>At 14.02 27/11/97 +1300, you wrote:
>
>>Yeah, I do. When do you think it changed its direction to being that which
>>was targetted at the larger audience? Do people think it's a good or bad
>>thing? (ie did you like the comic earlier or later?)
>
>Well, I believe this is more strictly related to the manga's lifespan than
>targeting it at an audience or another. IMHO the mere fact that the manga
>has a larger audience now doesn't necessarily imply that the plot must be
>simpler or shallower ...BUT... AMG  wasn't designed to last that long
>originally.
>
>Fujishima-san hadn't foreseen the success he had then, i.e. it's not a case
>that Bell-chan and K1 kissed in one of the earliest episodes of the manga
>and then very little happend over a great number of successive chapters.( he
>had to cool down a little their relationship in order to prolong the story)
>The key question is : do you prefer your favourate manga to last forever
>even though the plot is obviously going downhill or you'd rather have "a
>little, but perfect, masterpiece"?
>
>A distinguishing point between western comics and manga seemed to me that a
>mangaka more ofter follows the main lines he decided  since the beginning,
>no matter how much he's selling at the moment. I'm still a huge fan of
>Fujishima sensei, but I truly hope he's not going to ruin his masterpiece.
>Aa! Megamisama! has already gone through many metamorphosis over the last
>years, sometimes I wonder if it's really the same thing it used to be.
>
>R y o

It is for this, and a few other reasons besides, that I prefer the OVA to
the manga. I've sometimes thought that it would be nice to have had more
episodes than five, but then I think back to how many times a long-running
series has suffered greatly from reptition, lowered production values,
inferior art, budget seiyuu, etc and I'm glad that Aa! Megamisama! was
formed so perfectly. The best art I've ever seen (and I've seen a
*ridiculous* amount of animation), wonderful music that never leaves my
head, perfect seiyuu (Kikuko is a goddess!) and the most romantic story
I've seen on celuloid. It was designed as a limited event, "a little, but
perfect, masterpiece".

The manga, on the other hand, is an ongoing thing. Without it, nothing else
is possible. Fujishima-sensei is committed to producing a chapter a month,
and since it is now his only ongoing title, and the fans always want more,
he feels somewhat obliged to keep it going. I think there is a huge amount
more to be mined from the characters and background. I know it wasn't
supposed to last this long, but I still think he knows where he's going.

Despite the direction that numerous satisfying fanfics have taken, I
believe that the series will *end* with the marriage of Belldandy and
Keiichi, and will not be taken any further. The current direction is merely
a change of pace. I don't think AMS has much longer to run, maybe two years
tops, and as the storyline slowly winds its way towards the eventual (and
surely wonderful) wedding day, the suspense will build and more and more
will go wrong, as Fujishima brings his magnum opus to a close. I know it's
easy to get pessimistic when something wonderful *seems* to be going
downhill, but I have too much respect for Fujishima Kosuke to believe he'll
keep AMS going indefintiely merely as a money source. Come on, I know you
agree.

Sam