Ah! My Goddess Manga/Oh My Goddess! Manga
ああっ女神さまっ Chapter 286

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Hild remarks on the new goddess’s method of entry, which the goddess states is Hild’s fault for making the gateways into the mazoku realm too small. Seeing the “infamous” Keiichi, she gives him a close look, seeing no dishonesty in his eyes, and now has an understanding. Keiichi is stunned when Skuld addresses the goddess as “Mother,” followed by the goddess greeting her daughter, then Urd.  She then addressed Belldandy, citing the fact that the pinch Belldandy’s in is the reason the goddess is here since Belldandy is the goddess of fate. However, Belldandy’s mother isn’t there to help, only to make an impartial decision.

The goddess addresses Hild, stating her belief that Hild may have set this whole thing up because of Hild’s grudge against her and her husband, Hild’s former husband. Hild isn’t amused at being looked down on and though of as resorting to cheap tricks. After reminding the goddess (Ansuz) whom her husband fell for first, Ansuz says that if Hild wants a fight, she’s ready. Thus both entities engage in combat, summoning forth creatures from themselves that attempt to consume each other. Ansuz calls hers “Gungnir” and Hild calls hers “Rancor.”

Witnessing the sheer power between Hild and Ansuz, Keiichi sees no difference between the goddess and the mazoku. Belldandy has to create a barrier to protect Keiichi as Ansuz and Hild are too absorbed in combat to notice. However, as the two get in close, Urd chops both on the head to get them to stop.  Ansuz protests this, saying that she and Hild were just exchanging greetings. Hagall is not happy that some goddess has barged in and started attacking Hild, while Urd tells Ansuz that it was taking too long for her and Hild to say “hi.”

Hild explains whom this goddess is, and that Ansuz is indeed the second wife of her former husband. Hild denies that her separation from her husband is the cause of her grudge, leading Hagall to wonder why Hild and her husband broke up in the first place. Hild explains that they were forced to separate.  Further, Belldandy’s and Keiichi’s kiss has triggered the Inter-species Inquisition System, which of course is why Ansuz is there in the first place.

Thoughts/Review:

I’m telling you, I really think this manga series will be ending soon, probably when it gets to the 300th chapter. I could always be wrong, but everything that has transpired over the last few years with the manga leads me to believe that this will be the case.

One of the great unknowns in the Ah! My Goddess series has always been the issue of Urd’s, Belldandy’s, and Skuld’s parentage. We’ve long known that Urd was half-mazoku, and her father is a god and her mother is Hild. We knew that for unexplained reasons, Urd’s father left Hild and married a goddess, which produced Belldandy and Skuld.  Beyond that, we knew nothing.

Now, we finally get to meet Belldandy’s and Skuld’s mother. I like how Fujishima-sensei has incorporated parts of Belldandy’s and parts of Skuld’s character designs into Ansuz. That helps physically show the family relationship.  Further, one can see elements of Belldandy’s and Skuld’s personality in Ansuz.  On one hand, Ansuz is kind, tender, and understanding, like Belldandy.  On the other hand, she can be rash and quick to go to battle, like Skuld.  There again, we have nice ties of familyhood.

Ansuz being able to easily go toe-to-toe with Hild says something. Actually, my understanding is that the Norse rune “ansuz” means “god,” and is the rune used by Odin.  That may explain why Ansuz is able to easily fight Hild to a draw whereas it took a lot for Belldandy to ward off Hild way back when.

Anyway, my speculation that Belldandy and Keiichi got married would appear to be way off the mark. Clearly, like everything else between the world of gods and mazoku, there are very strict rules, and those extend to the human realm as well.  Thus, violation of the rules means someone has to judge and mete out punishment, if required.

I’m hoping that over the course of this new arc, we learn more about how this all works, which would appear to be Fujishima-sensei’s plan.