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transliteration]]: Verðandi (Old Norse), meaning "Norn of the Present" is a fictional character in the popular anime and manga series Oh My Goddess!. She was created by Kōsuke Fujishima as one of three who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato, and she serves as his love interest. She is depicted as a beautiful and powerful young woman, with strong nurturing tendencies, a trusting and innocent character, and an extremely kind heart. Belldandy is accidentally summoned from heaven by Keiichi in order to grant him a wish and stays when Keiichi wishes for "a goddess like you to be by my side forever". The stories follow Belldandy as she builds a relationship with Keiichi, using her powers (which include teleportation, Psychokinesis, telepathy, and levitation) to help both Keiichi and his friends while keeping her true identity a secret.
Her first appearance was in Afternoon in August 1988. Belldandy has also featured in a novel, two TV series, a movie, and three OVA series. The character has gained considerable respect throughout the various formats, as evidenced by her appearance as one of the most popular characters in the Newtype and Animage polls. The concept of Belldandy draws loosely from Norse mythology, with "Belldandy" being a transliteration of the Old Norse Verðandi, one of a trio of Norns. She is joined by characters representing the other two of the trio of Norns—her sisters Urd and Skuld.
Belldandy is regarded by commentators as an example of the magical girlfriend character, and comparisons have been drawn with the characters of Samantha from Bewitched and Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. The character's very conservative nature, however, which almost completely subordinates her to her fictional boyfriend, Keiichi, has led to some concerns from Western critics and has polarized Western audiences despite relatively steady popularity among Japanese audiences.
Belldandy's original concept was loosely based on a depiction of Miyuki Kobayakawa, one of the main characters of You're Under Arrest, which was also created by Kosuke Fujishima. Miyuki was featured as a goddess in an advertisement for a You're Under Arrest T-shirt giveaway and appeared as a goddess character in a "yonkoma" in the You're Under Arrest manga, leading to claims that Oh My Goddess is a spin-off series. The character Ken Nakajima from You're Under Arrest appears in the first episode of the original OVA. He is driving the car that Keiichi almost hits with his motorcycle.
Fujishima provided the character with two sisters—Skuld and Urd—each with notably different personalities from her own. These two sisters represent the other two Norns from Norse mythology, with Urd (the eldest of the three) representing the past while Skuld (the youngest) represents the future. In recent volumes, Fujishima revealed the identity of Skuld and Belldandy's mother, a goddess named Anzasu, who seems to have a rivalry with Hild, Urd's mother.Oh My Goddess, Volume 45, chapter 286
When the series begins, Belldandy is working on the "Goddess Technical Helpline", also known as "Goddess Relief Office / Agency"" and is responsible for granting wishes to those who call. As such, her role is similar to the character Peorth's work at the Earth Assistance Agency. In spite of working for Heaven, Belldandy, unlike her two sisters, does not appear to play a significant role in maintaining Yggdrasil.
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, displaying a combination of "serene beauty and acceptance". She rarely holds a grudge and is always willing to forgive anyone who does injury to her, unless Keiichi is involved. Even though Belldandy tries her best to be as kind as possible, it is revealed that at times she can become very insecure and sad, especially when she is confronted with an implication that involves Keiichi in one way or another. This aspect of her character provides one of the biggest plot points in the Ah! My Goddess movie: 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.
As noted by Perper and Cornog, Belldandy, as a depiction of what they term "", is comfortable "being loved and admired" and very much aware of her own beauty—yet this does not equate to vanity.
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), but she can also Teleportation 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 becoming inebriated on alcoholic drinks, but instead becomes so with soda. (One can is enough to send her in a drunken rampage—although given her personality, "rampage" takes an entirely different, but no less destructive, meaning). During the manga's publication, more of Belldandy's capabilities are discovered, but she probably has many more : Urd notes that Belldandy loves accumulating capabilities, but usually doesn't mention them herself. Among those seen in the manga, she has a Valkyrie diploma - as demonstrated when she neutralizes Thrym the Invincible in hand-to-hand combat - and she's a champion flying broom racer. The only thing she can't do is lie (it is linked to her qualification as a goddess first class). She will go to great length to not hurt others provided Keichi isn't in harm's way, otherwise she will "deal" with anything and anyone standing in her way (see Thrym above for the most out of character example) whatever the cost on herself.
With Belldandy and Keiichi now portrayed as a couple, Fujishima introduces other factors: specifically the complications caused by family and friends. Forced to leave his dorm, as women are not permitted to stay on the premises, Keiichi and Belldandy end up living at the Tariki Hongan Temple in the city of Nekomi, Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo. Within both the manga and the anime, 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. Koshian departs the series by leaving for a pilgrimage to find spiritual perfection, (although he does briefly return later in the series), turning over the temple to Belldandy and Keiichi's care without realizing Belldandy's true nature as a Goddess. Later, Fujishima has Belldandy's two sisters (Urd and Skuld) join Belldandy and Keiichi in the temple. The story then follows the numerous misadventures of the not-so normal household, their growth over the course of the series and the budding romance between an ordinary young man and an angelic goddess.
There have been a couple of noticeable twitches in this however, when Belldandy shows doubt as to her future with Keiichi. When he takes up his job at Whirlwind towards the end of his time at Nekomi Tech, Belldandy reflects on how he's beginning to follow his dream, before wondering just how far she can follow it with him. Then at the start of the current storyline in Volume 38, in which the demon Hagall overthrows Hild, Keiichi asks Belldandy if she will walk with him as his companion in life; she hesitates, saying "I... Of course I will", without meeting his eyes.
In chapter 285, "Kiss of Truth", Hild reveals that Keiichi's sexual desires for Belldandy have previously been sealed away in order to prevent humans and gods from mating, as would be the natural consequences of Keiichi's wish for a goddess to be with him always. This explains why Keiichi has never been very forward in their relationship. Although Belldandy has never lied about this situation, she has also never told him. When the old contract was dissolved and a new one is formed, Belldandy and Keiichi are immediately confronted with an Interracial Romance Inquisitor (Ansuz, mother of Belldandy and Skuld) who immediately sets a trial to determine if they are really meant to be together, and should Keiichi fail, they shall be separated forever. Once passing the test, Belldandy and Keiichi are allowed by the heavens to live together as a proper couple, with their wedding ceremony being held in the final chapter.
She is often depicted in "angelic" poses, with "impossibly long" hair, sparkling eyes, and a perfectly proportioned body.
Image:Belldandy (Manga) cropped - v5 p66.png|Belldandy from "The Goddesses' Big Crisis", 1991
In the OVA, TV series, movie and in The Adventures of Mini Goddess, the original voice of Belldandy was provided by Voice acting Kikuko Inoue; such was the success of Inoue that Fujishima was said to have been influenced by her when developing the manga character after the release of the first OVA. Official profile , 代表作「ああっ女神さまっ」のベルダンディー役では、原作コミックのベルダンディーまで次第に井上喜久子化していったことで有名である。 Akemi Okamura took on the role for the first 13 episodes of Adventures of a Mini Goddess due to Inoue's pregnancy.
Three different voice actors have provided Belldandy's voice in the English versions of the various anime series. For the English OVA, Belldandy's voice was provided by Juliet Cesario, with her child voice being played by Juliet Cesario with the aid of helium.OVA 5 DVD commentary Bridget Hoffman, (performing as Ruby Marlowe), provided the voice of Belldandy in both the movie and The Adventures of Mini Goddess, while Eileen Stevens voiced Belldandy for both seasons of the TV series.
The critique that Belldandy represents a negative stereotype of women, placing them in a subservient role to men, appears a number of times in the literature. Annalee Newitz states that the manner in which Belldandy is portrayed in the series would, in all likelihood, be impossible in the United States—especially, as she goes on to say, since "the advent of feminism and the women's rights movement". While Newitz sees this as reflective of Japanese culture, arguing that characters such as Belldandy are possible because feminist issues do not have the same recognition within Japan as they do in many Western countries, Susan J. Napier takes a very different line. She argues that characters such as Belldandy may be a reaction to the increasing assertiveness of women in Japan, thus presenting Belldandy as an attempt to reinforce traditional cultural values, rather than a reflection of them. To demonstrate this, Napier points to Belldandy's role in "Moonlight and Cherry Blossoms", the first of the OVA episodes. The episode begins with disorder, as Keiichi is evicted from his dorm after Belldandy's chaotic appearance into his life, but ends with a return to "traditional values", signified through the restoration of the old temple. Similarly, Napier notes that Belldandy's cooking is often commended by the other characters, and as such is another way in which the character of Belldandy can be seen to reinforce more traditional female roles. Carlos Ross of THEM Anime Reviews considers Belldandy's characterization in the film much better than in the OVA series, where he describes her as a "doormat".
Either way, commentators still notice strengths in Belldandy's character. While acknowledging the conservative portrayal, Napier describes Belldandy as "almost a perfect dream of feminine nurturance" and identifying that she has a "soothing and escapist function", while reviewer Megan Lavey states that Belldandy is no pushover, and that she can hold her own, noting that she is making "the best of difficult circumstances."
Another line of criticism of Belldandy relates to the sexual nature of the character, with Belldandy being described by one commentator as a "soft porn goddess". "...a paintit-yourself model of a soft-plastic, soft-core porn babe named Belldandy" Nevertheless, other commentators have observed that Belldandy might be , but writers such as Gilles Poitras note that the series—far from being soft porn—is in fact a very tender and romantic comedy: the characters do no more than simply kiss (and that infrequently) over the course of the series. Newitz suggests that part of the appeal of Oh My Goddess! is the romantic nature of the story: "In anime, romantic love is possible because overt sexuality is not". According to Newitz the relationships in romantic anime, such as Oh My Goddess!, are not about consummate but about "sexual innuendo and deferral".
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