Mamotte Shugogetten! (まもって守護月天！) is a romantic love comedy. The manga (comic book version) was written by Sakurano Minene (桜野みねね先生) and ran in the monthly magazine "Shounen GanGan" (少年ガンガン). The animated series aired from 10/17/1998 to 04/03/1999 on TV Asahi, produced by Toei Animation. An OVA (Original Video Animation) is being released between Summer 2000 and the beginning of 2001.
The story is about Shichiri Tasuke (七梨太助), a junior high school student who lives alone -- his parents are travelling the world. One day his father, Tarousuke (太郎助), sends Tasuke a strange ring he found in China. Legend has it that if someone of pure heart should peer into the ring then a guardian from heaven would appear to protect them. When Tasuke inspects this object, a girl appears from within the ring. Her name is Shugogetten Shaorin (守護月天シャオリン), and her destiny is to protect the person who releases her from the ring, which she calls a "shitenrin" (支天輪). The only problem is that Shaorin has been in this ring for 4,000 years so she's not very familiar with the modern world -- she usually causes Tasuke more trouble than she protects him from. Shao can call forth spirits, called hoshigami (星神 literally "Star Gods") who each have a special skill, to help her protect Tasuke.
As if being master to one goddess isn't enough, his father soon sends him a strange rod he found in the same location as the ring. Tasuke examines the rod and Keikounitten Ruuan (慶幸日天ルーアン) appears. Her destiny is to make the person who released her from the rod, the "kokutentou" (黒天筒), happy. Ruuan has been locked in her rod for 1652 years, and she and Shao are sworn rivals since being "safe" and "happy" are not always the same thing. Ruuan has the magical ability to bring inanimate objects to life. Ruuan and Shao will often get into fights over Tasuke, leaving quite a bit of destruction in their wake.
Because both girls are stunningly beautiful (they're goddesses, after all!) many people who meet Shao and Ruuan fall in love with one or the other and try to steal them away from Tasuke, who on the outside doesn't really act like he wants either one of them around. Miyauchi Izumo (from the local Shinto shrine) and Tasuke's classmate Takashi are in love with Shao, and Tasuke's classmate Kouichirou is in love with Ruuan.
Complicating matters further is the adorable but schizophrenic Aihara Kaori, an underclass student at Tasuke's school who has a HUGE crush on Tasuke. She's always trying some scheme to get near Tasuke and to get rid of Shao and Ruuan. The story is full of playful romance and humor. It's not a very complicated plot, so it's easy to follow even if you don't speak much Japanese. The basic plotline sounds similar in many ways to Aa, Megamisama! but overall this series is quite different. There is more emphasis on comedy, and (in my opinion) the characters have a little more depth. Shaorin, even though she's a goddess, is quite fallable and more than a little naive.
The manga storyline is similar, though there's not quite as much "slapstick" humor and the romance between Tasuke and Shao is more well-defined. In the manga, a 3rd goddess also comes to live with Shao and Tasuke. Her name is Bannanchiten Kiryuu (万難地天キリュウ) and her destiny is to give her master "trials" (or challenges), presumably in order to teach him how to cope with the situations that Shao and Ruuan invariably get him in to.