Project A-Ko Collection (Movie/Uncivil Wars/Love & Robots) + CD Soundtrack

Description

The complete Project A-ko experience in one amazing boxed set!

Customer Reviews:

A-Ko is still number one.... :).......2007-06-20

Keep in mind that the series comes from the same creator of Tenchi Muyo. Project A-Ko gets an A-Ko from me :) I love this anime. To be honest with you this is one of the first animes that I ever layed eyes on when I was a kid. I loved it so much that just watching it again brings back a nostalgic feeling. I think every anime fan should pick this set up. I kind of wish that the audio was in 5.1 this only has 2.0 but that's ok with me. I have a piece of history. I highly recommend it.

A series every anime fan should see once........2007-05-24

I'm a bit biased when it comes to reviewing things like this boxed set. I love most late 80's/early 90's sci-fi anime titles, I love parodies, and there has yet to be a title distributed on US MANGA CORPS that I've not thought was worth at least 3 stars. But all the bias aside, Project A-ko is a series that is a must for any one who has interest in anime, and this boxed set is the best way to see it.

The first film is probably the one which I rate most highly. All you really need to know is that A-ko and C-ko are best friends, A-Ko is B-Ko's archenemies (unbeknownst to A-ko) and cross dressing Aliens are after C-ko, who they believe is their long lost princess. It's got a lot of parody of Mecha (giant robot) anime, and has just the right blend of comedy and action to keep the viewer from tiring of the show. Also there is a fairly interesting female character that would be more at home in Fist of the North Star than in a girl's high school. The whole thing builds up to a fairly zany ending that's fairly satisfying, even though it doesn't really closing the story. This leads us straight into the next three titles.

The second disk has 3 or 4 episode on it, none of which are as long as the first film. These episodes are a continuation of the first film, and are a little less action packed, but provide more characterizations, as well as greatly expand the world of project A-ko. There really wouldn't be a lot of point in getting this one out side the boxed set unless you had seen the original. It's fun for fans of the show, but not really spectacular.

The next DVD however is a wonderful side story in which A-ko and B-ko are partners in bounty hunting, and C-ko is the daughter of some intergalactic tycoon, who is kidnapped to serve as some weapon of ultimate destruction. It's a pretty crazy story, but its fun and stands alone with out need to see the other two disks (maybe even better)

also included is the domestic sound track, which is a nice touch. There's not much great on the CD but it does have the song Dance Away, which is fairly memorable from the first film.

In all this boxed set is good buy at any price (unless it's over MSRP of course). You can find a copy of the whole thing for about as much as one of the individually packaged disks will cost you, and you get the CD. While its influence is a little overstated, Project A-ko is a wonderful spoof of anime that doesn't come across as too mocking of the style. You might recognize some scenes in new titles that are defiantly send ups to A-ko, but it certainly was not innovative to any aspect of anime. Take it for what is, a classic that every one should see if only just understand a few things in other parody series better

Project A-ko movie collection.......2007-05-22

Classic japanese cartoon at it's best this scifi/comedy is still worth watching.

Poject A-ko.......2006-12-22

Awesome boxed set!!!

Teryl Rothery does the English voice for the main female lead (A-ko).
For those of you who don't remember her (Dr. Fraiser on Stargate SG1.

I reccommend this collection to anyone that likes anime.

Ako gets an A+.......2006-11-15

Ako was one of the first animes I ever watched that I knew was an anime.It is funny, intelligent, and has one of the most bizarre stories you will ever see.
In a nutshell:
Insane storyline + Kinetic animation + fanservice + colorful characters + robots + American Superhero cameos + ugly women (really ugly)
and did I mention fanservice?
equals a great classic that should be in any otaku's collection!

All parts were worthy of the time it took to watch (5 times and counting) and buy (3 times now, durn VHS and nonreturning friends)
Bill says: Buy it! They don't make anime like this anymore!
Oh, and did I mention the sporadic fanservice?

Average customer rating:

Project A-ko rules
An anime classic
This is the best anime movie ever made.
If your sick of school girls and giant robots
A classic and an exercise of freeform Japanese animation

Project A-Ko - Love & Robots
Director: Katsuhiko Nishijima
Manufacturer: Us Manga Corps Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005ALMY
Release Date: 2002-08-06

Amazon.com

Although these three OAVs (original animation videos) were released years apart--and years after the original Project A-Ko feature--they all share a single plot: the battle between A-Ko, who possesses super-powers, and the super-rich, mecha-building B-Ko for the affections of the infantile C-Ko. (The names of the characters play off the Japanese equivalent of "Girl A, Girl B" to designate extras in a script.) In "Cinderella Rhapsody," A-Ko falls for the dashing motorcyclist Kei. B-Ko wants whatever A-Ko wants, and they're soon fighting over Kei and C-Ko. But Kei only has eyes for C-Ko. In "Final," C-Ko turns out to be a long-lost alien princess whose people come to reclaim her, but the story remains underdeveloped. C-Ko leaves with the alien fleet but turns up at A-Ko's door the next morning and announces, "I came back." Viewers may wonder why everyone is so gaga about a whiny case of arrested development like C-Ko, whether she's a princess or not. In Japan, the pursuit of C-Ko is seen as a manifestation of the intense, platonic friendships among high school students, rather than lesbian attraction, but a weird sexuality pervades the stories, which include androgynous bodybuilders in dresses. All three episodes are silly enough to make Tenchi Muyo! sound like Nietzsche. Rated 13 and up for brief nudity, occasional sexual humor, and violence. --Charles Solomon

Description

Superpowered schoolgirl A-ko must take on the evil girl genius B-ko...as well as space aliens, giant robots, and hostile occult takeovers!

Customer Reviews:

Project A-ko rules.......2006-03-03

Loads of fun with this 'oldie' from the anime front. I knew the VHS from years ago and I can only say it is still a delight to watch it. If you like the typical Japanese humor with screaming girls & lots of slapstick comedy this is the one to buy. The pop/rock soundtrack cd wich comes as an extra is a bit outdated but enjoyably campy if you're in the right mood.

An anime classic.......2005-10-14

This movie was my first introduction to "anime" when I knew to call certain cartoons anime. I originally saw it on the Science Fiction channel in 1992. Though I didn't get all the references to other anime, and I still don't in some cases, it is a very fun movie. Even though now it's several years later, and the animation style's age shows through, I enjoy re-watching it. This may sound weird coming from a man's keyboard, but Project A-ko is my "feel good" movie.

This is the best anime movie ever made........2005-09-29

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.

If your sick of school girls and giant robots.......2005-09-01

Project A-Ko is a total send-up of the genre, which is no doubt why I enjoyed it (and its sequel) so much. It has the usual giant mechanical paraphernalia, teenage school girls, and crossdressing alcoholic aliens. Err... where did they come from? Never mind: far more than most of the famous and iconic animes it parodies, Project A-Ko is entertaining, intriguing, and often just fall-down laughing funny. It's sort of like Japanese anime directed by an English eccentric. It's still sutiable bewildering in a Japanese sort of way, but with flashes of anglo style satire thrown in.

rated 13 up: brief nudity, occasional profanity, sexual humor, and violence

A classic and an exercise of freeform Japanese animation.......2005-06-16

All that is to be said about A-ko has probably been said already by the 50+ reviews so I just want to chirp in and say if you are an old school anime fan or just a plain or regular anime buff you will appreciate the included Director's notes in the DVD collector's edition.

In the director's notes, Shigeru Morikawa, gives tons of interesting facts and trivia about the creation and dynamics of Project A-ko. What was first planned to be a soft porn cartoon turned a science fiction anime slug fest and acknowledged by Japanese animation industry insiders as a hallmark in the field of Japanese animation.

In fact, I was surprised to find out that tons of famous people in the field of manga (such as Kia Asamiya of Silent Mobious fame) and animation (people who worked on great Sci-Fi series like Macross and Evangelion) were key animators and contributed to the storyline of this movie.

I could go on for ages but I would spoil it too much. So if you are still behind the times and want to update your A-ko to DVD or haven't watched the movie but considering the purchase, I say, go ahead you'll love not only the anime itself but also the tons of extras packed within.

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