Masakazu Katsura Books

Ichitaka Seto life seems to be going OK. He has been made co-captain of the Welcoming Committee with the love of his life, Iori Yoshizuki, and things seem to be going his way. Ah, but this is a Japanese boy's romance comic, which means we need...Sassy Girl!

She arrives as a blast from Ichitaka's past. Itsuki Akiba, a childhood friend, has returned from the USA and is intent on winning Ichitaka's heart for her own. Unlike the demure Iori, Itsuki is brash and outspoken, a tomboy who has no problem walking around in front of Ichitaka in her underwear or coming out of the shower in only a towel. She is a cool chick too, with a talent for sculpting movie monsters. She gets right in the way of Ichitaka's passive pursuit of Iori, making him question where his heart really lies.

"Ai''s Volume 2'' is a great continuation of the series, adding some serious wrinkles to the story. Ichitaka has to deal with the temptation, and decide how strong his feelings for Iori really are. As usual, Masakazu Katsura fantastic art puts "Ai''s" head-and-shoulders above other stories in the genre, even while following a somewhat formulaic story.

Ok I can't keep quiet about this Manga series. I first saw it previewed in Shoenen Jump and didn't think much of it at first, but after reading the little bit they had in there, I just had to read more. I was able to find a website that had the entire Manga series on it (15 Volumes, 144 Chapters). It looks like 143 is the end, and then 144 is an alternate ending, or to be more precise I suppose, what happened in the huge gap in the ending 143 gave you. Anyways, I don't do this often, hell this is the first Manga I've read from start to finish, and I loved it. There were some touch and go parts, I'm not going to say much, but I will say the ending brought a few tears to my eyes. I love this series, and I say this is a must buy.

Katsura's stories are a good blend of romance, good characterizations and very nice clean art! I"s is just another example of his talented way of keeping us, the readers, enthralled and willing to keep turning those pages. In other words, he is really good at pacing, illustration and showing emotion with his characters.
I started reading Masakazu Katsura with Video Girl. Honestly, I passed over his books several times after having picked a book up and skimming through it, simply because I'm a guy and I was impressed with the artwork. I come from the Illustration field. So I admired Katsura's artwork at first. I started reading I"s because of Video Girl. Though, like with Video Girl, if your a guy you may find it hard bringing these titles up to the cashier. Or you could just order them online and avoid ambarrassment altogther. Katsura's books always have lots of very well drawn eye candy and some sexual situations, merely alluring to more but, not shown (yet, as I've seen so far). So, be aware of that. If that doesn't bother you then I strongly recommend this series to you; even if your a guy!

this is a oool anime and has nice plot I love everything about this series you should too. You owe it to yourself as an anime fan to read this manga its super cool with the complex story of love.

This is the second volume of the popular Shadow Lady series. We were introduced to Bright's old friend Lime, and learned some of the story behind De-mo (Shadow Lady's sidekick) and why he came with the eye shadow. But the Demon World Police are after De-mo for coming to the Human World, and they intend to punish him. Aimi refuses to let them kill her friend, and volunteers to recapture a group of magical demon stones, each with an Arch-Demon sealed inside. The Police agree, and the pair of thieves get to work. But Shadow Lady has a rival now, both in theivery and for Bright's affections. Who will triumph?

I read this a few years ago and loved it. I own the entire series of Shadow Lady and never get tired of reading them. I must warn you, there is some nudity (nothing explicit) and some weird humor (not off-color, but not kiddie fare either). If you don't mind seeing a little flesh or reading a sexual-related sentence, then by all means, go for it! You won't regret it!

In this volume, Yota Moteuchi, or Dateless (his nickname), wants desperately to tell his classmate, Moemi, that he likes her. However, she happens to like Yota's best friend, the handsome yet uninterested Takashi Niimai. Moemi inadvertantly crushes Yota by admitting she likes Takashi, and, a short while later, Takashi turns Moemi down. Instead of being crushed by the revelation that Moemi likes someone else, Yota is upset that Moemi has been hurt by Takashi. This apparently shows that his heart is pure, which allows him to find Gokuraku, a video rental place. Yota gets what he thinks is an X-rated video. Later, while he watches the video, a video girl named Ai pops out of the screen. She's determined to help him get Moemi.

I thought the story was fun to read, although I found that Yota's obsession with various parts of the female anatomy, and how this obsession was shown (with closeups of those parts), got really old after a while. I didn't know what to expect when I started this book, but I got through it really fast - I wanted to know how things would turn out for Yota, Moemi, and Ai. The art was lovely, and the idea of video girls was interesting (although it's too bad that there don't seem to be any video guys in existance).

It was once said that Masaharu Katsura's girls were to die for. After reading Shadow Lady and Video Girl Ai, I can agree with that. His work features some of the most beautiful art I've ever seen, and his storytelling is second to none. His characters are all human with human emotions and reactions. And Ai is one of the most human of them all, even though she is a Video Girl. (The way she reacts when her body changes is great!)

This is an excellent series and is worth your time and money.

Ok, so the name might not seem so intriging, but the artwork and storyline are AWSOME! I must admit, though, that there is quite a bit of..er, nudity in each volume, along with A LOT of "offensive language" (which includes curse words, dirty jokes, etc.) and "suggestive themes", so this is more suitable for mature readers. Personally, I think the series is great and has lots of humor. It can be kind of sad sometimes though...
When I first started reading Video Girl Ai, I was about 12 1/2, so if you're in your early teens and you're mature enough, it's OK. If you're a stingy money saver like me, I'd recommend that you read it in the bookstore, since the book itself costs about [$$$].
Overall, excellent story and artwork, GREAT READ!

This is one truly masterful blend of comedy and romantic fantasy! Masakazu Kastura(creator of IRIA and DNA 2)truly peaked with his title: VIDEO GIRL AI. Lonely heartbroken Yota learns the girl he had a crush on is really in love with his friend. On his way home from this revelation, he sees a video store that he never noticed before, and decides to take home a "video girl". In Japan, a video girl is a video-recorded date for men. But this one is a real Video Girl, and comes right out of the TV into Yota's living room. Now, he's got Ai, his own little genie-like playmate for three months. It's her job to comfort him and make him feel secure, but because Ai's tape was played on a VCR, her program becomes different and she starts to fall in love with Yota. While at the same time Yota is trying to get over his feelings for his unrequited love, Moemi, who on her own seems to have a thing for Yota too even though she's now dating his friend Takashi. Then, Ai gets sent away by her creator, and redone with a new mission, to just root for Yota. But their love for each other prooves too strong, which causes Ai to be sent away again. When she returns, she has no memory of Yota or the love she had for him. This while Yota has gotten a new girlfriend in the cute Nobuko. Does Yota pick the right girl in the end? Will the Video Girl god ever leave Ai alone and let her get a normal life? All the questions and more are in the manga. Also check out the cool anime on DVD or video also from Viz!

You've probably encountered some real losers in manga you've read but I have to admit that 16-year old Yota Moteuchi takes the cake. He's so socially inept with girls that even his best friend Takashi calls him "Dateless"! He's in love with his classmate Moemi, but figures it's pretty pointless to voice his feelings to her. On top of that, Moemi actually has a crush on his best friend! In a fit of depression, Yota enters a videostore and rents what he believes to be a porno featuring a cute girl named Ai Amano. When he plays it in his VCR, incredibly, Ai comes out of the TV into the real world and says that she has come to make his life better, as long as he keeps a "pure heart". Don't get this confused with "My Goddess". Ai is no idealized female slave. She has a dirty mouth, she's as likely to hit Yota as to hug him, and she will only live for 3 months!

I didn't think I'd like this manga at first, what with all the dated 1980's style that it has. But it began to grow on me and I became involved with the relationships and especially the longings of Yota. Ai also grew on me even though she spends too much time acting like a tomboy. I'll try reading the second volume to see if it gets any better.

I-the ninth letter of the modern English alphabet; the first person singular pronoun in the nominative case; the self, the ego.

Ai-Japanese word for love.

For the beautiful 16 year old Iori Yoshizuki, posing in her swimsuit for a magazine may have been the worst mistake she's ever made, even though she thought they were for a girl's teen magazine. When word of this hits Wanda Private High School, she's subjected to catcalls by a whole hoard of jeering male students-"sex-crazed morons" according to Yasumasa Teratani-who jeer at her, asking her to put on a strip show or to show them her undies. In fact some seniors try to get compromising shots of her in the guise of a Miss Wanda contest, by putting a hidden camera in a makeshift changing room.

Ichitaka Seto has had a crush on Iori, all of which is amplified when he sees the magazine, but unlike the hyenas lusting after all-well, okay, he does have some risqué fantasies involving her, meaning there's quite a bit of fan service-he sets out to defend her from them, even though he risks being beaten up. But he figures a princess like her would never go out with a loser like him. His best friend, Teratani, keeps trying to push him to go after her, but also saves his rear whenever things get hot. More on that later.

The self-defense mechanism Ichitaka uses to protect himself is understandable. We learn that because he was harshly turned down by a girl he had a crush on when he was in sixth grade, he decided to hide his true feelings. "I totally implode around girls I like. I act like I hate them so they won't know that I really like them." However, he was cheered up by a childhood friend, Itsuki Akiba, who told him, "If you really like someone, go after her with everything you've got."

Luck smiles on him, when Ichitaka and Iori are chosen to put on a presentation to welcome new students. Both turn out to be shy and uncomfortable, but for Ichitaka, it is a chance to be close to her, and Iori's actually nice. In fact, she's one who writes "I's ideas" in the sketchbook for their project, as both their names begin with "I." And it's quite a struggle for Ichitaka to try to act normal and treat Iori like a normal girl, as well as trying to find a balance between that and preserving his ego.

What follows is a series of misunderstandings that get cleared up, only to have another one smash upward, like a series of W's. Ichitaka sinks into a depressive mood, only to be brought back up when Iori tells him she knows of the misunderstanding, particularly when she accidentally lumps him in with the seniors who devised the bogus contest.

The aforementioned definitions of "I" can be found in I's (Aizu). The narrative is first person from the point of view of the hero Ichitaka, his name and that of Iori begin with I, and part of the story is about his ego, which got and gets quite a drubbing. But it's also about his mad crush on Iori, and how and when that crush will turn into love.

The first story ends with the appearance of yet another I, but more on that in another review. In seeing Iori's picture on the cover, I felt there was something familiar, until I was pointed out the author's name, Masakazu Katsura. Ah ha, the author of Video Girl Ai! Well, no wonder! Katsura rehashes character types from VGA. In I's, Ichitaka is Yota, Iori is Moemi, and Itsuki is sort of like Ai.

So begins Volume 1 of the fifteen-part I's, of which Volume 6 has just appeared as of this writing. Wonder if this'll be animated in the future.

Okay, I'm not really into 'romance' or 'romantic' stuff, but my curiosity for new Manga titles brought me to this. Any other occasion, I probably would've diverted my attention to an action title, but nah, I decided to give it a try to see what kind of a story it would have. Well, all I can say is, I was pleased with this series. I ended up reading the entire series in just two or three days, because it was THAT addictive and every volume left me wondering what would happen next. Basically, the story is about a guy named Seto who happens to like a popular model-like girl named Iori. However, Seto doesn't think that she likes him and vice-versa, so their feelings are repressed whenever they meet up for their "club" meeting, which is called I"s. They continue to remain friends and the consequences are endless with Seto's friend even intervening to give him advice. There's all types of mischief involved including obstacles that keep forcing Seto to look like he only wants to remain 'friends' with the girl that he likes. It's actually quite hilarious and sometimes, even realistic that it can be painful or depressing or misinterpreting. Whatever it is, it has charm and nice plot twists. It just gets better and volume one is only the start of one of the best Manga titles that I have read in a long time.

I'd have to say that this is one of my favorite series ever!!!! The highshool romantic comidy is my favorite gernre of manga and anime. this one is right next to Ichigo 100% on my favorite manga ever list. can't wate for the ret of um to be releised.

This is only the first volume out of 15.

I have read this manga online, when it wasnt licensed, and it is THE best shonen i have ever read. It is simply amazing.

Yes, i will admit, that the first few volumes are quarky and goofy, but PLEASE TRUST ME when i say that later on in the story, it gets very deep, and addicting. There were times when i was reading it online, that i had actually yelled/talked to my screen. And a few times, when i was reading, that i was so shocked and stunned, that i minimized the window, thought for a second "no way", and then opened it back up.

This story, if you continue reading, will capture you. As the story progresses over the years, you can see the people change and age.

There are happy times, there are sad times, and the entire thing is a work of art.

The genre of boy's romance comics in Japan tend to be pretty formulaic. Shy boy is in love with beautiful girl. Beautiful girl is obviously interested in shy boy, but a series of misunderstandings and accidents ends up with shy boy seeing beautiful girl naked, or in her underwear, and so beautiful girl thinks shy boy is a pervert, and shy boy gets more shy. Sassy girl then comes into the picture, aggressively throwing herself at shy boy. Hijinks ensue.

However, even formulaic stuff can be good if you like the formula, and if the writer serves up some good characters. I won't say that "I''s" revolutionizes the genre, but for what it is it is really good. It plays the formula, but plays it with virtuosity. Masakazu Katsura ("Video Girl Ai") is a breath-taking artist who can draw a beautiful girl better than anyone else in the business, and is no slouch on the fan service either. The covers are really stunning, almost photogenic. As a writer, he breaths life into the characters as well, and shy boy comes off as much less of a wimp, and seems like someone who actually deserves to wind up with beautiful girl.

The set-up for "I''s" takes you into the story right away. High school student Ichitaka Seto, a typical shy Japanese teenager, has a massive unspoken crush on his gorgeous classmate Iori Yoshizuki. She is a sweet girl, a member of the school drama club. Then out of the blue, she poses for a series of sexy swimsuit shots for a girly magazine. Hijinks ensue.

This first issue sets the tone for the rest of the series. It is more darker and "hard edged" than something like "Pastel" or "Love Hina," with Iori getting into some serious trouble due to her photo spread. Seto risks much more than a bloodied nose to help out his dreamgirl, and he realizes that if he is going to win the heart of this angel than he is going to have to shape up and be a man. Its a good inner battle. On the one hand, he wants to buy the girly book and oogle Iori's body, but on the other hand, he sees how much pain her mistake is causing her, and he doesn't want to be one of "them." He loves the girl, not the photograph.

It's unfortunate that Viz chose to censor the book, although the censorship doesn't distract from the story at all. It is just a reality of the American marketplace, where nudity is far more taboo than it is in Japan.

Ai has been dragged back to the surreal limbo that she originated from because her creator is angry because she fell in love with Yota. She's supposed to make him happy, not become involved in a hopeless relationship! It's up to Yota to prove how much he loves her by journeying to her dimension and going through a gauntlet of pain. He has a gauntlet of another kind waiting for him back at school too. A new student has enrolled in the new year named Nobuko Nizaki, who was tutored back in middle school by Yota. The reason why she enrolled at his school? She has a crush on Yota! Moemi, the original object of his affections is still sending mixed signals, but is distracted since she is the girlfriend of Yota's best friend. And when Ai shows back up, suffering from amnesia, things get even more complicated.

This is a good series, but Volume 3 dwelled a little too much on the shojo elements of love triangles and quadrilaterals. The comedy kinda gets lost in all the drama. Yota is rapidly changing from "dateless" to "playa" and is becoming a little harder to like. He's dangling three girls on his line (well, actually Ai has forgotten him), and seems to change his mind on who he really likes from page to page. Maybe we should call him "Clueless" instead of his former nickname. The art is great with a tad of fan service.

It would be a good idea to have read the other two volumes before reading this one. However, there is a "the story thus far" section at the beginning, plus a few brief character summaries, so if you do end up starting with this one, at least you get a little help. When this volume starts, Yota is trying to keep Ai from disappearing forever. Things go wrong, of course, but Ai isn't destroyed (did you really think she would be, what with the title and all?). She doesn't seem to remember Yota, though, and there are some more complications. Although he loves Ai, Yota still cares for Moemi, and now there's someone else who likes him.

The story was interesting, and the art was still lovely. That's why this book still gets such a high rating. However, all the further romantic complications kind of got on my nerves. Aren't two women enough?! With Ai's amnesia to drive him crazy, I don't think it was really necessary to add another girl (Nobuko) to the list of people Yota loves/likes too much to want to hurt. I suppose I'm just glad that Masakazu Katsura changed Nobuko's hairstyle so that it wasn't so much like Moemi's - they looked so alike that I kept confusing them. Anyway, it's still a good series, but I hope that there aren't too many more characters added to the mix.

Katsura pulls off a great turning point in the story in vol3. We are introduced to a new love interest, Ai is eventually returned but has amnesia, and more angst and suffering is experience. the art work is fantastic and by the end you'll be jumping to get vol 4.

Volume 3 of the serialized story of the relationship between Yota and Ai is *not* the place to start. Go to the beginning, Preproduction, it'll be well worth the money. People who *have* read the first two volumes should need little encouragement to pick up this one, as it starts right with the cliffhanger that ended the second volume.

Without spoiling the second volume, the resolution of the cliffhanger takes up the first quarter of the book, and is the confrontation that provides the climax to the anime OAV series. The rest of the volume is brand-new ground. Ai is rescued from her creator, or perhaps not, as she soon disappears. Yota has the barest of evidence that she existed at all, as he carries on through the rest of winter.

A new school year starts (in spring in Japan), and Yota is held back a year. Neither of his friends, Takashi and Moemi, know what to make of the changes in Yota. A girl named Nobuko met Yota a couple years back and has gotten transferred to his school in hopes of meeting him again, and then there is Ai. Ai shows up as a fellow student in his class, but she has no memory of Yota.

Yota is torn, he still loves Moemi, whose relationship with Takashi is still not working out, Nobuko reminds him a bit of Ai, and she definitely likes him, and Ai is still Ai, even if she is disturbed by how much Yota seems to know about her. Yota's nobility gets the best of him again as he tries to keep from hurting Nobuko even as he tries to figure out what is going on with Ai.

In this volume of Video Girl Ai, Ai has been recalled by her creator, leaving Yota heartbroken since it happened just as they realized their feelings for each other. Now a few months have passed and Yota is in a new year of school. He soon meets Nobuko, a girl who has a big crush on him. He begins to warm up to her, but then Ai reappears! However, Ai can't remember Yota or anything about the time they spent together. As Yota tries to come to terms with his feelings for an amnesiac Ai and build a new relationship with Nobuko, you get sucked into a manga world of fabulous art, good dialogue, and great pacing. This is considered a boys romance manga in Japan, which sounded like an oxymoron to me at first, but I quickly gave up. This is no chickflick, with a sappy loser chasing a stupid girl. This is dramatic manga at it's best.

Yota is desperately searching for Ai in the city streets, but he's never going to find her. She has been summoned back to the Gokuruku videostore, in what looks like another dimension, by the man(?) who created her. He threatens to erase her because she's not supposed to fall in love with Yota herself, she's supposed to FIND his true love. She's letting her own feelings get in the way of Yota's happiness because Ai can never live a normal life since she only has three months of life. She is able to convince him to give her one more chance, but she cannot show any personal feelings for Yota. If she does, she might just disappear! And what's the deal with Moemi? She seems to spend an awful lot of time talking to Yota, even though her boyfriend is Takashi. This volume also introduces the incorrigible pervert and Ai-admirer, Takao Sorayama, president of the school art club and son of an important PTA member.

This volume had more emotional heft than the first volume and was the better for it. It has a lot of shojo elements but more in the male role as Yota can't really decide who he really loves, Moemi or Yota? I guess he wishes he could have both, but in the real world that never works. And is Takashi only dating Moemi to galvanize Yota into taking action with his feelings, hoping he will become jealous or angry at least? Or does Takashi like Moemi himself? There's all kinds of good emotional interplay here between the main characters, with noone really taking a dominant role in the manga. That's not a bad thing. I've even got over the late 80s horrible fashion sense that bothered me in Volume 1. Good book

I thought the second volume was even better than the first. In this volume, Yota has been searching for Ai, who disappeared at the end of the last book. The mysterious man in the trenchcoat, Ai's creator, as decided to allow Ai to go back to Yota, with a few conditions. Because Ai has fallen in love with Yota, something forbidden to video girls, these conditions are hard to her to follow, because they require her to put distance between herself and Yota.

I really enjoyed this volume. Yota was much more likeable, I think. Instead of spending all his time thinking about female anatomy, he actually started to think about what and who he wanted. Unfortunately for him, this doesn't make his life any more simple, because he realizes that what he wants is both Moemi and Ai. My biggest complaint in this volume is Moemi, who seems content to let her feelings get stomped on by her boyfriend, Takashi. She's like a human door mat, but this doesn't seem to diminish Yota's feeling for her any. I found Ai to be much more likeable.

Video Girl AI is one of my favorite mangas. It's got some of the most interesting characters around, with a main character that you can actually care for. There's no action or giant robots, just a lot of romance and drama, but told so it would be more appealing for guys, and not at all like a sappy romance novel or chick flick. The series is just incredibly engrossing, a lot like Parasyte(another great manga). Once you finish the last page you REALLY wanna know what happens next. Unfortunately you're in for a long wait. This is an 18 book series, and it's taking Dark Horse forever to translate and market each one.

In this book, you get to see AI's creators, who tell AI that she cannot have feelings for Yota. If she abides by these rules, her time limit with Yota will be taken away, and she'll be sent back to him. Also, Moemi's feelings are revealed, which may bring Yota's crush on her to an end. I don't wanna reveal any more than I already have. If you bought the last one, you've gotta get this one too.

Mix Down continues where Part 1: PreProduction left off. To recap from the first novel, The lead character Yota, has found out that Moemi, the girl he likes, is in love with his good-looking friend Takashi. Feeling down, Yota finds a magical video shop, where he rents a video featuring idol Ai Amano. But as Yota watches the video on his broken VCR, Ai pops out, albeit a little different from her packaging. The video has made her lose her overcute charm, her curvy figure, and she has a small swearing tendency. But even so, she agrees to help Yota, and so begins an incredible dramatic manga. At the end of the novel, something begins to happen to Ai as she continues to help Yota, and one day, Ai suddenly vanishes! Apparently, Ai has been returned to the Gokuraku video store, where her Creator has deemed her defective. Instead of helping Yota (the lead character who is commonly called "Dateless"), it seems Ai is actually showing feelings toward him, which is a major diversion of what a Video Girl should do or be. Ai's creator is ready to pull the plug on our defective heroine, when Ai begs him for a second chance. So, her Creator grants her this, with the exception that she has to follow a program to only "help" Yota, and to distance herself from him. So, Ai returns to Yota, but with the premonition that she can't even tell him "I love you." I won't give away anymore, but the ending will really have you begging Viz to come out with "Book 3: Recall" as soon as possible!

Volume 2: Mix-Down continues the story of Yota "Dateless" Moteuchi, Moemi, the girl he's in love with, Takashi, the guy she's in love with, and Ai, the girl who came out of Yota's TV set to console him. Much of this volume will be new to people who have watched the Video Girl Ai anime, as it contains a storyline that was largely skipped in the video series. Ai has been recalled by her creator for falling in love with Yota and failing in her proper role as a Video Girl.

Ai eventually convinces her creator to send her back to Yota. She can be with him as long as it takes... to help get him and Moemi together. Furthermore, she must distance herself from Yota emotionally, and cannot give him the slightest sign that she loves him, or she will be erased, deleted permanently.

And so begins one of the most exquisitely painful storylines ever. No one has has a good time in this volume. Moemi and Takashi's relationship is going nowhere. Ai must keep herself distant from Yota or cease to exist. Yota's feelings are split between Moemi, who is going out with Takashi, and Ai, who has been increasingly strange lately. The only clue Yota has about the 'new' Ai is that the package for her tape has changed....

Video Girl Ai is a wonderful series, and worth picking up by anyone who enjoys good characters and good graphic storytelling.

Nobuko has decided it's time to raise their relationship to the next level. Even though the two lovebirds have never kissed, she wants to spend the night with Yota at his house. But at the most inopportune time, he gets a call from Ai and has to go to her emotional rescue. Ai, while still suffering from amnesia, is drawn inexplicably to Yota but she doesn't want to hurt Nobuko. And besides that, she has bigger problems when her creator arrives on Earth, his mission to erase Ai! Yota is at a loss since he still cares for Ai but feels he had to move on because of her lost memory. Even the girl that started all this mess, Moemi, is wanting more than just friendship from our once "Dateless" hero.

This manga has evolved from a once comedic formula of boy meets tomboyish fantasy girl to a romance in the space of the last two volumes. It's hard to sympathize with Yota at times because of his embarrassment of riches. It seems like all the girls want him now but he's having a hard time doing what has to be done. Mainly, picking one! Katsura did a better job in this fourth volume of making Yota's decisions based on his unwillingness to hurt anyone instead of portraying him as a sort of caddish gigolo in the last volume. But most of the time, a failure to express your feelings in a relationship leads to trouble. If only Yota could learn this lesson. This is turning into a fine series.

I wasn't sure whether to give this a 3 or a 4, but I gave it a 4 because it really was interesting enough that I got through it quickly (if something takes me a while to read, it's either very long or not very interesting). Yota is still dealing with relationship problems, only now his problems don't involve the word "dateless". In fact, he's got way too many women in his life. There's Moemi, Nobuko, and Ai. Yota's dating Nobuko, but he still loves Ai, and he's still got feelings for Moemi. It makes his life pretty complicated. The reason I was wondering if I should give it a 3 was because I'm getting to the point in this series where I think every one of these characters just needs a break from each other - or maybe just from Yota. It's hard to believe that he could go from being the guy with the nickname "Dateless" to the guy that every girl wants to have. This book still was a pretty good read, but I don't think I'm going to be continuing with this series anytime soon.

Video Girl Ai Vol. 4: Off-Line continues Katsura's romantical triangle/square/pentagon saga with a hint of cyber sci-fi and a thoughtful, serious undertone concerning the fragility of human hearts and emotions. Certain mature themes about human sexuality briefly appear in this graphic novel, which is intended for a wide age range but not for very young children. The formerly "Dateless" protagonist Yota has met a flesh-and-blood young woman who is very interested in him - yet Ai Amano is still around, attending his school, with nearly all her memories of being a "video girl" seemingly erased. The unknowing Ai may have only another month of life left to her, but Yota's human girlfriend doesn't know that! A new rival in love appears, plus Moemi suddenly returns... but neither of these two are as dangerous as Ai's creator, who is most displeased about the "flaws" appearing in his work! Those followers of Katsura's humanistic saga who have watched the animated adaptation of Video Girl Ai should not pass up Video Girl Ai Vol. 4: Off-Line, because the original manga takes the story into a much different and deeper direction than the anime, which roughly corresponds to volumes 1-3 only. Video Girl Ai is enthusiastically recommended.

Video Girl Ai is by far the most tender love story I've read ... even outside of anime! The characters are so true to life and the story is excellent! I've read manga over and over, and each time it seems more poignant. I also own the DVD and I can never seem to get enough of that, either. I really can identify with Yota's pain. I would highly recommend this manga, especially if you are "dateless" and pure of heart.