Okay, without spoiling.. I have to agree, the animation is not as good as 
the movie (like we were actually expecting it to be as good.. yeah right) 
but is much better than the original OAVs.

Character animation and background detail however is excelent. This is a 
definate "next generation of anime" feature showcase.

Character animation is solid in it's kinematics (when you watch all the 
movements you see for K1 you'll see what I mean.
Based on this I'd say that the animation is likely being done in LightWave 
with a modified version of the cell shader plugin (for those who are 
interested in how it's likely being animated) If so,we can expect a lot of 
really impressive action scenes.

 Also there are little details throughout the show that unless you watch for 
them (or know what to look for) you miss them. This just adds to the 
richness of the show in my opinion.  For example, K1 is at one point 
watching the morning news and unless you know to look for it, you see that 
hisTV has "ghost" images.. indicating one of the phase rectifiers in the tv 
is blown (you have a primary image and a ghost (greyish) image that is 
offset to the left or right of the original image by a couple inches.) You 
watch the episode and at first think "ahh it's an error in the encoding of 
the file" .. but not so.. just an example of attention to detail by the 
people making the show.

Okay, the music... both opening and closing
A previous poster said it sounds like Bluegrass... no.. this is more like an 
Irish or English folk style reel. Odd choice for an opening music style but 
somehow appropriate.

The opening credits are.... okay.. words fail me here.. but suffice to say.. 
they are a must see.

The closing credits are (again... in my opinion) excelent.. because it 
really captures the heart of the manga and the show. (especially when it 
shows Bell in the kitchen with her cooking chopsticks... it looks like she's 
dancing.. I don't know what it is about that still frame but it made me 
laugh at how appropriate it is)

Okay... storywise...
The opening eps is mostly to draw you in and give you background.. showing 
you a little of the background of the rules by which the world of AMS! 
operates under. It also is intended to show you that Keiichi is while not 
perfect... someone that really has his heart in the right place.


They added a little scene right before he gets back to the dorms where it 
becomes abundantly clear why he got his wish... He's just a good person... 
You'll know the scene when you see it.

Humor was solid throughout--- the hoard of vengeful female students was 
awesome... just look for the one with the tire marks across her chest. (bwah 
ha ha)

If I have one quibble, it's with the look on Bell's face.
She looks a little ... ummmm... over enthusiastic if you ask me. Almost 
manically happy. I half expected K1 to be trembling in fear muttering 
"Kuwaii" (scary)  when looking at her expression. She's a little TOO peppy. 
But I think they're gonna tone it down a bit.. later. Right now she's just 
super happy she gets to grant him a wish. All the closing credits seemed to 
show her being more like the serene Bell we all know and love.

All in all... this one is definately gonna be a keeper.

All praise to Belldandy!
All hail the goddess of the present!
All bow before her grand re-appearance into the realm of anime!
Benedictions be showered upon the sponsors of the show!

AMEN!
^_^