Belldandy

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For the Norse mythology deity, see Verdandi.

Belldandy
Belldandy and her Angel Holy Bell
Species:	Goddess
Rank:	First class, second category, unlimited license
Gender:	Female
Birthdate:	Unknown However, the birthday she provided for her University Profile is 196X/01/01 in the manga; her birthdate appears as 1985/01/01 in the TV series.
Age:	Appears 21
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)
Height:	1.65m (5'4")
Weight:	44.45kg (98 lbs.)
Measurements:	83-57-84 cm / 33-22-33"
Hair color:	Brown
Eye color:	Blue
Dimension:	10th (Yggdrasil)
Elemental Affinity:	Wind, Air
First Appearance:	Chapter 1
Angel:	Holy Bell, Blue Lance (temporary)

Belldandy (ベルダンディー - Berudandī) is a 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).

Contents 1 History 2 Description 3 Personality 4 Norse Origins 5 Holy Bell's Appearances 6 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

Belldandy also has another side of herself that not a whole lot of people, much less fans, recognize: That is because Belldandy is exceptionally good at hiding it, because it's a side of her that people don't expect her to have. Belldandy is a very jealous and possessive woman, and will go through great lengths to ensure that what's hers belongs to her, especially when regarding to Keiichi. She will not give up Keiichi for anyone or anything, as demonstrated several times in the manga. The first major development of this side of her is when Shiho was about to steal Keiichi away, and Belldandy's infamous jealousy storms took over her better judgement.

The second major development is the Hand in Hand story, where a drunken Belldandy is going around granting wishes. When a person attempts to seduce her, Belldandy responds "If I had a choice between saving the world and Keiichi, I'd save Keiichi."

Recently, in the Gate arc, Belldandy makes it very clear how possessive of Keiichi she is. When Gate insisted that Keiichi kiss her, Belldandy did not allow it. "When it comes to Keiichi, I am not so generous." This is even illustrated in Volume 22 of the Hild arc. Belldandy is very straightforward to Hild that she will not share Keiichi.

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 "speaking" to machines. Furthermore, she is a superb cook, and her singing skills are held to be the best in the heavens.

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 reflects her 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 advertisment for a Your'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.

[edit] 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, Belldandy can also be moved to darker feelings. Belldandy is extremely possessive of Keiichi; so much so, in fact, that jealousy towards the attention other girls show Keiichi can sometimes cause her to lose control over her powers, inadvertently making glass shatter and light bulbs flicker. During a rather humorous encounter between Keiichi and the Gate, Belldandy's jealous feelings literally exploded, leveling everything around her and knocking out Keiichi and her sisters.

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.

[edit] Norse Origins

The Norn's name is Verdandi, but became ベルダンディー (Berudandī) due to the difference in the phonetic system of the Japanese language. Later Berudandī evolved into Belldandy to make it sound more European and easier to be pronounced among the Japanese fans.

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, 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.

[edit] 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?
2x09	Ah! The Goddesses Decide the Victory With a Date!
2x14	Ah! My Dear Cupid!

[edit] External links

• (Japanese) Belldandy at Official Ah! My Goddess website
• (English) Belldandy at Oh My Goddess! wiki
• (English) Belldandy at NobleScarlet.net
• (English) Sake, Bugs and Angels extensive fan site
• (English) Anime On DVD reviews of anime including Oh! My Goddess and Ah! My Goddess the Movie reviews
• (English) Belldandy Angel Feathers Belldandy's multimedia shrine

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