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Video Girl Ai (電影少女, Den’ei Shōjo) is a Japanese manga series created and illustrated by Masakazu Katsura. The manga was first published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 1989 to April 1992. Video Girl Ai starts when Yota Moteuchi finds out that Moemi Hayakawa, the girl he likes, is in love with his best friend. Disappointed, he decides to rent a video from a video store, “Gokuraku” (“Paradise”), that mysteriously appeared in front of him on his way home. Yota rents the video ‘I’ll Cheer You Up!‘, starring Ai Amano. And, to his surprise, Ai actually comes to life with the purpose to brighten up Yota’s life. Just things are not exactly as either of them had expected!
Video Girl Ai reminds us of a time when VCRs were a window to the world. A time of high-school romance and potentially endless possibilities. I was lucky enough to read Video Girl Ai in manga format when I was roughly Yota’s age. Even as a girl, I identified with the different characters as the story kept me hopeful for love and life.
Yota: I have a feeling that God has forgotten about me. Ai [thinking]: You're wrong, Yota. As long as you can see the Gokuraku, God will not abandon you.
Video Girl Ai, Chapter 7
Our selection of favorite Video Girl Ai merch. Because it’s quite difficult to find Video Girl Ai merch, we created our own! We’ll progressively add new designs and models. For the moment, we are featuring a retro-futuristic logo design inspired by the background in the first manga volume.
Video Girl Ai was first published as a manga comic in Shueisha‘s Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 1989 to April 1992. Shueisha compiled the manga into fifteen tankōbon volumes published between July 1990 and March 1993. The series was then re-published into nine bunkoban volumes between January and May 2003. In the United States, Video Girl Ai was first published in the anthology Animerica Extra by Viz. The complete series was released in a second edition of all fifteen volumes in the original right to left orientation between May 2004 and April 2006.
At a mysterious video shop, Yota rents a tape starring the cute, young idol Ai Amano. When he plays the video on his broken VCR, Ai promises to cheer Yota up–then she emerges from the television!
When Ai starts to have feelings for Yota–feelings that are forbidden for Video Girls–Ai’s creator steps in to either fix her or erase her! Will Ai give Yota the cold shoulder or acknowledge her growing love for him?
When Ai falls in love with Yota (emotions that are forbidden for Video Girls) her creator recalls her tape completely. Yota must travel to the hazardous video world in order to prove his love for Ai.
Ai has been taken out of her creator’s video world and is now a bootleg Video Girl. While she was gone, Yota started a romance with his cute classmate, Nobuko. But that may be the least of Ai’s worries!
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.
Ai is bootlegged to a new tape by the sympathetic old clerk of the Gokuraku Video Shop and is living in Yota’s house. As Yota’s romance with Nobuku enters its final stages, Video Girl Mai is sent to edit out Ai’s existence!
Video Girl Ai is back in the real world with a new mission from her creator–make a man fall in love with her. Yota is the only man for Ai, so it’s too bad that Yota has decided to think of Ai as his sister.
Yota wants to erase the past and start over but it’s not that easy. Moemi and Takashi are both still dealing with the aftermath of the asault on Moemi. And will Ai’s own feelings interfere with her efforts to help Yota?
To become human, Ai must make a man fall in love with her, but Yota only has eyes for Moemi, and Ai’s tape is running out! Suddenly the scenes of Ai’s memories come flooding back, and the real risk is painfully clear.
Moemi is still on a rough road to recovery, but she believes she must overcome her fears and use physical passion to drive Ai from Yota’s mind. Meanwhile, the running time for Ai’s tape is almost up, and she is intent on cutting herself out of Yota’s life completely.
Yota’s childhood friend Natsumi is hospitalized, and the outlook isn’t good. Ai goes on a mission to reunite Natsumi with her long-lost fiancé. If Ai doesn’t allow herself to act a little selfishly, she’ll never find a man to fall in love with her.
The time has come for Yota to choose between Moemi and Ai, but will either of them accept his decision? And could Yota’s focus on his children’s book project prevent him from truly winning the affections of the girl he adores?
The playback time on Ai’s tape is winding down, and the only plan to make her human and save her from termination involves risking Yota’s life! Ai, resigned to her fate and unwilling to put Yota’s life on the line, wants to fade away quietly…
Sweet guy Hiromu is so shy that wild horses couldn’t drag him over to introduce himself to Ayumi, the beautiful new girl in his art class. But Video Girl Len is going to do her darnedest to help Hiromu find happiness with the girl of his dreams!
Ugly rumors about Ayumi’s past continue to fly around the school, threatening to create a rift between Ayumi and Hiromu. Will Len’s attempts to smooth things over backfire, sending Ayumi back into the arms of her creepy ex-boyfriend?
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