Rating: Summary: How A-Ko died... Review: Project A-Ko was easily one of the more popular franchises to come out of Japan. It was perfect. Two students fight over the affection of a third student. (Think Archie) A large and well-developed cast of supporting characters. A setting where almost anything could happen. I have never understood why this wasn't made into a tv series. Then along comes these two movies (theatricaly released, if I recall). The relationship of the three characters is changed completely. The background and supporting characters are gone, all gone. And instead of the humor we were accustomed to, we get a plot and script that approaches the horror genre. The fans stayed away in droves, and A-Ko was never seen again. I can never forgive this movie for that, and it will never be a part of my collection. And frankly, I don't reccomend it be a part of yours either. This isn't Project A-ko. It's just a stolen title and stolen characters superimposed over an otherwise forgettable movie.
Rating: Summary: A-Ko remastered Review: The Collector's Series DVD version of Project A-ko is all new version of an anime classic. This version is far better then the old Image version in just about every way. CPM were able to locate the original full screen version of the film (all the old versions had the top and bottom cut off to create a wide screen version for the theater), and the film has been Digialy remastered. The remaster was well done, colour is much better then the old release, black level is back where it should be without being crushed. I don't see any artifacts like I have seen in some other remastered animation. Gone are the badly timed white subtitles of the Image release, this version has very easy to read subtitles in yellow with thin black boarder.Extras? Some of the best I've seen on any anime DVD! All the extras from the old LD are back (missing on the Image DVD), plus new ones from the Japanese SE LD, plus some created just for this release. If you buy the A-ko box set you also get the sound track on a CD (along with two more DVDs). There are lots of good reviews here about the movie, I've just reviewed the technical features of this DVD. If you have ever been interested in this movie, or even already have a Image version THIS is the version to buy! I don't see how it could be any better.
Rating: Summary: NOOOOOOOO Review: The first animation I've seen...The best animation I've seen. Absolutely great movie without being too serious or too joking. It has almost every thing an Animation fan would want. Robots, Space Ships, Planes, Super Powers and Fighting. Add a little humor and a dose of seriousness and you've got yourself a good time. The movie is about A-Ko, your average high school gal...with super powers?? Yep!! And her best friend C-Ko who is so nice and ignorant it's down right annoying. And the super genius antagonist B-Ko who is trying to steal C-Ko's affection away from A-Ko. Everything goes screwy when Aliens come to Earth looking for their long lost Princess. All and all this movie is awesome. If you haven't seen it than you're not a true animation fan! Have Fun with this one!
Rating: Summary: Hold it...!! Review: The following review refers to a previous DVD edition. Somehow this got attached to the new "collector" edition which, judging by at least one other review, looks to be pretty good. Go ahead and get this edition, and pay no mind to what follows:I won't go on about how great this movie is. I leave that to the other reviewers. What I will talk about is the dreadful job that has been done releasing this. The picture is grainy. They didn't clean up the scratches on the film. The sound quality on the Japanese track is okay, but is shockingly poor on the english dub. Trust me, even if you prefer dubs to subs, you won't like this. They also put the subtitles on the picture itself instead of below it like they used to. I advise you to wait for the Project A-ko collection. Rent it first, and see if they don't do a better job. It's a shame. This movie deserves better.
Rating: Summary: Great movie with good satirical qualities Review: This anime is very comedic and is often viewed as a satire of all anime up to that time. However, it does have a plot of its own. The main setting is an all-girls school where the heroine, A-ko, and her best friend, C-ko, is confronted by B-ko who wishes to break up their friendship and take C-ko for herself. Each main character has her own unique qualities, A-ko is super strong, B-ko is rich and a brilliant engineer, and C-ko is extremely cute (through the eyes of the characters). B-ko uses all her resources and goes to extreme measures to try and achieve her goal. This provides for some great action and comedic scenes. Meanwhile, there's another unknown menace that threatens them all.... Definitely, a great movie to watch. This is the first movie in the series of six Project A-ko movies. I am glad to have it on DVD because it is bilingual, and it is like owning both VHS copies (subtitled and dubbed) in one package.
Rating: Summary: The English dub audio sucks!! Review: This is one of the few animes that I still get a kick out of (mainly because of the fact that it is an anime that ridicules its own genre). After seeing my fair share of Japanese animation movies and series, I have noticed an unfortunate trend. That is, that anime is utterly plagued with stereotypes. This movie redeems itself in that it (quite intentionally) pokes fun at those rampantly recurring elements that make up Japanese animation. What themes am I referring to? I'm talkin' bout' epic space battles with zillions of missles, about ultra hot women fighting and striking poses left and right, about the stupid sailor outfits, gigantic robots, jealousy among peers in a prestigious school, etc. Just about every sterotype is represented here, and played off as exactly that. So check it out. There's something here for you no matter what. I'm willing to bet that if you love or hate most animes, you'll at least enjoy this somewhat. I also want to point out the fact that the overall QUALITY of the animation here is AMAZING even today. ... This is the one to watch. This movie has provided me with a surprizing amount of entertainment value over the years, and has imparted a strange attraction to redheads on me to boot.
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