Project A-Ko (Collector's Series)
by Katsuhiko Nishijima
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Denica Fairman, Hirofumi Banba, Jay Benedict, Julia Braams, Toni BarryDirector: Katsuhiko Nishijima
Cinematographer: Takafumi Arai
Writer: Katsuhiko Nishijima
Editor: Sachiko Miki
Producer: Kazufumi Nomura
Producer: Naotaka Yoshida
Writer: Tomoko Kawasaki
Writer: Yûji Moriyama
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language); English (Dubbed)
Format: Animated, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-08-13
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Us Manga Corps Video
Movie Reviews of Project A-Ko (Collector's Series)
Movie Review: This is the best anime movie ever made.
Summary: 5 Stars
Yeah, you heard that right. The best EVER. Unfortunately, Central Park Media has never been the top-of-the-line in terms of packaging, voice acting, mastering (etc., etc., etc...), but that's the reality. Unless you have a Region 2 DVD player and can dig up a Japanese version, this is the best you're going to get.
If you have to ask what Project A-ko is, you may wish to go back to watching Cartoon Network, because you'll probably hate it. Otherwise, this is the brainchild of Yuji Moriyama, an anime director who seems to have had a role in creating every single 80s anime series (yes, they made anime in the 80's. What, you weren't born then? Oh). Moriyama also directed several orginal video productions, most of which were slightly above average fanservice-fests. However, Moriyama had a moment of sheer genius and created Project A-ko, a film that is supposedly about three girls (who Moriyama and his team didn't get around to naming, thus Girls A, B, and C) but is more an excuse to blow things up, break things, promulgate even more fan service, and lampoon just about every major anime up to that time.
There is a storyline, but it gets weirder and weirder as things go on and starts to reference things so obscure most Japanese fans can't even recognize them all. Good thing that the humor is easy to laugh at, the animation is top-notch (for the time), the character designs are wonderful, and of course that nothing is sacred. A-ko, by the way, is a normal happy schoolgirl who is habitually late, likes junk food, and can lift a tank. B-ko is her wannabe evil genius rival; hers is a stereotype almost any anime fan of any age will recognize - the evil pretty girl. B-ko, however, is also completely insane. C-ko is a walking cerebral hemmorage who could have been written into the movie after Moriyama had a vision of infuriating 'Ninja Scroll' and 'Akira' fans for the next 25 years. She is also A-ko's best friend. The only other characters of significance are the cross-dressing aliens. To summarize, B-ko decides to steal C-ko away from A-ko. This soon turns into 'A-ko must die,' so B-ko begins to create a stream of incredibly destructive inventions to use on A-ko, who -unfortunately for B-ko- is invincible. Hilarity ensues.
Moriyama succeeded brilliantly, but sadly A-ko was buried by godawful dubs, the curse of being shown on the infant SciFi Channel, several very mediocre sequels, and the fact Central Park Media went from being an obscure producer of weird overpriced VHSes in the 80s to the most obscure anime distributor on the face of the earth today.
I have not listened to the newest dub of this movie and I don't plan to. If you cannot bear to watch this movie in Japanese, please click on over to the DragonBall/YuGiOh/Hello Kitty portion of Amazon. If you haven't seen A-ko but your buddies make fun of you for watching 'wussy' anime, whine that they can't read subtitles, or think the Evangelion movie is the greatest thing since Benedict Spinoza, then A-ko may be for you.
Perhaps you can imagine watching an ancient VHS with the words "CONTAINS NUDITY" printed embarassingly on the box, or perhaps you can imagine you are watching this in a darkened Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza conference room at a sci-fi convention in a time before 99.99999% of the US population knew what "Japanamashin" is and anime cost $34.95 for thirty freaking minutes... if you could even find it outside of mail order. If you can, you may very be blown away by this ludicrously irreverent, clever, and endearing anime that has stood the test of time, if not the test of marketability.
An old fanzine once wrote of the "anime generations." One was the Robotech generation and one of many others was the Akira generation (whose descendants still go nuts over ever blood spray they see). There was never an 'A-ko' generation, but the impact of this goofy movie is lasting on just about every fanboy with a sense of history. This movie belongs in every serious anime fan's collection, and I can't rate it highly enough.
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