Belldandy
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Belldandy is a character in the popular manga Oh! My Goddess (OMG) and in the anime of the same name. She is one of three goddesses that comes to earth to live with a college student, Keiichi Morisato. Belldandy came to Keiichi to grant a wish as part of the emergency Goddess Technical Help Line when Keiichi accidentally (although some versions question if it was accidental) dialed that number, and then Keiichi wished that a girl like Belldandy be by his side forever. Ever since, the two have been together, with Belldandy's presence attracting a lot of attention and causing a lot of adventures.
The Norns' name is Verdandi, but became Belldandy due to the limited phonetic system of the Japanese language. The Norn sisters Urd and Skuld are also represented in the stories: Urd is the older sister scheming ways 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 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), with Skuld as the debugger (who literally hunts down system bugs shaped like rabbit/spiders). A good number of the Goddess' adventures deal with threats to the Yggdrasil network.
Belldandy is referred to as the goddess of the present. She is a very powerful goddess and has an "unlimited license," which is self-regulated by her quiet and considerate personality. She is unflinchingly kind, patient, and warm, not only to Keiichi but to total strangers and even her enemies.
As a Goddess, she has numerous powers, most famously known for the ability to travel through mirrors and the ability of flight. Due to a slight difference in her physical makeup compared to humans, Belldandy replenishes her energy by sleeping, although she may eat for enjoyment and certainly loves preparing meals for others. However, drinking Coke will render her drunk.
Her angelic personality, a sort of symbiotic manifestion that augments Belldandy's powers, is named Holy Bell. Her powers are linked to wind and air.
In Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses, Belldandy is the "straight (wo)man" to the wilder Urd and Skuld, though she has a good relationship with the temple rat, Gan-chan.
External links
- Sake, Bugs and Angels (http://verthandi.net/omg/) extensive fan site
- Feather at Noblescarlet.net (http://www.noblescarlet.net/news/) extensive fan site
- Anime On DVD (http://www.animeondvd.com/) reviews of anime including Oh! My Goddess and Ah! My Goddess the Movie reviews