Project A-Ko 2: Daitokuji zaibatsu no inbô

Those of us who basked in the titanic warmth of the original "Project A-Ko" were left hungering for further adventures of our red-hot, somewhat ambiguous heroines. This film delivers in what is the least entertaining (but most sophisticated) plot among A-Ko's 5 sequels. It's summer and the three heroines, A-Ko, B-Ko, and C-ko are running amuck in Gravition city. The invading aliens who crashed their ship atop a skyscraper in the first movie have turned their city-sized ship into a massive mall-hotel-amusement park-casino. B-Ko is still trying to woo young C-Ko and A-ko seems only mildly uptight about it. B-Ko agrees to help the aliens fix their ship so they can return home. Meanwhile, B-ko's father, a horrible business tycoon, plans to invade the ship and harvest its vast quantities of alien technology. Sound goofy? The whole thing is a poorly translated, goofily-paced, and all-round unsatisfying pile of cells and ink. All the same, it's worth seeing if you're a die-hard fan. The sequels, at their best, are mere shadows of the original film. The best sequel is by far number 3 (Cinderella Rhapsody), if only for its sheer strangeness. The last few minutes of the film involve a truly revolting display put on by B-Ko's father as well as some nice giant robots. Oh yes, and our heroines A-ko and B-ko flounce around in bathing suits at the very beginning... If you're fortunate to find a version with bonus promotional footage, be prepared for a crash-course in creepy Japanese Anime company self-promotion. Ni Ni Ni indeed...