電影少女 15 恋愛 [Den'ei Shōjo 15: Ren'ai]

電影少女 [Den'ei Shōjo] #15

by Masakazu Katsura, 桂正和

ヒロムとアユミはカップルになりました。お互い未経験で世間知らずですが、ヒロムは第七天国です。トシキさんも、女の子には自分が思っていた以上に魅力があることに徐々に気づいているようです。レンには感謝するしかない...

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Romance, Shonen, Fantasy, Fiction

193 pages, Paperback

First published March 9, 1993

About the author

Masakazu Katsura (桂正和) is a Japanese manga artist.

Reviews

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miniserie in soli due volumi che mi ha davvero colpito e sollevato il morale dopo aver letto la serie precedente di Ai che a malincuore mi ha rattristato molto.
Sarebbe il sogno di tanti maschietti ma purtroppo è solo un sogno...anzi un manga.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for volumes 1 - 13



A Note on Katsura Masakazu
Masakazu's works are oddly diverse and formulaic at the same time. He likes to dab in romantic comedies while also producing works about superheroes that are heavily inspired by US comics. I've only ever delved into his romantic comedies and they usually follow a very particular pattern: average guy pines for a pretty long-haired brunette until a short-haired tomboy makes her entrance. It turns into a love triangle that is soon extended to a third girl who is also a long-haired brunette. At least one of the long-haired brunettes is bound to cut their hair in an attempt to mimic the tomboy. Even though Katsura sticks to this formula, the plot outside of the love story is often refreshing and complex. And while the basic premise of his love stories is the same, you can never be sure about the outcome.



Yota is low in confidence and luck with love. He is in love with Moemi who only seems to have eyes for his popular best friend Takashi. Wanting the best for her, Yota takes on the role of being her friend and supporting her with getting closer to Takashi. One day, a mysterious video store appears from which Yota borrows a tape starring Ai Amano. To his surprise, once he plays the videotape, Ai jumps right out of his TV screen and declares that it is her mission to support him with his love endeavours.

Video Girl Ai is not without its faults but it's a very worthy classic with multiple interesting aspects to it. Given that this story plot is based on videotapes, it can feel a little odd reading this late 80's classic in current times. The setting can feel a little dated, it's particularly obvious in the lack of modern devices (the majority of misunderstandings could have been avoided if the characters had mobile phones, oops.) and the characters clothing. This wouldn't usually bother me, and it doesn't do so here either, but the fact that it is based on media devices does make this difference feel more obvious.

Katsura has a very unique art style - it's clearly a manga but then he also tends to lean into realism which is even more evident in his later works. For this manga in particular, there is quite a nice blend of more realistic-looking moments. I especially appreciate this for his female characters. Given that this is by a male author with largely a male audience in mind, yes, there is definitely fanservice. But unlike many others, the girls are drawn beautifully and realistically. There are several nude scenes and while I am not usually one for fan service or smut (I wouldn't say there is any actual smut in this manga, though), these drawings are definitely tastefully done.

Yota as a character and his love life are complicated, to say the least. It's actually rather interesting that he is considered such an unpopular guy at school because, as far as I'm concerned, he's a perfectly nice guy and has by far the modest handsome design of all male characters in this series. Be that as it may, while I do consider him a nice guy, there are moments where I feel frustrated with him. He can be very self-centred, dense and fickle. It seems like an odd mixture - on one hand, he puts other people first and the cost of his own happiness. But then the next moment he is so oblivious and causes hurt left and right.

I've felt very sorry for both Moemi and Ai and Yota's constant swaying emotions. There was, of course, also Nobuko, the third girl that always makes an entrance in Katsura's works. She was cute in a way but I felt less sorry for her because I actually found her a little obnoxious and she constantly got angry with Yota when he didn't even do anything wrong. Ai and Moemi, on the other hand, were both very likeable and I would have been happy for either of them to end up with Yota. I didn't like some of the changes Katsura made to Moemi later in the series. Sure, she got the curve again, but somehow her behavioural changes were beneath her and didn't do her character any justice. Sadly, Takashi was also a character who didn't get his due. While he didn't seem like the nicest guy at first, through Ai we get to see his good sides as well and I wish things would have turned out differently for him.

Even though there are a lot of moments of frustration in regards to misunderstandings, characters behaving selfishly or just not being honest with each other, it is actually part of what makes this a good manga. Take Yota, his actions aren't always great and it makes it harder to sympathise with him. Yet it makes him a more realistic character who is stuck between genuinely caring for others but also getting caught up in his own desires and how to make them both align.

I should also note that this review is only for volumes 1 - 13. Video Girl Ai officially has 15 volumes, but the remaining two are about new characters and feel more like a sequel than an actual part of Ai's story. You can safely only read until volume 13 and have a perfectly complete story.

[T.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Video Girl Len has nothing on Video Girl Ai. This feels like one of those movie sequels where the first cast doesn't come back and the story is a diluted copy of the original.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

And that brings the Video Girl saga to an end. Including the original short was a nice touch, I actually didn't expect to even be able to find fan scans of it, so an official translation was a welcome surprise...even thought it wasn't particularly good, but it is one more thing to check off of Katsura's bibliography, which has me legitimately considering Japanese again, just to get to some of the stuff I never expect to see in print here.

So even though VGLEN felt like it was much smaller in scope from the very beginning, it did still wind up feeling rushed near the end. There's a time skip that makes logical sense, but just doesn't feel like it was Katsura's intention. I do like that it deals with Hiromu idealizing being in a relationship over the actual girl he's in a relationship with, all the while being incredibly cocky about his dating skills. That's the kind of thing we don't see enough in these types of manga. Getting the girl is only the first hurdle, you don't get to just coast from there. Good lesson to be teaching young boys. Also nice to see Toshiki never getting away with being a creeper. Punished every time. Also good. And while it didn't resonate like AI's ending, I do really like the ending for Len.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonito final para una serie emotiva pero cuyos protagonistas piden ser sopapeados cada dos por tres. No está en mi lista de relecturas por ahora pero en algú momento caerá.

[Vanlilith]

-

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición argentina. Segundo y último tomo de La historia de Len, tomo final de la colección.