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Project A-ko
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Project A-ko
Project A-ko (Japanese: プロジェクトA子, Hepburn: Purojekuto Ēko) is a 1986 Japanese animated science fiction action comedy film. The film focuses on 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl A-ko, who defends her best friend C-ko, as they face off against their classmate and rival B-ko while the Earth faces the threat of an alien invasion. Both Katsuhiko Nishijima and Yuji Moriyama directed it, though the latter also did character design. The film project initially started as part of the Cream Lemon series of original video animation, but later became its own film. The film staff was motivated to produce a fun and exciting film in contrast to the more serious anime films being produced at the time. Additionally, the film includes a variety of references and parodies a number of other works of anime from the 1970s and 1980s.
The film was largely well received by critics who praised the humor and action and considered it an anime classic. Outside of Japan, the film was seen by many fans of anime which served as an introduction to the medium. The film was followed up by several sequels and a spin-off, starting with Project A-Ko 2 in 1987. The original 35mm film negatives were once thought lost until they were recovered in 2021.
An alien spaceship crashes into Graviton City, wiping out the entire population and leaving a massive crater where the city is rebuilt 16 years later. High school students Eiko "A-ko" Magami, a perky, fun-loving red-haired, sailor-suited teenage girl, and her best friend Shiko "C-ko" Kotobuki, a bubbly, carefree optimist, enter a new year of school as transfer students 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, due to her habit of chronically oversleeping her alarm clock each morning. The pair catch the unwanted attention of Biko "B-ko" Daitokuji, a rich, snobbish, spoiled, and brilliant fellow student.
B-ko develops an obsession in regards to C-ko, and is determined to win her over. B-ko's attempts to win C-ko over fail, however, 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. After losing each new and more powerful mecha, she eventually 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.
Trench-coated spy "D" has been monitoring A-ko and C-ko each morning and reporting back 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's own fight continues across the big city even as the military and aliens do battle. C-ko is abducted in the middle of this confrontation by "D", who is 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 (actually the remains of the previously crashed ship). Having survived the crash, both A-ko and C-ko find themselves on top of an unconscious B-ko.
A-ko happily awakens the next morning, sore from the previous day's adventures, and walks with C-ko to school in their new uniforms. The girls pass by a disheveled D and the Captain begging for donations to repair their ship. The film ends with B-ko smiling as A-ko appears on the horizon.
The currents [at that time] were shifting favorably towards more serious works that were loaded with meaning and heavy themes. It was a frustrating time for animators who liked to animate. A-ko was a deliberate attempt to push all that aside, to provide some mindless fun, to make an action-packed film that would be fun to make and fun to watch. I guess you could say it was an animator's anime. Animators who wanted to animate big action but couldn't, came together on this project and let it all hang out.
– Yuji Moriyama on why the film was made
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Project A-ko
Project A-ko (Japanese: プロジェクトA子, Hepburn: Purojekuto Ēko) is a 1986 Japanese animated science fiction action comedy film. The film focuses on 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl A-ko, who defends her best friend C-ko, as they face off against their classmate and rival B-ko while the Earth faces the threat of an alien invasion. Both Katsuhiko Nishijima and Yuji Moriyama directed it, though the latter also did character design. The film project initially started as part of the Cream Lemon series of original video animation, but later became its own film. The film staff was motivated to produce a fun and exciting film in contrast to the more serious anime films being produced at the time. Additionally, the film includes a variety of references and parodies a number of other works of anime from the 1970s and 1980s.
The film was largely well received by critics who praised the humor and action and considered it an anime classic. Outside of Japan, the film was seen by many fans of anime which served as an introduction to the medium. The film was followed up by several sequels and a spin-off, starting with Project A-Ko 2 in 1987. The original 35mm film negatives were once thought lost until they were recovered in 2021.
An alien spaceship crashes into Graviton City, wiping out the entire population and leaving a massive crater where the city is rebuilt 16 years later. High school students Eiko "A-ko" Magami, a perky, fun-loving red-haired, sailor-suited teenage girl, and her best friend Shiko "C-ko" Kotobuki, a bubbly, carefree optimist, enter a new year of school as transfer students 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, due to her habit of chronically oversleeping her alarm clock each morning. The pair catch the unwanted attention of Biko "B-ko" Daitokuji, a rich, snobbish, spoiled, and brilliant fellow student.
B-ko develops an obsession in regards to C-ko, and is determined to win her over. B-ko's attempts to win C-ko over fail, however, 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. After losing each new and more powerful mecha, she eventually 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.
Trench-coated spy "D" has been monitoring A-ko and C-ko each morning and reporting back 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's own fight continues across the big city even as the military and aliens do battle. C-ko is abducted in the middle of this confrontation by "D", who is 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 (actually the remains of the previously crashed ship). Having survived the crash, both A-ko and C-ko find themselves on top of an unconscious B-ko.
A-ko happily awakens the next morning, sore from the previous day's adventures, and walks with C-ko to school in their new uniforms. The girls pass by a disheveled D and the Captain begging for donations to repair their ship. The film ends with B-ko smiling as A-ko appears on the horizon.
The currents [at that time] were shifting favorably towards more serious works that were loaded with meaning and heavy themes. It was a frustrating time for animators who liked to animate. A-ko was a deliberate attempt to push all that aside, to provide some mindless fun, to make an action-packed film that would be fun to make and fun to watch. I guess you could say it was an animator's anime. Animators who wanted to animate big action but couldn't, came together on this project and let it all hang out.
– Yuji Moriyama on why the film was made