Video Girl Ai

Video Girl Ai, known in Japan as simply Video Girl (電影少女), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masakazu Katsura. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 1989 to April 1992. It was followed by a short sequel entitled Video Girl Len, published between April and July 1992. The chapters were collected in 15 volumes.

A live-action film of Video Girl Ai was released in 1991. The series was also adapted into a six-episode original video animation (OVA) series produced by IG Tatsunoko, released in 1992 by Jump Video. In 2018, a television drama adaptation, Den'ei Shōjo: Video Girl Ai 2018, was broadcast on TV Tokyo. Another series, Den'ei Shōjo: Video Girl Mai 2019, was broadcast the following year.

In North America, the manga and the OVA have been licensed for English-language release by Viz Media. It was formerly published in the anthology Animerica Extra by Viz.

By 2018, the manga had over 14 million copies in print.

Plot

Yota Moteuchi discovers that Moemi Hayakawa, the girl he admires, has romantic feelings for his close friend Takashi Niimai. While returning home disappointed, he encounters an unusual establishment called "Gokuraku" ('Paradise'), and rents a video titled I'll Cheer You Up! featuring Ai Amano, unaware it contains a "video girl"—a being designed to materialize from television screens to comfort viewers.

Characters

Ai Amano (天野あい)

Ai is a vibrant and energetic video girl, though her true personality differs from her intended design. Typically, video girls are programmed to be gentle, elegant, and skilled in domestic tasks. However, due to a malfunction in Yota's VCR, Ai behaves more tomboyishly, often displaying bluntness and a tendency toward physical outbursts. Initially a poor cook, she later improves through self-teaching. Despite these quirks, she possesses strong empathy and genuine emotional depth. The same malfunction also causes a noticeable reduction in her breasts.

Yota "Dateless" Moteuchi (弄内洋太)

A socially awkward and insecure individual, often struggling to express his feelings toward his unrequited love, Moemi. Nervous and clumsy around women, he fits the stereotype of a timid underdog. Despite these traits, he demonstrates genuine kindness, compassion, and loyalty toward those close to him, frequently going out of his way to help others.

Moemi Hayakawa (早川もえみ)

Moemi develops romantic feelings for Takashi, who does not return her affections due to his popularity among other potential partners.

Takashi Niimai (新舞貴志)

Takashi fits the conventional "tall, dark and handsome" archetype and maintains considerable popularity. As one of Yota's closest friends, he declines Moemi's romantic overtures out of awareness for Yota's feelings toward her.

Nobuko Nizaki (仁崎伸子)

Nobuko Nizaki is a junior student who developed romantic feelings for Yota after meeting him in art class two years prior. When Moemi and Ai become temporarily unavailable, she attempts to pursue a relationship with him.

Natsumi Yamaguchi (山口夏美)

A childhood friend of Yota, having attended kindergarten with him before her family relocated. Orphaned and living as a runaway, she becomes associated with themes of misfortune while maintaining a compassionate nature, often symbolized by an outstretched helping hand. She suffers from a heart condition. Her eventual hospitalization and death later influence Ai's understanding of romantic love.

Len story characters

Len Momono (ももの連)
The protagonist of Let's Fall in Love is a newly created video girl with no prior field experience. Developed by an unnamed former Gokuraku store employee known only as "Old Man", she differs from standard models like Ai by possessing autonomous emotional capacity.
Hiromu Taguchi and Toshiki Karukawa
Hiromu and Toshiki are students who rent the video girl tape. Hiromu, the arc's central character, displays shyness comparable to Yota's earlier behavior. His romantic interest in Ayumi faces complications due to both his timidity and her questionable reputation. Though they eventually become engaged, their relationship falters when Hiromu's preoccupation with happiness leads to neglect, resulting in a temporary separation until he rediscovers his feelings. Toshiki presents as more emotionally volatile, exhibiting teenage behaviors like spying on Len—actions that provoke her anger.
Ayumi Shirakawa (白川歩み)
Ayumi becomes the romantic interest of Hiromu, though their potential relationship faces obstacles due to damaging rumors spread by her former boyfriend. These rumors negatively affect her reputation across multiple schools, including Hiromu's institution. Len intervenes by orchestrating a situation that reveals the ex-boyfriend's true nature to Ayumi. This leads Ayumi to permanently end that previous relationship and begin dating Hiromu.
Yota Moteuchi
Eight years after the events of Video Girl Ai, Yota works as an afternoon instructor at an art school attended by Hiromu and Ayumi. He serves as Hiromu's mentor, with their frequent conversations often focusing on Len. Yota shares with Ayumi that Len faced similar challenges to her current situation. During the series, he briefly mentions that Ai is faring well.

type	drama
title	Den'ei Shōjo: Video Girl Ai 2018
director	Kazuaki Seki
writer	Kōhei Kiyasu
music	tofubeats
studio	TV Tokyo Robot Communications
network	TXN (TV Tokyo)
first	January 14, 2018
last	April 1, 2018
episodes	12

Plot

Characters

Len story characters

Media

Manga

List of volumes

List of volumes

Live-action film

Original video animation

Drama

Reception

External links

References