Now we review an anime the same age as me give or take a few months, in fact the timing of this review is perfect seeing as today is this Anime's 29th Anniversary, this is Project A-Ko
A-Ko is a normal high school student with freakish strength who starts life at a new school with her annoying friend C-Ko, although normal doesn't seem to exist when B-Ko wants to take C-Ko away from A-Ko so the two end up fighting each other in fight scenes that get sillier and bigger as the film goes on, meanwhile an alien race are chasing after C-Ko as well because C-Ko is a princess from their world so A-Ko and B-Ko go and save her.
This anime is the earliest example of a parody series, many years before Excel Saga made it popular, if you're feeling like digging up on old anime then I'll help you by naming some of the references in this movie.
The initial setting of the show being a site of a former colony drop style massacre, a common tactic used in Gundam.
The Antagonist leading the alien race looks like Captain Harlock.
The Sci-Fi space battles resemble scenes as well as the aircraft from Macross.
Miss Ayumi the teacher looks exactly like Magical Girl Creamy Mami.
Mari the Muscular School Girl is a direct parody of Fist of the North Star.
And finally there are hints from the movie's ending that A-Ko is the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman, and remember this is before the internet and before the term shipping was invented.
The show is quite well made despite having origins in hentai, the music soundtrack is pretty damn good for the time period and while I agree that a number of characters are annoying and the plot makes very little sense, it still has a charm to it and could probably still be significant in this day and age should it ever receive a remake.
But I must address the elephant in the room and that's of course it's age and what it's actually parodying. Unless you're from my Generation or older the references would be lost on you. I'm not saying a younger person wouldn't understand it, I'm saying that the stuff it parodies doesn't really exist anymore; you could argue that many of the anime of today still owe some thanks to a lot of the shows parodied in this movie, heck Project A-Ko could be thanked for inspiring Excel Saga, but you know when something has passed it's time when you have to explain to someone what the references are and you don't get the same enjoyment from it because of that.
Dub is fairly basic but not too bad and a remastered movie is not difficult to find.
Final Verdict: A fun little film from a bygone age that's unfortunately lost on today's anime fans.
Next we review Cartoon Network's only Gameshow, Skatoony
First a little history, the characters Chudd Chudders and The Earl were created as animated presenters alongside Johnny Bravo on UK Cartoon Network, they also set competitions in between shows. In mid 2000s they made a proper quiz show but with two different versions. The North American version had characters from Total Drama Island and Jimmy Two Shoes filling in the positions of the animated contestants while the UK Version used original character designs more in tune with the UK audience, since I am from the UK, this is the version I'm more familiar with, plus I get the bonus of The Earl being a caricature of legendary singer Tom Jones, of whom I can do a mean impression of.
The format of the show stays the same through out, none of the toons ever beat the human contestants so the differences everywhere else are relatively minor between episodes not to mention not a lot of differences between quiz rounds, being honest compared to Nickelodeon's quiz shows Skatoony is better with it's questions and general presentation and Chudd Chudders and The Earl make really good hosts and even now in the UK, the show still reruns, more so than the classic Cartoon Network shows and even the likes of Ben 10 and I kind of wish they returned as hosts rather than the Welsh guy voiceover we currently have.
Remember when Beyblade used to be awesome? Well lets review it and see how well it's aged.
Beyblade is about Tyson, a Beyblader who gets drawn into a world competition of battling spinning tops after a run in with a few notable players including Kai, Max and Ray. These spinning tops contain bit beasts that get summoned during a match to fight, it's kind of like Pokemon with one monster.
After the first initial tournament, Tyson and his new found friends form a team to take on the world as each area in the world looks to test each individual character.
Toy anime is a bit sad looking nowadays, kids have grown wise to the idea that the shows from Japan that market toys such as Beyblade and Bakugan are only going to market toys and it's biggest weakness is that the same types of characters turn up, what made Beyblade stand out from these, at least in the 1st Generation of Beybladers is while there is the same protagonist, the supporting cast don't match the normal standards of anime of this genre.
Max reminds me of Tails without the tech knowledge.
Ray looks like he belongs in Xiaolin Showdown.
While Kai looks like a reject from Final Fantasy.
Put these in a team along with Kenny and you get one of Anime's best teams, and just when you think it focuses too much on the lead Tyson it surprises you with quite a decent plot for each character, yeah it does get cheesy every now and again but it's common for this type of anime, and if it weren't for the third season being insanely awesome this would be the best of the toy anime, even more so than Yu-Gi-Oh.
Dubbing is decent, special mention goes to the commentators Brad Best & A J Topper along with DJ Jazzman for making the experience that much better.
Final Verdict: In this day and age, a toy anime like this has no business being a series to begin with, that said it's still amazing what the Japanese can do with the most mundane things and Beyblade is proof of that ability, so the next time you see a popular toy turned into an anime, it might be worth a look.
Time to look at a major list as we come to the Top Ten Best Magical Girls, to make this list, you need to have a few qualities, you must promote benevolence, have a memorable look and stand out among others within a team should they be part of one; a cute mascot helps to. Without further delay lets begin.
Honorable Mentions
Any Student from Aikatsu
The cast of Aikatsu certainly are memorable with their revolving door wardrobes but none of the cast standout on their own.
Ichigo Momomiya from Tokyo Mew Mew
The pink haired Catgirl was one of the major Magical Girls that bridged the gap between Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure, sadly the show is a casualty of 4Kids and never recovered.
Nanoha Takamachi from Magical Lyrical Nanoha
It's difficult to really call this show a proper Magical Girl show as it's closer to Mai-Hime rather than the norm, while that's not a bad thing it just makes this show a little too serious.
10. Yui Kasuga from Corrector Yui
The Magical Computer Fairy is the most forgettable on this top ten but as a Magical Girl she suits her role better than many of the higher ups on this list.
9. Akane Isshiki from Vividred Operation
Akane suffers from Miracle Rookie syndrome so isn't as high up as she should be but she's on this list anyway for her awesome fusion forms which are some of the best in the Genre.
8. Meimi Haneoka from Saint Tail
The result of a Reformed Thief and a Stage Magician creating the Magical Girl equivalent of Robin Hood with the additions of being blessed by god as her best friend is a nun. Horribly underrated but she's a little too close to a certain higher up Magical Girl on this list.
7. Momo from Minky Momo
One of the so called originals of the genre, Minky Momo's task was always solving problems rather than fighting the forces of evil, doing so in an older form created by Magic. Would be higher except that during her era there were several shows like hers competing for ratings.
6. Miyuki Hoshizora from Smile Precure
There are enough Precures now in the franchise to compete with Power Rangers for numbers so finding one to fill this list wasn't easy until I came to Smile Precure, arguably the best team of the franchise and leading them was Cure Happy Miyuki Hoshizora who should really be the poster child for the franchise.
5. Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon
The most famous Magical Girl of all time but not the best as anyone with a long memory remembers how Sailor Moon used to be which is a whiny teenager, which the Crystal series seem to forget. Nevertheless Sailor Moon has achieved more than most Magical Girls in the same position.
4. Momoko Hanasaki from Wedding Peach
Yeah, Sailor Moon's closest rival is better than Sailor Moon herself, surprised? Well I'll explain, Wedding Peach is still the only Magical Girl show to fully promote love as a core part of the genre without losing it's focus, it knows what it is and it's headed by the perfect character in Momoko.
3. Honey Kisaragi from Cutey Honey
Cutey Honey invented the Transformation Sequence, an element that all Magical Girl shows have relied on since this show's creation, and to think this show was created by Go Nagai, an artist more famous for Devilman and one of the main people behind the ultra violent 80s era.
2. Amu Hinamori from Shugo Chara
If you want a character that's just right for it's audience and suits the attitudes of the current era then look no further than Peach Pit's pink heroine Amu Hinamori, with this girl you get a choice in style that will suit all types of interests as well as a storyline that suits a slightly older audience.
1. Sakura Kinomoto from Card Captor Sakura
But the most perfect Magical Girl ever created is Clamp's Card Captor Sakura, she's not perfect so her achievements are more believable when she accomplishes them, she has a revolving door wardrobe actually made for her by her stalker, I mean best friend Tomoyo, and you get more out of an episode as it replaces transformation sequences with Magical Incantations which suit the show more and you have a cute mascot that becomes awesome later. I have my reservations about the way Clamp operate but Card Captor Sakura is their best.
Sorry for scrapping the barrel today, I promise the next review will be something meatier, but today we look at a shameless Scooby Doo copy, Goober and the Ghost Chasers.
Goober and the Ghost Chasers is about a group of teenagers and their talking dog solving spooky mysteries, the difference between this one and Scooby Doo is that they often meet real Ghosts that help solve the mysteries along with technology many years before Ghostbusters and the gimmick is that Goober can turn invisible when he's scared of ghosts. It didn't run for very long and sort of came and went.
As much as you want to complain about the lack of cartoons in the last 15 years it's nothing compared to what the 70s had to put up with, the strict rules on broadcasting in cartoons meant that very few things were allowed on tv so the 70s were packed full of self indulgent celebrity cartoons, cartoon remakes of popular sitcoms at the time and several different takes on Scooby Doo with Goober and the Ghost Chasers being the most blatant of the shameless copies next to the likes of the Funky Phantom and Inch High Private Eye and you can even argue that Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels along with Josie and the Pussycats relied heavily on the same formula.
Bottom line is, the 00s are gold compared to the 70s so I wouldn't complain.
