Project A-ko (the movie) Review

[Gypsy]

another one of my reviews from the old boads

Project A-Ko (movie)

Just a little note, I kinda watched this while cleaning my room at the same time, so I wasn't focusing very well. Feel free to correct me or share your coments.

Intro: Set in the future, but not too far away, a city rebuilds itself after a huge meteor crash. The main character’s name is A-ko, a seventeen-year old who is ridiculously strong. Her best friend is a whiney ditz named C-ko. Her rival at school is a girl named B-ko (see the painfully simple pattern yet?). While A-ko and B-ko are busy with cat-fights, a mysterious spaceship is heading towards earth in search of something . . .

Positive points: I found the fight scenes hilarious because of their sheer unrealistic tone. The animation was excellent with good voice actors.

Negative points: There was almost no story line whatsoever and no point to be made. Also, outfits tend to get a little skimpy.

Sexual content: I wondered at one point in the movie if it was supposed to be a yuri thing. The further I got into it though, I think it was just a really strong longing for friendship. I finally gave them the benefit of the doubt and came to the conclusion that there was no yuri going on. If someone has already seen the movie and interprits it differently, feel free to let me know. I tend to be a little naïve. Also, there was two counts of quick, undetailed nudity. It obviously wasn’t meant to be porographic, but it is there, none the less.

Language: There are only four to five mild swears peppered throughout the movie.

Spiritual Content: I didn’t notice anything one way or the other.

Conclusion: Apart from the funny fight scenes and great animation, Project A-ko didn’t seem to have anything else going for it. The whole thing was just too weird. If you have nothing better to do, it’s an easy way to kill and hour and a half, but I wouldn’t make any sacrafices to see it. I would also recommend screening the movie before showing it to a younger audience.

Rating: * 1/5

PG-13

[WhiteÃ…ngel]

all the project a-ko movies are like that....lol

but my daughter loves them.

in one movie .. c-ko is supposed to be a princess, but through the begining you think the ship is looking for a-ko because she is so different ( strength) a-ko with her strength fights b-ko with all her tech through the whole movie then they jump on rockets to get to the ship and try and save c-ko that they think is their princess.

another I won't let be played in the house is on the day of c-ko bday she is abducted to be the host for a witch type to take the body of c-ko and be young again.. a prince type seduces b-ko, etc... not a cool one.

there is another, but I can't think of it now...

otherwise random fighting and slapstick humor

[LittleShepherd]

I just saw this review, and it's pretty spot-on for the first movie. However, I've seen the rest of the original series as well as the "A-ko Vs." serious, and I think I can elaborate on some things.

Original A-Ko series -- This includes the A-ko movie reviewed, as well as 3 sequels. I'll discuss the first movie first, even though people who like it may be disappointed. A bonus section that appeared on at least some tapes reveals that it originally had a little more nudity than we got to see here in the origial US release. Now for the rest. I don't believe there is any nudity in the other three movies, but the rest of the series is quite blatant with the yuri themes. I'm guessing that the first movie is a bit more overt in the original Japanese and that it was smoothed over a bit when translated into English.

A-ko Versus -- I actually liked these movies. These were unconnected to the original movies storywise. It was an "alternate universe" theme where the characters had the same names and similar personality quirks, but took on different roles. I don't remember any nudity or yuri in this at all. One of the posters is correct in that B-ko was seduced by one of the bad guys at one point in the movie. If memory serves, the camera panned down and you saw her clothes fall off, but didn't see any nudity. And any naughty stuff was off-camera. And C-ko was possessed by a witch at one point, but it's more comic than scary.

There. Now you know more about the A-ko movies than you probably ever wanted to know. Oh, and it cracked me up that the guy who posted above me referred to the two parts of the A-ko Versus series as separate movies. The movie where C-ko is a princess and the one where she is possessed by a witch are the same movie. It was broken into two parts for the English release. One tape was called "Blue Side" and the other "Gray Side," I believe.

[everdred12a]

A bonus section that appeared on at least some tapes reveals that it originally had a little more nudity than we got to see here in the origial US release.

That's because Project A-ko was founded as a hentai project. There never was supposed to be a story. It was supposed to be porn. But, for one reason or another, they cleaned it up.

But I still love Project A-ko, it was a fun series, despite the overwhelming lack of story. I loved it ever since I saw an AMV for it made to the Aquabats' song 'Super Rad!'

[Tancos]

Now for the rest. I don't believe there is any nudity in the other three movies, but the rest of the series is quite blatant with the yuri themes.

Actually, in the third OVA, "Final," there is one brief scene that I would classify as hard-core pornography -- which is a pity, because it otherwise is the best of the sequels. (There was also much inappropriate use of the Star of David in that episode, which I did not appreciate.)

[Bobtheduck]

Ok... This is how I was brought into anime:

Superbook - Didn't know it was Japanese (and partly right, because it's a joint venture with CBN and Tatsunoko)

G-Force - I think I may have seen it once, and I had toys for it, but I wasn't allowed to watch it... My mom didn't like something in it (this is called "Gatchaman" in japan)

Sailormoon - Ads on TV, but I treated it like barbie or something... Afraid to watch it for what very little masculinity I had at 13 pre-puberty...

Sci-Fi Channel collection (Legend of Crystania, Green Legend Ran, Tenchi Muyo Movie...) - I saw some of them, and just liked that it was a cartoon that said "d***" to be honest... I was a bit shocked by it and that got me watching...

Akira - My first uncut anime... When I watched it, it was the most violent thing I had ever seen... That turned me off to anime, but

Project A-Ko - My friends introduced me to this, it was the second tape in their Anime monthly thing from columbia house... It was so not at all like Akira, I loved it... I cracked up through almost the whole thing, and I started to like Anime again... My fandom didn't take off until I downloaded Sailormoon: Another Story and had my friends explain Sailormoon to me, but that's... another story (hahahahaha *cough cough*)

Yeah, I loved A-ko. I've never seen the other 3 movies, but I did see blue vs red, and I think no one mentioned two brief nude scenes in that... One was even an S and M thing (in A-ko's imagination) and it was more detailed than the movie, and in one scene, they break through walls and find a couple having sex... So, thought I should add that... The best part of Vs was when they all went through the different worlds, and got to the school girl one... Basically the movies, haha... Yeah, this show is nostalgia for me... I was much more tolerant of really bad dubs back then... "My cheek... It's cut..."

[Gypsy]

Yeah, this ... "review" doesn't really count, I guess. It's so old and only covers that one movie. I actually just deleted the old review out of the database - so CAA no longer has an official Project A-Ko review. It just didn't cover enough, and with the boxed set available anywhere now, I didn't want the old review to mislead anyone. Like Bobtheduck, I have really fond memories of watching that Project A-Ko movie, and it was a stepping stone in my trek through the anime titles available back then.