Video Girl AI, Vol. 1: Preproduction

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.

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.

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.

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! :)

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.