Video Girl Ai
Type: OVA (6 Episodes)
Genre: Comedy, ecchi
Version: Region 1 DVD
Reviewed: 3/15/05
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To summarize this whole review in one sentence: “I just don’t get it.” So if you happen to be a fan of Video Girl Ai, you can take comfort by telling yourself that “this guy doesn’t get it anyway,” and then go waste your time by watching the show and sending me letter bombs. Now is when I switch to rant mode:
I’m not one to judge a book by its cover, but the first thing I noticed was the poor packaging. It was so…ugly that it looks like the creators just didn’t give a crap. Then I began watching the show itself and the animation and art style jumped out in similar fashion to rake at my eyeballs with equal wretchedness.
The story of Video Girl Ai is just about as horrible as the show’s looks. This lonely dude named Moteuchi doesn’t have the guts to tell this girl that he likes her, so he buys a video of a girl acting like a girlfriend to the viewer—yes, apparently they make these somewhere. The Video Girl says things like “Are you comfortable? How about now? Is that better? I love you so much,” and so on to the screen. Then, for absolutely no reason at all (Broken VCR? Anime miracle?) lots of lights flash, the Video Girl screams, and then she comes out of the TV screen. She is now a real person, willing to do *ahem* anything to make him happy. This is quickly driving down Porno Road, but thankfully never arrives at its destination.
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| If you stare long enough, you’ll notice her ugly ass haircut. |
At one juncture, Ai suggests “screwing” as an activity she and Moteuchi should engage in to pass the time. Our lead character is confused now and doesn’t know what to do. Oh, come on, Moteuchi–this should be instinct for a horny teenage boy such as yourself. Things like this happen all through the series, and always result in some corny jokes. I’m all for allowing things that don’t really make sense in games and anime, but after Ai decides to smash Moteuchi on the head with a flower pot, blood gushes from his eyes, and two seconds later, he’s sitting up without a blemish on him. What the HELL? I don’t mind this style of corny Japanese humor here and there, but this series overdoes it. When mixed with the ecchi themse, it’s like it can’t decide what it wants to be.
The only good redeeming qualities of Ai are the originality (although it’s stupid, it’s fairly original) and the subtitle accuracy. Surprisingly, the subtitles are some of the more correct I’ve seen in recent memory. Too bad they were wasted on this piece of trash. Also, the soundtrack seemed pretty decent, but was rarely used. There was hardly any music throughout the series, which is a shame. And, now that I think about it, I probably added years to my life by way of the laughter I emitted while watching Video Girl Ai. It’s so embarrassingly bad that it’s funny.
-Heath Hindman