Nanase Nishino: "Denei Shojo: Video Girl Ai 2018" drama episode ten recap

 Air Dates: January 13 until March 31, 2018 on TV Tokyo, Saturday nights at 12:20 am

Main Cast:

Nanase Nishino as Ai Amano

Shuhei Nomura as Sho Moteuchi

Marie Iitoyo as Nanami Shibahara

Hiroya Shimizu as Tomoaki Furuya
Karen Otomo as Rika Omiya
Jun Murukami as Shimizu

Shigeyuki Totsugi as Yota Moteuchi

 Above video is a short promo one for this episode. Was a bit down after the last recap as episode nine was way below par but there was a nice rebound for this show, let's hope it continues for the last two episodes. We left off with Ai standing outside a cafe watching Sho and Nanami, they're not dating but have become much closer since Ai has left and she still claims she hasn't regained her memories.

 Ai met up with them but it was a very brief reunion, think Ai may have been hunting for Sho but once she found him with Nanami she abandoned her plans of going to back to him. As Ai says above she has no place to go so she heads back to Shimizu's office, he's currently her manager and Ai is quickly becoming a popular Idol. In the previous episode Sho had revealed Ai's true identity to his best friend Tomoaki who was furious when he heard the story.
 Guess it is a bit hard to believe, Ai appearing from an old VCR tape but it is the truth. After that brief run in with Ai Sho has also told the whole story of Ai's existence to Nanami. Not sure why but Nanami believed everything Sho told her, she's been keeping her feelings hidden but Nanami is the one person who isn't pleased Ai has returned. A person we haven't seen for many episodes has been Sho's uncle Yota who is the person mainly responsible for Ai living in the human world.
 The whole story hasn't been revealed in the drama but it was in the manga. Ai was created over 25 years ago but had been trapped in a VCR tape since 1992 until accidentally being released by Sho. Yota had finally heard of Ai's predicament and he's confronted his old pal Shimizu. Yota didn't explain exactly how it would happen but he wants to return Ai to the world she came from, Shimizu won't let her go though as she's his meal ticket to a humongous payday.

 As Yota says Ai has a month to live but actually it's much shorter than that. Shimizu has some big plans for Ai, in two days she'll be having her solo Idol debut and has recorded a song. Shimizu did make sense with one thing he told Ai which was 'if you die wouldn't you want to leave a pleasant memory behind such as a song?' That question hit home with Ai so her debut will go on as scheduled but she had one request, she needed to meet with one person who we presumed was Sho.
 To our shock it wasn't him but Nanami who Ai wanted to see. Ai is worried about Sho's future, she feels he can't take care of himself properly such as cleaning and eating correctly. Ai wants Nanami to make sure Sho is watched over, it was a nice gesture on Ai's part but Nanami was fuming at her. Nanami also now knows that Ai has regained her memories, so far Sho doesn't know that.
 At first the pair seemed to be friends but over time Nanami has resented Ai as Sho has fallen in love with her, a Video Girl of all people(?) too! Nanami did rip into Ai a little bit, calling her selfish and telling her to do something final with Sho but think she really wanted to tear Ai down even lower. That scene didn't last too long as Ai only had fifteen minutes for the meeting, it's time for her debut.

 The VCR machine is approaching it's last legs, it's really overheating and when that happens it gives Ai a high fever. She has one now but for the most part is hiding it well but will she be able to withstand the hotness of her debut? Yota managed to wrangle a pair of VIP passes to the event, he brought along Sho and the pair were able to slip away from the massive crowd. Yota knew his way around the venue and they were able to find Ai before she was able to take the stage.
 Sho finally broke down and expressed his true feelings towards Ai, he loves her and though it's forbidden for a Video Girl to fall in love with a human Ai loves him too. The pair embrace in a hallway at the venue with Yota and Shimizu watching the 'lovebirds'. But Ai's fever is approaching a scorching level, she needs to skip her debut and get some treatment. Shimizu had a change of heart when he saw how bad Ai was hurting, he let Ai go back home with Sho and Yota.
 The four eventually make it down to the venue's garage, there we learn a bit about Shimizu's past and the gal in a pic with Ai from 1992. The woman's name was Natsumi, her and Ai were friends back then though Ai has forgotten all about her past. Shimizu had been in love with her but Natsumi had died from a serious illness, somehow her spirit appeared in the garage and from his comments to the spirit Shimizu wasn't as bad as we thought he was.
 Nice cliffhanger to end off with but seems most of the episodes have been that way. Sho had helped Ai into the backseat of Yota's vehicle, his uncle told Sho to join him in the front seat. As Sho was going around the vehicle Yota locked all of the doors and zoomed out of the garage with Ai in the backseat unconscious. Sho stood there dumbfounded as that was happening, don't know where Yota was taking her but you'll find out in the next recap.

 One of the best shows of this series, two to go and if both are as good or better than this episode maybe the final grade could reach an 8/10. Haven't watched either one yet but am about to and you can read all about them in the next two posts.