Video Girl Ai started out in 1990 as a 15-volume manga (Japanese comic) series geared for the teenage crowd in Japan. Written and drawn by Masakazu Katsura, Video Girl Ai is a beautifully presented series, noted for its detailed sketches, as is also apparent in Katsura's other manga series, Wingman and D.N.A.². The first three volumes of VGAi were then released as a 6-part OVA (Original Video Animation) series in 1992, which we are about to see today. With the character designs and storyline remaining faithful, modifications were of course made to the ending to leave the OVA with a sense of closure.

This short series tells the story of Youta Moteuchi, a normal boy with a sweet-sixteen crush; he is smitten by a pretty girl named Moemi Hayakawa. She does not, however, return his feelings, and slumping his broken-hearted way home, Youta comes upon a video store called "Gokuraku" (meaning "Paradise") where he rents a video called "I'll Cheer You Up -- Ai Amano". Popping it into his VCR, he is intrigued by the Video Girl's empathic words, words that seem so true and real... and before he knows it, she really is on top of him, vowing to comfort him and help him in his love life (readers shield your eyes now). She then ensues with giving him a beating... a good way to start off this crazy relationship, I would imagine.

Wild and zany on one hand, sensitive and intense on the other, this story's main theme is love, requited and unrequited. It has the ability to give the viewers a show of both absurd humor and moving scenes, and nearly everything in between (including a surrealism hinting at Salvador Dali's famous painting, "The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory" -- think melting clocks), and still effectively convey moods that will trigger feelings and desires within you. I guarantee that it is an experience that will leave you thinking of your own escapades with the Thing called Love.