Return with me, if you will, to a simpler time. A time before Netflix. A time before DVDs even. A time when watching a movie at home on a Friday night involved the very real risk that the film would be eaten. Assuming, of course, a copy of said-movie still sat on the shelf when you dropped by the store in the first place… Yes, this was the era of video renting. The seeds had been sown by Sony, who created the very first home video player, in 1975. Extraordinary to think that spools of magnetic tape, easily eroded and prone to tangling, were the medium of choice. But so it was. The 70s were nothing if not a decade of convenience, and the video cassette was certainly that.

Enter Video Girl Ai. On the surface, it's pretty much a conventional romantic comedy. The protagonist Youta starts off as an insufferable loser. He is attracted to a classmate Moemi, who is instead attracted to his handsome best friend Takashi. There is plenty of quirkiness and angst admist a story of apparent love triangles. Depressed about his situation, Youta visits a video rental store and receives a copy of "Video Girl Ai." Not certain what he's in for, he pops the tape into the VCR and winds up with a real-live girl in his front room. The series seemingly blends together styles that shouldn't work. And yet it does.

Video girls are supposed to represent every pubescent male's dream girl: well-mannered, great at cooking, and ideal proportions. Except Ai is nothing like that. It turns out that Youta's broken VCR affected Ai in ways that her creator never anticipated. She starts off rude, intimidating, and careless. Her cooking starts off comically bad, and she noticeably complains about her small breasts. In essence, she's the exact opposite of the type of girl that someone should romantically fall for. However, there's more to her than that.

She practices cooking in her spare time in hopes of preparing a nice meal for Youta. She serves as a wingwoman in his attempts to woo his unrequited love Moemi. She sells her toy collection in order to fund his prospective dates with Moemi. She even comforts Youta when he's depressed. In spite of her initial problems, Ai actively attempts to improve herself for the protagonist's sake. Her story is essentially a metaphor for a simple person trying to overcome and persevere through life despite various hardships. She may not be everyone's ideal girl, but she desperately tries to be one for Youta.

The characters are all heavily flawed, yet the beauty of the relationships here draws me in every time. Youta is conflicted between pursuing his love for Moemi or supporting her love for Takashi. Moemi seeks out Youta for advice on winning Takashi's affections despite being unaware of his feelings. Takashi wants Youta to confess to Moemi and feels burdened that Moemi's feelings are pushed onto him by his best friend. And Ai is conflicted between supporting Youta with his unrequited love and her burgeoning feelings for him. The intricate characterizations help give it a sense of believability in the tensions surrounding the relationship developments of the four central characters.

Ultimately, I found this strangely beautful and heartwarming. The characters are all flawed yet likable. They act sensibly and aren't driven by mere impulse. Their feelings also contain a surprising amount of subtlety and nuance. One particular image that stuck out to me was the glass staircase near the end of the series. Traversing is only possible through a series of calculated steps. You need to put an appropriate amount of effort to successfully reach the top. However, if you come off too strongly, then the staircase will shatter and you'll only end up hurt. I found this imagery to be the perfect way to represent the abstract meaning behind love.

Though the series remains far from perfect. The OVA only covers events from the first few volumes of the manga, which at the time of its original release, was still ongoing. As a result, it has a rather open ending and the fate of the newly formed couple is left ambiguous. Moreover, the nature of the antagonist that appears in the final two episodes is left largely unexplored. Though in spite of this, it's still remains a worthwhile classic romance title.