Sixteen years after its destruction by a meteor, Graviton City has been rebuilt into a futuristic metropolis. However, this is of little concern to superpowered high school student Eiko Magami, who only cares about her best friend Shiiko Kotobuki and arriving at school on time. Unfortunately, the incredibly intelligent Biko Daitokuji intends to befriend Shiiko, taking Eiko's place as the Shiiko's best friend using any means she can.
Biko decides that, to accomplish this, she must defeat Eiko in combat. In order to overcome her super strength and speed, Biko creates a mecha and challenges Eiko in front of their school gate. As the two commence their battle, an extremely large spaceship hovers over Earth, searching for something left behind.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Cbubbles
Stupid but somehow lovable. Space transvestites, great blink-and-you'll-miss-it animation, bad synthpop, and giant robots every 10 minutes FOR NO REASON. At a brisk 80 minutes, it just flies by and is a lot of fun. As a child of the 80s, everything about how this movie looks and sounds just resonates with me.
Retro8bit
Ah Project A-ko! This was one of the first anime movies I ever rented on VHS from Blockbuster, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. (man I feel old) And while it may not have aged well at all, it may still be worth a peek for some, if nothing else to laugh at its content. Story: 6/10 If you are unfamiliar with this old time franchise, it can best be described as very exaggerated and over the top! Well in this OVA movie earth is living a peaceful life after many years of war with an old alien race, until a mysterious "new" alien race threatens it!Now earths only hope comes in the way of 16 year old A-ko, she is no ordinary girl though--for she has super human strength (literally). When the new alien force arrives it is up to her to save the city. This is where things really get weird too, the alien force consists of males that dress in female clothing! Now I would like to think they are simply cross dressers, but since one is overly muscular and the other is very scrawny looking--it would appear to simply be part of the humor. What follows is non-stop over the top action and comedy. The main plot is never really explained very well, for one thing we never even really know just why A-ko has these super powers to begin with. She just sort of...does! There are a few bits and piece of echhi style humor in the story, nothing really to over the top though, mostly consisting of a brief panty or cleave shot every now and then. Again, very brief though. You get some decent action scenes and explosions that come with it, but nothing is ever handled with any sort of fury in mind. As the main plot to this series is "action style comedy." So even the fight scenes themselves can be down right cheesy at times. Along with the alien force, A-ko must also handle her rival "B-ko, " who is trying to take her best friend "C-ko" away from here. (Again with the whole corny humor, only this time with the alphabet) When watching this show you simply have to know what to expect, and thus be in the mood for its content. If you like your action over the top and not taken seriously, then you’ll love this movie. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that all the action scenes are goofy, because you do get a few good action scenes here. Its just that a majority of them take a more comical style of approach, or do indeed end in one.
Depending if you get the edited version or not, there is a brief scene at the beginning that shows A-ko topless. It is very brief and never happens again, but just be aware of that fact.
Side Note: The project A-ko series comes in the form of 5 OVA style movies. However they don't always follow the same linear plot line. As some of the titles have the characters in different situations, some of which they are complete strangers to one another. Think of it as an alternate realty of sorts. (for the record, this is the first one)
Artwork: 8/10
Well 1986 was a pretty long time go, so don’t expect to see the most sharpest of special effects. This again is another one of those titles that you have to take its quality upon its production year. Meaning that this OVA looked great for its time. Nice explosion affects, somewhat unique style facial expressions and character design. Which I have to say was pretty popular in this era. The background can be pretty lifeless at times, but never really come off as bad.
Soundtrack: 6/10
Well you get quite a bit of 80’s style pop in this title, if you’re not a fan of that to begin with then you might want to put the sound low when viewing this. Its not really bad or anything, it just doesn’t give off any kind of distinctness to it. Sadly I have only watched the dub to this anime, since back then only dub VHS versions were available at video stores. I didn’t really like it at all, the English voice actors sounded too weak, and you could tell that they were simply saying lines from a script. I would like to think the the sub version is better, but it may be pretty weak in the audio clarity department, since this was made a long time ago. (other titles such as Sailor Moon suffered from the same thing back then)
Characters: 6/10
They are by no means awful, just pretty shallow as a whole. They don’t really have a certain depth-ness to them, and are not really explained very well. We never really get to know just who A-ko really is, or any kind of history behind her. Most are simply thrown into the show in attempts to make you laugh. Which to the series credit, is what its really all about. Though in truth we do get a little bit more info on "B-ko" than anyone else, which explains who she is over all, and what she is after.
Bottom Line: 6/10
Project A-ko might be too cheesy and over the top for newer viewers out there. But if you’re interested in its content I mentioned then by all means you should take a look. The OVAs are only about and hours worth, and may draw some people into the older generation of anime. While its not really a solid watch compared to other titles in this era, its also not really a bad one either. So long as you can appreciate its whole campy style of content.
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literaturenerd
Overview: Time to review a true blast from the ancient past! History: Project A-KO came out in 1986. It was originally supposed to be part of an early hentai anthology called "Cream Lemon" that started in 1984 with "Lolita: the anime". Wow! If you thought Alan Moore's response to Watchmen the movie was bad, Vladimir Nabokov's response to the first Loli anime would have been on a different league of anger. He might have even gone full Super Slav in sheer rage. Anyways, A-KO was changed at the last moment to be a zany spoof of all the popular anime of the time. However, the nudity and lesbianrelationships were still left in...because why not? A-Ko spoofs Fist of the North Star, Space Battleship Yamato, Captain Harlock, and many others. Despite being a very goofy and frankly idiotic anime, it left a massive impact on comedy anime for years to come. The whole scene with the schoolgirl running with toast in her mouth has actually become a cliche at this point! That's how many anime ripped off A-KO!
Reception in the West:
Generation X: Loved it
Generation Y or "Millenials": indifferent
Generation Z: What the FUCK is this old piece of shit?!!
Story and characters:
The main characters are the energetic and super powered A-ko, the devious robot inventor B-ko, and the incredibly obnoxious C-ko. To get this out of the way, the suffix Ko is often attached to female characters. The names A-ko, B-ko, C-ko is animator shorthand for unnamed background characters. This was one of the first inside jokes in anime history aimed squarely at fellow anime workers.
The plot is that A-Ko and C-ko must constantly try get to school on time while fighting the robots that B-ko makes each morning. B-ko is the class bully, token rich kid, and also a lesbian who is after C-ko. One day, aliens invade the city to retrieve their long lost princess, who turns out to be C-ko. This means A-ko and B-ko must put aside their rivalry to defeat the aliens and rescue C-ko. The status quo is quickly restored and A-ko is revealed to be the daughter of Superman. The End.
Animation:
Fairly decent for its time. Really nothing spectacular today although it helps if you are a nostalgic sucker for all hand drawn animation.
Music and sound:
The English dub I watched was representative of other Central Park Media titles, which is to say pretty bad. The music is ok, but nothing great.
Overall:
Project A-ko was a monumentally influential anime in its day despite its odd beginnings. It set the standard for spoof anime and its influence can be seen in Excel Saga, Kill la Kill, FLCL, Gintama, and many more. Despite this, A-ko hasn't aged particularly well in my opinion. Most young anime fans wouldn't even understand what shows A-ko was trying to spoof. The comedy that worked for A-ko has been beaten to death by later anime. The random nudity isn't as titillating and awesome as it was in 1986, because nudity is FAR more common in anime these days. It is an interesting series from a historical perspective, but I really wouldn't rank it as one of the funniest anime I've ever seen. I recommend this one only to anime fans very interested in the history of the medium.
SNchan
Among the Western fanbase of Japanese cartoons, there is apparently quite a lot of people who like the film Project A-ko. This is probably due to the fact that it was released at a time where most localized anime geared for adults was rather mature and gritty (think Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop,) while this was more immature and lighthearted. Regardless of why other people like it, I did not enjoy it; finding it to be rather boring and uninspiring. There's nothing particularly good about the story or plot, but that's forgivable seeing how this is a comedy. It's about three highschool girls, A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko,(literally “Girl A,” Girl B,” and “Girl C.”) A-Ko and C-ko are best friends–the former of which happens to have super strength and speed. B-ko is A-ko's rival from kindergarten, and has a crush on C-ko, and thus uses her mad scientists skills to constantly challenge A-ko in an attempt to win C-ko's heart. There's also an alien invasion later on.
The biggest problem with this film is that more often than not, it's unfunny and doesn't deliver as a comedy. Supposedly there is a fist full of references parodying various anime from the 1980s, and a large portion of the comedy relies on these references. If this is true, than that would explain why I didn't really find Project A-ko to be very enjoyable. As far as Japanese cartoons go, I'm not exactly well cultured when it comes to anything prior to the '90s, so most of these references were invisible to me. I did catch the jibe they made at Fist of the North Star, which I found pretty hilarious–so had I been able to understand all the other references, maybe I would have liked this more. I doubt it would have much of a difference however.
Perhaps it's not the best idea for me to criticize for not "understanding" it, but I can at least say this: comedies that rely on parodying other stories tend to not age well. As time passes, less and less people will be able to appreciate the work, until eventually only a niche group of people will be able to truly appreciate it. Some more time later and maybe no one will understand it–which is actually kind of depressing, but hey, that's how it is.
As I said, the story and plot is nothing special, and this in part due to the fact that all of the characters are rather shallow and uninteresting. B-ko is your typical one-dimensional villain/rival, who really wants nothing more but to kill A-ko and win the heart of C-ko–which was probably supposed to be funny, but wasn't. C-ko in particular is rather annoying and unlikable, as all she ever does is act like some sort of seven year old, and cries whenever someone calls her out for being a cloudcukoolander. Which again, was probably supposed to be funny, but wasn't. A-ko would be the best of the characters, but only because there's nothing particularly good or bad about her.
The only thing about Project-Ako that's consistently good would be the huge action sequence in the final thirty minutes of the film. It starts with A-ko and B-ko's final duel, and than sort of escalates once the city is attacked by aliens. It's ridiculous and exciting, and actually pretty enjoyable. One scene that stand outs is when A-ko ascends to the floating alien spaceship by hopping on and off missiles that are being shot in her direction.
Since Project A-ko is considered to be one of the classics, you might want to watch it anyways–just don't except anything to be enjoyable apart from the action sequences.
LordCustos3
Who's in the mood for a Schoolgirl Comedy....but one with an entropy level of a superhero comic? Oooh Oooh! Meee! I want some of that! Well...you are in luck. Let's meet our cast: A-Ko, a superhumanly strong high school student (the reason for her vast strength is partially explained in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sightgag near the end of the show.) C-Ko, an airheaded spaz-cadet. A-Ko's best friend and the "target" of B-Ko's affection. Everybody loves her for reasons that make no sense to the viewer; but thats the joke. You just have to roll with it. B-Ko, The Lex Luthor of the Schoolyard. Lonely supergenius with vast resources and a team ofschoolgirl lackeys but no real friends.
Mari, Kenshiro in Drag. No. Really.
Actualy...everyone's in drag.
Anyhow. Shenanigans are Called. Super-King-Fu Battles Commense. Hijinks Ensue.
djvos
I like to think that Project A-ko is the Anime that kicked it all off! It was the first animation I had ever seen and I immediately became a fan after. I was very young when I watched it on the Sci-Fi Channel and thought it was an incredible watch for its time. The strange thing about Project A-ko is that of the story in which is probably a dreadful and weird experience for an audience. Nevertheless, it doesn't take away from the outstanding work displayed. It's got great action sequences, hilarious comedy and Anime art at 100%. This Japanese animation would have been theperfect Anime if it had a better story. However, I believe the story that they put together here is what accidentally made it into the classic it is today. So if you haven't seen Project A-ko, you're in for a wild ride.
Kamezuki
“Project A-Ko” is the first movie in the franchise of the same name, and it is known for being one of the first anime movies available for sale in the US, and I believe one of the first ones aired on American television. Thus, there’s a lot of nostalgia associated with it, and it has a bit of a cult following. The story follows A-Ko, a girl with superhuman strength; her best friend, the whiny and clingy C-Ko; and B-Ko, the rich, mad scientist-like girl trying to kill A-Ko and take C-Ko for herself. Concurrent to the fights between A-Ko and B-Ko, which seem togrow more outrageous and over the top by the day, the movie follows a group of strange and powerful aliens trying to find their princess, who apparently crash-landed on Earth 16 years prior, and they’ll stop at nothing to bring her back with them. These two stories intersect, leading to the grandiose finale.
The basic elements of the overall plot make sense, but leave me with more questions than answers. I was left wondering why all of this happened in the first place, why the princess is who she is, why the aliens are the way they are, and how the streets/walls in the city managed to get rebuilt every time before A-Ko went on her daily destructive run to school. I’m hoping that the subsequent OVAs will shed light on some of these mysteries.
I felt that there was a fair amount of tonal whiplash throughout the movie. It starts with a serious tone, as we see a bunch of people wiped out by a mysterious object crashing onto the Earth. Later we see aliens mercilessly blow a spaceship full of people to smithereens, only for the movie to depict the same aliens as funny characters soon after. Overall, the movie is goofy and humorous, so the few scenes where people are killed are somewhat jarring, especially since they aren’t really addressed afterwards.
The dialogue is good, but I got the feeling that it’s peppered with a lot of old anime/pop culture references that I’m not aware of, so it comes across as a bit abstract at times if you’re not aware of what’s being referenced.
The characters are simple, yet developed enough during the movie’s runtime to be distinctive. The main three are easily memorable, and some of the side characters are as well.
The voice acting was decent, but I thought that C-Ko’s voice was annoying, and Mari didn’t have enough lines to emphasize the uniqueness of her voice.
As far as other technical aspects go, I was impressed with the music, both the background instrumentals and the theme songs with vocals. The theme songs are sung in English and are catchy tunes in their own right, and the background music fits the scenes it’s used in well.
The art is good; I like the character designs, although Mari and D looked a little too similar (I thought they were the same person at first). B-Ko reminded me of one of the main characters of “Blue Sonnet,” a late ‘80s OVA that had a manga running at the time this movie was released. Perhaps B-Ko’s design was a reference to that character, as “Project A-Ko” is full of references to lots of older shows that I just wasn’t able to catch. The designs of the city, the townscape, the school, and the spaceships are all nice.
As for the animation, it’s fluid and colorful, and for the most part, it’s good. I noticed there are lots of scenes where characters are yelling but their mouths are closed, though, so I had the impression that relatively minor details may have been overlooked in favor of the “big picture.” I also noticed some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them Easter eggs, including a person’s name tag that says in romanized Japanese something like “I’m the commander; I’m an important person,” which reminded me of similar Easter eggs in “Gunbuster,” an anime which would come later.
Direction-wise, the action scenes are choreographed well and are pleasant to watch. Other scenes are also done well for the most part, except for maybe some of the scenes at the beginning, where I thought things dragged a bit.
Regarding objectionable content, there are stereotypical and extraneous nude scenes of a girl getting dressed and bathing, probably owing to this movie’s production origins as an adult anime. There are also upskirt and panty shots galore, more than I’ve seen in any other anime. There’s a scene where a girl stumbles into a room full of dirty underwear. There are characters who look masculine but are actually female, and this is played off as being funny, so the humor in that aspect is outdated. The violence is cartoonish, except for the aforementioned mass death scenes that seemed out of place.
Finally, a word of warning — there are a lot of flashing lights in this movie, particularly for a few minutes during the beginning in a scene that takes place in a movie theater.
Overall, this historically important anime has good aspects — the music, character design, direction and animation, to name a few — but has some issues with tone and outdated humor which may make people uncomfortable or confused while watching it. I would still recommend seeing “Project A-Ko” as long as you keep an open mind and don’t go in expecting a masterpiece.
barsoapguy219
Project A-Ko is a wacky ride with super powered school girls and giant robots. It is good mindless fun if you are in the mood for it. Don’t think about things too hard and you will have a good time. Nostalgia alert: I caught this one on the Sci-Fi Channel back in the 90s. I woke up super early Sunday morning to watch it and loved every minute of it. It was just so much more than the cartoons that I was watching at the time. Ahhh, fond memories. Story 4/10 The story is a love triangle between the three main girls. A-Ko is oursuper-powered, tomboy school girl. B-Ko is our rich and spoiled, jealous, robot-genius school girl. And C-Ko is the hyper-annoying school girl. They fight. There are robots. And then some space people show up. Don’t worry too much about the plot. It’s all about the comedy and action.
Art 7/10
This anime was from the 80s and it shows. The characters had big hair and strange noses. It was all hand drawn and looked pretty good for its time.
You could tell who the characters were from their designs. Our energetic hero had wild, red hair. The rich girl had long, curly sideburns. The saccharine girl had the flower in her hair. The robots and the machines had good looks and are well-animated. The action was good. The punches, kicks, missiles, and robots had weight and momentum. The knockout moments were impactful.
I never thought that any of the images were inconsistent or low-quality. It’s good stuff for the 80s.
Sound 6/10
The voice acting was good. A-Ko sounded like a cute tomboy. She grunted and shouted with conviction during her fights. C-Ko was gratingly annoying, as intended. B-Ko had some good maniacal laughter.
The music was 80s synth-pop. There were a couple English language tracks that played – one during the date scene and the other at the end. My nostalgic self appreciated it.
Characters 7/10
The characters were fun. The three main characters had their personalities and their play off each other was what this movie was all about. They weren’t given backstories or explained much at all, but it was fine.
The school people were forgettable with the exception of the man/woman. And the space people were forgettable with the exception of the man/woman. What was up with the burly men/women?
Enjoyment 8/10
How much you enjoy this movie is about what type of mood you’re in. If you’re drunk and/or looking to watch schoolgirls fight robots, you’ll have a good time. If you are feeling introspective and are looking for something deep and meaningful, you should probably watch something else.
Overall 7/10
I had a good time watching it. It’s low-stakes wackiness and I was in the mood for it.
lethargilistic
It's just not very funny. The main reason to seek out and enjoy this film is for the fact that it revels in the self-referential nature of anime. The more of an otaku you are, particularly of things released by before this came out, the more you will ostensibly get out of it. Although, certainly, you can notice things that were influenced by this in turn. I liked the Gurren Lagann drill mech. I think the reason this has a high reputation is because of the sci-fi action direction it takes in the second half. Some of that material, such as A-ko hopping on the fighterjets or the part where A-ko and B-ko fought in the middle of the war between the Earthlings and aliens, was extremely good. They just went wild on it. But, in general, action alone doesn't sustain my interest very well. And it took its sweet time getting to that point; I started watching this movie in April and got bored in the first half. When I restarted it, I fell asleep at some point. (Which shouldn't be taken as a strong objection. Dealing with COVID stress every day has made me tire easily. I somewhat often fall asleep early for no reason.)
Love the character designs inspired by Rumiko Takahashi's work.
This is worth watching if you like 80s anime. But it's not, like, spectacular for me.
ggultra2764
Project A-Ko was a 1986 screwball/ sci-fi comedy anime film made in mind to parody popular anime genres of its era such as school comedies, mecha titles, and space operas. The film focuses on high school student A-Ko Magami attempting to go through her everyday routines as a student with her close friend C-Ko Kotobuki, while possessing superhuman physical capabilities and evading the wealthy B-Ko Daitokuji who has romantic affections for C-Ko. Complicating things is the presence of a mysterious alien ship seemingly observing the actions of A-Ko and C-Ko. I’ve heard a good deal about Project A-Ko being a gateway drug of sorts for animefans who lived through the late 1980s to early 1990s when this and the later four installments of the A-Ko franchise got releases in Japan and America. How receptive you may be to Project A-Ko’s humor will come down to how well you appreciate its manic comedy and picking up on the nods and references to popular anime titles and storytelling cliches of the film’s era, so it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. One amusing fact I was not aware of with A-Ko until I researched it was that it was originally going to be animated as part of the Cream Lemon hentai OVA series before the decision was made to make it a mainstream anime film.
Far as my reception to Project A-Ko went, I was largely entertained with it. I did enjoy the anime’s showings of A-Ko’s ridiculous physical abilities causing destruction to her surroundings and her later skirmishes with B-Ko and her goons. There is a rather funny and sly cameo appearance revealing who A-Ko’s parents are at the end of the film, so keep a look out for that. Fair warning to those who hate it, the film does come with a decent amount of fan service with a good deal of upskirt shots with a number of female characters, some onscreen nudity, and skimpy attire worn at points.
The film had some misses with its humor for me. I wasn’t a fan of C-Ko’s character, as she came off quite obnoxious with playing the character type of the lead character’s energetic and childish childhood friend. I did also get more creeped out than amused with the anime featuring a couple heavily muscular girls who look more like guys with how they are designed, most notably one of B-Ko’s flunkies meant to be an obvious nod to Fist of the North Star’s Kenshiro.
While I did enjoy Project A-Ko for the most part thanks to its manic humor and parodies of popular anime genres of its era, I think a good deal of this came down to me appreciating the manic approach of its humor and having dabbled into enough older anime titles to know what the film was making nods to. Those not fans of the manic humor approach to the film or haven’t dabbled enough into older anime from the early to mid 1980s may not get as immersed into it, so mileage may vary with fan reception to it.
Thedude3445
A lesbian with a crush decides to build giant robots to win the love of the class ditz. It turns into a mega sci-fi action-adventure filled with parodies and homages to every other anime genre of the 80s, and it still holds up today as a real fine experience. It may not be madcap enough to hold a candle to modern works such as, say, Lego Movie or something, but it's a fine film indeed, and A-Ko, B-Ko, and C-Ko have all since become iconic character archetypes for gay and kinda-gay female leads in anime. What surprises me most is that the entire rest of theseries is actually able to contain the same energy and wackiness that the original has. It's extremely rare for comedies to do as well in its sequels, but Project A-Ko is quite special in that regard.
albertbrown
Watching Project A-Ko makes you love the way how even back in the 1980’s, anime was more than just fan service and cartoonish violence. A movie like this only comes once in a while, even if it felt like a parody of some sorts. While reading this, you might think that this was a bad movie, but on the contrary; this movie was pretty good, but anime wise, it’s one of those pieces that you really wish could have been a lot better. Eiko Magami is the red-haired girl that’s modeled in the same way as the girls from Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura, as youcan tell since it’s from the 1980’s, of course. On the other hand, you have Biko Daitokuji (B-Ko), who is the opposite of everything that Eito (A-Ko) represents. Always wanting to challenge her, it’s all thanks to Shiiko Kotokubi (C-Ko), who we found out is the love interest for B-Ko. Though, the problem comes when C-Ko is not aware of this since she’s always hanging out with A-Ko and now B-Ko has plotted revenge to get rid of A-Ko for being in the way.
What results is unforgettable fighting and action scenes with a hint of science fiction tropes that are also mixed with spaceship fighting action. Most of the scenes from fighting female aliens deployed from another planet to a character in a suit and hat being used for slapstick purposes seem all over the place, but it’s a good show to get through for almost two hours.
Project A-Ko is still a memorable hit for the 80’s, even if the plot line for this shows that it’s always love and war between a female interest that doesn’t even remember nor recognize your existence. In the end, hilarity does ensue.
TrashDax
Who the hell names their kids A-ko, B-ko and C-ko? Story: Erm...So there's B-ko who wants C-ko all for herself and keeps challenging A-ko. And then there are aliens who are looking for somebody. What these two stories have to do with one another? Well, that's the problem: for most of the movie...nothing. Only in the last third do things get together, which for me, is a bit too late. Up untill that point it felt like two different anime cut together. Maybe it would have been better if they concentrated on just one of these, as with the final product, neither feels completely fleshed out. 5/10 Art: Well, it'sthe 80s, so you surely wouldn't expect something breathtaking (*cough* Akira *cough*), but for its time, it's absolutely okay. The manly girls were pretty funny, and the brief space scenes were cool.
7/10
Sound:
The soundtrack is pretty cool, totally 80s (if you like that). The voice acting was good, though I really wanted to strangle C-ko for being so squeeky. They overdid it a little with comedic sound effects in my eyes (or ears?), but it's not annoying or anything.
8/10
Characters:
While C-ko could go die for all I care, A-ko and B-ko filled out their roles well. B-Kos sidekicks were quite funny, but they didn't have much screentime. Speaking of that, the aliens had no time whatsoever to develop a character, which was a shame as they seemed interesting, but were only in it for the showdown.
6/10
Enjoyment:
This movie wasn't horrible or anything, but it felt a lot longer than it actually was. Maybe that's because of the incoherent storytelling. When A-ko was finally starting to get good, it was over already. Maybe making an OVA series with mulitiple episodes would have been a better idea. The way it stands, it leaves me quite unaffected. Not bored or angry, but unaffected.
5/10
Overall:
6.2/10
