An old staple returns to dvd next week in a re-imagined form.

The Manga strip Ah! My Goddess, sometimes called Oh! My Goddess, was first published in 1988 and over the past two decades has been animated as several Japanese TV series (one including mini-versions of the characters) and a movie.

In 2005 a new Anime version was produced for TV which followed the source material more closely (as far as its 12 certficate allows). A boxset featuring the entire 24 episodes, plus two that were supposedly never broadcast, is released on July 7th.

Ah! My Goddess is a whimsical rom com about Keiichi, a teenage college student and auto enthusiast who accidentally calls the Goddess Help Line. His call is answered in person by the Goddess Belldandy who materialises in his dorm room through a mirror and grants him one wish.

Kind hearted but unlucky Keiichi can't get a girlfriend so he wishes for the Goddess to remain by his side forever. I don't know how old Japanese Goddesses are supposed to be but fortunately for Keiichi, Belldandy seems as youthful and naive as him.

A series adventures begin centred around Belldandy's attempts to adjust to life on the mortal plane and Keiichi's painfully shy attempts to get it on with his immortal 'giirlfriend'. There are run-ins with spirits and demons as well as rivals on campus but the tone is always light hearted and life-affirming. It's all about forming good relationships and self worth folks!

It may be set in Japan but the Goddesses are based loosely on Norse mythology, dress in stylised Grecian/European outfits, ride on broomsticks and the theme music is kind of Irish folk/pop, so it's a real mish mash. The absolute antithesis of cartoon violence.