Customer Reviews

Video Girl Ai, Vol. 1: Preproduction

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Video Girl Ai is a school romance story that everyone can relate to. You remember what it was like when the sight of your loved one made your mouth dry, and your palms wet? When the most intelligent thing you could say in their presence was "N..nnn...urgle"?

Yota (known generally in the school as "The Dateless") just can't manage to tell Moemi about his feelings for her. He always chickens out, freezes up, or just ends up standing on his own tongue. School pin-up Takashi, Yota's longtime buddy does his best to help, unaware of the leading role that he's been playing in Moemi's fantasies.

With his lack-of-a-love-life getting more complicated by the moment, Yota seeks escape by hiring a video. Simple silicon, no feelings to hurt. "I'll cheer you up" is the message on the front of Video Girl Ai's box.

Unfortunately Yota's VCR fries a circuit, and catapults Ai out of her world and through the screen into Yota's bedroom.

Ai does her best to cheer Yota up, as helpmeet and advisor, but it looks more and more like she has a few loose circuits of her own...

Takashi, the popular boy at school, has little interest in all the attention that surrounds him. Moemi is a cute and intelligent girl who has fallen for him nevertheless. Our hero, Yota ("Motenai" - "Dateless") Moteuchi, has been attracted to Moemi for some time now, but just before he can get the courage to confess his feelings, she confesses hers for Takashi, Yota's best friend.

Yota nobly supports her, and encourages her not to give up in the face of Takashi's indifference. Making his way home, he spots a strange and magical video store, Gokoraku, and things get surreal. He rents a video named "I'll Cheer You Up" from the adult section staring Ai Amano. This is the "video girl" of the title, for the girl on the tape has been made for the purpose of cheering up someone suffering from heartbreak, in person if need be.

Yota is shocked when Ai comes out of his TV, and dismayed as he finds that his damaged VCR has turned the cute Ai, into a brash, no-nonsence, flat-chested girl. But he slowly realizes that this Ai is a lot more fun to be around. For as long as her tape lasts.... One month.

Preproduction is the first volume of the series which ran... uh... I believe 11 volumes in Japan (14 including Video Girl Len). There is an anime based on the series, also out from Viz, that covers the first three volumes, and brings the story to a nice conclusion.

Some of us never quite get it out of our system. Even at age 40, I fell for AI as much as I would have at 13.

To give you an idea, I loved everything Rumiko Takahashi ever did (especially Ranma and Maison Ikkoku), so that's my standard. AI is as good, and as romantic as Maison Ikkoku.

Some of the artwork is sexy, and very well executed. I'm sure this influences my response (it would be interesting to do a gender comparison...). But there's nothing explicit. I have a low tolerance for gratuitous sex. For example, after the first Crying Freeman, it just got too stupid for me.

AI is a similar concept to Oh My Goddess, but a lot more intelligent. Plus AI doesn't come to the rescue with magic at the end of every episode (like Belldandy). In AI, people have to work out things for themselves.

Another one I liked a lot was Silent Mobius. This is harder to compare because Mobius is more of an action story, while this is romance. But so far I like AI better. In the end, people are more interesting than monsters.

So if you're in the market for manga in this category, Video Girl AI an excellent choice.

I picked up Ai not knowing what to expect. But what it was, I wasn't expecting in the least bit. The story is basically your typical guy likes girl, girl likes guys friend, guys friend doesn't like girl. Love triangle, eh? Anyways, after Moemi confesses her love for Takashi young "dateless" Yota is heartbroken. This is where Ai comes in. He picks up a video of her from a video rental store for those "pure of heart" and then after his VCR malfunctions Ai comes through the TV and is dedicated to getting Yota together with Moemi. It's a great setup, as Ai is hillarius and the feelings the two express are deep. It'll be exciting the see how this one turns out as at the end of Vol. 1 there are still many unanswered questions. In the style of Maison Ikkoku this promises to be on the of the manga greats. Pick it up if you're into romantic comedy stuff and it's definatly worth a look for any and all anime and manga fans.

It was once said that Masaharu Katsura's girls were to die for. After reading Shadow Lady and Video Girl Ai, I can agree with that. His work features some of the most beautiful art I've ever seen, and his storytelling is second to none. His characters are all human with human emotions and reactions. And Ai is one of the most human of them all, even though she is a Video Girl. (The way she reacts when her body changes is great!)

This is an excellent series and is worth your time and money.

"Video Girl Ai" has very similar starting points to OMG--supernatural intervention in the life of a hard-luck loser in love through an attractive female, who's relationship to the loser takes on dimensions neither expected. Masakazu Katsura's series is very much different in some key areas that set it apart from its close cousin...and maybe in some minds, will make it better.

First, Ai is no Belldandy. She's much more sexy and assertive, but has an equally golden heart. Second, the series is played more as a romantic drama than OMG, which frequently lurches between slapstick humor and complicated plots. Third, the supporting characters are very interesting and generally all likeable. All are struggling with the issues of teenage love and trying to make sense of their feelings for one another. This is a big step up from OMG, some of whose characters seem at time to be rather stereotypical one-note types with no depth.

The artwork in "Ai" is not quite as flashy, and has more adult content than OMG. Those may or may not affect your opinions of the series. All I know is that I read all three in one afternoon and I'm very impatient to see the direction this series goes in.

This is one truly masterful blend of comedy and romantic fantasy! Masakazu Kastura(creator of IRIA and DNA 2)truly peaked with his title: VIDEO GIRL AI. Lonely heartbroken Yota learns the girl he had a crush on is really in love with his friend. On his way home from this revelation, he sees a video store that he never noticed before, and decides to take home a "video girl". In Japan, a video girl is a video-recorded date for men. But this one is a real Video Girl, and comes right out of the TV into Yota's living room. Now, he's got Ai, his own little genie-like playmate for three months. It's her job to comfort him and make him feel secure, but because Ai's tape was played on a VCR, her program becomes different and she starts to fall in love with Yota. While at the same time Yota is trying to get over his feelings for his unrequited love, Moemi, who on her own seems to have a thing for Yota too even though she's now dating his friend Takashi. Then, Ai gets sent away by her creator, and redone with a new mission, to just root for Yota. But their love for each other prooves too strong, which causes Ai to be sent away again. When she returns, she has no memory of Yota or the love she had for him. This while Yota has gotten a new girlfriend in the cute Nobuko. Does Yota pick the right girl in the end? Will the Video Girl god ever leave Ai alone and let her get a normal life? All the questions and more are in the manga. Also check out the cool anime on DVD or video also from Viz!

...Video Girl Ai, like Ranma 1/2 and Oh My Goddess, is one of those stories which, about how one normal persons' life is changed by one crazy incident. Quite simply, it is about a teenage boy (Moteuchi Youta) having problems during puberty, and he is given some help along the way (Video Girl Ai). The relationship between the main characters Youta and Ai, is a lot more down to earth and believable than in Ranma 1/2 (plain bizarre and scary), and Oh My Goddess (too good to be true).

The story has a good balance of humour and emotional drama. If it was not for one thing, this could be considered a slice of life story. We are let into Youta thoughts, some of them quite humourously perverted, and others quite heartaching, and will be familiar to most boys who are and have gone through puberty. He is generally a good-hearted kid, and is a clear example of the 'nice guys finish last' adage. Ai, his 'guardian angel' plays on Youtas' pervertedness at times, but also gives him moral support in many ways. Other characters in the story are also likeable. There are no villains in the story yet, but every story must have a conflict, and much of the conflict so far are within the main characters.

This story is clearly deeper than Ranma or Oh My Goddess, which perhaps is not difficult. However situations Youta are put makes this manga just as 'hard to stop' reading as Ranma.

I'm not one for romantic manga but Ai was great. I couldn't put it down. I only bought it after Animerica had Ai listed on the Best of the Best. The story is of Yota or Dateless as everyone calls him. he has a crush on Moemi one of the more popular girls in his school. Of course she has no idea of this, but to make things harder on Yota she has a crush on Takashi Yota's friend and most popular guy in school. So on one bad day for Yota he finds a strange video store. This is were he rents a vidoe starring Ai Amono video girl. While watching the tape a strange thing happens Ai comes out of the screen and she's quite differnt from the box hype. Ai swears and play's dirty jokes but she is sweet and tries hard to help old dateless. The art work is top notch and the story is great. I never thought I liked this type of manga but as it turns out I did so be open minded are read Video Ai.

Well, usually I don't write reviews, but I saw someone had given this an only half way decent one...well, I was shocked! I've read a lot of manga, both in English and Japanese, and I think that this is one of the best romantic type ones I've ever read!! I like it better than the translated Aa! Megamisama and Maison Ikkoku, and it's at least on par with the non-translated things I've read like Hana Yori Dango...a must read, I say! :)