VIDEO GIRL AI
By Masakazu Katsura

Japanese teenager Yota Moteuchi has a problem - he's in love with his classmate Moemi, but can't bring himself to ask her out. A typical problem, maybe, but his life suddenly becomes anything but typical when he visits a mysterious video rental shop called Paradise, and rents an "adult" video by Ai Amano. His despair and loneliness brings him something he never expected - the girl on the videotape comes to life! Now, Yota has an entirely new problem - a lovely young woman who is dedicated to making him happy...whether he likes it or not!
Story and art for the Video Girl Ai manga is by Masakazu Katsura. Known among anime circles as the character designer for Iria: Zeiram the Animation, Katsura is also a popular manga artist. His works, from the story of an unlikely superhero in Wingman to the saga of a girl who gains powers from magic eyeshadow in Shadow Lady, display a quirky sense of humor and a fondness for O. Henry-like plot twists. Katsura is also celebrated in fan circles as an artist with a hand for lush screentones and an unparalelled eye for nubile young ladies, best noted in the shapely Iria-like bounty hunter in his manga D.N.A.2 (D.N.A. "squared"). The story of a young man named Junta who, like Stan from South Park, vomits from nervousness whenever he finds himself near a girl he's attracted to, Junta's life changes forever with the arrival of a sexy agent from the future, who accidentally turns him into a "Megaplayboy," with the power to make women wilt with passion. You see what we mean about plot twists now, don't you? Shadow Lady, published by Dark Horse Comics, and Video Girl Ai are Katsura's first manga titles to be translated into English. The Video Girl Ai video series is also available from Viz Video in both subtitled and English-dubbed formats (but the comic story continues far past the end of the video series!).