> I agree with you that the mecha/races stories are getting repetitive.
> 
> And I miss the older drawing style with highly detailed backgrounds.. 
> Nowadays he seems to draw the main characters much bigger/closer (and 
> belldandy fatter) to mask the fact that he's not putting that much attention 
> to the background. (it's now usually blank white space.)
> 

Yeah, I've started to notice that about the backgrounds as well.  

I long ago began to dislike the character designs.  I think Belldandy looked her best
starting with Volume 8 through the 4th Goddess arc.  By Volume 15 (the introduction
of Chihiro), the character designs had shifted enough to where I began to dislike

them.  And what's up with K1 looking like a chimp at times?