Product Details

• Actors: Kôji Tsujitani, Richard Newman, Janyse Jaud, Brad Swaile, John Novak
• Directors: Mizuho Nishikubo
• Format: Animated, Color, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Viz Media
• VHS Release Date: July 6, 1999
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305453535
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,427 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Based on a manga by Masakuza Katsura, this deservedly popular comedy-romance suggests a cross between The Velveteen Rabbit and The Little Mermaid. Gentle, empathetic Yota is dismissed by his high school classmates as a "dateless loser"; he nurtures a crush on Moemi, who's in love with his best friend, Takashi. Then Ai materializes from his VCR: she's a "video girl," designed to provide company and comfort. She and Yota unwittingly fall in love, which Ai is forbidden to do. Yota learns from their relationship that love and life are transitory, rather than permanent (a recurring theme in Japanese literature) and that sometimes having loved and been loved is sufficient. Mizuho Nishikubo directs with unobtrusive polish, although the script saddles him with unnecessary cheesecake shots and slapstick violence. Voice actors Maggie Blue O'Hara and Brad Swaile offer nuanced performances as Ai and Yota. Unrated; suitable for ages 16 and up: Nudity, sexual humor, mature themes. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun romantic comedy, October 31, 2001

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Video Girl Ai (DVD)

Video Girl Ai (Ai meaning "love" in Japanese, not Artificial Intelligence.) is a really pleasant series. The characters are cute and likeable, and the story is fun with enough depth to maintain interest, but not too serious. It is lighthearted romance done very well. The animation is very striking, and the character designs are what really set this series apart.

The series is on the same high-quality level as "Oh My Goddess." This DVD is a really nice value, with the entire series on one disk. Recommended.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ''Ai'' Love You!, May 2, 2002

By 

Ace-of-Stars (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Video Girl Ai (DVD)

*
Can a "cartoon" be so sweet and so touching that it can actually make a grown man cry? It would seem that certain ones do indeed have that power. Two special cases of note are the Warner Bros. feature-length film, "The Iron Giant" ... and the 'nippon no anime' feature film, "Urusei Yatsura: Final Chapter" (not yet marketed in the United States) which never fails to have me shedding tears by the teacup-full whenever watching it through. Now add on to that list a third title: the Japanese OAV, "Video Girl Ai"!

In typical Japanese anime fashion, "Den'ei Syoujyo: Video Girl Ai" establishes itself with the well-utilized "love triangle" concept -- but rather than following the same tired 'formula' to the letter, the storytellers break with the typical anime tradition and throw us some fresh, fast and unexpected curve balls.

The story bases itself around the painful double heartbreak of two of its main characters. School pals "Youta" and "Moemi" had decided to confide in each other as to the identity of their 'secret love.' Youta is terribly afraid to admit to Moemi that it is indeed she whom he holds this secret crush upon, and is further disappointed when she admits that her secret love is for the very popular "Takashi," who just so happens to be Youta's best friend. But Moemi's heart is also shattered when, upon admitting her feelings for Takashi within earshot, Takashi responds negatively to her revelation.

Logic would state that Youta would follow this lead of Takashi's by pursuing Moemi more deliberately (especially in light of the fact that Takashi already knows that Youta has feelings for Moemi and, by his rejection of her, tries to give Youta that needed push in her direction). But Youta, being his own worst enemy in such instances, has two things working against him: He is terribly shy, and he is entirely selfless! Even in the aftermath of Takashi's rejection of Moemi, Youta's feelings for her are such that he even does what he can to try to bring Takashi and Moemi together for the sake of her happiness, though it kills him inside (Youta reasons that it is much less devastating that her feelings are for his friend Takashi than for any other person).

Heartbroken, nonetheless, Youta comes across a video store he had never noticed in the area before and decides to rent a video supposedly designed with lonely hearts in mind. He chooses one featuring a strangely costumed girl named "Amano Ai." When he plays her tape she literally comes through his television screen -- Her mission: To help those with issues of unrequited love overcome the issues holding them back (in Youta's case, his extreme shyness and uncertainty) and to offer assistance that might help bring the two together.

At least that's what would have happened under normal circumstances. In this instance, Youta plays the tape on a damaged VCR, which causes some serious complications for Ai when she attempts to cross over from her video world into our world.

The tape player condition which interferes with Ai's materialization also disrupts her hardwired programming in such a way that she progressively behaves less like a "video girl" and more & more like a real girl. For instance, rather than functioning as a conduit for bringing Youta and Moemi together as required, Ai instead becomes jealous of Moemi and actually makes efforts to keep the two of them apart, while her own feelings for Youta gradually begin to develop into her namesake..."ai" ("love") -- feelings and emotions unequivocally forbidden to be experienced or expressed by video girls.

Thus being judged "defective," Ai is to be "recalled" by those who created her-- even well before her 'month-long rental' period has expired --which culminates into the emotionally charged tragic climax which unlocks the floodgates of every functioning tear duct.

Though the ending is a bit ambiguous and more-or-less left open to various interpretations, it raises any number of intriguing questions, such as, 'When is Love real?' and 'At what point do you pull yourself away and move on?'

As in most cases with anime, the dubbed "English" version changes the dialogue in several key areas of conversation where the meanings and motivations of the characters are completely altered and do not convey the original thoughts and feelings reflected in the original Japanese language version, but I would still recommend watching both versions just to experience two slightly different interpretations of the same story ... both emotionally powerful and effective.

* * *

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tender story., November 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Video Girl Ai (DVD)

Video Girl Ai is a manga series, created by Masakazu Katsura in 1993 dealing about a "Video Girl" named Amano Ai. From the 13-volumes long manga in 1992 was produced a 6 OAV anime serie. It covers only the first part of the manga story, reproducing rather accurately both its character designs and its situations.
The story follows Youta, a kind-hearted boy who is scared by girls. Even more he's in love with his best friend, Moemi Hayakawa. One lonely night, Youta rents a video tape from a strange video shop. But as it starts to play, a pretty girl named Ai jumps out of the TV, disposed to solve Youta's problem with girl... The adventure begins...