[Free speech now!]

A page dedicated to Masakazu Katsura's lovely
Video Girl Ai

[Last modified: 23/July/2010]

= Ai And I =   

I remember the first time I heard about Video Girl Ai. It was a few years ago at my anime club, where a brief clip was shown before the main show. Behind me someone asked what anime that was. "It's Video Girl Ai," came the reply. "Really? Is that it? When I told my friend about Oh! My Goddess! he wasn't impressed. He said Video Girl Ai was better..." I don't recall the rest of the conversation, but that was one serious statement. Better than Oh! My Goddess!? Absurd! Preposterous! I had to verify the blasphemy myself, and so the next day I obtained a copy...

What I watched that day is the most beautiful anime OVA series I've ever seen. Video Girl Ai is not only a delightfully drawn universe, but one that possesses a truly poignant core, with an ending which touched me deeply. Oh! My Goddess!, for all its good nature and charm, just wasn't on par with the heart-wrenching play of emotions which unfolds throughout Video Girl Ai. Just watching the VCR inexorably play away at the end of an episode produced a lump in my throat.

And you know what? It still does.

Back in those days the WWW was still a relatively young place, and having a web page was considered "cool". I had just finished making the [Gunnm: Broken Angel] website, and was rather proud of it. A quick search through the WWW quickly humbled me, though. You see, I had found Warren Fernandez's [Video Girl Ai Homepage].

The Video Girl Ai Homepage soon became my favourite site on the web. Decorated with beautiful scans from the manga novels (which I had never seen), Warren had made a true work of art. In my mind, to this day, his page remains an example of good taste, a perfect balance between design and austere efficiency. Great scans? There for the taking. Translations? No problem, just click on the [zip file] to download. Frames? Nope. Java or Javascript? Hell no! Even after these "features" came to be, Warren's page remained true to the maxim: a designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. The Video Girl Ai Homepage has always been a guiding beacon for me, and I was rather [sad] when it vanished a couple of years ago. If you ever read this Warren, I'd like to thank you for that page, and hope there's at least a glimmer of your work reflected here.

I was unable to find the VGAi manga at the time, but from what I had seen I realized that Masakazu Katsura was a tremendous artist, right up there with Yukito Kishiro whose work I also admire immensely. Unfortunately some of that great artwork was censored, but thanks to Ai-fan [Dave Watson] the Video Girl Ai Hate Censorship Page was born, giving fans the opportunity to see the original drawings. Thanks Dave!

However, a couple of years ago a dark cloud threatened the very existence of the brand-new page. Someone accused Dave of violating GeoCities' guidelines, but instead of trying to amicably work it out, the person complained directly to the webserver administrators. The VGAiHCP was taken down, and in a display of smug self-righteousness, said individual trumpeted a "victory" on Usenet anime newsgroups. This disgusting attitude repulsed many people, including myself. An indignant [response] appeared on the web, but the [damage was done]. Would it be the end of the Video Girl Ai Hate Censorship Page?

I'm happy to say that a mirror of the [Video Girl Ai Hate Censorship Page] has been living comfortably on my web server since then, and it's my promise to Dave and all VGAi fans that I'll keep it there, safe from the net-cops, until the university pries away the computer from my cold, dead hands ^-^

(By the way, I've never actually seen all the scans myself. I really want to avoid any spoilers!)

There's a lot more to say about Video Girl Ai, but many other fans have already done so, and [better] at that. Aside from the OVAs and the manga, the [soundtrack] is also outstanding, and there's tons of other [stuff], but merchandise aside, the heart of Video Girl Ai remains in its story and characters.

My own little contribution to the world of Katsura is indirect, at most. Inspired by his characters I wrote a story titled [Computer Girl Lan]. Modesty aside, I'm very fond of this fanfic. I like how the ending turned out, which is why I'm currently grappling against the urge to write a sequel. Or should I? Hmmm... maybe not... but there's now a translation into Portuguese by Dack Ralter! I can read most of it and it's really excellent. You can download it [here]. Some time later an excellent artist whose name is Cristián Villarroel García made a few sketches which inspired me to translate it into [Spanish]. Here is the result of his work:

[cvg_glan01.jpg]
[cvg_glan02.jpg]
[cvg_glan03.jpg]
[cvg_glan04.jpg]
[cvg_glan05.jpg] 




  

    
      

      You can also have fun making an
      Ai bookmark (you know, a paper one, like in the
      good old days :) Click
      [here]
      to download the ps.gz file (190k). Instructions on how to make
      the bookmark are
      [here]. Overall
      I'm quite happy by the way it turned out (it's a "second generation"
      attempt), and I use it often (currently bookmarking my Learning
      Python book).
      

    		
    
      
      
    
  


      



 

  
   
   1600x1200ai_wall.png
  
  
   
   1600x1200you_wall.png
  
  
   
   1600x1200yume_wall.png
  
  
   

     I've also made some 1600x1200 wallpapers of Ai, You, and Yume, these latter
     two being Video Girls from a later VGAi-based novel.
   

  		
 






Also available is a Video Girl AiMV (^_^) I made!






vga-tom_01_dle.zip






I think it's OK, but here are the best ones I've found:





----------





It's a bit sad to realize that Ai does not exist.





Or does she...?







= 3D
Video Girls =   










Welcome to my tiny Ai (and a few Lens and Mais) cosplay
gallery!
It's been with near-obsessive drive that I have scrounged the 'net up and down
in search for that most special and elusive cosplayer: the video girl! I'll
tell you now, it hasn't been easy, but the quality more than makes up for
the quantity. These cosplayers are among the best I've seen, and while I
don't know any of them, I'd like to thank these girls for having taken
the time and effort to create such beautiful characters. So, without further
ado...





 

  
   
   [t07g01.jpg]
      
  
  
   
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   [t07g06.jpg]
      
  
  
   
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   [t08g02.jpg]
   
  
  
      
      [t08g04.jpg]
      
  
  
      
      [t08g06.jpg]
      
  
  
   
   [t08g08.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t08g09.jpg]
   
  
 






 

  
   
   [t08g10.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t01g02.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t01g01.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t07g03.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t07g02.jpg]
      
  
  
      
      [t05g05.jpg]
      
  
  
      
      [t05g04.jpg]
      
  
  
   
   [t05ag02.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t05ag03.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t05bag04.png]
   
  
 











  

    
      
      
    
    
      

      Recently Nessa e-mailed me about her lovely
      Video Girl Ai cosplay. She's been a fan of Ai for quite
      some time, and also wonders why it isn't cosplayed more often. Maybe
      it's the manga's shonen (male-oriented) roots...? In any case, please visit Nessa's
      galleries located [here]
      and [here]!
      

    		
    
      
      
    
  











  

    
      

      Interestingly, a
      Video Girl Ai

      [play (wayback machine link)]
      was once produced in Italy, here's an amusing
      [clip]. Furthermore,
      [live-action movie] 
      was also made. You can even find the
      [liner notes]
      on-line.
      In fact, two were made, the latter filmed in
      [Hong Kong].
      I have never seen either myself, although I'd be curious to (in spite
      of the bad
      [reviews]).
      There is,
      
      
      however, a nice
      [gallery] of the
      actress who plays Ai-chan in the
      [Japanese version]
      (but no mention at the
      [Internet Movie Database]?)
      However, for my money, I'd prefer the cast below! (^_^);
      

    		
    
      
      
    
  











  

    
     
    
    
    (a video girl)
    
    
     
    
    
    (a model)
    
  

  

    
      [Ai]
    
    
      
      [Sora]
    
    
      [Moemi]
    
    
      
      [Sayuri]
    
  


      










 

  
   

   Once upon a time, it seems Ai ventured
   into the real world and somehow wound up at Katsucon 6. No, I'm
   not kidding, here's the proof:
   

  		
 

 

  
   
   [t09g01.jpg]
      
  
  
   
   [t09g02.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g03.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g04.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g05.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g06.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g07.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g08.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g09.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g10.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g11.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g12.jpg]
   
  
 

 

  
   

   She's a wonderful Ai, is she not? I am
   particularly fond
   on the fifth picture from the left, because it truly straddles
   the line between fantasy and reality. I hope you enjoyed
   your visit Ai-chan!
   

  		
 

 

  
   

   
   [t09g17.jpg]
   
   

  		
  
   

   
   [t09g18.jpg]
   
   

  		
  
   

   Addendum: well, I'm all giddy now. Ai
   emailed! Apparently running the tape at RREP ("Really, Really,
   Extended Play") provides quite a bit of mileage ^-^; In any case,
   she sent some more pictures which highlight her wonderful
   costume.
   

   

   

   Thank you for sharing, Kat-chan!
   
   [t09g20.jpg]
   
   
   [t09g21.jpg]
   
   
   [t09g22.jpg]
   
   

   

  		
  
   
   [t09g13.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g14.jpg]
   
  
 

 
   
  
   

   
   [t09g18.jpg]
   
   

  		
  
   

   
   [t09g19.jpg]
   
   

  		
  
   
   [t09g15.jpg]
   
  
  
   
   [t09g16.jpg]
   
  
 



   


Anyway, that's all for now.
If you'd like to read more about Ai and her wonderful world the following
pages are most excellent:







Thanks for visiting!
















"Cheer up, Youta, cheer up. You'll be fine." 

-- Even though I thought differently before, 

      I felt sad that Ai-chan had a 'playback time'
limit.















[marco@reimeika.ca]






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~








Cell scans and some cosplay pics courtesy of
[orangeroad.org]

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