Ah! My Goddess/Headscratchers


 * In one manga mini-arc, the water-creature thinks that what Belldandy and co. are doing is a "conspiracy" to destroy her and her people. Why doesn't she realize that if a 1st class goddess is really as powerful as they claim, just snapping their fingers would be enough to destroy her, were that the goal?
 * She might not be the brightest crayon in the box...
 * Why, in the episode where they all go to the spa, is Mara afraid of Belldandy's threat of punishment? In her first appearance, she ignored a direct order from Belldandy to change Keiichi back, and later fought her in a magic duel. Mara was even winning said duel before Urd came out of nowhere and hit her on the head with a thrown good luck charm. Even then, Belldandy had to use a special sealing CD (which she no longer has) to get her to give up the password to revert Keiichi to human form. Why has she suddenly become a gutless coward who fears the wrath of Belldandy? Isn't she supposed to be a 1st class demon?
 * Because Mara knows to fear the nice ones. As to the various levels of power: (a) Belldandy's powers are sealed (During the fight in the TV series, Mara is visibly scared when Belldandy just frowns at her, until she realises that her powers have been sealed), and (b) there appear to be clear rules of engagement between Goddesses and Demons - ultimately enforced by the doublet system. As for being a gutless coward, she isn't (except in the presence of Hild, of course) - She just sees herself as a rival rather than a bitter enemy.
 * Why is Belldandy (at least in the early manga/anime) thick as a brick when it comes to actual basic human behavior? For example, she actually had to be told that using magic to change your clothes in public is not considered normal. Her one and only job involves constant interaction with humans. Why didn't they bother teaching her this kind of thing?
 * Seeing as how usually Goddesses do not end up in a contract like this with a human, it makes sense. She never spent her time day in and day out with humans. Therefore, her not understanding using her magic to changed clothing in public really DOES make sense if you think about it.
 * In chapter 243 of the manga, Hild says that the demons and goddesses get their power from granting the wishes of humans. Why then, would the demons be willing to destroy the world, removing their own source of power from existance?
 * Well given it has never happend most likely it is all talk. Remember Mara wasn't exactly expecting what happened with the king of terror who is so far the only demon that seems to be willing to destroy the world.
 * Other then the Lord of Terror there hasn't been any demons trying to destroy the world. And the LoT is suggested to pre-date the current way of things.
 * Yes, but the LoT was still written by demons to destroy the world, while Hild makes it plain that the world is their source of energy and that gods and demons used to fight (sometimes to the death) to grant wishes. So writing it still makes no sense.
 * The LoT either predates them using human wishes or he doesn't care because of the whole "destroy everything to remake it in my own image" thing he had going. More importantly, just because they say that he acts like a virus doesn't mean he isn't an actual demon.
 * And we and Russia both had thousands of nukes even though we both knew acutally ever using them was basically assuring our own deaths as well... It could have been a "nuclear option" a weapon of last resort or of spite for if back when they still actively warred aggressively with each other it looked like they might acutally be wiped out. Demons might not be suicidal, but they're certainly vindictive enough to have a doomsday "I'm taking you with me!" plan in there back pocket.
 * "Mutually Assured Destruction" hell can use the LoT to hold all three planes of existence to ransom if necessary....it makes a certain amount of sense
 * They can destroy the world, they can do it if they want. If they want destroy it that's another story.
 * What happens if there is someone with a pure heart in need of a wish that doesn't have a phone? Does Heaven just say "screw them"? And for that matter, how did goddesses grant wishes to people in the era before phones were invented?
 * Maybe, Goddesses just appeared before pure hearted people without the use of the telephone. The Celestial Bureaucracy has just called for the use of the telephone system in recent decades.
 * Its suggested that way of coexistence has only come into play shortly before or after Urd was born and she's only a few of years older then Keiichi and Belldandy.
 * Belldandy alright, but keichi? exactly how old are belldandy and her sisters?
 * skuld has matured somewhat (in terms of her powers at least) in the time since she was introduced so it is possible they operate on a vaguely human time scale...but when urd had her licence suspended they were saying she would get it back in 50 years. if she's as old as she looks then it'll take longer to get the licence back than it took her to get it in the first place
 * In chapter 240 of the manga, Hagall showed that a coup against Hild is as easy as placing three spells and a counterspell-destroying virus somewhere where she would step on them. Given that these are demons we're talking about here, why isn't there a coup attempt every single week? Especially since Hild's rule seems to depend solely on intimidating subordinates with her power.
 * All in all demons seem to be Punch Clock Villains and aren't exactly too bright given that Mara is an example of one of the brighter ones. Also most of them like the current setup. Hild stated that the revolt happened because they weren't able to make more commissions because Hild was dealing with it herself.
 * There may also be the practical limitation of power necessary to do those three spells--Hagall is implied to be the second most powerful demon alive, at least pound for pound, and the same tactic might not have continued to hold Hild (or worked at all) with lesser demons.
 * Its implied that was something really hard to do not from a power stand point but from a programming one. This means that if another demon had the power to do those level of spells their programing might not have been good enough to fool Hild.
 * In the most recent chapters of the manga, Hagall proved that it is possible for demons to gain a monopoly over Earth in a matter of hours. Why on Earth would Hild have agreed to the doublet system when she could have just done that instead?
 * Because Hild doesn't want to and Hagall hadn't gotten a monopoly yet. Hagall is very lucky that Heaven hasn't declared all out war on her yet.
 * Hild agreed to the doublet system for the sake of urd
 * Throughout the series, Heaven seems to be mindlessly bureaucratic and uncaring. Case in point: during the lord of terror incident, Belldandy nearly single-handedly saves the world from total destruction but in the process, the original record of the contract between her and Keiichi was deleted. Now, heaven is fully aware that the contract existed and what the terms of it were. They know what Belldandy did, and they know that she chooses to stay with Keiichi. But suddenly, because the original voice print of the wish was lost, Keiichi is no longer entitled to his wish and Belldandy has to leave in three days (?). Why again? Are they really that stupid/uncaring up there?
 * Light Is Not Good + Celestial Bureaucracy?
 * Sticking with computer analogies, if the hard drive on your exchange server dies, it doesn't matter if the system admins know what was in your mailbox or not.
 * Because that only happens in the anime.
 * Why is Hild ever treated like anything other than an irredeemable psychopath? In her first appearance she causally announced that she would slaughter the entire world for the right "compensation".
 * It's the "for the right compensation" part. She's not THAT dangerous most of the time just malicious.
 * Oh yes, because sociopaths willing (and able) to kill billions for the right fee aren't dangerous.
 * "For the right compensation". We have no idea just what that is--and I hardly think it would be anything simple or even remotely easily obtained.
 * Belldandy also announced that she could destroy the world when she was explaining about wishes on her first appearance, although she said she'd rather not deal with those sorts of people.
 * That would make beloved Bell, as well as all other goddesses and demons abiding by the transaction agreement, sociopaths. There's no evidence that Belldandy or anyone else can actually, flat out, say "no".
 * But it has been implied that they can and its stated that Belldandy can break her contracts through sheer power alone.
 * Belldandy might be able to break the rules. It's only implied, and it would probably have to do with Keiichi. Then again, we've seen what happened when she broke a 'lesser' rule in the film. Hild, on the other hand, likely got to where she is by breaking certain rules. If either of them were afforded some leeway, I'd say Hild has a lot more experience with both using it, and knowing when to.
 * First off, she was repeating what Belldandy said to mess with Keiichi. Second, Hild is an older more mature version of Urd to the point that they think and act alike.
 * Hild wouldn't slaughter the world unless she had a better way of keeping the misfortune flowing than a world full of humans. "The right compensation" needs to be taken in that light; she really does prefer that the world stay intact.
 * If goddesses and demons are not allowed to kill each other then why do the Valkyries carry (and use) large pointy weapons that are clearly lethal?
 * Since there have been shown to be other realms, demons probably aren't the only nasty around. It's also an easy visual that they are a combat force rather then regulatory admins like Skuld or Urd.
 * Case in point, Lind's battleaxe is actually a power limiter.
 * In the city where the series takes place there has been a gigantic dark wolf (Fenrir), meteors systematically destroying buildings, a giant flying coil of white snakes (Midgard), and a huge red, glowing symbol in the sky during the Lord of Terror incident alone. The city was also wrecked during the incident and Belldandy used her magic to repair it right in front of everyone! Magic regularly flies out from the goddess' temple. Explosions there are also quite common. How can the goddess' possibly be keeping what is going on a secret?
 * Either the Men in Black treatment or some sort of citywide Weirdness Censor spell, working as part of the System Force protocol.
 * Note the original version of this story also involves some Techno Babble about multidimensional strings, including how the goddesses exist in more than 4.
 * According to the manga, after years of student pranks the residents of Nekomi are simply used to everything.
 * Because normal people can't see most of that and the meteorites were hitting all over the planet. Plus, the gods are suppression happy.
 * In Skuld's premiere episode, her lies are revealed and she makes the bug-destroying machine that she had thought of a long time ago. Urd accidentally destroys it and this is supposed to force Belldandy to return to heaven. But, um..., why didn't Belldandy just ask Skuld if she could rebuild it? She had already done it once and this is what Skuld ultimately does anyway.
 * Because it was part of the anime and thus badly written.
 * Does Hild love Urd or not? I mean, she had Urd's angel (essentially her soul) sucked out by a monster. Does that even remotely resemble anything a loving parent would do?
 * Well, she was going to insert a demonic angel in the angel's place, so... what parent wouldn't want their child to take after them?
 * Its never suggested that the Angel's were anything like their souls. And Hild always has a reason for doing what she does.
 * Skuld lacks an angel for much of the series (not to mention the majority of her young life). She's certainly incapable of living that whole time, and even more, performing her functions as a goddess. Sort of.
 * In one episode, Mara tries to have ninja assassinate Belldandy. I thought the doublet system forbid that.
 * Seems to forbid direct attack by a demon; the ninjas are originally mice. Mara also seems the type to have no problem doublecrossing them later anyway.
 * I believe the point was to drive Belldandy away, its unlikely that transformed mice would have the power to permanently kill a First Class Goddess.
 * the doublet system doesn't prevent either side from being killed, it just means you have to be willing to kill a random comrade for each enemy that dies
 * They were there originally to spy not to kill Bell which they couldn't even if they wanted to.
 * Why are we supposed to think of Celestine as the villain in the movie? He really seemed right about pretty much everything. The Judgment Gate was incredibly cruel, he was right to want it destroyed. Doubt is part of a growing relationship. Plus, as he specifically points out, his plans do not involve anyone's death. From what he and others said, what he was doing for humans would've happened on its own in a few eons anyway, he was just speeding up the process. What crime was he actually guilty of?
 * I can see your point about the gate, but as to the rest of it, "drop a nuke and rebuild" is probably not exactly what you want for the whole world. Not to mention the fact that humanity got this far by evolving into it. Having everything rebuilt according to the specs of one guy would cheapen that. When it comes to evolution, the journey is just as important as the destination.
 * Actually Celestine is a pretty close approximation for Lucifer (in certain Christian faiths). For example, Mormons view Lucifer as falling because he rebelled against God by planning to force all mankind to be good instead of permitting them free will. Of course, Lucifer also demanded that he get to be the new God in this world- which also matches Celestine. It's a morality debate- Celestine argues that the ends justify the means, while Belldandy argues that only a freely chosen way can achieve happiness.
 * Nothing Celestine was doing had anything to do with forcing people to give up their free will.
 * Destroying mankind certainly takes its freedom to choose the path it wants, be it destruction or enlightenment. Also, destroying a race just to get to be a new God doesn't fit in the freedom argument at all.
 * Celestine bad because he was being an ass and was trying to steal Belldandy form Keiichi. The thing is that if Belldandy hadn't meet Keiichi as a child then he would have never been her mentor.
 * Celestine was a presumptuousness asshole who automaticly assumed the worst about the system (and was ultimately proven wrong on that point) and when pure brute strength wasn't enough to get his way he used the very thing he was aiming for (harmony between all beings, in this case though Bell and K1) and utterly fucked with it in some two bit plan to rewrite a system (by nuking everything and everyone to pave his own way, it has to be said) that, some paper pushing nuisances aside, doesn't need to be fixed.
 * How is it that Belldandy has stunning insight into the minds of people that she met only a few minutes before but literally cannot figure out the difference between love and the flu with Keiichi?
 * Having seen just the anime and a little of the manga, she only did one or two times. I wonder if she was harboring just a small kernel of doubt at the time about her own desirability. This lack of confidence caused her to not catch the fact that his physical responses were to her. As she came to see that Keiichi truly loved her, she was able to properly interpret his responses. You can tell someone they're beautiful, but they have to believe it themselves.
 * Why does Belldandy maintain her rather childish naivety about truth and lies? She has been tricked and conned by demons, humans, and even her own sisters. Why hasn't she gotten it through her head that not everyone is as honest as she is?
 * She has. She's simply idealistic enough to give anyone and everyone the benefit of the doubt anyway.
 * At times this seems rather stupid to me. Especially when she is willing to trust Mara, who has repeatedly shown that she has nothing but ill will for the goddesses.
 * Not precisely true. When Mara split Urd into pure demon and pure goddess, and then realized that the process was killing Urd, she came to the goddesses and begged them for help: "I can't lose her ... I can't lose you!"
 * Since we know it is possible to some extent for goddesses to age (we see our ladies as young children in flashbacks to heaven), at what age do they stop?
 * When they want to, probably. Safe to bet that the higher-ranked gods & goddesses look dignified or matronly. Appearance control is most likely the earliest ability they're allowed to use. You can't go older than you are (see Skuld), but you can stay a young adult.
 * Is there anything that suggest that they do stop aging? The sisters and Peorth are supposed to be as old as they look and there's nothing has hinted that Hild doesn't just look good for her age.
 * the aging process might simply slow down a lot once they're adults
 * Immortality Begins At Twenty.
 * Since the goddesses are not allowed to use their full powers unrestrained under any circumstances, what exactly is the point of giving them those powers in the first place, if you won't let them use them?
 * They aren't given their powers. They are born with/grow into them. the whole goddess first class/second class/etc limited/unlimited is a system to describe how powerful they are and how well they can use their powers and what the can do with out getting in trouble.
 * In the manga Urd has actually passed her First Class Goddess exam but remains a Second Class goddess (with all of the restrictions thereof) willingly. Peorth, acting as her proctor, released the seal on her powers rather than granting Urd more divine magic for the course of the exam.
 * They are allowed to use them but their sealed when they go to Earth so that they don't blow it up by accident.
 * Why don't the demons ever see how much misery their time-travel abilities could cause? Like say, if Hild went back in time and covertly assisted Hitler in winning World War II. That would cause so much human misery that you'd think they'd have jumped at the many chances to screw with history by now.
 * Truly disturbing thought: maybe the demons have tried it both ways and have decided they prefer this timeline over others, which would make this the worst of all possible worlds, and the demons are working hard to keep it that way. But then, too, I find it hard to accept cute-as-a-button Mara and sexy Hild as truly monstrous (of course my fictionalized idea of a terrifying alien inhuman demon would be closer to Etrigan or Nyarlathotep anyway, possibly because I spent the 90s reading "The Demon" and too many Delta Green sourcebooks). Doesn't the manga make multiple references to the conflict between Heaven and Hell being not so much Armageddon as a semi-friendly professional rivalry?
 * Easiest answer is that Kami-sama would simply change things back the way they were. Perhaps the current timeline is a carefully negotiated settlement.
 * Naturally, this probably works in reverse--Grandfather Complex. Kami-sama, or a powerful subordinate, may have been asked by someone wide-eyed individual to do away with Hitler, or some seemingly-supremely-benevolent act, only to so badly screw up the timeline so badly that Hild elects to undo it. And there's nothing to say that they can't correct their own mistakes.
 * Even Evil Has Standards.
 * Well, having a monster (the Angel Eater) consume the angels (essentially the souls) of the goddesses does not sound very "friendly" to me. Especially Hild's own daughter. No wonder Urd refuses to love her. What kind of horrible parent has their child's soul removed?
 * The angel is not the soul, but a symbiont. Belldandy specifically compares getting her angel to making a new friend. Of course, after you've merged with an angel to the extent they do, it's pretty devastating having her yanked out of you. As for the "what kind of parent" question, you answered it yourself: horrible.
 * I don't think anyone had time travel abilities in the manga, it's just Adaptation Decay.
 * Seconded, they don't display them. And while it sets up a hilarious episode, it does cause a lot of potential problems.
 * Demons aren't evil and its suggested that there really powerful humans out there with Keiichi being implied to be one of them.
 * If the demons want to expand their market share of wishes, why don't they just head to a run-down African village and start handing out demonic contracts like candy? I'm sure they'd have lots of desperate takers.
 * What would they get in return, though? Hell doesn't give away wishes the way Heaven does; they trade them "for the right compensation".
 * Heaven doesn't give them away either. Both sides follow the same rules, one of that there are only certain people that can qualify for wishes and another was implied that they have to be able to achieve those dreams themselves.
 * Since all of the people who receive wishes from the goddesses are all supposedly kind, caring, giving people, why hasn't one of them wished for something reality-warping like an end to poverty, end to disease, world peace, etc.? Since they are informed that they can wish for "anything", why hasn't one of these supposedly giving people tried this? Or are they all just idiots?
 * I believe the wishes have to be approved by Heaven, so any such wish would be constrained by the author. I did once read an AMG fanfic, though, in which one character, a man in young middle age, meets Skuld and finds her charming, and offhand says aloud that he wishes he could be her big brother. Hilarity ensues.
 * Belldandy herself implies in the first chapter that while wishes can theoretically be for anything, the candidate selection and approval process seems to lend itself to certain kinds of wishes. Note that Keiichi's wish has far-reaching implications but is still approved despite protests, possibly because it's non-malicious and humble.
 * Also, the goddesses have outright denied multiple wishes throughout the series. The excuse was usually "That's not what you really want" or something along those lines. I haven't seen a single wish granted that wasn't either made in jest or wished for off-hand accidentally. I think God has a little bit of an ironic sense of humor.
 * The reasoning behind Keiichi's wish was that some grand plan in play and that originally Keiichi and Belldandy meet has kids.
 * Because its was implied that they have to be able to achieve those wishes themselves.
 * Does Heaven have an heir in place, just in case something horrible happens to their current leader? Like, I don't know, he trips and falls onto one of those axes that are stated to be able to kill gods and demons and it pierces his heart.
 * Because something like that happening would be... well, an Act of God.
 * Is the Almighty One a name or title?
 * If you listen to the Japanese language track He is referred to as "Kami-sama" (Kami being the Japanese word for a god or spirit and sama being a highly respectful honorific). Kami-sama is usually used for non-Japanese gods, specifically for the Jewish/Christian/Islamic/etc style monotheistic God. It's something of a misnomer considering that everyone else is from Norse mythology.
 * Maybe it's Odin. And I've read some Lovecraft pastiche that held out the idea that Odin and Jesus were both the Elder God Nodens in humanoid guise anyway (and he was also Nuada of the Silver Hand, Cernunnos, etc.).
 * A lot of them aren't from Norse mythology and the ones that are seem to be based off of the Germanic versions. More over Odin was suppose to be referred to as different person then Kami-sama in the Japanese version of the manga.
 * In one episode of the anime, Skuld has convinced Belldandy to come back to Heaven with her to fix a problem with their computer system. Belldandy tells Keiichi that time works differently in Heaven than on Earth, so it is very possible that she will be gone for Earth years or even lifetimes in a few Heaven days. However, in a later episode, the goddesses are clearly presented as having the ability to time travel at will. So, um, what was with the emotional reactions the two of them had? Keiichi can be excused as simply not knowing this, but Belldandy had no reason to not simply inform him of this. Think about it, she could have just gone back to Heaven, helped to fix the problem, and then just time travel back to five minutes after she left.
 * Honesty? Not to mention that you would think time travel would be something that they would not screw around with too much. They were willing to screw the rules to stop Hild, but it may be something for which permission is normally way "above their pay grade". There was a risk that the boss would've said no.
 * Also, the bit about time working differently in Heaven is from the source material, while the time-travel abilities are anime-only. This is Adaptation Decay at work.
 * Why doesn't anyone who receives a wish from the goddesses seal off the phone and sell uses of the redial button? I'd buy it.
 * Because the goddesses block the phone's signal and 'steal' it during the call. If Keiichi pushed the redial button, he would call the place he originally wanted to, the restaurant.
 * Then just have the phone display what number you just called (or remember it) and write it down. Sell the number anyway. Again, I'd buy it.
 * Because the number doesn't matter, there is no phone number for heaven. Its a cosmic lotto. the exactly right person has to dial the exactly right numbers (that change all the time) at the exactly right time. The odds of someone dialing it are trillions to one. The goddess themselves were shocked when K1 ended up doing it a second time and getting the 4 goddess to show up.
 * Urd was also shocked/impressed when Keiichi once managed to call her deliberately.
 * When the Almighty one sealed up the Lord of Terror program, why in the blasted infernal hells did he put the container on Earth, instead of a top-security vault in Heaven?
 * Negotiated settlement? Earth is the intersection between the realms.
 * What would happen to the doublet system if one side managed to out-breed the other?
 * Is it impossible that part of the doublet system is a little side-program that basically equates to: "If one Goddess/Demoness gets pregnant, a random Demoness/Goddess also becomes pregnant as well"?
 * Better hope the gods and demons have identical gender ratios as well as populations, then.
 * The doublets seem to be set up in some sort of ceremony (which is then forgotten). Presumably the pairs don't need to be the same age, and so any differences in birth rates can be dealt with by averaging them out over several years, and even if a few members of one side aren't in a doublet the fact that everyone else is would still prevent anyone trying to kill anyone, because the odds of hitting the undoubleted minority is too small to be worth the risk. The only real threat is if one side managed to double it's population compared to the other, and the new group killed off their predecessors to get rid of the other side as well, which is probably enough for them to make sure that they keep their birth rates approximately even.
 * Why doesn't Hild pull a you have failed me for the last time on Mara? Given that Mara has proved that she is pretty much worthless as a demon, you'd think someone as sadistic as Hild would've killed her by now. As a bonus, whatever god or goddess that was in a doublet with Mara would drop dead (sweet).
 * Because (a) Hild prefers to keep her playthings around so that she can keep on tormenting them; (b) the death of a god and demon like that would probably bring Heaven and Hell back into open warfare despite the Doublet system; (c) it's hinted that Urd and Mara were friends before working on opposite sides, and Hild doesn't want to alienate her daughter further; or (d) any and all of the above.
 * According to chapter 135, "In the battle between demons and gods, it seems nothing is forbidden except the taking of life." Evidently this applies to one's allies as well as one's enemies. Then again, it would fit the series perfectly for Hild to say, verbatim, "You have failed me for the last time... shoo. Off with you."
 * Also, Mara is unusually bright, persistent, and lucky compared with the vast majority of Hild's minions. She's only ineffectual if you compare her to Belldandy and her sisters. Demons apparently tend to be rather dim, lazy, prone to comical levels of bad luck, and generally pretty ineffective.
 * Seeing that Hild and Mara are the only two demons that we've seen that makes no sense unless you're taking about the 'lesser' demons.
 * Because Hild isn't evil.
 * More specifically, Hild isn't Darth Vader. Contrary to popular belief, that sort of behavior goes against long-established rules of good management going back centuries in human history. It's the exception, not the rule.
 * If Mara and Hild want Belldandy and the other goddesses gone so bad, why don't they just break out a gun and kill Keiichi? That would cause the goddesses to leave Earth. Remember the combined power of the goddesses is minuscule compared to Hild's, so they can't be afraid of retribution from Belldandy.
 * Heaven and Hell have a strict "No Killing" policy to both Goddesses and Humans (Presumably, as its only stated for Divine Beings and I'm going by the official Manga for authority on this) and the general attitude is that Demons take more pleasure in the misfortune of humans, and that killing would be both A. Human no longer around to make miserable, and B. No way a Human could defend itself against a Divine being. Furthermore, As far as Hild's power goes though, its considerably less then the Almighty (That is the De Facto most powerful existence uh... existing), so if she tried anything like killing one of the Almighty's creation without just cause (Keiichi's death to rid Belldandy & Co. from the planet earth is certainly not reason enough) then the Almighty would lay the smack down and well, obvious death and destruction is bad for business.
 * No, it's stated that the powers of the Almighty One and Hild are roughly equal. And second, what business? You could easily set up some human to take the blame, and Demons aren't bound by the rules of Heaven. Heck, you could just hire a human hitman to do the deed. They're demons and one is the devil herself. The demons have created a program meant to eradicate all humans, they can't have any qualms about bumping off just one.
 * Mara once tried to trap Keiichi inside of a burning car when she was in Megumi's body. Her intention seemed quite murderous to me there.
 * But she really wasn't trying to kill him just hurt Belldandy. She wasn't really thinking it out at all.
 * Still, It would be nice to see Mara get the upper hand once in a while though.
 * Yeah, it would. Too bad we never get to see the villains think logically.
 * One other possible reason not to off Keiichi is simply that Hild has admitted she's hot for him, too. "That Keiichi -- Rrrowr!" (Chapter 136 of the manga)
 * More over its hinted that she has feelings for him.
 * Hild may have discerned--either through simple rationalization or some eye into the future--that killing Keiichi, or even just harming him, doesn't really help her personally. Hence her lack of an attempt, and Mara's abandonment of those kind of tactics. Also, on the whole, Hild seems to be quite fond of the main cast, and her affection isn't just limited to Keiichi. If it doesn't benefit her, she honestly might not want to upset Bell or Urd to such a degree. Her affection for Bell seems more or less as substantial or truthful as her affection for Keiichi (in the manga) anyway.
 * Because demons aren't evil in this series just like the gods aren't good.
 * Why don't they say "no, this is not a wrong number" when they answer the phone, since mortals seem to always reach it by apparent accident?
 * Because that would be a lie. Keiichi didn't call heaven on purpose. It IS a wrong number. Technically.
 * They don't actually reach it by accident.
 * Why did Keiichi get a second wish? When the world currently has misfortunes like starvation and genocide we are shown a scene where the goddess magical wish helpline agency has absolutely no business until the guy who has already gotten a wish granted calls them with a dire need to GET LAID.
 * Is there any indication of his Earth sucking as much as ours? Maybe the occasional appearance of goddesses (I can only assume it's happened before, only a goddess wasn't wished to have permanent residence on Earth) has made it better, if only slightly, than ours. Maybe his Earth doesn't have starvation and genocides.
 * That would just be counteracted by the demons who make misery on earth. After all, they can't all be as incompetent as Mara, so there should still be at least a few million people with worse lives than Morisato "Balls of Glass" Keiichi. As for there being no genocides, it's worth noting Keiichi's mental images in the first chapter show he has a very good idea of how would a nuclear genocide look like.
 * Well, we're talking about the balance of Good and Evil/Happyness and Misery here, right? Perhaps the amount of misery on Morisato Keiichi's Earth is as high as the amount of misery on our Earth? Although, we're talking about a Universe where there's a gate which completely separates a couple if they have any doubt in themselves at all, so maybe the amount of misery in AMG's universe is just concentrated elsewhere.
 * Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe. It may well be that the world of the series is otherwise identical to ours, but nothing else outside the quirky lives of the characters and their quirky neighborhood rates mention at all.
 * The anime at least attempted the explanation that wishes are granted as a means of Karmic correction: Keichii was a good person with a disproportionately sucky life, and therefore was granted a wish to rectify that. That however would have equally Unfortunate Implications implying that decent people who suffer horrible war crimes, etc, deserve it to a point.
 * Maybe The Almighty got sick of Keiichi not making a move on Belldandy and decided that throwing Peorth at him would help him man up a bit, not that it worked mind you. Keiichi got the wish form Belldandy in the first place for being so damn nice and honest in the first place. He knew Belldandy was in good hands, those hands just won't wander lower than her shoulders unless someone forces them to.
 * Why isn't Keiichi himself a god yet? It would make sense if it was just finale material, but with everything that's happened to him, and his understanding of everything... Keiichi becoming a god of machinery or something isn't that outrageous.
 * Keiichi's a human. He can't cast spells or use any form of magic. The closest to anything supernatural he can do is to have an angel reside inside himself. That and ignore his sex drive. If he had some magical ability, he might be able to become a god, but he hasn't shown any magic.
 * On the other hand, it's fairly obvious that he's earned it. Maybe they're just waiting for his mortal lifespan to run it's course?
 * I saw the sub first, so watching a dub episode and hearing "Mister Keiichi" was off-putting. I was used to hearing "Keiichi-san", and that's what seemed natural; the idea that even though she was a goddess and he was a human, she still regarded him as a superior because he was "the client." If anything I'd prefer "Master Keiichi".
 * I don't exactly claim to be a master of the japanese language but isn't 'san' basically 'mister' in japanese? Sama being the term one has for a superior.
 * Bingo. But gratuitous use of "san," as in Belldandy's case, can be edited out, as with many of the Japanese honorifics. In that case I guess they wanted to emphasize the awkwardness of her politeness.
 * How come that goofy exorcist girl still appeared in the opening credits if she was only in one episode?
 * Some openings are weird.
 * Why did Mara release the Lord of Terror if planned to kill everything including her, was she just being Too Dumb to Live?
 * Since 284 and 285, we find out Hild actually encouraged the coup against herself in an attempt to extend her own term in office, and to force the main cast to confront Heaven's not-so-subtle manipulation of Keiichi's libido towards Belldandy. Besides requiring a bunch of changes to Hild and Hagll's sections on the character sheet, it brings up some unexplained questions:
 * Hild wanting recognition as mother from Urd is fine and well, but couldn't she have just changed the bureaucracy _then_ manipulated Hagall and everyone else into the rebellion? Aside from a test of Hagall's unshakable loyalty to Hild personally, it's a more than a little dangerous.
 * Of the whole cast, Hild was the best-prepared person to confront the issue personally?
 * I don't think the chanse of being Jossed is very great when I claim the newly introduced senior goddess who is treated by Hild as an equal is Belldandy and Skuld's mother. We all knew she had to exist and now she finally shows up. (Those cliffhangers are getting unbearable lately!)