Warning: Undefined array key "HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE" in /var/www/minitokyo/www/includes/common.inc.php on line 360 ptptn's Project A-Ko Ova Review - Minitokyo
»

ptptn's Project A-Ko Ova Review

Project A-Ko ova Review

Story & Playability

Project Ako seems, on first viewing, a rather silly and unbelievable tale with over-the-top characters. It is supposed to be like that, because Project Ako is a parody of other animes. Since Project A-Ko is getting quite old, reaching its twenties in 2006, it is a parody of a lot of shows that most viewers won't be familiar with, and that can be confusing.

The basic setup is that a meteor crashed on Earth, but it was not a meteor but a giant alien spaceship. Over the years, on the site of the crash, a city (Graviton City) is built. The main characters are three schoolgirls in Graviton: incredible strong Eiko, incredible smart Biko, and incredible whiner Shiko. You pronounce their names as A-Ko, B-Ko and C-Ko, which should be clue about the true nature of the piece. Objectively, A-Ko is the sanest of the bunch, and I would not call her normal. B-Ko is certifiable; normal school girls do not try to get rid of prople they don't like with robots and heavy weaponry. For C-Ko there are no words. What the other characters see in her is beyond me.

Secondary characters of note: the eternally drunk alien space captain, the oblivious teacher Ayumi, alien secret agent D, B-Ko's group of spies and muscle flunkies (and, not to forget, her insane and unscrupulous father!): all are as much a parody as the main characters.

The movie was succesful enough to create more episodes, continuing the stories of the three crazed girls in their city. However the level of parody drops as more time becomes available and secondary characters get onto the stage. Finally, two episodes were made with the two main characters A-Ko and B-Ko in an unrelated continuity (C-Ko as well, but only as supporting character), but it lacked the appeal of the parody and craziness of the original.

Rating: 9

Graphics

Originally very good, however, compared with present day standards, it has not aged quite as well as some others. Here too, the age of the series is showing.

Rating: 6

Sound

Quite acceptable for its purpose, however do not expect nominations for any Oscars here. I found the English dub quite acceptable, which is pretty rare for me.

Background music and soundtrack: like the rest of the sound, acceptable for its purpose, perhaps a bit better than its contemporaries.

Rating: 7

Fun

Project A-Ko is a comedy and a parody, so do not expect logical plotlines. A-Ko and B-Ko do not get along at all; B-Ko keeps building technological marvels literally overnight to kill A-Ko once and for all. A-Ko trashes them summarilly until B-Ko creates the Akagiyama power armor. Which looks exactly like a leather swimsuit, complete with whip and wrist missiles, and she wears it very well. Add to this an alien invasion force looking for their lost princess, crazed businessmen going after alien technology, crazed alien commanders that love their alcohol, crazed everything. If there was a sane character in Project A-Ko I must have missed him or her.

The parodies are thick, especially in the original movie, so thick that every time you watch the anime, you spot new ones. Star Wars, Space Pirate Harlock, Macross, Sentai shows, Fist of the North Star, American detective movies, Superman ... and that is just from a few minutes footage.

The problem for the younger audience is that some of those shows hit their zenith before they were old enough to watch them, so many would hommages and parodies stay unnoticed.

Without knowing it is a parody and laughing at the depictions, you lose a lot of the fun. Unfortunately, as the years pass by and newer generations start watching, Project A-Ko will lose more and more of its appeal. However for those that remember all those older shows, or those that enjoy incredible levels of insanity, Project A-Ko is a golden classic and a blast to watch.

Rating: 8

Final Verdict

7.8333 (good)

Reviewed by ptptn, Dec 29, 2005

Comments

  1. Deathglare Dec 30, 2005

    Best taken with some hard liquor!

  2. kawaiiguy Jan 16, 2006

    Very well done. I watched the dub of this this back when I was in high school on VHS. That seems like such a long time ago now. I was a huge fan of all the parody, though there may be things "younger viewers" may recognize, if they read up on their history. I also enjoyed looking for all the random subliminal frames during explosions.

    It is a classic and I've always been extremely tempted to pick up a copy for my shelf. That, however, would really show my age...

    The one thing that I found interesting was that the show was originally supposed to be hentai. The creator had so much fun with the project that it drifted away from that.

  3. UberDog Mar 23, 2015

    Could use some more detail, but, over all nice and simple review.

page 1 of 1 3 total items

Only members can post replies, please register.

Warning: Undefined array key "cookienotice" in /var/www/minitokyo/www/html2/footer.html on line 73
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Read more.