Ranked #8096

AI ga Tomaranai! (Manga)

When I picked this up off the shelf an odd year ago or so, I wasn't sure what to think. So, here's some help to those of you who aren't sure; what I DID think.

The story itself was, overall, very good, but there were times where a chapter simply added nothing to the overall plot. They felt like filler chapters, but luckily the short length meant there were very few of these. Even so, the story (and side stories) were charming and often fun to read. There were innuendos everywhere; Saati (the main female) didn't understand them and made good humour while Toeni (a second female) was much more knowledgeable and had often pointed out the irony. Which brings me smoothly onto characters.

Hitoshi, the main male, is one of those not so good looking but fairly funny, charming and embarrassed main male leads found in many of such mangas (such as Chobits and Love Hina). You couldn't hate him, but at the same time it was possible (from a girl's perspective) to see why no girl loved him. He made some comical moments, seemed to care, yet was as dense as the sweet Saati, who was another typical vulnerable, naive yet inspiring female. The extras and additional characters were also good, and all added that little bit - especially Puppy!

The art itself was nice and detailed; I liked the style of drawing a lot. The characters were all nicely designed and unique, with the exception of the main male who was somewhat typical in appearance too.

Overall, it's a good manga and one certainly worth reading. It's witty, sweet and a good break from what can otherwise be an arduous day.

You should certainly like this if you enjoyed:
-Love Hina
-Chobits
-Ah! My Goddess.

Hope that helps. :) read more

This is the previous work of the guy that made Love Hina. From what I know he only made hentai before that and decided to go for more mainstream regions.

This work is by no means original. In fact, it is an Ah! My Goddess / Video Girl Ai combo. It plays nicely along the typical harem formula but unlike most, it actually matures and colorizes its cast to some point. Meaning that the characters are the usual bunch but by the end of the series they feel far more than archetypes. So they are likable for a harem story.

The art is rather shabby in lining but makes up for it with the innovation at making virtual worlds that resemble seas and viruses in the form of mad clowns. There are many areas that go beyond the typical highschool grounds and that keeps the reader interested.

The story is both good and bad at the same time. It has a really stupid excuse for chicks to swarm a dork as usual, this time by being mostly AI programs that materialize in the real world. Typically, they are gorgeous chicks who love their creator, the indecisive lead. Well, that at least excuses somehow why they swarm him…

The story could easily turn to hentai regions but the mangaka desided to play it just for laughs, with the lead always trying to help or correct the mess his creations do, while not missing to do the occasional “watched and groped naked skin”. The erotic humor is rather bold, especially for the time it was made, and it can keep the average reader to the end. It still throws in some serious issues from time to time and introduces new characters to spice things up. It also brings back and matures a bit the previous ones. That is really rare for a harem series.

The main problem here is that the story was left incomplete. The mangaka himself describes at the final pages how the story would go on for many more chapters but saw that it was not appealing anymore and went to make a new series called Love Hina. I don’t blame the guy; it indeed felt a lot like AMG and VGI and would probably never have been a hit with those two around. All I can say is that it was a nice and rather different read on the tired formula which leaves you somewhat disappointed at the end for stopping so suddenly. That also means that you care enough for the characters to want more…Which is a good sign.

For a much more mature and catchy take on the same theme, I recommend checking out “Ressentiment”. It pretty much is like this one, far more naughty and yet far more serious. read more