I was officialy the last worker of APPP; the companny closed unfortunatly 1 year ago After the last producer owner Nomura past away 16:47 . Until that day the companny did any colaboration he could to keep going but was not profitable at all. 40 Years of historical animation companny disapierd in 1 week. Watching this video left me really nostalgic.
By brain still can't process seeing A-ko in such clarity. I watched my grainy, bootleg, VHS copy dozens, maybe even hundreds of times back in the day. I'd LOVE to see the whole series get this level of visual upgrade!
Some people have said that it's almost too clear but imo I think it's really awesome to pretty much see the cels in the same state the animators were seeing them all those years ago. Can't wait for A-Ko 2 to come out but especially part 3
That remaster will never stop impressing me. And Discotek went all-out on the extras, too. Damn near everything they release feels like a labor of love for the art form, and nothing shows that better than the A-ko Blu-ray.
@@MarsGundam What's funny is that Discotek initially had a commercial AI upscaler working on remastering the movie; what they showed off looked leagues better than any other home video release. Then they got the original masters, and the rest is history.
"Project A-Ko" is easily one of my top ten personal favorite animes. Usually, I prefer anime with the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles, but this is one of the few where I actually prefer the English dub version. And the soundtrack is a must-have. Thanks for providing all of the background info.
I recently purchased all four Peoject A-ko blurays and just wrapped it all up with Project A-ko Final earlier tonight. I was curious to see what UA-cam had on the series and stumbled onto this little gem of a video. I have had a bootleg copy of the first two features since the late 80s on VHS and boy do they look so much better now. This was a really well done retrospective, I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Project A-ko was from a special time for anime in America when it was still a Very nerdy thing. Back when you and your friends were borrowing copied VHS tapes from each other and no one outside your group knew what anime was. Catching it on TV for the first time during the Sci-fi channel's Summer of Anime(Summer NOT Saturday) was a awesome thing. It's great to see so many people still discovering this title and seeing it available across streaming platforms. This was a great way to celebrate 100 episodes and I hope you go for 100 more...Also, Supernova?? WTF?
I think about how back then, people may have known about Japanese goods, but not the name anime. I remember liking some giant robots back then among Saturday morning cartoons. That wasn't what gave me a burning desire to visit Japan. That was lit by the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. It was 1989. I was 5. Turbo power sounded like magic to 80s kids. Twin Turbo could only mean ultra magic to my childish logic.
I LOVE Project A-ko as far back as I saw it in a local China town theater that show foreign films and one day in 1986 I was 14 years old and got to see history in the making. To this day I still have many A-ko items from comics, posters soundtrack CDs and all the VHS and later DVDs.
Wait a minute... Queen of the school vs. super tough MC? An airheaded sidekick? Battle bikini? Alien overlords pulling the strings? I feel like I've seen this somewhere before but where? Oh, 8:18 there it is.
Always loved Project A-ko. This, Tank Police and Vampire Hunter D were my introduction to anime back in the early 90s. It used to be on several times a year on the Sci-Fi channel's Saturday Anime.
From Saturday anime, to manga video, to adv. after that I more or less left anime behind. Revisiting some of the old ones now, maybe my mid life crisis is on the horizon
@@jimmyp.6180 it's also weird how A-Ko's parents being Superman and Wonder Woman basically predicted their relationship in the much divisive New 52 reboot DC had at the time
Project A-ko wasn't my first anime, but it was my first Japanese-language and titled anime. Before that, I was very familiar with such titles as "Kimba The White Lion," "Astro Boy," "Speed Racer," "Battle Of The Planets," and "Star Blazers," having no idea that everything about them had been totally "localized" for American audiences. I noticed all of the "odd" names in the credits, figuring out that these programs weren't American, but I had no idea how much about them were changed in the process of bringing them to the US. Project A-ko changed my perceptions about "Japanimation" completely, and it gave me an unquenchable thirst for "the real thing." I watched a lot of anime that found its way over here in the 90s, like Gunbuster and Bubblegum Crisis, and I'm still a fan today.
42:31 - I'm normally pretty down on 80's anime sex comedy, but for some reason the joke that they have to post the special forces assembly alert in porno theatres because they just know that more than one of their agents will be there AND that it happens so often they have a nudie-themed message is hilarious to me.
Sad there’s no mention that in an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation there’s a couple banners on the wall in an alien language that if you translate them say LUM and A-KO. If you wanted to know how influential and widespread this anime was at the time, it’s even referenced in STAR TREK.
@@Strideo1 I dunno, when talking about the impact this series had on pop culture outside of Japan, having references in one of THE largest sci-fi franchises of the 90’s is a pretty big deal wouldn’t you say? I think it’s sad to not include that piece of trivia.
It is best never to judge a culture or a moment in time by it's big, tentpole, high brow media offerings. If you want to know what a place and time was like, you look at the comfortable little mid tier offerings that most people didn't think would echo through the annals of history. Case in point.
Project A-ko was actually one of the anime movies I watched recently and I love it. I especially fell in love with the song "Follow your dreams" by Valerie Stephenson, it's so full of energy, awesomness and it's just a totally rad 80's tune you just can't hate.
I loved this anime. Came on Sci-Fi once in the 90’s and like Iria the Animation it definitely had an impact. I haven’t been able to find a subbed version on the net. Looking back, yea, not the best. But it was part of the introduction to anime.
After watching this little retrospective, I immediately ordered the Blu-ray for this movie online, I wanna see this piece of history for myself, and considering I'm a millennial who got into anime through awesome works like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Pokémon, One Piece, Gurren Lagann, and basically any project from Studio Trigger
@@KaiserBeamz pretty awesome doing 100 episodes, and here's to 100 more, loved your videos on the Lupin III movies, Perfect Blue, Unico, Metropolis, and basically everytime you talk about an ecchi anime like Agent Aika
I first started watching anime in 1994 when my mom got satellite TV (the one with the big dish with C-Band that had to rotate to get the signal) and I stumbled across this channel called N1 - Network 1 which showed Fist of the North Star the 1986 OVA and I was blown away. It was called Japanination and the channel showed only stuff from Streamline Pictures like Akira, Dirty Pair , Zillion , Crying Freeman , etc. then the channel disappeared in early 1996 and I was like where can I watch anime now? Then along came Sci-Fi channel with Saturday Anime when they showed the first Project A-Ko movie and Project A-ko VS parts 1 and 2. I loved both of them especially the last one because it reminded me a lot of Dirty Pair in way. I eventually saw the other 3 Project A-Ko OVAs thanks to Hollywood Video renting them and copying them to VHS with 2 VCRs hooked together since most anime released back then didn't have Macrovision copy protection like everything else on home video. I really enjoyed this episode and this channel. Thank you.
4:05 "Why in the world would any American watch to watch a Japanese cartoon?" It's often forgotten that there was still anti-Japanese sentiment in the 80's. Possibly a holdover from WWII. I remember there were some people who thought it was unpatriotic to buy a Toyota or other Japanese car.
I saw an animation book from the 80's, there section on Japan was more to look non West-centric. There visual example was Sazae-san. It's understandable from examples like that for people to see Japanese animation as lackluster and serving national interest.
Reminder that this was the decade where a Chinese-American auto worker named Vincent Chin was murdered because they thought he was Japanese, and they blamed him for the loss of their jobs.
I watched Project A-Ko. I have noticed that the people of Earth attacked the aliens first and introduced 2 throwaway characters that looked like heroes. Love the anime.
3:34 Akemi!!! My very first waifu lol. I bought the VHSes of Legend Of The Overfiend way back in I think the early 90's. First time me and my friends saw them our teenage minds were blown. It was like nothing we had ever seen before. Still one of my favorite OVA's
Thank you for such amazing coverage on this anime. When I saw this anime in the 90's I loved the show and the soundtrack so much, I had to buy the soundtrack twice. (I lent a CD to a friend and it danced away) This anime was a punny collection of everything I needed in one tight and tidy package. The soundtrack has been a part of my life so long it feels like it has always been there. Thank you for such detailed background on why this anime grabbed my heart so hard!
Wow, what a blast from the past. Saw all of these on sci fi channel as a kid; in all these elapsed years, theyve blended together like a fever dream lol. So it was really cool getting to hear a comprehensive history of their production. I had no idea they were so influentual! Thanks for a great video
Jeez man...I gotta THANK YOU for putting this together. I'm an editor myself so I know the kind of time and energy that must have went into making this. Very well researched. Project Ako is very special to me as it was the first anime I'd ever seen and my introduction to the genre. As a kid my brain couldn't believe how beautiful and engaging the animation and story telling was and couldn't get enough. This was jam packed with information and context that I was completely unaware of. I didn't think it was possible to love Ako anymore than I already did but thanks to this video, I'm even higher on it. Thank you for the time and energy once again. This was absolutely brilliant. Please add a super thanks button to this video so I can show my appreciation monetarily.
Personally I love Project Ako VS! Alot of the hilarious face expressions and humor felt straight out of a Rumiko Takahashi( Ranma, Lum) / Johji Manabe ( Outlanders, Drakkun, Caravan Kid)! It was so hard to share with my friends why it was so funny and why I watched it so many times on Sci-fi Channel til I bought the VHS/DVD. It truly was my 1st love into anime and always my fave! Also the dub is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Worth repeating, the story of how A-ko got its master back. Back in the late 80s/early 90s Robert Woodhead was debating which anime property would be Animeigo's first license. A-ko was one of them, but it was so "out there" that he decided to go with Rojin-Z instead (a story he told to a small audience in State College during the preliminary rounds of an Anime Gameshow at Otakon, to our amusement and his embarrassment). Fast forward to 2020 or so. Woodhead is preparing for a deluxe blu-ray release of his company's first release and is trying to dig up the masters. They are located in storage, by a physical inventory of a likely location and a list is prepared.. Woodhead notices that the NEXT property after his looks VERY familiar, and gets on the speed dial to DiscoTek Media. Discotek has been using computers to synthetically "make" a master for almost a year, they drop their work on A-ko and get on the phone to Japan.. And, you can see (and buy!) the results.
I remember in the 90's when you might see Robert Woodhead in a guest panel talking about the industry and then later on see him in the dealer's room at the AnimEigo booth selling his company's products personally and just talking anime with other anime fans. Looking back at that time it's kind of amazing how "home grown" the scene felt in those days and I lament how much more commercialized everything became later on but that's always how these things go, I suppose.
I have these on VHS and DVD. These are the first anime I found in video shops on my own in the early 90s. Project Ako has had such a huge impact on me. Sounds silly, I’m aware, but damnit I love this movie. Thank you for the amount of work that surely went into this video. I’m just some dude, but I appreciate you
Let's see . . . an '80s anime that has parodies of earlier works, a love triangle, giant robots, ad alien invasion, fanservice, and a kick-ass soundtrack. Are you _sure_ this isn't Gunbuster?
Great video. Project A-ko is one of my fav movies of all time, and I think the sound track is one of the best. Spaceship in the dark is just perfection.
One of my all time favourites. Project AKO was one of the first Anime films I was introduced to back in the early nineties in the Uk via Manga Entertainment. Akira, Fist of the North Star, Dominion Tank Police, Venus Wars. Urotsukidoji. I owned it on VHS and watched it hundreds of times as a kid. My parents had no idea what was happening. I’m so glad they managed to find the original negatives to this film for the new BluRay release. If you like this I would also recommend Ultimate Teacher and Moldiver. Two anime that have a similar tone. Thanks so much for making this video btw. It’s great having more context to a film I cherish.
Great choice for your 100th episode! Project A-ko was the first anime I saw that was marketed as Japanese, unlike Voltron, Star Blazers, and Speed Racer. It was shown on the Sci-Fi channel in the mid 90's. Although I missed the beginning, I definitely remember B-ko's battle suit. Later in 1997 I rented it on videotape and it became a favorite.
I loved Project A-Ko! Especially B-ko's forever jealousy od C-ko's relationship with A-ko.. loved all the different 'variations" of the basic story haha
The first movie abd Uncivil Wars were excellent. Although Uncivil War might be a re-imagining, it was still a great action packed and entertaining movie. Love these movies. Great job on the video too!
23:10 Wait, so Osamu Tezuka saw this and praised the missile jump scene? This would have been in his final few years alive and he was once considered the God of Manga. Perhaps this was the same person the animators of Project A-Ko as the God of Anime watching over them.
This Anime is single handedly responsible for my entire anime artistic beginnings all the way to the exquisite artwork I ended up producing later in life....not to mention I loved the soundtrack and bought it as soon as I could get it...The film is hilarious and a great visual masterpiece especially among the fight sequences!!! I have the DVD collection as well!
Project Ako 3- That beautiful intro sequence were by Yasuomi Umetsu, y'know...Kite, Mezzo Forte and of coarse my favorite, Robot Carnivals Presence. You can also see his beautiful character design of Ako in the clothes dressing sequence( before the Ghidorah head!) He also contributed to ' The Colonel' scene In the 1st Ako film!
In the '90s this was the subbed tape I would show to friends I was trying to get into anime. They found it accessible despite all the Japanese in-jokes.
It’s amazing that you name those 3 animes to be the most important because those had to be if not thee first 3, the first 3 I and my 2 best friends had on repeat early on. I always loved the energy of this anime and the wink at her parents felt rewarding being a comic geek. Thanks for this and your channel overall. Keep it up 👍🏾.
31:10 Good point when pointing out that Project A-Ko was inspired by old Anime of the past but also made by newbies who were big fans of what came before when they were growing up. Also a good point where Project A-Ko is a Parody Anime, much like when it comes to Hollywood Spoof films with Airplane, Naked Gun, Hot Shoots and the Mel Brooks films like Robin Hood Men in Tights. All of which wear their Parody Film status proudly on their chests.
After watching my Bluray of A-KO I remember fondly wearing out the old VHS tapes I had of the film over the years. I never saw the 2nd OVA way back in the 90's but I had the old Antarctic Press comic. I loved the 3rd OVA, and I don't think to this day I've ever watched Project A-KO FINAL in it's entirety. Although I've been a life long Anime fan, and animator, Project A-KO was like an amazing girl friend I had for a brief summer and like Ranma Half she just vanished from my interest. It's cool watching it now after seeing Macross DYRL? and other gems from that era. Lastly, I really liked the final OVA two parter where they are basically The Dirty Pair. The A-KO series always kept it fresh, with it's simplicity and style.
Thank you so much for your energy and time making this. its definitely a piece of history for future generations of Anime and manga fan, super nostalgia x1000000 I was only 10 years old when it came out on VHS
Congratulations on 100 episodes! You are without a doubt my favorite anime reviewer on UA-cam and I've discovered a lot of great titles thanks to your videos. Keep up the good work!
Some Project Ako movie and Iria was my first anime I remmeber seeing late one night on the scifi channel in like 97 or so when I was a young kid This brings back many great memories and I'm grateful to learn the history behind the production. Thank you for all the research and hard work making this entertaining and informative video.
There's a shot in Flashback 2012 of Minmei with an 80s sweater, the ones with yarn detailing that's so distinctly 80s and I've never seen it anywhere in any kind of movies or anime.
I couldn't think of a better anime for you to do your 100th episode than Project A-ko and it is an anime that has a special place in my heart with regards to my personal taste in anime and how it helped cement my love for this medium. I first became aware of project a-ko from my best friend in high school in which his family owned a chinese food restaurant in the community where I went to high school. He was heavily into computers and one of the cd-roms that he actually had had two long clips from the first project a-ko movie. One scene was the starship battle where the giant space station got blown up, and the other clip was the first 5 to 7 minutes of the a-ko vs b-ko power suit fight. I was incredibly lucky to find a vhs copy of this tape at a local video store and I asked the video store if I could actually buy it. Thankfully they let me buy the tape and I was hooked on it. I never had an opportunity to watch the other project a-ko entries until after college in the mid 2000's because my friend had them all on vhs. I have watched both the dubbed and subtitled version of the first project a-ko movie, and even though I'm a hardcore english dub fan I actually thought the english dub for project a-ko was actually great and despite it being such an early anime release the english dub was more than competent well in my eyes anyway. I think I recall somebody telling me that one of the vocalists for the songs dance away and follow your dreams was also responsible for voicing the songs from Jem and the holograms as well. If it's one thing that really breaks my heart especially from the early central park media releases is I would really love to hear the stories from the original english dub cast when it came to voicing the characters from this timeless anime. I don't know what it is, but I almost feel obligated to let these people know how much their work means to me because I would like them to know that they are appreciated and respected for their english voice work when it came to anime coming to the west while it was trying to find it's foundation. I would love to hear the stories from Stacey Gregg (A-Ko), Danica Fairman (B-ko), and Julia Brahms (C-ko) when it came to voicing this anime becuase there are some english voice actors that have already passed away such as Spy D (Marc Smith) and the Captain (Jay Benedict). This anime perfect encompasses a perfect mix of action and comedy with one hell of a soundtrack and I'm grateful that I had a chance to watch it when I did. It's definitely an important part of my personal history with anime and it deserves every bit of praise it deserves for being a cult classic and a very important part of building an anime foundation in the west.
Wonderfully thorough and well-researched video - adore the film(s), and watching this makes me appreciate it on another level! Excellent commentary, have only just found your channel, but I’m really enjoying your material!
Middle school Scifi channel Anime Movie Marathon introduced me to anime. Caught this awesomness and Akira , Venus Wars, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, Kashan Robot Hunter, M.D Geist and others. Ako will always be a favorite.
In many ways it feels like a feature-length version of the Daicon III&IV opening animations. Just an endless stream of cool stuff and otaku parodies with the thinnest attempt at a plot to keep things going. The missile jump sequence in particular always reminds me of the sword-surfing. The problem is that, as much fun as it is,, the board-driven nature gives it a rambling, improvisational feel. Things are always moving forward to the next idea, not building naturally or being edited back into a coherent narrative. If something new comes to mind, that's now the plot.
I think project a-ko foreshadowed a superman/wonder-woman romance and a child produced from such a romance while before the kingdom come comics were ever produced
Hey, it's the 'Voltron' promos from WPWR (The Power Of Chicago Land) taken from Fuzzy Memories! Anyway, 'Project A-Ko' was one of my early anime purchases on DVD in the 2000's. My circle of friends have given this movie huge praise, and prefer that over 'Akira', and it's easy to see why. It's a fun little anime romp that doesn't take itself seriously, but executes it's humor REALLY well. It's a shame that a movie like that will never get made in this day, and age, and the fact that animation is valued less than reality shows is infuriating because, to paraphrase those New York business men, 'Why would anyone want to watch A reality show?!' Sadly, millions of people did.
God, that "Supernova" bastardization... Thank god it never happened in THIS timeline, right? Right? Apparently, you have a VHS teaser that is incredibly rare. I remember that those trailers would pop up on low-budget VHS rental tapes every so often, making promises of films "COMING SOON!"... Of course, (and lucky for us) they never came out, either because the production company went bankrupt or they got sued or some other act of divine intervention.
Great video for a more than deserving Movie/series/ I'd love to see you tackle the rest. I have all the A-ko movies on an external hard drive, old rips in about 480p, and I still put them on every few years or so. I agree with your conclusion. I hope there will be a time where anime can go back to being creative driven, not just statistics driven. Also, Supernova. I'd still have watched that. 🤘😂
Thank you for this amazing series. I’ve found more and more anime to watch (some I’ve heard of but was yet to be convinced to urgently seek out and even more anime I’ve never even heard of) because of your channel. The writing and editing is great to listen to and I look forward to what you have to say more than your contemporaries in the anime UA-cam scene. I’ll be here the whole way through for your next 100 Kyoto Video episodes!
I first learned of this anime from this video so I have zero nostalgia for A-ko and I think this is one of the greatest anime that exists. I immediately stop watching anime when I see anything cookie cutter in the first few minutes, but with A-ko it feels like it's making fun of anime that's even made 20+ years after it's time. It's very much "anime the anime: the parody". A-ko really is everything great about anime.
I was officialy the last worker of APPP; the companny closed unfortunatly 1 year ago After the last producer owner Nomura past away 16:47 . Until that day the companny did any colaboration he could to keep going but was not profitable at all. 40 Years of historical animation companny disapierd in 1 week. Watching this video left me really nostalgic.
お疲れ様でした。
I will contribute by making the 1080p one with English dub
what year did it close?
@@lucianocoutrim14 2021. June. The lasts project we worked in was "神在月の子供 on Netflix and 大正処女". All Just collaborations sub contract.
@@lucianocoutrim14 He literally said 1 year ago
By brain still can't process seeing A-ko in such clarity. I watched my grainy, bootleg, VHS copy dozens, maybe even hundreds of times back in the day. I'd LOVE to see the whole series get this level of visual upgrade!
Well, Discotek just announced a remastering of Project A-ko 2 while I was making this video. So it looks like you just might get your wish.
Same here, I was wondering why does it look so clean? But that's what happens why you have access to the movie's masters.
Some people have said that it's almost too clear but imo I think it's really awesome to pretty much see the cels in the same state the animators were seeing them all those years ago. Can't wait for A-Ko 2 to come out but especially part 3
That remaster will never stop impressing me. And Discotek went all-out on the extras, too. Damn near everything they release feels like a labor of love for the art form, and nothing shows that better than the A-ko Blu-ray.
@@MarsGundam What's funny is that Discotek initially had a commercial AI upscaler working on remastering the movie; what they showed off looked leagues better than any other home video release. Then they got the original masters, and the rest is history.
“Does this even NEED to be a porno?”
Words that I’m pretty sure could only be said in the anime industry.
"Project A-Ko" is easily one of my top ten personal favorite animes. Usually, I prefer anime with the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles, but this is one of the few where I actually prefer the English dub version. And the soundtrack is a must-have. Thanks for providing all of the background info.
Wow, I only just found this. I was a CPM employee from 1995 to 2001 and A-Ko was always one of our biggest and most important titles.
I bought the earliest DVD releases of 'Project A-Ko' from Central Park Media over the years, and now own the Discotek Blu Ray.
I recently purchased all four Peoject A-ko blurays and just wrapped it all up with Project A-ko Final earlier tonight. I was curious to see what UA-cam had on the series and stumbled onto this little gem of a video. I have had a bootleg copy of the first two features since the late 80s on VHS and boy do they look so much better now. This was a really well done retrospective, I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Did you watch the blue side grey side movie??? It's really awesome❤🎉❤🎉
Project A-ko was from a special time for anime in America when it was still a Very nerdy thing. Back when you and your friends were borrowing copied VHS tapes from each other and no one outside your group knew what anime was. Catching it on TV for the first time during the Sci-fi channel's Summer of Anime(Summer NOT Saturday) was a awesome thing. It's great to see so many people still discovering this title and seeing it available across streaming platforms. This was a great way to celebrate 100 episodes and I hope you go for 100 more...Also, Supernova?? WTF?
I think about how back then, people may have known about Japanese goods, but not the name anime. I remember liking some giant robots back then among Saturday morning cartoons.
That wasn't what gave me a burning desire to visit Japan. That was lit by the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. It was 1989. I was 5. Turbo power sounded like magic to 80s kids. Twin Turbo could only mean ultra magic to my childish logic.
I LOVE Project A-ko as far back as I saw it in a local China town theater that show foreign films and one day in 1986 I was 14 years old and got to see history in the making. To this day I still have many A-ko items from comics, posters soundtrack CDs and all the VHS and later DVDs.
You are very lucky to have seen this in theaters.
Wait a minute... Queen of the school vs. super tough MC? An airheaded sidekick? Battle bikini? Alien overlords pulling the strings? I feel like I've seen this somewhere before but where?
Oh, 8:18 there it is.
Great right
Combine Project A-ko with Sukeban Deka (the ED is a literal copy of the first live-action series' OP) and you're most of the way there.
Always loved Project A-ko. This, Tank Police and Vampire Hunter D were my introduction to anime back in the early 90s. It used to be on several times a year on the Sci-Fi channel's Saturday Anime.
It's a shame Sci-Fi never committed to anime. They could've been a real competitor to Cartoon Network's Toonami.
Same here man! Robot Carnival, 8man after, Cashan, Gall Force, Lensman and soooo much more! Hell, Guyver was played often! I miss those times.
Yeah love old school anime especially from the late 70's to early/mid 90's.
Same. Long live Sci Fi Saturday Anime! ❤️
From Saturday anime, to manga video, to adv. after that I more or less left anime behind. Revisiting some of the old ones now, maybe my mid life crisis is on the horizon
Ah, my favorite American animation "Supernova"!
Ok seriously what IS that? Were there plans to Americanize this film or sonething? The hell is Gaga Productions?
Imagine living in A world where 'Project A-Ko' became known as 'Supernova' in the west.
@@Launchpad05 I looked it up. We dodged a bullet.
@@jimmyp.6180 it's also weird how A-Ko's parents being Superman and Wonder Woman basically predicted their relationship in the much divisive New 52 reboot DC had at the time
@@Launchpad05 Well, I can. That's because I before I knew what Gatchaman was, I enjoyed G-Force, and before I knew what GoLion was, I liked Voltron.
Project A-ko wasn't my first anime, but it was my first Japanese-language and titled anime. Before that, I was very familiar with such titles as "Kimba The White Lion," "Astro Boy," "Speed Racer," "Battle Of The Planets," and "Star Blazers," having no idea that everything about them had been totally "localized" for American audiences. I noticed all of the "odd" names in the credits, figuring out that these programs weren't American, but I had no idea how much about them were changed in the process of bringing them to the US.
Project A-ko changed my perceptions about "Japanimation" completely, and it gave me an unquenchable thirst for "the real thing." I watched a lot of anime that found its way over here in the 90s, like Gunbuster and Bubblegum Crisis, and I'm still a fan today.
42:31 - I'm normally pretty down on 80's anime sex comedy, but for some reason the joke that they have to post the special forces assembly alert in porno theatres because they just know that more than one of their agents will be there AND that it happens so often they have a nudie-themed message is hilarious to me.
That was great.
Project A-Ko wasn’t THE first animé I saw, but it was one of them. And I adored it.
Sad there’s no mention that in an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation there’s a couple banners on the wall in an alien language that if you translate them say LUM and A-KO. If you wanted to know how influential and widespread this anime was at the time, it’s even referenced in STAR TREK.
Nice but source?
@@emmawatson9180 "The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers."
@@jimlight5137 nice, arigato
That's a neat bit of trivia but I'd hardly describe its lack of inclusion as "sad".
@@Strideo1 I dunno, when talking about the impact this series had on pop culture outside of Japan, having references in one of THE largest sci-fi franchises of the 90’s is a pretty big deal wouldn’t you say? I think it’s sad to not include that piece of trivia.
It is best never to judge a culture or a moment in time by it's big, tentpole, high brow media offerings. If you want to know what a place and time was like, you look at the comfortable little mid tier offerings that most people didn't think would echo through the annals of history. Case in point.
Really good episode and origin of Project A-ko (classic anime), but 15:20 whoops, forgot to censor!
Project A-ko, one of my first animes. That, and Wicked City.
Project A-ko was actually one of the anime movies I watched recently and I love it. I especially fell in love with the song "Follow your dreams" by Valerie Stephenson, it's so full of energy, awesomness and it's just a totally rad 80's tune you just can't hate.
Project Ako will always be the poineer of the girl with toast running meme for me. Loved this show on SMA!!
I loved this anime. Came on Sci-Fi once in the 90’s and like Iria the Animation it definitely had an impact. I haven’t been able to find a subbed version on the net. Looking back, yea, not the best. But it was part of the introduction to anime.
"At the ripe old age of 25" wow makes me feel old. Great video, thank you!
After watching this little retrospective, I immediately ordered the Blu-ray for this movie online, I wanna see this piece of history for myself, and considering I'm a millennial who got into anime through awesome works like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Pokémon, One Piece, Gurren Lagann, and basically any project from Studio Trigger
Good to know I'm doing my job
@@KaiserBeamz pretty awesome doing 100 episodes, and here's to 100 more, loved your videos on the Lupin III movies, Perfect Blue, Unico, Metropolis, and basically everytime you talk about an ecchi anime like Agent Aika
The 80s was the last time anime could really be this good right ?
38:32 huh, so this where Dr. Wily managed to get funding to construct all of his Skull Fortresses in the Classic series. Neat.
I caught that freedom planet ost in the background and I approve
I first started watching anime in 1994 when my mom got satellite TV (the one with the big dish with C-Band that had to rotate to get the signal) and I stumbled across this channel called N1 - Network 1 which showed Fist of the North Star the 1986 OVA and I was blown away. It was called Japanination and the channel showed only stuff from Streamline Pictures like Akira, Dirty Pair , Zillion , Crying Freeman , etc. then the channel disappeared in early 1996 and I was like where can I watch anime now? Then along came Sci-Fi channel with Saturday Anime when they showed the first Project A-Ko movie and Project A-ko VS parts 1 and 2. I loved both of them especially the last one because it reminded me a lot of Dirty Pair in way. I eventually saw the other 3 Project A-Ko OVAs thanks to Hollywood Video renting them and copying them to VHS with 2 VCRs hooked together since most anime released back then didn't have Macrovision copy protection like everything else on home video. I really enjoyed this episode and this channel. Thank you.
4:05 "Why in the world would any American watch to watch a Japanese cartoon?" It's often forgotten that there was still anti-Japanese sentiment in the 80's. Possibly a holdover from WWII. I remember there were some people who thought it was unpatriotic to buy a Toyota or other Japanese car.
I saw an animation book from the 80's, there section on Japan was more to look non West-centric. There visual example was Sazae-san. It's understandable from examples like that for people to see Japanese animation as lackluster and serving national interest.
Reminder that this was the decade where a Chinese-American auto worker named Vincent Chin was murdered because they thought he was Japanese, and they blamed him for the loss of their jobs.
@@NinjaMaster551 Thanks for the info. I was a just a little kid in 1982 and had never heard about this horrible incident before.
Turns out @Kaiserbeamz touched on this subject in his Nineteen19 review.
I think more people should be asking 'Why would anyone want to watch A reality show?!'
Normal Person: "Why would a Western Kid in their Adult Years want to watch Cartoons from Japan?"
Me: "If you know, you know."
I got into anime in high-school in the mid-90s and Project A-Ko was probably the third anime i watched.
I watched Project A-Ko. I have noticed that the people of Earth attacked the aliens first and introduced 2 throwaway characters that looked like heroes. Love the anime.
3:34 Akemi!!! My very first waifu lol. I bought the VHSes of Legend Of The Overfiend way back in I think the early 90's. First time me and my friends saw them our teenage minds were blown.
It was like nothing we had ever seen before. Still one of my favorite OVA's
As far as westernized Anime titles go, "Supernova" ain't too bad.
Fantastic video, I'm definitely getting the blu ray for Project A-ko!
Thank you for such amazing coverage on this anime. When I saw this anime in the 90's I loved the show and the soundtrack so much, I had to buy the soundtrack twice. (I lent a CD to a friend and it danced away) This anime was a punny collection of everything I needed in one tight and tidy package. The soundtrack has been a part of my life so long it feels like it has always been there. Thank you for such detailed background on why this anime grabbed my heart so hard!
Wow, what a blast from the past. Saw all of these on sci fi channel as a kid; in all these elapsed years, theyve blended together like a fever dream lol. So it was really cool getting to hear a comprehensive history of their production. I had no idea they were so influentual! Thanks for a great video
Project A-ko got the best blu ray transfer I have ever seen.
Jeez man...I gotta THANK YOU for putting this together. I'm an editor myself so I know the kind of time and energy that must have went into making this. Very well researched. Project Ako is very special to me as it was the first anime I'd ever seen and my introduction to the genre. As a kid my brain couldn't believe how beautiful and engaging the animation and story telling was and couldn't get enough. This was jam packed with information and context that I was completely unaware of. I didn't think it was possible to love Ako anymore than I already did but thanks to this video, I'm even higher on it. Thank you for the time and energy once again. This was absolutely brilliant. Please add a super thanks button to this video so I can show my appreciation monetarily.
One of the anime that kickstarted my love for it back in the early 90s!
Personally I love Project Ako VS! Alot of the hilarious face expressions and humor felt straight out of a Rumiko Takahashi( Ranma, Lum) / Johji Manabe ( Outlanders, Drakkun, Caravan Kid)! It was so hard to share with my friends why it was so funny and why I watched it so many times on Sci-fi Channel til I bought the VHS/DVD. It truly was my 1st love into anime and always my fave! Also the dub is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Worth repeating, the story of how A-ko got its master back.
Back in the late 80s/early 90s Robert Woodhead was debating which anime property would be Animeigo's first license. A-ko was one of them, but it was so "out there" that he decided to go with Rojin-Z instead (a story he told to a small audience in State College during the preliminary rounds of an Anime Gameshow at Otakon, to our amusement and his embarrassment).
Fast forward to 2020 or so. Woodhead is preparing for a deluxe blu-ray release of his company's first release and is trying to dig up the masters. They are located in storage, by a physical inventory of a likely location and a list is prepared.. Woodhead notices that the NEXT property after his looks VERY familiar, and gets on the speed dial to DiscoTek Media.
Discotek has been using computers to synthetically "make" a master for almost a year, they drop their work on A-ko and get on the phone to Japan.. And, you can see (and buy!) the results.
Documentaries on anime film preservation sound like they could be special videos all on their own.
I remember in the 90's when you might see Robert Woodhead in a guest panel talking about the industry and then later on see him in the dealer's room at the AnimEigo booth selling his company's products personally and just talking anime with other anime fans. Looking back at that time it's kind of amazing how "home grown" the scene felt in those days and I lament how much more commercialized everything became later on but that's always how these things go, I suppose.
@@Strideo1 Well, I heard the tale of A-Ko when both myself and Mr. Woodhead were auditioning for the game show at Otakon State College. So, yeah.
Project A-Ko : the first OVA : I remember that I loved the musics.
Animation was hilarious.
I have these on VHS and DVD. These are the first anime I found in video shops on my own in the early 90s. Project Ako has had such a huge impact on me. Sounds silly, I’m aware, but damnit I love this movie.
Thank you for the amount of work that surely went into this video. I’m just some dude, but I appreciate you
I can only imagine how amazing it must have been to be in a video rental store on Akihabara back then.
Let's see . . . an '80s anime that has parodies of earlier works, a love triangle, giant robots, ad alien invasion, fanservice, and a kick-ass soundtrack. Are you _sure_ this isn't Gunbuster?
Would love for Dominion Tank Police to get a blu ray release...especially if they can find the original films elements.
They found Project A-ko's original negatives. So, anything is possible. I know I would love to see Dominion Tank Police, in Full HD.
@@mainstreetsaint36 last I heard there is copyright issues(or some kind of red tape) for Dominion Tank Police.....hope that changes one day.
@@DragonKingX78 If the Harmony Gold Robotech stuff can be sorted, yes, anything can happen.
Great video. Project A-ko is one of my fav movies of all time, and I think the sound track is one of the best. Spaceship in the dark is just perfection.
One of my all time favourites. Project AKO was one of the first Anime films I was introduced to back in the early nineties in the Uk via Manga Entertainment. Akira, Fist of the North Star, Dominion Tank Police, Venus Wars. Urotsukidoji.
I owned it on VHS and watched it hundreds of times as a kid. My parents had no idea what was happening.
I’m so glad they managed to find the original negatives to this film for the new BluRay release.
If you like this I would also recommend Ultimate Teacher and Moldiver. Two anime that have a similar tone.
Thanks so much for making this video btw. It’s great having more context to a film I cherish.
Great choice for your 100th episode! Project A-ko was the first anime I saw that was marketed as Japanese, unlike Voltron, Star Blazers, and Speed Racer. It was shown on the Sci-Fi channel in the mid 90's. Although I missed the beginning, I definitely remember B-ko's battle suit. Later in 1997 I rented it on videotape and it became a favorite.
I loved Project A-Ko! Especially B-ko's forever jealousy od C-ko's relationship with A-ko.. loved all the different 'variations" of the basic story haha
The first movie abd Uncivil Wars were excellent. Although Uncivil War might be a re-imagining, it was still a great action packed and entertaining movie. Love these movies. Great job on the video too!
Something must have happened to my vision over the years. i could have sworn Bko's hair was more purple than silver.
Not the FIRST anime I ever saw, but when it aired on the Sci-Fi channel, it became an early favorite.
23:10 Wait, so Osamu Tezuka saw this and praised the missile jump scene?
This would have been in his final few years alive and he was once considered the God of Manga.
Perhaps this was the same person the animators of Project A-Ko as the God of Anime watching over them.
I'd be so honoured that the great one himself praised my film. I know that sequence won some award.
@@aestroai8012 you made this???!!!!
Certainly a series worthy of a milestone. I remember a-ko being a big thing back in the day and most people I knew had a copy.
Loved Project A-ko incredibly fun with a cool twist at the end her being related to Superman is so awesome
This Anime is single handedly responsible for my entire anime artistic beginnings all the way to the exquisite artwork I ended up producing later in life....not to mention I loved the soundtrack and bought it as soon as I could get it...The film is hilarious and a great visual masterpiece especially among the fight sequences!!! I have the DVD collection as well!
Project Ako 3- That beautiful intro sequence were by Yasuomi Umetsu, y'know...Kite, Mezzo Forte and of coarse my favorite, Robot Carnivals Presence. You can also see his beautiful character design of Ako in the clothes dressing sequence( before the Ghidorah head!) He also contributed to ' The Colonel' scene In the 1st Ako film!
In the '90s this was the subbed tape I would show to friends I was trying to get into anime. They found it accessible despite all the Japanese in-jokes.
Chutzpah is Yiddish, which has a kind of throat-clearing sound for "ch", so it sounds closer to "hutzpah". I used to make the same mistake 😆💗
It’s amazing that you name those 3 animes to be the most important because those had to be if not thee first 3, the first 3 I and my 2 best friends had on repeat early on. I always loved the energy of this anime and the wink at her parents felt rewarding being a comic geek. Thanks for this and your channel overall. Keep it up 👍🏾.
31:10 Good point when pointing out that Project A-Ko was inspired by old Anime of the past but also made by newbies who were big fans of what came before when they were growing up.
Also a good point where Project A-Ko is a Parody Anime, much like when it comes to Hollywood Spoof films with Airplane, Naked Gun, Hot Shoots and the Mel Brooks films like Robin Hood Men in Tights.
All of which wear their Parody Film status proudly on their chests.
Happy 100 episodes and thank you for covering AKO! A GREATLY overlooked anime staple!
I haven't known of Project A-ko before. Now this looks like another interesting classic I get to know from this. Thanks for showing this.
Project-A-ko was the very first official anime that I watched and it is still literally one of the best❤🎉🎉🎉
After watching my Bluray of A-KO I remember fondly wearing out the old VHS tapes I had of the film over the years. I never saw the 2nd OVA way back in the 90's but I had the old Antarctic Press comic. I loved the 3rd OVA, and I don't think to this day I've ever watched Project A-KO FINAL in it's entirety. Although I've been a life long Anime fan, and animator, Project A-KO was like an amazing girl friend I had for a brief summer and like Ranma Half she just vanished from my interest. It's cool watching it now after seeing Macross DYRL? and other gems from that era. Lastly, I really liked the final OVA two parter where they are basically The Dirty Pair. The A-KO series always kept it fresh, with it's simplicity and style.
This is the definitive anime breakdown. Holy crap..
Great milestone video! Been watching your stuff since Robot Carnival and it’s been a awesome ride. Hope you continue your great content.
Videos like this are why I don't need any other streaming services. This was as high a quality documentary as anything on Netflix.
Thank you so much for your energy and time making this. its definitely a piece of history for future generations of Anime and manga fan, super nostalgia x1000000 I was only 10 years old when it came out on VHS
I never thought an hour long video would seem so short. Congratulations! Keep the great work.
hugs from Brazil
Congratulations on 100 episodes! You are without a doubt my favorite anime reviewer on UA-cam and I've discovered a lot of great titles thanks to your videos. Keep up the good work!
what an amazing video, perfect way of celebrating the 100th episode, loved every bit
Project a-ko 1 and VS❤
Blue side Grey side was freaking awesome!!!!!!
Some Project Ako movie and Iria was my first anime I remmeber seeing late one night on the scifi channel in like 97 or so when I was a young kid This brings back many great memories and I'm grateful to learn the history behind the production. Thank you for all the research and hard work making this entertaining and informative video.
This might be your best deep-dive yet.
Used Cars is a great film and i love it.
8:50 And a certain webcomic from the late 90s early aughts.
If you know, you know.
Talk about a mind blowing experience
Fantastic video, this really made my morning. LOVED Project A-Ko back in the day.
oh heck yea this gonna be a good one
There's a shot in Flashback 2012 of Minmei with an 80s sweater, the ones with yarn detailing that's so distinctly 80s and I've never seen it anywhere in any kind of movies or anime.
I couldn't think of a better anime for you to do your 100th episode than Project A-ko and it is an anime that has a special place in my heart with regards to my personal taste in anime and how it helped cement my love for this medium. I first became aware of project a-ko from my best friend in high school in which his family owned a chinese food restaurant in the community where I went to high school. He was heavily into computers and one of the cd-roms that he actually had had two long clips from the first project a-ko movie. One scene was the starship battle where the giant space station got blown up, and the other clip was the first 5 to 7 minutes of the a-ko vs b-ko power suit fight. I was incredibly lucky to find a vhs copy of this tape at a local video store and I asked the video store if I could actually buy it. Thankfully they let me buy the tape and I was hooked on it. I never had an opportunity to watch the other project a-ko entries until after college in the mid 2000's because my friend had them all on vhs. I have watched both the dubbed and subtitled version of the first project a-ko movie, and even though I'm a hardcore english dub fan I actually thought the english dub for project a-ko was actually great and despite it being such an early anime release the english dub was more than competent well in my eyes anyway. I think I recall somebody telling me that one of the vocalists for the songs dance away and follow your dreams was also responsible for voicing the songs from Jem and the holograms as well.
If it's one thing that really breaks my heart especially from the early central park media releases is I would really love to hear the stories from the original english dub cast when it came to voicing the characters from this timeless anime. I don't know what it is, but I almost feel obligated to let these people know how much their work means to me because I would like them to know that they are appreciated and respected for their english voice work when it came to anime coming to the west while it was trying to find it's foundation. I would love to hear the stories from Stacey Gregg (A-Ko), Danica Fairman (B-ko), and Julia Brahms (C-ko) when it came to voicing this anime becuase there are some english voice actors that have already passed away such as Spy D (Marc Smith) and the Captain (Jay Benedict).
This anime perfect encompasses a perfect mix of action and comedy with one hell of a soundtrack and I'm grateful that I had a chance to watch it when I did. It's definitely an important part of my personal history with anime and it deserves every bit of praise it deserves for being a cult classic and a very important part of building an anime foundation in the west.
Wonderfully thorough and well-researched video - adore the film(s), and watching this makes me appreciate it on another level! Excellent commentary, have only just found your channel, but I’m really enjoying your material!
Middle school Scifi channel Anime Movie Marathon introduced me to anime. Caught this awesomness and Akira , Venus Wars, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, Kashan Robot Hunter, M.D Geist and others.
Ako will always be a favorite.
Totally just stumbled across this channel. And its FREAKING WONDERFUL! Easiest Subscription I've done all week! Keep it up!!!!!
Found this from that Twitter post; phenomenally interesting stuff, I'm excited to check the rest of your catalog lutn
In many ways it feels like a feature-length version of the Daicon III&IV opening animations. Just an endless stream of cool stuff and otaku parodies with the thinnest attempt at a plot to keep things going. The missile jump sequence in particular always reminds me of the sword-surfing.
The problem is that, as much fun as it is,, the board-driven nature gives it a rambling, improvisational feel. Things are always moving forward to the next idea, not building naturally or being edited back into a coherent narrative. If something new comes to mind, that's now the plot.
I think project a-ko foreshadowed a superman/wonder-woman romance and a child produced from such a romance while before the kingdom come comics were ever produced
Hey, it's the 'Voltron' promos from WPWR (The Power Of Chicago Land) taken from Fuzzy Memories! Anyway, 'Project A-Ko' was one of my early anime purchases on DVD in the 2000's. My circle of friends have given this movie huge praise, and prefer that over 'Akira', and it's easy to see why. It's a fun little anime romp that doesn't take itself seriously, but executes it's humor REALLY well. It's a shame that a movie like that will never get made in this day, and age, and the fact that animation is valued less than reality shows is infuriating because, to paraphrase those New York business men, 'Why would anyone want to watch A reality show?!' Sadly, millions of people did.
An hour long retrospective of my favorite 80s anime film ever? Yeah, this is going to be the best Kyoto Video yet!
An excellent and entertaining video essay thank you. Time to rewatch a-ko. 🤩
God, that "Supernova" bastardization... Thank god it never happened in THIS timeline, right? Right?
Apparently, you have a VHS teaser that is incredibly rare. I remember that those trailers would pop up on low-budget VHS rental tapes every so often, making promises of films "COMING SOON!"... Of course, (and lucky for us) they never came out, either because the production company went bankrupt or they got sued or some other act of divine intervention.
This hit the spot for my very unspicy Friday evening.
Just discovered your channel the other day! it is incredible! Thank you!
NIce video. My cousin had this one on VHS in the UK back in the day. Classic. Older animes from this era were way better than what they make today.
16:00 what a transition!
Great video for a more than deserving Movie/series/ I'd love to see you tackle the rest. I have all the A-ko movies on an external hard drive, old rips in about 480p, and I still put them on every few years or so. I agree with your conclusion. I hope there will be a time where anime can go back to being creative driven, not just statistics driven. Also, Supernova. I'd still have watched that.
🤘😂
Thank you for this amazing series. I’ve found more and more anime to watch (some I’ve heard of but was yet to be convinced to urgently seek out and even more anime I’ve never even heard of) because of your channel. The writing and editing is great to listen to and I look forward to what you have to say more than your contemporaries in the anime UA-cam scene. I’ll be here the whole way through for your next 100 Kyoto Video episodes!
I first learned of this anime from this video so I have zero nostalgia for A-ko and I think this is one of the greatest anime that exists. I immediately stop watching anime when I see anything cookie cutter in the first few minutes, but with A-ko it feels like it's making fun of anime that's even made 20+ years after it's time. It's very much "anime the anime: the parody". A-ko really is everything great about anime.
I literally just rewatched this yesterday