Project A-KO

An all time favorite OVA.

The 80's were a rather unique time for Animé lovers. The rise of OVA was clearly during this decade, as well as it was a great time for the earliest adult themed Japanimation flicks. Topics such as graphic violence, rape, homosexuality, prostitution and hardcore sex were all there and the Japanese audiences didn't run away from them. On the other hand, western audiences were barely getting to know the wonders of Japanese animation. Harmony Gold played a significant role during this time, since they Americanized (I don't want to say "white washed" but...) several Animé and  OVA from those days. If you're a new generation connoisseur, I'm sure you know the Harmony Gold team was responsible for Robotech.

Project A-ko (プロジェクトA子 Purojekuto Ēko) is a 1986 animated fantasy-parody film that had several sequels and a spin-off. This series references a number of other works of anime from the 1970s and 1980s, such as Macross, Fist of the North Star and Gundam. The title itself is a reference to the 1983 Jackie Chan movie Project A, although the film bears no resemblance to Project A; the working title ended up sticking.

Girls will be girls.

Project A Ko, a peeping tom visionary.

Production of the first movie included several artists who would later create other popular works, including Kia Asamiya and Atsuko Nakajima. Also noted is the western source of the soundtrack, credited to Joey Carbone and Richie Zito.

In Japanese, "-ko" is a common suffix for girls' names, like Hanako, Rumiko, and Yuriko, or indeed Eiko, which sounds just like A-ko. The literal meaning is "child", so A-ko is a generic "Child A", a common way to reference peripheral characters in Japanese contemporary drama. In the making-of documentary for the film, it is stated that "A-ko", "B-ko", and "C-ko" were intended as generic "Jane Doe"-type names.

Project A-ko was initially planned to be part of the Cream Lemon series of pornographic OVAs, but during the production of the series, it was decided to make it into a more mainstream title. The only sequence animated during its Cream Lemon days left in the revised production is B-ko's private bath scene. In a nod to Project A-ko's origins as a Cream Lemon episode, the owner and several working girls from the brothel in the Cream Lemon episode "Pop Chaser" - where director Katsuhiko Nishijima was one of the animators - can be seen in one of the classrooms A-ko and B-ko crash through during a fight sequence in the film.

Veritech fighters!

Roy Fokker's part time veritech?

Director Katsuhiko Nishijima states (possibly in jest) that he took on this project because he was missing some teeth at the time and needed the funding from this film to buy new ones.

The Canadian game company Dream Pod 9 published Project A-ko: The Roleplaying Game in 1995.

What is Project A-Ko about?

An alien space craft crashed into Graviton City, wiping out the entire population and leaving a massive crater where Graviton City is rebuilt. Students A-ko Magami and her best friend C-ko Kotobuki, a bubbly, carefree optimist, enter a new year of school at the all-girls Graviton High School. Although A-ko possesses superhuman speed and strength, she considers herself an average teenager; she mostly worries about getting to school on time, chronically oversleeping her alarm clock each morning. The pair catch the unwanted attention of B-ko Daitokuji, a rich, spoiled and brilliant fellow student.

B-ko develops a crush on C-ko, and is determined to win her over. B-ko's attempts to win C-ko over fail and remembering that she was A-ko's rival back in kindergarten, B-ko creates a series of mecha piloted by her team of female followers to attack A-ko each morning. Losing each new and more powerful mecha she creates and dons the "Akagiyama 23", a powered suit that looks like a bikini. B-ko quickly escalates the fight across the school with no restraint.

Underwear battle!

Take that!

Trench-coated spy "D" has been monitoring A-ko and C-ko each morning and reporting to a large spacecraft as it approaches Earth. The aliens' conclusion is that they have located a lost princess whom they have been looking for. The aliens finally reach Earth and begin an all-out attack against the Graviton military, which is outmatched by the alien technology. A-ko and B-ko own fight continues across the city even as the military and aliens battle. C-ko is abducted in the middle of this confrontation by "D", revealed to be a member of the Lepton Kingdom of Alpha Cygni, an all-female race of aliens. C-ko is their princess.

Witnessing the abduction, A-ko and B-ko set aside their differences. Infiltrating the spaceship, A-ko confronts D and the ship's alcoholic Captain Napolipolita, while B-ko rescues C-ko. B-ko then reneges on the truce and opens fire on A-ko, D and the Captain, destroying the ship's navigation system. The vessel lands, precariously perched on top of the city's Military Command Tower.

A-ko awakens the next morning, sore from the previous day's adventures, and walks with C-ko to school. The girls pass by a disheveled D and the Captain begging for donations to repair their ship. The film ends with B-ko, ready for yet another fight, smiling as A-ko appears on the horizon.

Heroes support hygiene.

Why Japanese girls are all shaved up?

OK, but is it worth the try?

A hilarious send up of all things Anime, Project A-Ko is a biting yet reverent satire of everything we've come to expect from Japanese animation. The film is filled to the brim with dead-on parodies of classic anime such as Fist of the North Star, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and Captain Harlock. Unfortunately many of the older titles skewered in this picture are too dated or obscure to have been seen by many of today's anime fans (a scene-for-scene spoof of "Harmageddon" is likely to go right over most people's heads). That is not to say Project A-Ko cannot be enjoyed by the casual otaku; the film is more a parody of basic anime themes and cliché's than a spoof of any one particular show. Anyone familiar with the conventions of big robots, cute girls in sailor-suits, intergalactic sci-fi and martial-arts mayhem will feel right at home here. The characters of A-ko and B-ko are deconstructed composites of basic hero/villain stereotypes, and that most revered of anime staples, the Giant Mech, is revealed as the ultimately ridiculous idea that it is. Nothing is sacred in A-ko's world, but it is plain that the creators truly love that which they caricature, and their sense of joy is evident in every frame.

But Project A-Ko is more than just a comedy....it's also one of the greatest action anime ever made. The entire second half of the movie is essentially an extended fight scene. As A-ko and B-ko take their wall-crushing fistfight into the middle of Graviton City they run afoul of the military and the mysterious alien invaders. When the connection between the girls and the aliens is made clear (in one of the great comedic plot twists in any anime), the two rivals call a truce long enough to take down the offending extra-terrestrials....with their bare hands. The action builds at a frenetic pace, and just when you think things can't get anymore ludicrous Project A-Ko manages to top itself again and again. When firing a tank at B-ko fails to stop her, A-ko throws the tank at her. A-ko later demonstrates her hopscotch skills at 50,000 feet on a wave of anti-aircraft missiles. If it all sounds unbelievable....well, it is, but it doesn't feel that way when you're watching it. I've never seen any other film which manages to pile on so much excess so effortlessly, without anything seeming forced. Anyone who thinks Dragon Ball Z is the ultimate action anime needs to give Project A-Ko a long, hard look.

In Project A Ko, girls rule the world.

a true valkyrie woman.

The somewhat dated artwork may turn off some viewers, but by mid-1980s standards this is a very well-drawn film. The animation is fairly limited in most of the calmer scenes, but when A-ko and B-ko launch into action they move with a wonderfully fluid vitality that keeps things interesting and exciting. Many more recent "action" anime lack the rip-roaring feel Project A-Ko creates as the two antagonists punch, kick, jump, and throw each other through walls....all beautifully timed and fully animated. Totally worth a try!

Here's Project A KO, the OVA from 1986 in its original English dubbed version: