Being Belldandy

[WelsperTheCat]

Things are kind of slow right now, so I wondered if folks might want to do some character analysis.

What is Belldandy like? Good points? Bad points? Is she always selfless or sometimes a little selfish? What has she done that made you think there may be something more to her than you thought, before?

I don't have any strong convictions, here. Belldandy is still much of a mystery to me. If we ever get talking about Urd that will be a different matter :) but for now let's talk Bell-chan.

My 50th post - devoted to Bell-chan! Ah, that's just fitting, somehow. :)

[rascal45]

Well, what I do know that in the manga Belldandy wasn't exactly all thrilled to be 'stuck' with Keichi in the beginning but it took her a while to be in a better mood.

Also, I know that she can have a pretty violent temper at times. For example, she was ready to vaporized Urd at the end of OVA ep. 2 after Urd messed Keichi almost permanently.

[So Full of Mercy]

Belldandy has no faults other than she is physically weak (endurance wise).

[Project Akira]

One could say her naivete is a weakness as well as her willingness to trust everyone.

[So Full of Mercy]

Naw, I don't see that as a weakness.

[Nulani]

Personally I always viewed Belldandy as being a little bit too naive, and perhaps a little bit too nice as well (Yup, you can be too nice too imo).

[cloakactive]

I think that her being to Naive is just a slight ploy. If you notice there have been hints here and there that she isn't as naive as she lets on. As for her being too nice? Whats wrong with being nice? I see it as part of her greatest personality trait. :) Shes so nice at times, that even the bad guys have to stop and question themself. :D

[WelsperTheCat]

Hey, reminds me of a discussion I just had about the latest Dark Horse chapter (Hand in Hand 2 of 2). Belldandy says she has to take a bath every day, but such a requirement is never mentioned anywhere else in the manga. We know that the whole hand-holding thing was being driven by Belldandy's subconscious unwillingness to give Keiichi up for 9+ hours a day to his job, so I was wondering if she might have, deep down, wanted to take a bath with her man right there, just to do something naughty, maybe satisfy some urges before she had to give him up.

Of course, at the end of the chapter Chihiro hires Belldandy as well to help out at Whirlwind (Belldandy is so pleased that Chihiro, being the consumate businesswoman, wonders if she could have gotten Bell-chan to work for free rather than paying minimum wage, hehe).

Then, there's that line she gives Skuld during the robot wars with Megumi, "Remember, for a fight to the death you need a proper battlefield." Where did THAT come from!?

[WelsperTheCat]

Another thing about Belldandy which I find hillarious is when she defeats some nasty, demonic scheme by... being Belldandy.

SPOILERS:

Take the time Mara turned the entire Nekomi campus into a castle and enslaved the profs and students to her will. She didn't do it because she likes picking on humans, for the most part Mara ignores humanity, she did it to lure Belldandy into a trap and send her back to Heaven. So, when the pivotal moment comes and Belldandy is finally under her control (through Sayoko) she tells Bell-chan to go home. Which Belldandy does... to the temple! :lol: It just never occurred to Mara (or Keiichi, for that matter) that Belldandy no longer considers Heaven to be home. What's even funnier is that Urd and especially Skuld went "home" immediately. It seems they always knew where Bell-chan had gone. It seems that on some level even Skuld accepts that Belldandy will find a way to stay with Keiichi.

BIGGER SPOILER:

These chapters (139-141) haven't been published by Dark Horse yet. After Hild leaves, leaving only a 1/1000 split of herself on Earth, she and Mara cook up a scheme to capture the goddesses. It involves a magic lamp which, if you kiss it, will seal you inside it. To get someone to kiss it the lamp appears as the most cute/desireable thing in a person's life. Peorth sees a bouquet of roses, Skuld sees a rocket plush toy, Urd sees a little girl in a nurse uniform, Chihiro sees a cute boy riding a cute bike with a cute cat (deeply buried maternal instincts, anyone?), Keiichi sees Belldandy (funny scene where Chihiro is kissing her boy/bike/cat, but K1 sees Chihiro kissing Belldandy! :lol: ), Welsper figures it out (Urd suspected, but couldn't resist anyway) and saves K1 but gets sucked in, K1 gets kicked into the thing by Mara and Hild, then Belldandy walks by and sees... well, a lamp. It's a little dirty, so she takes it to the kitchen and begins washing it with hot water which releases everybody!

[iwakura]

I believe that in the traditional Japanese perspective, Belldandy is an ideal woman:

* She is fulfilled just be being near her man
* She is kind, sweet and gentle
* She likes to prepare food for her man

[WelsperTheCat]

I wanted to add to the "lamp" post that Belldandy saw the lamp as itself because she has no preconceptions of what something should be. She accepts things usually at face value, which can be perceived as naive, but which has its advantages.

That's probably a major reason why she couldn't understand why Keiichi would have trouble finding a girlfriend in Chapter 1. She saw a nice, dedicated person who would make a wonderful boyfriend. The concept that being a little short would make him unsuitable as a potential mate never entered her mind, since height really doesn't have much to do with maintaining a lasting relationship. I'm tall, and other than getting things off the top shelf, it doesn't really help my relationship with my wife much. ;)

[So Full of Mercy]

Yeah, iwakura is right, traditional Japanese woman, why can't American women be like that? Kidding... heh heh heh...

[Ronin Aquila]

I really despise women who hate Belldandy for being nice and gentle.

Just because they are cynical, sacracastic, stupid, ugly, male hating hypocritical monsters who hate their fathers, they have to makes sure that anything associated with a happy nuclear family is to be seen as wrong by society.

Now that the feminist movement has made nice, loving women "politically incorrect", it is little wonder that lovely and kind women like Belldandy in anime are scoffed at by western critics of Anime, who dub them "misogynistic male sexual fantasies." :(

Ahem. Yes, OMG is a male fantasy. SO BLOODY WHAT!! It is an utopian fantasy that is reacting against this poor world, scarred by the poisonous hatred of feminism.

Believe it or not, Feminazis , there are men out there who want to spend beautiful sunsets in the park with the women they love and their children playing around them!! NOT all of us want nothing but sex!! :mad2:

Oh My Goddess nostalgically harkens back to the days when families are held together by love, kindness and joy, not by necessity and hatred.

Till Next Time Take Care Of Yourselves And Each Other.

[iwakura]

Wow!

Such passion on the subject of feminism.

I have mixed feelings on the subject. It's OK for women to be feminists, but it's wrong to try to force all women to be that way. On the other hand, it's wrong to force them to not be feminists.

It's too bad it's so difficult for people to achive a balance on this.

[Keiichi]

Originally posted by Ronin Aquila
I really despise women who hate Belldandy for being nice and gentle.

Just because they are cynical, sacracastic, stupid, ugly, male hating hypocritical monsters who hate their fathers, they have to makes sure that anything associated with a happy nuclear family is to be seen as wrong by society.

Now that the feminist movement has made nice, loving women "politically incorrect", it is little wonder that lovely and kind women like Belldandy in anime are scoffed at by western critics of Anime, who dub them "misogynistic male sexual fantasies." :(

Ahem. Yes, OMG is a male fantasy. SO BLOODY WHAT!! It is an utopian fantasy that is reacting against this poor world, scarred by the poisonous hatred of feminism.

Believe it or not, Feminazis , there are men out there who want to spend beautiful sunsets in the park with the women they love and their children playing around them!! NOT all of us want nothing but sex!! :mad2:

Oh My Goddess nostalgically harkens back to the days when families are held together by love, kindness and joy, not by necessity and hatred.

Till Next Time Take Care Of Yourselves And Each Other. amen... :)

[Ronin Aquila]

You really get to know the true colours of a feminist when she is your sister, and your parents leave you all alone to live with her, and have her destroy your sense of self worth, pride, male identity and humanity. :mad2:

Not to mention take advantage of the fact she is a woman, so she can drive you crazy, comfortable in the fact that if she was a brother, you can beat the life out of him, but she is not. And then act like a weeping, vulenrable little girl when it suits her purpose (IE. To make it look bad when you finally get angry). :mad2:

I live with one, I know what they are all like. :mad2:

[So Full of Mercy]

Yeah, feminism blows.

[WelsperTheCat]

Feminism comes in varying degrees, from the "feminazi" to the simply "liberated" woman. Ronin Aquila's sister sounds like she is indeed the feminazi type, using her status as a weapon rather than as a tool in forming relationships with members of the opposite sex. On the other hand, I work with women who expect to be (and are, for the most part - some men are just bastards) treated professionally but who are also very feminine.

But, how does all this relate to Belldandy? Well, you won't see much of it in the OAVs, but in the manga you realize that Bell-chan is more mature than K1. In some ways she relates to him as an older sister or parent. Urd reminds her on more than one occasion that she shouldn't do everything for K1 because he'll never grow personally if she does. Also, there are those one-liners of wisdom she gives out so freely. They speak of a person very much at peace with herself.

As for Belldandy cooking, she could conjure up a room full of food in an instant if she wanted. The same goes for cleaning the temple or doing laundry, but she obviously derives pleasure from doing things the "mortal" way. Such things are like a hobby for her.

[Ronin Aquila]

That was merely a statement to all those Belldandy haters out there. The evil known as feminism thankfully has nothing to do with Belldandy-Oneechan in any way.

I think it is rather sweet of her to do things the mortal way rather than rely on magic all the time. She really allows her kind motherly nature to shine through when she removes her association with the omnipotent.

Food cooked with magic is stale and functionable. Food cooked with love is fulfilling. :kawaii:

Till Next Time Take Care Of Yourselves And Each Other. :kawaii:

[cloakactive]

Originally posted by Ronin Aquila


Food cooked with magic is stale and functionable. Food cooked with love is fulfilling. :kawaii:



That statment alone explains Bell-chan to a tee. It just goes to show how much love she puts into what she does and what not. :)

[Ronin Aquila]

So regrettably rare are people like Bell-Chan who have respect for everything , be it sentient or otherwise, that shares the world with her. :bawling: