Anime: Den`ei Shoujo

Note: This review is based on GFE fansubs, which are quite good considering the age of the show. Recommended.



Orignally written as manga by Katsura Masakazu (DNA², I''s) and directed by Nishikubo Mizuho (Otogizoushi) Video Girl Ai is a story about an unpopular guy, Moteuchi Youta, who after being rejected by the girl he likes, by a spite of luck, finds a mystical video store, where video girls are sold. Not expecting much, he bought a tape, put it into his recorded, and, hey, a video girl popped out of the screen and decided to make our guy find a girlfriend.

Video Girl Ai is a pretty good, albeit old-fashioned romantic comedy... And that's it. Seriously, nothing else comes to mind when I think about Video Girl Ai. It has romance, it has comedy, it is old. Neither bad, nor good, Video Girl Ai is a completely average anime, good enough to kill some time at best. You wont lose anything if you miss this show, though you wont lose anything if you watch it either. It's worth your time as long as you have some to spare.

It's obvious from the very beginning that the Video Girl Ai is aimed at younger otaku, geekish side of teenagers from the audience. Unfortunately, my teen years are as good as over, so Video Girl Ai's aim somewhat slipped through me. Plot itself, though at the beginning looks like a computer geek's wet dream, soon proves it can be something more, as the romance grows quite intense in Ai's, Moteuchi's and Moemi's triangle. So, anyway, characters are pretty good in this show, considering it's a very short OVA. They have their worries, they behave like people, hardly anything to reprove in here, though, nothing to commend either.

Animation: 6/10

Animation, like the show, is old-fashioned. Though that doesn't necessary mean bad. Character designs, actually, are pretty good to boot. Especially if you got tired of those paper thin tall women designs which are very popular lately. Hmm, though after getting enough of short designs from this show, I think I'd rather take more shows with tall designs. Backgrounds, are pretty good for a show of its age, but not what you would expect from an OVA nowadays. Movement fluidity is also satisfactory, characters do look like they walk when they walk, no weird sliding, no weird still frames, though you'd better not expect wonders. I mean it was made in 1992. I doubt animation will make you like this show more, but it wont make you dislike it either.

Sound: 5/10

Both the opening song Ureshii Namida by Sakai Noriko and the ending song Ano Hi Ni by Kimura Maki are bland and boring songs. I skipped them every single time, save for the first. The same applies to background music composed by Tohru Okada (Eve no Jikan, Pale Cocoon) - it's simply boring (Pale Cocoon did have cool music for some reason, hmm). Well, at that time, unless they were using classical music, it was rare for a show to have notable music, and you bet, Video Girl Ai does not have it. There is but one, pretty good song playing at the end of the show, but that's about it. You shouldn't expect wonderful sound effects from a show of this age either, though I must say, there were no scenes where they did detract me from my enjoyment.

On the other hand, I found the voice-acting in this show pretty annoying. Moteuchi Youta, voiced by Kusao Takeshi (Slam Dunk as Sakuragi Hanamichi, Revolutionary Girl Utena as Saionji Kyouichi) does sound geekish and suits the pansy personality of his character, however, his voice ends up simply annoying. Talking about annoying, the main heroine Ai is voiced by Hayashibara Megumi (Neon Genesis Evangelion as Ayanami Rei, 3x3 Eyes as Pai), who, as I have noticed recently, does a great job at voicing introverted, cool characters like Rei, but sounds pretty bad when voicing cheerful characters like Pai and in this case Ai. Side characters sound better, but, unfortunately, they don't have half the lines the two mentioned above have.

Story: 6/10

Story does start slow, but in six episodes it manages to do everything it sets out to, not like it sets out to do much, though. Either way, ending is quite satisfying. Simple and nice, that's about it.

Characters: 6/10

Though the video girl Ai gets annoying from time to time, most of the characters are pretty fun to observe in this show. Moteuchi is a typical shy, talentless, but 'kind' main character. His love interest Moemi is a typical kind and gentle girl who, unfortunately, loves someone else. Basically, if you are looking for original characters, you are better off somewhere else. I have seen thousand of Moteuchis and Moemis elsewhere, but it doesn't make them that bad, just a little bland.

Myers-Briggs personality type indicator:



Value: 5/10

Well, it was fun and it did have some ecchi in the first few episodes. But still... It's not really a show which you would watch twice. I mean, I'd rather try to find another, equal or better show, than waste my time on watching Video Girl Ai a second time. It simply doesn't have enough originality to distinguish itself from many other shows in the same genre.

1. Conclusion[/u]:[/b] If you have some free time and you are looking for some romantic comedy to kill some time with, Video Girl Ai could be a reasonable choice. It's too short to become boring, it's not good enough to remain in your memories forever, but it is fun to watch. Though, of course, there are hundreds of better anime out here, waiting for you, so think well if you really want to watch this, though fun, but not significant show. I'd say Chobits and Love Hina are both funnier and have stronger impact.

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One of the very first anime that I saw, and I must say it really impressed me. Something that all who likes romantic stories should see. I think it is really different from what you are used to see as romantic comedies, at last it hasn't the usual cliches

The animation is nice, but nothing more than this. Perhaps dued to the age of this show, all is drawed in a very simple way. Characters have details, but not so much, and the same goes for the backgrounds. There is a good use of colors, but they seem a bit "old", and surely there aren't a lot of them. The movements are smooth, but this anime is not action oriented so this isn't a great surprise, but from time to time I noticed that the characters moved a bit in a unnatural way.

Sound is very good, with catching opening and closing themes, but perhaps these could be fully enjoyed only by someone who loves romance: they are extremely soft. Voice actors are really well suited, doing well their jobs and giving the characters a level more of reality; Hayashibara Megumi is the voice for Ai, one of the main characters, and surely she knows how to voice act; previous works from her are: Cowboy bepop (Faye Valentine); Evangelion (Rei; Ikari Yui; Pen Pen o_O;); Slayers (Lina Inverse). The voice for the Gokuraku Manager was made by Ogata Kenichi, who is Myoga in InuYasha: perhaps his role in VGA isn't so big, but surely he was suited for the work. Takashi's voice is Tsujitani Kouji, who is Miroku in InuYasha: perhaps here he doesn't shine so much.

The story is extremely soft and extremely good IMO. Can be a bit strange at first, but you'll soon forget all the strangeness only to be deep touched by the romantic side. Saddly it is all a bit rushed, 6 episodes weren't enought to fullfill this anime, and this ruined it a bit. But it remains pretty enjoynable, not so much predictable and really heart-warming. I liked the way they told the story making little flashbacks from time to time to help clarify the things, but perhaps even this was caused by the lack of episodes.

Characters are well done, don't take unrational decisions and they surely develop! Everyone of them is well depicted and acts according to what is happening. They develop, and grow in their emotions. All of them are pretty enjoynable, but in VGA there aren't so many characters, so even if the result is good I don't think it was so hard to have it for the creators.

Quite a rewatchable one, a must if you are with the right company. The softness and the kawainess of the story make this anime really watchable, and surely it would be perfect to watch together with your girl/boy -friend.

I enjoyed it a lot! Perhaps it is because it was one of my first anime, but I think that VGA has a lot of potential, and a good bunch of it is really well expressed. The only thing that will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth is the ending, not because it is bad, but because it is rushed and sudden. I don't think that this story can appeal to everybody, but perhaps even action-oriented otakus should give this a shot, because even if there is nothing that could interest them at first, the very good story could move something inside their hearts.

PS.
If after watched this you want to see more about VGA, go get the manga: it is composed mainly by three story arcs, the first one being the inspiration for this anime (and they even didn't made it all): I think the other two story arcs are really questionable, and surely you'll not miss so much not reading them, but the first one adds so much to the story, that near the end you'll sigh thinking that this anime could be really great, and it is only good.

I have to agree mostly to what Gambit wrote already. The balance between comedy and the more serious relationship parts is well done, Ai is very cute, and the music quite nice.

The drawing style is a bit dated, the somewhat open ending and some sudden jumps in the story make it fall short of a top rating.

Don't be scared about the picture on the page. Video Girl Ai is worth grabbing. It's a romantic comedy, and even though that usually involves a lot of ecchi stuff, this one actually becomes more serious when the story progresses.

Yota is the regular 'loser', nicknamed 'dateless' as a pun of his name. He never had any girlfriend and he's secretly in love with Moemi, the most beautiful girl in his class.
Unfortunately, Moemi is in love with his best friend, Takashi.

When Yota hires a video at a weird videostore, he ends up with a girl, Amano Ai) in his room - coming from the videotape! But while she's supposed to be supporting him in his unrequited love, she falls in love with his kindness and true heart. She isn't supposed to be falling in love, shouldn't even be able to, but due to his broken vcr she is 'damaged' and became tomboyish and flat-chested - and also able to love.
And there starts the drama/romance ... how is she able to support him with his attempts to date Moemi while she's in love with him?

The animation isn't anything good or bad, it's just regular. The sounds are nice, the opening/ending songs are pretty good - a bit dramatic - and the voices are very good. Ai's voiceactress is a very wellknown one, and praised.

The story starts off as a lighthearted comedy, where Ai becomes the teaser and Yota the regular teased loser.
Character development is very good, and develops Yota and Ai excellent and even Moemi quite well. And after the last episode you'll be sighing with relief, anger and (un)satisfaction, because they only did the first 6 volumes of the manga with an open ending. It's still a decent ending, but for everyone who wasn't satisfied with it - or desires more - go read the manga.
I can guarantee you will like it. No wait, love it.