Project A-Ko 2: Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group

The sequel is here!

“Project A-Ko 2,” the first OVA sequel to the movie of the same title, picks up shortly after where the movie left off, fleshing out the anime’s world and characters in a satisfying way. Released only a year after the original, Project A-Ko 2: Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group (プロジェクトA子2 大徳寺財閥の陰謀 ) is our first 2023 review!

Synopsis:

Three weeks after the incident that left Captain Napolipolita's ship balancing on top of Graviton City, A-Ko and the gang go on summer vacation. While A-Ko ponders losing some weight (80's stereotypes) and B-Ko devises another plan to defeat her redheaded rival to win C-Ko, Napolipolita and Spy-D experience severe homesickness - begging for a way to return to their home planet. Meanwhile, Hikari Daitokuji - B-Ko's father and the CEO of the Daitokuji Financial Group - arms the local military with new mecha to attack Napolipolita's ship and obtain its advanced technology.

B-Ko's dad has big plans.

...While A-Ko & C-Ko enjoy summer break.

 

The setup for the plot is a bit unrealistic, which is par for the course for this franchise. The spaceship that crash-landed precariously atop a tower (that was actually another crashed spaceship) in the movie has been turned into a massive entertainment complex in the span of just three weeks. The aliens are trying to raise money to repair the spaceship so they can return to their home planet (preferably with their long lost and found princess C-Ko), while B-Ko’s father, who’s just as loony if not loonier than B-Ko herself, wants to confiscate the spaceship to acquire its technological secrets. Meanwhile, A-Ko just wants to enjoy summer vacation with C-Ko, while B-Ko continuously tries to get in their way to win C-Ko's friendship for once and for all. In a nutshell, the relationship status of the main characters from the previous film remain the same. now, why B-Ko is so obsessed with becoming BFF with C-Ko remains unexplained on this new chapter. On the other hand, we finally meet A-Ko's parents who are going on a summer vacation somewhere else. A-Ko's mum is concerned about her eating habits, since she's gained "5 Cms" since school break. Fortunately, A-ko couldn't care less and enjoys food as much as she can.

 

The alien invaders are no longer a treat to the city or anybody. Their spacecraft is completely useless without the means and tools to repair their anti-gravitational devices so they come up with a very realistic plan to solve their problem: As above mentioned, they transform their ship into a giant shopping mall & hotel because, in captain Napolipolita's own words, "humans love buying". However, B-Ko's father is interested in the alien technology he could reverse engineer on his favor. 

 

Plotwise, as crazy as the story is, there is an undeniable cohesion  that benefits the main characters and antagonist. Once Again, little annoying C-Ko is the center of attention. She's now the device standing between B-Ko's dad and the alien technology he craves, but at the same time this presents a problem for his daughter's own agenda. Will B-Ko finally stand on A-ko's side and join in the ultimate battle?

 

Everybody loves C-Ko.

Everybody loves Fist Of The North Star, especially Maria.

Since the story takes place only 3 weeks afther the original movie, the main characters haven’t really changed much, unless you count the “reformed” aliens (whose mass killings in the movie have been conveniently forgotten about). We get introduced to a new character, Hikaru Daitokuji (B-Ko’s father), a powerful business man whose antics help define the Like father, Like son saying better than any scholar could. In addition, Miss Ayumi, the school teacher is also introduced as a new character. Although she holds no connection to the main plot, at least we discover she's a great swimmer admired by her students.

The animation and direction are comparable to those of the movie, although perhaps less “cinematic” in scope and scale. There are similar animation gags and Easter eggs that appear for a few seconds (or even just a split second) on screen, and some of the scene compositions are similar — the ending scene is even framed in an almost identical way to the movie’s ending. Perhaps J.J. Abrams was inspired by this OVA to copy and paste from Star Wars' Episode IV to make his Episode VII. No one knows. 

Regarding nods to other Animé or Sci-Fi works, you have to pay more attention as this sequel avoids being obvious. There's a scene where the spacecraft is filled with spies. There is a very quick mention of the obvious FBI, CIA and KGB but, the actual nod is when they mention the OSI. The what? The Office of Scientific Investigation! Where legendary Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Man work! There are more references but I count on you finding them out yourselves when you watch this wonderful 80s OVA.

Nods to other Anime return.

mecha also return to remind you of other Anime.

All of the characters who appeared in the movie are voiced by the same actors , so if you're a Seiyu freak, you'll be pleased. The background music is decent, and the theme song was written by Mariya Takeuchi the legendary voice behind the city pop classic anthem "Plastic Love". She would also work in few other Anime related projects. However, she didn't record the song for A-Ko 2. Satomi Fukunaga was the artist chosen to perform "Natsu No". 

Pony Canyon was the company that produced this sequel (also A-ko 3 & 4). They have been around since 1966 and have produced and impressive amount of OVAs, films and Anime series. Among them, you can think of the more recent Shingeki No Kyojin, Rozen Maiden, Ranma½ OVAs, and one of the first Ecchi Anime Lemon Angel. Originally, the first Project A-Ko was supposed to be a part of the Lemon Angel saga but producers saw the potential and turned into the classic it is today.

 

Men, and their love for warfare.

Women, and their love for ice cream.

And what about Fanservice?

Compared to earlier Project A-Ko, the sequel does not have as much ecchi content as you may expect. While there are scenes of the girls changing clothes and wearing swimsuits, there’s no nudity this time. The changing clothes scenes are far more realistic, and that's a good thing, we're passed that in this new chapter. The upskirt shots are still there, but have been toned down a bit. The violence remains cartoonish in nature, so while destruction is massive at one point, even Princess C-Ko bodyguard survives.

Is this Yuri Animé or not?

While a lot of people may have thought there was a Lesbian interest from what they saw in the original film, I'd say the sequel doesn't really expand on the subject at all. Basically, we see A-Ko taking care and enjoying some free time with her evidently younger friend. There are no indications of anything beyond that. B-Ko on the other hand, seems to be driven by pure competition against A-Ko, she wants to beat her at whatever she seems good at. On the other hand, C-Ko is merely enjoying her adventures with her super powered friend and that's it. Now, Project A-Ko 3 finally addresses all these doubts viewers may have, but I won't spoil it yet, for a new review is on the way.

Project A-Ko is packed with gay & gender bender jokes.

The A,B,C.

Boring adult criticism.

In a nutshell, Project A-Ko 2 feels like a legit sequel to the original film. Obviously, being an OVA and not a fully produced film, the story is of smaller proportions and that may hurt character development. Essentially, everyone stays the same but,let's not forget it takes place only three weeks after the first movie. See how much you change in three weeks! I dare you! Like most Animé, the main characters are teenagers, and that could be disappointing when you're way pass that. It's hard to believe they can achieve all these antics, but again, this is science fiction, an animated story, not a portrayal of real life. The Japanese have a long tradition of putting kids into adult situations, and I'm glad C-Ko remains a kid through the saga. Otherwise, it'd be unbearable or at least unethical to watch it and say "I enjoy it". Perhaps that's an improvement over the original, where there were several nude scenes of these teenage characters. Sexing up is a thing of the past we don't need it, although is understood part of Animé popularity overseas had a lot to do with animated adult situations. The "Dark & Gritty", "Not kids stuff" labels really helped these shows make way into our homes.

Seriousness set aside, Project A-Ko 2: Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group, is a welcomed sequel to one of the most important Animé films from the 80s. Sadly, or luckily, it's not a standalone experience. It requires you to watch the original film first to get familiar with the characters. The only letdown is that A-Ko's unique superhero like skills are never explained. We still don't know how or where she got to be this OP.

Now let's dance!

 

And the original VHS trailer: