Verdict
Summary
Project A-ko’s memorable characters carry the purposefully silly plot, providing genuine laughs and unbelievable action.
Plot: Schoolgirl A-ko faces off with snooty rival B-ko over the friendship of the cute yet utterly useless C-ko.
Review: Not having been a fan of Japanese anime in the 80s, I completely missed this movie. I’d seen designs of A-ko elsewhere (of course, you could make the case that anime renditions of cute schoolgirls are a dime a dozen), but knew nothing about this movie before viewing.
Well, if you want an absolutely preposterous story, this movie has it in spades. That’s not a knock; the film is supposed to be this way. It is outrageous, ridiculous, unbelievable. You could do this story seriously, but I don’t think it would be as much fun or stand out as much as it does. This movie needs to be ludicrous. If you’re the type who wants only serious movies and scoffs at silly plots, steer clear of this one.
The characters are the best part of this movie. A-ko is not without her warts (she’s constantly tardy and always seems to be getting into trouble with her teacher), but she’s a proper hero who you can cheer for. B-ko is hilarious – if she had a mustache, she’d be twirling it as the movie’s villain. Her patience and determination to one-up A-ko are commendable, even if her motives are insane and her penchant for destruction is unmatched. C-ko, though, may be the true star of the movie. She is the epitome of useless – and again, that’s not an insult. She is the red herring in the story, and there’s a surprising twist I guarantee you won’t see coming. C-ko is endearing as the most unremarkable character in the cast, and her good-natured way makes her that much more appealing.
Regarding the animation, it’s clean and what you would expect from a Japanese anime. B-ko and A-ko are sexualized (more on that in a moment), and C-ko embellishes every reaction. Her reactions to everyone are hilarious, as are A-ko’s oversized expressions when regrettably eating one of C-ko’s lunches. I will caution, though, this is not a children’s story, so I wouldn’t show it to extremely young children. You may be tempted to, considering how outlandish the movie is, but both A-ko and B-ko appear topless (!!!!!!!), and B-ko wears nothing more than a bikini in the final battle with A-ko, so keep that in mind.
The action is as epic as you would expect. The final confrontation takes place on a spaceship, and before boarding it, A-ko and B-ko have to dodge a bazillion bullets and missiles before laying waste to the ship while on board. That’s in addition to encounters A-ko has with B-ko’s immense mechs, an oversized classmate named Mari, and a bizarre female spy named Spy D on the spaceship. If you’re a fan of comics, you’ll enjoy the impressive battles between A-ko and her various foes.
The soundtrack is as up-tempo as you would expect, and surprisingly, the music is all in English. Richie Zito and Joey Carbone did the score; Zito produced records for, amongst others, Joe Cocker, Cher and Poison. Carbone is a veteran of composing/arranging music for shows such as China Beach, Falcon Crest, Entertainment Tonight, and numerous Japanese albums. The music is catchy and fits the action on the screen perfectly.
Project A-ko is a hell of a fun time and well worth the 84 minutes the movie runs. Between the terrific characters and their otherworldly exploits, the hilarious, outrageous plot, the fantastic soundtrack and the superheroic action, there’s something here for every fantasy fan. I highly recommend checking this flick out.