Review of Video Girl Ai (1992)

Moving picture, 174 minutes

The girl on the tape addresses him and leaps out of his TV. She’s a supernatural agent assigned to solving the problem of his unrequited love, though the guy’s old VHS gives her various problems, which in turn cause violations of the laws governing video girls.

A nicely complicated romantic fantasy, though it goes over the top in the end. Not necessarily as patriarchal as it may seem either. My theory is that Ai’s original main objective is to teach Yōta to romanticize females less, so that he can approach Moemi more easily. Ambivalent fan service. Based on a comic.

References here: Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation (2001/2005).

moving picture Japanese production animation fiction series