all full-fledged goddesses are expected to, but she can also teleport through mirrors, speak to and understand animals, "see" people's emotions as auras, heal minor wounds by speeding metabolism, and "speak" to machines. Furthermore, she is a superb cook, and her singing skills are held to be the best in the heavens. She is also incapable of getting drunk on alcoholic drinks, but instead gets drunk with soda (it has to be noted, however, that she's a complete lightweight in this regard. One sip is enough to send her in a drunken rampage -- although given her personality, "rampage" takes an entirely different, but no less destructive, meaning).

Belldandy's angel is Holy Bell (Blesséd Bell in some versions of the English manga); her elemental attribute is wind. Like all angels, Holy Bell augments Belldandy's magical powers when called upon, and like all angels, she also reflects her master's current state. For example, when Belldandy falls unconscious after being infected with a virus (in the movie), Holy Bell emerges comatose and covered with crystals that represent the virus.

Belldandy does not appear to play a significant role in maintaining Yggdrasil. Rather, she works at the Goddess Relief Agency which deals with granting wishes (forming contracts) with humans, similar to Peorth's work at the Earth Assistance Agency.

Belldandy's original physical character design was loosely based on that of Kobayakawa Miyuki, one of the main characters of You're Under Arrest. Miyuki was featured as a goddess in an advertisement for a You're Under Arrest t-shirt giveaway.

In Adventures of Mini-Goddess, Belldandy is the "straight (wo)man" to the wilder Urd and Skuld, though she has a good relationship with the temple rat, Gan-chan. Akemi Okamura filled in for Kikuko Inoue for the first 13 episodes while Inoue was on maternity leave.

Personality

Belldandy is exceptionally kind-hearted, even for a goddess. She can easily sense other people's emotions, and tries her best to be empathetic to all those around her. She rarely holds a grudge, and is always willing to forgive anyone who does injury to her. Her good will is so complete that she is willing to trust everyone completely, save her sister Urd, whom she realizes can often be distrustful. However, even though Belldandy tries her best to be as kind as possible, it is revealed that at times, as a result of latent jealousy, she can become very insecure and sad, especially when she is confronted with an implication that involves Keiichi in one way or another. This can sometimes result in power leaks that affect everything within the vicinity.

Finally, one of the biggest plot points in the Ah! My Goddess movie was how Belldandy's possessiveness of Keiichi could make her an easy target for manipulation or even brainwashing, if the right buttons were pressed; her jealousy of Morgan Le Fay was what allowed Celestin, her teacher, to lure Belldandy into his plans.

Belldandy is also a trifle naive, due in part to her ignorance of certain Earth customs, but mainly to her unyielding trust in everyone. Consequently, she may sometimes appear ditzy or childish in her actions.

Her personality in the manga was said to have influenced by the anime voice actress Kikuko Inoue after the first OVA.

Reception

According to a reviewer at animenewsnetwork.com: People tend to go either way on the Belldandy character; either she's an obnoxious, archaic fantasy girl for men who prefer their women to act like indentured servants, or she's the archetype of perfection, a flawless example of graceful femininity.

Norse Origins

The Norn's name is Verdandi, which is ベルダンディー ("Berudandī") in Japanese. As the Japanese phonetic system does not distinguish between "b" and "v" or "r" and "l", it is understandable why one might interpret such a name either way. In fact, in the first chapter of the manga her name was transliterated as Belldandy, rather than Verdandi, and this Romanization has stuck since.

The Norn's sisters, Urd and Skuld, are also represented in the stories: Urd is the older sister who tries to get Keiichi and Belldandy to move their relationship to the next level (mainly simple physical intimacy, but has attempted to stimulate both Keiichi and Belldandy's libido on different occasions), while Skuld is the younger sister who disapproves of the relationship (being afraid she would lose her sister/idol figure forever). Instead of being the Goddesses of Fate, in the OMG universe they are systems managers of the Yggdrasil computer (in Norse mythos the Tree of the World, in OMG a heavenly supercomputer which maintains reality), though they still govern some aspects of time, in Belldandy's case, the present. Many of the Goddess' adventures deal with threats to the Yggdrasil network.

Holy Bell's Appearances

TV series episodes in which Holy Bell has appeared.

#	Episode
1x03	Ah! Studying, My Family, and a Goddess!
1x12.5	Ah! An Exchange Diary with the Goddess?
1x20	Ah! Save the Goddess, If You're a Man!?
1x21	Ah! The One I Yearn For Is A White-Winged Angel!
1x23	Ah! The Savior, Together With the Sound of a Flute?
2x06	Ah! Is That Jealousy!?
2x09	Ah! The Goddesses Decide the Victory With a Date!
2x14	Ah! My Dear Cupid!
2x21	Ah! Is It All Right Even If I'm a Demon?

External links

• Template:En icon Sake, Bugs and Angels extensive fan site
• Template:En icon Anime On DVD reviews of anime including Oh! My Goddess and Ah! My Goddess the Movie reviews
• Template:En icon Belldandy Angel Feathers Belldandy's multimedia shrine