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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Watch | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:354#1552] | |
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Looks like this fourth Project A-Ko film decided to combine things from the prior three films for its finale, offering a mix of the manic comedy from the first two films and grounded developments of the third one. The teacher of our main trio of girls gets some focus here as she gets arranged to marry A-Ko's love interest, Kei. This seems to disregard A-Ko learning Kei was more interested in C-Ko from the ending of the third film and largely served his purpose following that. I didn't really get why B-Ko was opposed to the wedding between Kei and her teacher, considering she's a lesbian lusting for C-Ko as at least it made sense for A-Ko to oppose it. It seemed like this film was just tossing things from the three prior films at the wall and seeing what stuck. Seeing the insanity that ensues from this is fun during the second half of the film, but it does take a while to build up to it and noticing the gaping logical holes with character motives and developments became an issue for me. Overall, I'd say A-Ko: Final is more a treat for fans of the Project A-Ko film series as it aired during the second half of the 80s. The first film was fun and all, but it felt like the creators of it decided to hammer things into the ground with its later three OVAs and I wasn't really as receptive to them compared to the first one.
Last updated Thursday, August 06 2020. Created Thursday, August 06 2020. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
 AstroNerdBoy
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[series:354#436] | |
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So, here we have the final story to wrap of the 4-title initial Project A-Ko arc. I have to say that while this was funny at times, it lacked something, namely a real story. So many things were played up like the Iraq findings, but as the sensei at the archaeological dig put it, "its all coincidence." He got wacked, which is how I felt liked doing to the writers! I was surprised that Kei was brought back for this OAV. He had served his purpose, but now was revived in an arranged marriage to Ayame-sensei. She'd been worried about getting old and not being married, so an arranged marriage is her ticket out. Sadly, that was as far as she got developed though. Speaking of old, things begin to feel old in this OAV. A-Ko and B-Ko's fights were re-used a few times, sometimes with different backgrounds to make it look new. Their fighting over C-Ko or Kei just failed to ammuse. Speaking of C-Ko, I never understood why B-Ko was so taken with the very immature C-Ko, unless it is a lolicon thing for her. A-Ko seemed to regard C-Ko as a little sister, so that relationship was a little easier to understand. But I always found C-Ko to be annoying and if some scene had been created where C-Ko was slain, I would have shed no tears. I know that's terrible to say, but it is true.I saw the DVD of this and there is no ending after the credits as is hinted in Midnighter's review. I think that's because U.S. Manga moved the "2nd" ending to immediately after the first one without a credit break. Had the first ending remained, it would have been a "Whoa! I can't believe they did that!" moment, and while maybe not popular, certainly powerful. Instead we get a 2nd ending and I was left scratching my head. I chalked it up to being part of the silliness that marked the A-Ko franchise. Frankly, I just didn't really like how it ended. Still, there were good things in this title and on the whole I did enjoy it. However, it could have been much better with some better writing and some non-laziness on the animators part. Bottom line: worth a rent if you've already seen the other three titles.Last updated Wednesday, January 12 2005. Created Wednesday, January 12 2005. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Stretch
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[series:354#628] | ||||||
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Well, this is more like it! After the disappointing sequels 2 and 3, Project A-Ko 4 finally manages to recapture some of the priceless wackiness of the original movie, and does it without seeming like a slightly modified replay. Too bad you need to have seen the previous sequels to completely understand what is going on! From the discovery of a bizarre artifact by a team of archaeologists, and the revelation that a massive alien fleet is closing on Earth, you get the feeling that events are moving inexorably forward towards some climactic event--a feeling that was sadly lacking from the previous two sequels. It seemed to me that the story made just enough sense to support this feeling that something important, something worth watching the rest of the movie for, is going to happen, and in the end makes sense of the four movies as a whole. I thought it was ending well--until the doorbell rang at A-Ko's house. You'll have to judge this scene for yourselves. Overall, I agree with a critic who described this film as the best of the sequels, and second only to the original Project A-Ko. My Favorite line: D: "Captain, something big is about to happen--a great catastrophe will engulf this world--nay, this entire universe!" Captain: "How do you know?" D: "Woman's intuition" 10/03 #74 Last updated Tuesday, March 11 2008. Created Friday, October 03 2003. | ||||||||
| Rent | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Midnighter
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[series:354#94] | |
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Fairly by the numbers, the A-Ko franchise is visibly tired at this point. Still, there's enough life left in this final installment to make it a worthwhile watch and a surprisingly graceful end to this silly, silly series. We finally get to see some story for A-Ko's teacher, and almost the entire cast returns in a memorable finale. Final is a bit more serious (this is NOT saying much...) compared to the first three, with a shocking end. (Tip...watch to the VERY end, after the credits roll) The animation is strictly passable, and the character designs are visibly dated, as is the rather cheesy (but it works!) music. The story is uninspired, by this point the whole A-Ko vs. B-Ko is bordering on ludicrous in its repitition, but the ending is unexpected and oddly poignant, albeit abrupt, ending. Overall, a nice sendoff to the A-Ko series, and it's nice to know the creators put it to bed before it became too unspeakably tired. 11-9-01 Last updated Friday, November 09 2001. Created Friday, November 09 2001. | ||||||||
