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“Video Girl Ai” offers standard soap opera fair with a high school romance as its focus.

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Video Girl Ai

Review by Rhonda Lancaster

6 Episode OVA

Company: Viz

Running Time: Approx. 180 minutes

Region: 1

Rated: PG-13 (some nudity, suggestive material)

EXTERNAL EXAM

Ever felt like a dateless loser? Yota Moteuchi, whose name even means “dateless,” knows nothing else. Even the girl of his dreams loves his best friend.

Wandering the streets after hearing this crushing news, Yota spots a video story he’d never noticed. Gokuraku, literally “paradise,” offers a unique selection. Nervous he’ll be spotted in the ‘adult’ section, Yota quickly pulls a video off the shelf — one that looks a little promising. The title, “Video Girl Ai,” should tell him what is to come, but nonetheless he is surprised when out of the TV steps his dream girl, dedicated to making him happy whether he likes it or not!

DVD VISION TEST

Video: Video quality is fair for a production dating to 1992. The colors seem washed out and there are some hazing images in the close up shots.

Audio: Language tracks include Japanese and English. It was a strain to hear some of the lines even with the volume turned up. While some of the quiet lines may have been for effect, the overall impression was that it was not intended.

Edits: No obvious edit although the translation seemed a bit sloppy for both the English language script and subtitles. The translation also added some dated elements including a comment from Ai about Yota not being able to handle the “Full Monty.”

Extras: Character Profiles, Text Interview with Director Mizuho Nishikubo, printed insert with background information on the anime’s creation and the chapter menu.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

Story: Based on the original comics by Masakazu Katsura, “Video Girl Ai” offers standard soap opera fair with a high school romance as its focus. The bizarre ending seems out of character with the rest of the series, but, being unfamiliar with the comic, I don’t know if this was by the original author or a decision of the series director. The background information provided with the disc says that the anime stuck closely to the first two volumes of the eventual 13 volume manga series. This odd ending may have been devised to provide closure to the 6-episode series.

Acting: Both the Japanese and English casts perform admirably. They successfully establish the bumbling humility of Yota, the arrogance of Takashi, the sweetness of Moemi, and the happy-go-lucky yet deeply serious nature of Ai.

Fan Service: : If you are looking for blatant fan service, look elsewhere. There is an ongoing joke about the size of Ai’s breasts that means she is often baring them for Yota and she often mentions the length of her skirt being irresistible for him, but there are not rampant panty shots, it is all much more innocent.

FINAL EXAM

Love triangles are complicated enough without adding an unpredictable element devoted to the happiness of one participant. “Video Girl Ai” might be based on the formulaic premise of a high school romance, but a faulty VCR adds just the right twist to proceedings to make this a charming tale. This series was warmly received by fans of the manga by Masakazu Katsura when first released in 1992 in Japan and 1999 in the U.S. It does not, however, stand up against the test of time.

The story begins with Yota Moteuchi cranking up his VCR. The Video Girl (and yes, these actually exist in Japan) begins her usual sweet talk about what a great guy he is and how she will cheer him up. Then, she appears to go ‘off script’ and says a simple video will not be enough so she will stay with him as long as it takes. In a scene only slightly less creepy than the girl crawling out of a TV set in “The Ring”, Ai Amano materializes and offers our hero her services. He quickly consults his magazines on dating and romancing women only to have her slap him around and deny him actual pleasure. Apparently, Yota’s VCR is defective, which leaves Ai’s transformation incomplete. She rotates among at least three personalities, sweet and supplicant (as she is meant to be), domineering masculine behavior, and wildly emotional rants. Perhaps this is also why the Video Girl’s ‘inability to fall in love with her clients’ doesn’t seem true for Ai.

Yota and Ai are lovable characters so you immediately become engaged in their story. Moemi, Yota’s true love, and Takashi, Yota’s best friend and Moemi’s true love, are less engaging. Takashi is the typical class hunk, except perhaps the devil horns his hair is combed into on the sides. All the girls dote on him, but for reasons all his own he treats them with disdain, including Moemi. Moemi is clearly more comfortable with Yota and seems truly affectionate toward him; however, she can’t see him as anything more than a friend who will listen to her whining about Takashi.

Yota should have known something was up when renting “Video Girl Ai”. After all, he entered a video store he’d never seen before on a street he walked down every day. The store’s name Gokuraku means paradise and the friendly, older gentleman video clerk told him he was the third customer because only the pure hearted could see the store. Of course, when he needs to find the store later in the series, he can’t. These fantastical elements introduced at the beginning should have been a warning for the audience as well, but somehow the ending, which is almost entirely in the fantastical, is jarring and feels out of place. We aren’t prepared for what happens when “The Man,” a mysterious trench coat wearing stranger, shows up and exerts some kind of control over Ai.

The story progresses at an even pace with most of the love triangle established in flashbacks. Cuts between scenes are handled with static-y screen fuzz, which complements Ai’s video worldview. Yota’s voiceover narration ties the elements together.

Originally brought to America by Viz in 1999 and released on DVD in 2001, there are several complaints that may be dismissed as ‘old school’ styling. The theme songs are hard-subtitled, but, since Viz has been known to leave songs without any translation, being forced to view the translation at least means it is there. Also, the translation seems a bit loose with additions to the script that date the material and are distracting.

The Omake Theater, funny little clip shows between episodes, are left in their original place at the end of the first five episodes. Super-deformed versions of our main characters host Omake Theater, which mimics other anime stylings as well, such as Ai being explained by ‘scientist’ Yota as a Godzilla-like monster. The last two Omake Theaters feature an interview with the creator, Masakazu Katsura, and Noriko Sakai, the singer for the theme song.

For fans of classic anime, “Video Girl Ai” is a must see. For the casual viewer, the interesting characters and a clever love story might not outweigh the poor animation and rough translation.

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