Within the six episodes, each lasting only around 30 minutes, the story is explored in a captivating way. The pacing is good, as the plot forces the pacing to feel rushed, since Ai's time is limited; very fitting for an anime this short. One of the most surprising things I have found about the plot is how it felt so much different from other romance plots found in anime, as even the more recent romance series are not able to produce a love triangle as original as this. The main question of "who is Youta going to end up with?" is left ambiguous throughout the series, and the writers have done a fantastic job in exploring the relationship between the protagonist and the two girls. I must point out, however, that I felt that the part of the plot which covers Ai's origins was in my opinion the weakest part of the story, as I felt it lacked the charm and excitement which the remainder of the series has obtained. Overall, the plot is very good and easy to get the grips of, so I would rate the story an 8 out of 10.
As the art is what brought me to this series, I was hopeful to receive a dose of some stunning 90's anime artwork and I was not disappointed. From the character design to the background art and animation itself, this anime is a beautiful sight from start to finish. My favourite element by far is the artwork of the characters, especially Ai. The art captivates her bubbly and charming personality perfectly and she looks absolutely adorable! Though it perhaps may not look like anything spectacular to viewers used to seeing digitally drawn anime, I ask that you keep in mind that for the standards of the early 90's when this series was produced, it definitely is one of the more visually pleasing series to see. Art is a strong 10 out of 10 for me.
The audio, just like the art, has fully captured the charm of the 90's. The cheerful pop songs featured throughout the series fittingly add to the cute and sweet atmosphere which this anime emits. Though the opening and ending themes are quite lengthy, they are worth a listen because they are simply so uplifting. The seiyuu also do a wonderful job in capturing their characters' personalities. Although the cinema scene's English voice acting will most likely raise some eyebrows (it sure raised mine), maybe there is a song or two from the OST which will win you over. Even if you don't enjoy the anime, at least you might appreciate the beautiful soundtrack. Because of the voice acting in that one particular scene, the score for audio is hindered to a 9 out of 10.
Video Girl Ai focuses on a select few characters, and it does it well. The characters are not reduced to pitiful one dimensional archetypes which is an unfortunately common mistake amongst romance anime for the sake of quantity (*cought* harem). Even the girls - and especially Ai, our eponymous character - are expanded upon within the story, which is always a lovely sight to behold in a romantic plot where women are too often reduced to nothing more but a prize for the male characters. Not to mention that Ai is almost literally a prop for Youta, due to her origin as a video girl - for even her to have so much depth gives other anime no excuse to treat their characters with no less complexity as her. Youta makes a very lovable protagonist, and he matures a lot throughout those six episodes, which is by far one of the strongest foundations to what makes this anime so enjoyable. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to everyone: i thought that the popular boy Takashi, is an oddball. I don't intend to spoil the series, so I will simply say that I found the boy puzzling and didn't like him, though perhaps I just didn't understand him. Despite the well-written and realistic presentation of Ai, Youta and Moemi, Takashi and the simpler supporting characters have lowered the score of the characters to a 7 out of 10.
When I watched this anime, I did so with an open mind, almost unknown to what I was about to see, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. To be honest, I don't quite understand how Video Girl Ai isn't more known, as it ticks so many boxes for a majority of anime fans: it's beautiful to the eyes and ears, it's exciting, it's thought provoking, and it's good entertainment (and it's a heaven for those 90's kids who think the 90's was the best decade in human history). If you like romance, fanservice, and cute girls, this anime is certainly for you. Still not convinced? It will only take around 3 hours to watch the entire OVA, so you might as well give it a shot. Or, at least, listen to 'Message' by Nav Katze which is one of the most entrancing songs I ever had the pleasure to find in an anime.
