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MOEMI HAYAKAWA

Moemi Hayakawa is 16 years of age and is a student at Kannai High School. She knew Youta Moteuchi and Takashi Niimai well since they were all classmates. A rather pretty girl, she is demure, gentle and sweet-natured. She was also the object of Youta's secret love, who valued such qualities in a girl. Though a level-headed girl most of the time, Moemi suffered from the misfortunate of falling in love with the handsome Takashi, who did not reciprocate her love. This unhappy state of affairs existing between the three account for part of the plot in the VGA series. It would be time-consuming to relate the entire story of this love triangle since it spans 10 volumes in the Manga and it probable wouldn't make interesting reading. Therefore, I would just elaborate briefly on Moemi's relationships with Youta and Takashi.

Youta was in love with Moemi right from the very start but lacked the courage to tell her. Instead, when Moemi told him of her feelings for Takashi, Youta encouraged her to have a relationship with him and tried to help her in this whenever possible. Understandably, Moemi began to regard Youta as a close friend and trusted confidante. She grew to rely on his encouragement, advice and support.

There grew between them a sort of familiarity that was comforting for Moemi but agonizing for Youta, who remained deeply attracted to her. However, he remained unable to tell her of his true feelings, especially after Takashi accepted her as a girlfriend. It was only after Youta rescued Moemi from a couple of thugs who were trying to rape her that their relationship developed further. (Manga vol. 7) This, and Takashi's apparent callous attitude towards her finally prompted Moemi to break up with him and to start anew with Youta. That was the high point of their relationship but it did not last. They had a traumatic break-up (Manga vol. 12) as Youta could no longer sustain the relationship. In the face of Amano Ai's impending extinction, Youta finally realized how much the video girl meant to him and devoted all of his time to her, trying to find a way to make her human.

Takashi originally treated Moemi as an ordinary friend. When she told him of her feelings for him, he answered frankly that he was not interested. Knowing of Youta's feelings towards her, he tired to get them together but failed, mainly because of Youta's reluctance to express his feelings. Takashi then accepted Moemi's plead for a relationship. He did so in the hope that Youta would get jealous and try to snatch her back from his hands. The plan backfired and Takashi's relationship with Moemi was a forced and unhappy one. They eventually broke up.

Moemi is a fairly strong-willed girl. She was unfortunate enough to be involved in two unsuccessful romances but she recovered quickly each time. She was also emotionally scarred from her near-rape experience (Manga vol. 7) but eventually managed to carry on with her life. She is, however, rather immature in her understanding of others. She failed to realize the futility of pursuing a romance with Takashi, despite given numerous hints of his lack of interest. That led to a drawn out and unhappy relationship between the two of them. She was also slow in discovering Youta's true feelings for her even though they were friends for so long. It could be her blind infatuation for Takashi that clouded her perception, causing her to misjudge the feelings of the two boys. In any case, she was partly responsible for making life miserable for all three of them.

In my opinion, one of Moemi's roles in the story is as a player within the love triangle between Youta, herself and Takashi. Her other role is to act as the 'alternative choice' in Youta's dilemma in choosing between a tangible, human girl and the Video Girl Ai, whom he truly loves but who might vanish at any time. Finally, Moemi was a factor that caused the character development in Youta. Moemi's failed relationship with Youta catalyzed his growth in maturity even as it made Moemi a wiser person.

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