Video Girl Ai, Vol. 05: Spinoff

電影少女 [Den'ei Shōjo] #5

by Masakazu Katsura

High-school student Yota Moteuchi is so unpopular that his classmates have given him the nickname "Dateless." So it's no surprise when the love of his life, Moemi, is not interested in Yota but instead is in love with Yota's best friend, Takashi. Yota turns to a video rental shop for comfort, but little did he suspect that the shop was magical and that the cute girl on his rented tape would pop out of the television and try to fix his ruined love life!

Spinoff vs. Original

Ai has been bootlegged to a new tape, and is living with the kindly clerk of the Gokuraku Video Shop under the impression that she's a normal girl. But Ai's creator thinks she's defective and is determined to erase her. To make matters worse, Ai's creator has spun off the new video, Video Girl Mai, and she wants Ai off the market!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Romance, Graphic Novels, Shonen, Fantasy, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1991

About the author

Masakazu Katsura (桂正和) is a Japanese manga artist.

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for volumes 1 - 13



A Note on Katsura Masakazu
Masakazu's works are oddly diverse and formulaic at the same time. He likes to dab in romantic comedies while also producing works about superheroes that are heavily inspired by US comics. I've only ever delved into his romantic comedies and they usually follow a very particular pattern: average guy pines for a pretty long-haired brunette until a short-haired tomboy makes her entrance. It turns into a love triangle that is soon extended to a third girl who is also a long-haired brunette. At least one of the long-haired brunettes is bound to cut their hair in an attempt to mimic the tomboy. Even though Katsura sticks to this formula, the plot outside of the love story is often refreshing and complex. And while the basic premise of his love stories is the same, you can never be sure about the outcome.



Yota is low in confidence and luck with love. He is in love with Moemi who only seems to have eyes for his popular best friend Takashi. Wanting the best for her, Yota takes on the role of being her friend and supporting her with getting closer to Takashi. One day, a mysterious video store appears from which Yota borrows a tape starring Ai Amano. To his surprise, once he plays the videotape, Ai jumps right out of his TV screen and declares that it is her mission to support him with his love endeavours.

Video Girl Ai is not without its faults but it's a very worthy classic with multiple interesting aspects to it. Given that this story plot is based on videotapes, it can feel a little odd reading this late 80's classic in current times. The setting can feel a little dated, it's particularly obvious in the lack of modern devices (the majority of misunderstandings could have been avoided if the characters had mobile phones, oops.) and the characters clothing. This wouldn't usually bother me, and it doesn't do so here either, but the fact that it is based on media devices does make this difference feel more obvious.

Katsura has a very unique art style - it's clearly a manga but then he also tends to lean into realism which is even more evident in his later works. For this manga in particular, there is quite a nice blend of more realistic-looking moments. I especially appreciate this for his female characters. Given that this is by a male author with largely a male audience in mind, yes, there is definitely fanservice. But unlike many others, the girls are drawn beautifully and realistically. There are several nude scenes and while I am not usually one for fan service or smut (I wouldn't say there is any actual smut in this manga, though), these drawings are definitely tastefully done.

Yota as a character and his love life are complicated, to say the least. It's actually rather interesting that he is considered such an unpopular guy at school because, as far as I'm concerned, he's a perfectly nice guy and has by far the modest handsome design of all male characters in this series. Be that as it may, while I do consider him a nice guy, there are moments where I feel frustrated with him. He can be very self-centred, dense and fickle. It seems like an odd mixture - on one hand, he puts other people first and the cost of his own happiness. But then the next moment he is so oblivious and causes hurt left and right.

I've felt very sorry for both Moemi and Ai and Yota's constant swaying emotions. There was, of course, also Nobuko, the third girl that always makes an entrance in Katsura's works. She was cute in a way but I felt less sorry for her because I actually found her a little obnoxious and she constantly got angry with Yota when he didn't even do anything wrong. Ai and Moemi, on the other hand, were both very likeable and I would have been happy for either of them to end up with Yota. I didn't like some of the changes Katsura made to Moemi later in the series. Sure, she got the curve again, but somehow her behavioural changes were beneath her and didn't do her character any justice. Sadly, Takashi was also a character who didn't get his due. While he didn't seem like the nicest guy at first, through Ai we get to see his good sides as well and I wish things would have turned out differently for him.

Even though there are a lot of moments of frustration in regards to misunderstandings, characters behaving selfishly or just not being honest with each other, it is actually part of what makes this a good manga. Take Yota, his actions aren't always great and it makes it harder to sympathise with him. Yet it makes him a more realistic character who is stuck between genuinely caring for others but also getting caught up in his own desires and how to make them both align.

I should also note that this review is only for volumes 1 - 13. Video Girl Ai officially has 15 volumes, but the remaining two are about new characters and feel more like a sequel than an actual part of Ai's story. You can safely only read until volume 13 and have a perfectly complete story.

[T.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mangaka doesn't miss an opportunity to draw a butt or boobs, does he? Despite all of that, the slap kind of crossed the line for me. The subplot of Ai's cruel creator is more interesting than the love triangle intrigue. But... I gotta know what happens next!

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Niimai si riabilita, anche se parzialmente, Ai recupera la memoria, ma rinuncia a vederla nuovamente cancellata per vivere, per quel poco che le resta, come un essere umano. Ma soprattutto Yota riesce a mettersi con Moemi, che capisce finalmente quanto tiene al ragazzo. Peccato che tutto stia andando per il meglio, ma nulla funzioni davvero. Al solito, VgAI è capace di un intreccio un po' estremizzato ma di scene molto sincere, considerando l'età descritta. Molto carino.

[Lili Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

💖🙌🏼

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things I like about Katsura is his willingness to get very dark with his comics. I don't feel like this one went too far, I do however think it lacked the proper buildup. We get a character who basically becomes a rat with an orgasm button, and it's disturbing to see the lengths that it's taken. There is also a case of a female character being slapped by a guy, and while I acknowledge this manga is a couple decades old now, it's VERY shocking to see that not be a bigger deal.

The one other issue I had with this one is that it fell into one of the worst ecchi/romance cliches: the inexplicably bad timing. It was abused in this volume, being the source of almost all conflict spread across several different incidents. It removes character agency.

Edit: I rated this four stars initially but mostly only mentioned my issues with it. On re-read I really like what we get with Yota, Moemi, and Ai, and it's good to still get some of Nobuko's POV too, she actually has a pretty interesting subplot going on. Also, I was more okay with the timing this go around, I guess mostly because I realize I've seen it abused much worse, and it's made pretty good use of here.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creo que el nivel promedio de esta serie es mayor al de I"s pero Video Girl me gustó menos. Quizás porque lo leí de más grande, quizás porque el dibujo de I"s al ser posterior es mejor, quizás porque me la habían inflado mucho. Después veo si en algún momento me lo releo y/o escribo reviews individuales. Por ahora copypasteo más o menos lo mismo en todas por los motivos de siempre...

[La Revistería Comics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quinto tomo de VGAi: Asesina. Sí: por ti te surge alguna duda, el título hace referencia a la guacha ojerosa de la portada, la truculenta Video Girl Mai.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición argentina, tomo 5 de 15. En la portada, una Video Girl más mala que Juan Carlos Batman sin su Robin.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I'm enjoying this series for what it is, rape jokes are never okay.