Oh My Goddess! Vol. 13: Childhood's End (v. 13) [Paperback]

Kosuke Fujishima (Author), Dana Lewis (Translator), Toren Smith (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2002

Several favorite characters face new challenges in this brand-new collection. Skuld, the youngest of the three goddesses living with college student Keiichi, may be a whiz at inventions, but her immaturity usually gets the better of her. Can she learn the simple joy of riding a bicycle - and deal with her first crush on a boy? Campus queen Sayoko doesn't believe in goddesses - but when she's possessed by a demon, Belldandy and Urd have to convince her they have powers without blowing their secret! Also, readers are introduced to the tough-but-sexy Chihiro Fujimi, former head of the school motor club! She's back in town, and nothing will be the same!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-In this addition to the series of Japanese comics, college student Keiichi lives with three beautiful goddesses-his true love, Belldandy; her older sister, Urd; and her younger sister, Skuld. In a sitcom, wacky hijinks would ensue. To some extent, that's true here. For example, in "The Queen and the Goddess," Urd orders an angel's egg but receives an anki egg instead, and the wicked beastie attaches itself to Sayoko, the campus beauty. It feeds on her trust, causing her to doubt the motives of others. If it continues to grow, it will eventually crush her. The cure is for her to believe in something, but displays of Belldandy's and Urd's powers only end up causing Sayoko to doubt her own existence. Her salvation comes from Belldandy's heartfelt plea for her to believe in herself. The strength of "Oh My Goddess!" lies in this juxtaposition. The otherworldly elements are never allowed to overwhelm the plot or the characters. Indeed, as much time is spent on Keiichi, and the Motor Club of which he is president, as on the goddesses. Even stories that focus on them, like the triptych of tales about Skuld, have little to do with her supernatural abilities. Instead, she deals with a first crush, learning and growing up like any other girl. Crisp black-and-white art, appealing character designs, and romantic stories livened with humor add to the book's charm.
Susan Salpini, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Kosuke Fujishima was born in the wilds of Chiba, Japan in 1964 and has spent the last 37 years becoming one of the world's favorite creators of `manga` (Japanese comics). Fujishima began his career as an editor for the popular comics news magazine PUFF in Japan, and apprenticed with another top manga creator - Tatsuya Egawa - on the ground-breaking manga BE FREE! Using his newly-acquired manga storytelling abilities, Fujishima began writing his news stories for PUFF in comic- strip fashion, which became incredibly popular with its readers. This lead to the creation of his first serialized manga, the romantic police comedy You`re Under Arrest! , which began in 1986. In 1988, Fujishima drew a four-panel gag cartoon showing his Your're Under Arrest! characters praying to a goddess, and the inspiration for his hilarious supernatural comedy series Oh My Goddess! was born. Dark Horse Comics has published one collection of Fujishima's You're Under Arrest! stories, and eight best-selling volumes of Oh My Goddess!

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (March 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569716854
• ISBN-13: 978-1569716854
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,003,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Series continues to delight, May 18, 2002

By 

Kevin Nauta (Grand Rapids, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oh My Goddess! Vol. 13: Childhood's End (v. 13) (Paperback)

Yet another great entry by Fujishima, and may wind up being my favorite in the series. Something of a change of pace from the more raucous THE FOURTH GODDESS that precedes it, CHILDHOOD'S END takes a warm and thoughtful look at its characters' struggles to grow up. Skuld is struggling with learning to use her powers without relying on her sisters to help her. She's also dealing with the pangs of first love for a boy her own age. The first two stories in the book feature her.

#3 features the return of Sayoko after a brief absence, and features her in an unusually sympathetic light, struggling with her own self-doubts and disbelieving everything she sees, thanks to her possession by one of Urd's critters. Some neat role-reversal here, as Belldandy and Urd find themselves trying to convince Sayoko that they ARE goddesses!

The final stories introduce a new character named Chihiro to the series. Chihiro is the legendary former head of the Nekomi Tech Motor Club and is held in awe (and fear!) by Tamiya and Otaki. Both Chihiro and Keiichi are struggling to deal with the future, and the meeting of the two provides some heavy inspirational sparks and a deep underlying sense that these two characters will have a great influence on one another in the future. Belldandy is right to worry, in my opinion! Chihiro is the best new character we've seen in this series, and certainly bears watching.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Their relationship survived Peorth..., April 21, 2002

By 

OracleUsr "Brent White" (Statesville, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oh My Goddess! Vol. 13: Childhood's End (v. 13) (Paperback)

Skuld has been so persistent in breaking Keiichi and Belldandy up, feeling it is for Belldandy's own good.

It is possible that that might soon change, though, as Skuld begins to grow up and understand what the relationship is all about, how Keiichi makes Belldandy feel.

You will not be disappointed if you like the series so far. With the addition of movie character Chihiro Fujimi, Keiichi's life shall remain a continuous adventure!

5.0 out of 5 stars SWEET!, September 28, 2008

By 

Gabriel Barco - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Oh My Goddess! Vol. 13: Childhood's End (v. 13) (Paperback)

i love this series. this isn't the manga, it american so its bigger, but it has more pages, and more story in them i love these books.