Video Girl Ai

Overview: Time for another episode of highly obscure anime reviews! Today I am going to talk about Video Girl Ai, which is one of those instances of a show or movie that had a small cult following for a couple years after it was released but quickly became forgotten. The movie equivalent of Video Girl Ai in terms of small, cult films that became highly obscure with time would be something like "Zorro the Gay Blade" or "Buddy Holly: Six String Samurai". Plot: The plot starts out with the cliche premise of a hapless loser named Yota trying to get a girlfriend and constantly failing. Yota isin love with a pretty girl named Moemi, who overlooks Yota because of his sub-par appearance and only has eyes for the handsome jock, Takashi. Yota realizes that Moemi won't ever love him, so he tries to hook up Takashi and Moemi so that at least they can be happy. This is sort of reminiscent of the famous French play Cyrano de Bergerac, but the anime quickly moves on to rip off other things instead. While walking home depressed, Yota notices a mysterious video store he has never seen before and goes inside to rent a "Video Girl tape". Basically, in 1990s Japan there were VHS tapes (18 up) that would feature a hot girl talking to the screen in order for lonely guys to pretend they had a girlfriend. This particular video store is run by a mysterious old man who lends out magical tapes to youth in desperate need. These magic tapes will change the life of the troubled youth and help them mature and grow. I’m pretty sure this old man must be the brother of the old man that runs the magic bookstore in The Never-Ending Story! Yota goes home and plays the VHS, causing the beautiful girl Ai to come flying out of his TV! Ai attempts to help and comfort Yota, while also trying to get him together with Moemi. However, Ai herself begins to fall for Yota and this angers the mysterious being named Rolex, who created the video girls and is actually the one in charge of the magical video store! The anime has one of the most abrupt tone shifts I have ever seen starting late in the 5th of only 6 episodes! The series goes from being a romantic comedy to being a surprisingly dark and surreal artsy series at the drop of a dime. The anime has a very bittersweet and open ending, while the manga has a conventional happy ending. I actually kind of prefer the anime’s ending because it stays with you longer and leaves more of an impact on the viewer. Edit: It actually becomes a happy ending if you wait after the credits on the DVD. I watched this series on youtube when I wrote this review. My buddy offline recently pointed this out. Characters: Yota starts out as a very generic romantic comedy protagonist, but he actually does grow throughout the series and is willing to put others before his own needs. It is frustrating to watch Yota chase after the wretched character Moemi, but the viewer quickly realizes that he has fallen in love with a highly idealized, fictional version of a bad person and this is sadly something that often happens in real relationships. Moemi is one of the most obnoxious characters in anime history! She is the ONLY person that never realizes that Yota likes her and perpetually uses him as a tool to try land a handsome guy with no interest in her. Yota himself is guilty of being dense in terms of Ai’s feelings for him, but Yota is also very kind to Ai and as previously mentioned is frequently willing to put the happiness of others above his own. Moemi on the other hand, never ONCE thinks about anyone other than herself. Along with being highly selfish and oblivious to the suffering of others, she is also extremely superficial and only values physical appearance. Ai starts out as a tomboyish comedy side kick, but her struggles with identity and whether or not she should have the capacity for love is interesting. Ai develops as a character in only 6 episodes and is a compelling heroine. The only character I would really criticize, since Moemi was intended to be insufferable, is the villain Rolex. In the manga, his motivations and origins are clearly explained. In the anime, he just sort of shows up without explanation and we never learn ANYTHING about the guy other than he created the video girls and doesn’t want them to fall in love. This is entirely due to the short, 6 episode running time of the OVA. However, they could easily have spared us 15 minutes of Moemi being an airhead and given time to flesh out Rolex and give at least his basic origin and motives. I kind of have to fault the anime director for this poor use of time management. Animation and music: The animation actually looks pretty damn good even by today’s standards! This anime was made in 1991, so that is saying something about the timeless quality that the artwork has. The music is also excellent with both the opening and ending themes being quite catchy. Overall: Although this is a condensed adaptation with a few flaws, it is very much worthy of seeing for yourself. At times this series can be quite slow and it can also be painfully frustrating to see our hero chasing the insufferable airhead, but it also does some things well. This series gets the viewer emotionally invested and provides some truly tear jerking moments. The characters actually develop in a short run time and go from generic to actually interesting. The old-school but high quality art is an absolute joy to see! Basically, there are a LOT of romantic comedy anime, but most are extremely forgettable. Video Girl Ai stands head and shoulders above the average of its genre. I give it a well deserved 6/10.

I happened to stumble across Video Girl Ai while I was clicking around on TV Tropes one day, and the plot sounded interesting, so I figured, "hey, it's only 6 episodes, so why don't I give it a shot?" And I'm pretty glad I did. This is an under appreciated gem. Even though it's listed as an ecchi, the fanservice is actually pretty tasteful, and it's much more focused on plot rather than fanservice. So, even if ecchi titles generally aren't your thing, you should still give this a chance. The story is a romance with a slight supernatural element to it. At its heart, it'sa love-triangle (well, actually more of a love square) between Youta (the main character), Ai the video girl, Moemi, and Youta's best friend. The whole thing was kind of cheesy, and it had an 80s brat pack movie kind of vibe (technically, the OVA came out in 1992, but lbr the early 90s were basically the 80s). I loved it despite its slight cheesiness, though. It was light-hearted, but with just the right amount of angst. The music was fun, and the art was very impressive. All of the animation was very fluid, and it seemed very ahead of its time (although there is some bad CGI in the opening). Even though the story was a little dated (it's about a girl who comes out of a VCR after all), it manages to hold up, largely thanks to the quality of the art. My only complaint would be that the two side characters, Moemi (Youta's crush) and Takashi were kind of lame. But Ai had enough spunky character for the both of them, really. All in all, it was a solid show that's easy to pick up because it's so short. Despite it's length, it still manages to be satisfying. I would definitely give it a shot if you're into older shows, romances, or if you like fanservice that comes with a great story.

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEST ANIMES EVER MADE, not to mention EXTREMELY UNDERRATED. It shocks me to see such a masterpiece be given a mere rating of a low 7, really proves you cant trust the mal rating nor some of the reviews. This is amazing, and I'll tell you why Story: I won't go into detail about the plot since you can just read the synopsis. But what it does so fucking well is that the story progresses very naturally and fluently considering the bizarre nature of the story itself. There is SOOOOO much character development in this the entire story basically evolves aroundits characters developing and becoming better, growing and becoming different to what they once were. It's so heartwarming as well as story dives into what it means to be loved, love and the basis of emotional attachment. It's also fucking hilarious and the humour is handled nicely as it knows when to get serious and when to lighten up, really powerful stuff to be honest. The humour is also really smart and not cliched at all, does not great job at making you laugh. Also it has excellent directing and pacing feels really good. When this anime gets serious you really feel the intensity and ssuspense. The melodrama of the love triangle is also handled really well and isn't cringy at all, you feel the real emotions of these characters and their motives. The added spin of Amanos time limit also makes it so much more intense and hectic till the end. In general, this anime does a great job making you laugh, smile, heartwarmed, cry, think and also contemplate all in the tiny span of 6 episodes, which also leads to a satisfactory ending, thus guarantees it the highest 10/10 possible. Art: Absolutely stunning animation and overall aesthetic. It's strange how an anime made in 1992 can look better and have more expression and emotion than most anime nowadays. The insane effort put into the hand drawn animation is apparent as you watch the 6 episodes and never does it deteriorate. Characters are fluid, everything flows really well and really lively and exciting. It's got incredible production quality. The color palette is also great. There is also those nostalgic 90s vibes and aesthetics which you just don't find anymore. The shot direction is also amazing as frame by frame everything feels really good and there's a sense of verticality and movement with the animation and characters. It's sometimes very artistic as well which is really nice. Everyone looks really good the girls look cute, the men look rigid and handsome, just overall an amazing experience aesthetically. 10/10 Sound: Soundtrack is great and very groovy at times. Even at times suspenseful, it helps improve every scene and moment to new heights. Voice acting is also done incredibly well, clear, full of expression and emotion. Also has those 90s music beats you just dont find anymore, another key nostalgic factor. 10/10 Character: OHH boy here is the REAL GOLD. Never have I seen anime characters with more personality, character, and invigorating expression. Amano Ai for example, is a character that basically was disadvantaged from the beginning as she was born out of a shitty broken vhs player. So her personality is sometimes rude, intimidating and careless. She goes against everything that video girls are supposed to be, like being great at cooking? whilst amano is fucking terrible . DESPITE all these flaws, she is aware of it and she is determined to improve herself for the main protagonist, she even teaches herself how to cook good food. This whole story is a metaphor for a simple person trying to overcome and persevere on with life despite all their initial flaws. It's actually fucking beautiful and really heartwarming. The characters are amazing, and really makes this anime cream of the crop. The characters all become well loved and you feel for them through the harsh and happy times as they act sensibly and aren't idiots. 100/10 CONCLUSION This is a hidden gem among the sea of trashy rom coms out there. It's one of the best anime ever made and it sure is one of the best romances ever made. Somehow the hated love triangle concept is actually really fun and endearing in this, making it a key propeller of the enjoyment. The plot is great and the relationship bonds that strengthen over time are just really nice and heartwarming to see as they are so realistic as well and believable. IF anything needs more recognition it's this, if anything needs to be rebooted it's this. This is truly a classic and one of the best. The manga is outstanding aswell so be sure to check it out and pay respect to the og creator of the series. It's got a surprisingly deep and serious tone when it wants to get serious and the drawings are all so beautiful and detailed. It's got a type of hyper-realistic art style where characters have life like shading and surprisingly some nudity as well, as it's for mature people, which is better since it doesn't shy away. EASILY ONE OF THE BEST ROMANCES, and definitely a hidden gem that many don't even know exist, we need more anime like this seriously. There are also these animated short skits at the end of each video and they add a lighthearted touch on the story with really funny skits, a really nice cherry on top by the production crew. SPEAKING OF THE PRODUCTION CREW, HUUUUGE PROPS for their amazing effort in making this anime. Not only did they work hard but they also included personal interviews of the director and theme song singer in the end of the last episodes, both are wonderful people and director is so charming and humble, really shows you that production IG reapects these people who worked hard to make this so great. Go and watch it, it'll change the way you view romance animes forever, but remember to support the creators as well for their amazing product, like buying the manga and a few dvds so they are rewarded for their hard work. Amazing stuff like this just doesn't come around much anymore, this is now my favorite ova of all time and second favorite romance of all time, right after Maison Ikkoku, just because that one is undefeatable. I will be buying the DVD and watching it over and over, what absolute wualitu entertainment

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