Oh My Goddess! Volume 21

This is a great read for girls 13yrs +. It is a little confusing at first reading the book right to left.- not the western format we are used to. Nevertheless you want to get the next book because this one leaves you with a cliff hanger.

Darkhorse has changed the format of the manga starting from volume 21. It is now unflipped - you now read from right to left - which preserves the orientation of the original drawings. It is smaller in size, closer to the size of the Japanese manga and is in trade paperback (TPB) paper. Starting from volume 21, Darkhorse will release the manga with chapter content closely corresponds to the Japanese manga. Naturally, they will re-release the older volumes in the newer format *slowly*, so that you can rebuy the older ones and make your collection pretty much like the Japanese counterpart, except it is in English. Some people like the newer format because it's much closer to the Japanese manga in terms of the way it is read as well as the content of the each volume. Other people dislike it because the older ones are bigger in size and are in higher quality paper, and you get more pages per dollar. Anyway, I think Darkhorse has made a smart move since the manga is now unflipped - such that the main character Beldandy now wears her earring in her left ear, the floor plan of their dwelling is correct and people are driving on the correct side of the road in Japan - which to me is important since there are anime and picture books that are now consistent with the manga when you read it.

Any time a long running series such as Oh My Goddess changes format there is always a chance that they might get things wrong. In this case however, Dark Horse has gotten it right. The new format returns the artwork to its original un-flipped format, and promises the return of the color plates that were featured in some of the Japanese releases. The new format also will allow for less time between releases and a lower price is always nice on anyone's wallet. The only draw back that I was able to think of is the volume is now in line with the Japanese equivalent, which means that volume only covers half of the story arc as opposed to the old format which contained a full story arc in each volume. Readers will find that the story is in true Oh My Goddess fashion, and introduces a new character as well as giving some more back-story on Urd. Current readers should need no prompting to pick up this latest volume; however, new readers should be able to jump right in without missing too much from previous volumes.