Oh My Goddess! Vol. 1: Wrong Number

Alone in his dorm on a Saturday night, Nekomi Tech's Keiichi Morisato dials a wrong number that will change his life forever — reaching the Goddess Technical Help Line. Granted one wish by the charming young goddess Belldandy — a wish for anything in the world — Keiichi wishes she would stay with him always! Complications are bound to ensue from this; the immediate first being the new couple getting tossed out of the dorm — it's males only!

As the hapless student and his mysterious "foreign beauty" ride around looking for a new place to stay — risking the different dangers of seeking shelter with an otaku convinced Belldandy is an imaginary woman, and a Zen priest convinced she's a sinister witch — Keiichi's still got his classes on Monday morning! How is his new "exchange student" companion going to be received on the N.I.T. campus? A little too well for normal life to ever return…

Adult/High School-Keiichi has no luck with women, which is why he's sitting at home taking messages for his college dorm mates. He calls the Goddess Technical Help Line by mistake and Belldandy is sent to grant him one wish. The young man thinks it's all a joke, so he wishes for a goddess like her to be with him always, and their life together begins. Wrong Number is the remastered first volume of this classic manga and includes material previously published in 1-555-GODDESS (1996), but the majority of the book is devoted to "lost stories." It's a must for graphic-novel collections because it answers questions left unexplained in GODDESS. Fujishima's art and storytelling are less refined than in later volumes, such as Childhood's End (2002, both Dark Horse), but the stories still have plenty of charm and appeal.
Susan Salpini, Fairfax County Public Schools,
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

This volume is the first of a set of three (to be followed by Leader of the Pack and Final Exam) that will replace Dark Horse's first collection of Oh My Goddess! manga, 1-555-GODDESS, featuring all of the stories from that book and all of the episodes the original volume omitted as well. This romantic comedy/fantasy starts with college student Keiichi Morisato dialing a wrong number and reaching the Goddess Technical Help Line, whereupon he receives a visit from the beautiful Belldandy. She grants him his one wish-to have a goddess like her stay with him forever-by staying with him herself. Unfortunately, this gets them thrown out of Keiichi's all-male dorm, and Belldandy's presence draws unwanted attention. But the upheavals in Keiichi's life are mitigated by the goddess's sweet nature and unstinting devotion. Fujishima's art here resembles that of his earlier series, You're Under Arrest (Dark Horse), and is not as polished as his later work, and the humor here is more low-key. This charming series appeals to teens and adult fans of manga such as Ranma 1/2 and No Need for Tenchi! (both from Viz), and any library that buys manga should give it a try.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.