conservative portrayal, Napier describes Belldandy as "almost a perfect dream of feminine nurturance" and identifying that she has a "soothing and escapist function", while reviewer Megan Lavey states that Belldandy is no pushover, and that she can hold her own, noting that she is making "the best of difficult circumstances." Another line of criticism of Belldandy relates to the sexual nature of the character, with Belldandy being described by one commentator as a "soft porn goddess". Nevertheless, other commentators have observed that Belldandy might be , but writers such as Gilles Poitras note that the series—far from being soft porn—is in fact a very tender and romantic comedy: the characters do no more than simply kiss (and that infrequently) over the course of the series. Newitz suggests that part of the appeal of Oh My Goddess! is the romantic nature of the story: "In anime, romantic love is possible because overt sexuality is not". According to Newitz the relationships in romantic anime, such as Oh My Goddess!, are not about consummation but about "sexual innuendo and deferral". References Comics characters introduced in 1988 Female characters in anime and manga Fictional empaths Fictional angels Fictional goddesses Norse mythology in anime and manga Oh My Goddess! characters