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Video Girl Ai, Vol. 1: Preproduction

Video Girl Ai, Vol. 1: Preproduction

List Price: $15.95
Your Price: $10.85
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: If you enjoyed the "Oh, My Goddess" series, check this out
Review: "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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wasn't puberty just horrid, this brings back the memories
Review: ...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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wasn't puberty just horrid, this brings back the memories
Review: ...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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great manga full of real emotion that rivals with the best
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderful and touching story
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderful and touching story
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: overall, very good
Review: In this volume, Yota Moteuchi, or Dateless (his nickname), wants desperately to tell his classmate, Moemi, that he likes her. However, she happens to like Yota's best friend, the handsome yet uninterested Takashi Niimai. Moemi inadvertantly crushes Yota by admitting she likes Takashi, and, a short while later, Takashi turns Moemi down. Instead of being crushed by the revelation that Moemi likes someone else, Yota is upset that Moemi has been hurt by Takashi. This apparently shows that his heart is pure, which allows him to find Gokuraku, a video rental place. Yota gets what he thinks is an X-rated video. Later, while he watches the video, a video girl named Ai pops out of the screen. She's determined to help him get Moemi.

I thought the story was fun to read, although I found that Yota's obsession with various parts of the female anatomy, and how this obsession was shown (with closeups of those parts), got really old after a while. I didn't know what to expect when I started this book, but I got through it really fast - I wanted to know how things would turn out for Yota, Moemi, and Ai. The art was lovely, and the idea of video girls was interesting (although it's too bad that there don't seem to be any video guys in existance).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: overall, very good
Review: In this volume, Yota Moteuchi, or Dateless (his nickname), wants desperately to tell his classmate, Moemi, that he likes her. However, she happens to like Yota's best friend, the handsome yet uninterested Takashi Niimai. Moemi inadvertantly crushes Yota by admitting she likes Takashi, and, a short while later, Takashi turns Moemi down. Instead of being crushed by the revelation that Moemi likes someone else, Yota is upset that Moemi has been hurt by Takashi. This apparently shows that his heart is pure, which allows him to find Gokuraku, a video rental place. Yota gets what he thinks is an X-rated video. Later, while he watches the video, a video girl named Ai pops out of the screen. She's determined to help him get Moemi.

I thought the story was fun to read, although I found that Yota's obsession with various parts of the female anatomy, and how this obsession was shown (with closeups of those parts), got really old after a while. I didn't know what to expect when I started this book, but I got through it really fast - I wanted to know how things would turn out for Yota, Moemi, and Ai. The art was lovely, and the idea of video girls was interesting (although it's too bad that there don't seem to be any video guys in existance).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The author of Shadow Lady gives us another masterpiece!
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A MUST-READ for manga fans!!!
Review: Ok, so the name might not seem so intriging, but the artwork and storyline are AWSOME! I must admit, though, that there is quite a bit of..er, nudity in each volume, along with A LOT of "offensive language" (which includes curse words, dirty jokes, etc.) and "suggestive themes", so this is more suitable for mature readers. Personally, I think the series is great and has lots of humor. It can be kind of sad sometimes though...
When I first started reading Video Girl Ai, I was about 12 1/2, so if you're in your early teens and you're mature enough, it's OK. If you're a stingy money saver like me, I'd recommend that you read it in the bookstore, since the book itself costs about [$$$].
Overall, excellent story and artwork, GREAT READ!


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