Editing Project A-ko (section)

== Analysis==
''Project A-ko'' contains themes and elements common throughout other anime storylines. Infatuation is a common theme in Japanese anime storylines, where it is typically between a male and a female character, but in ''Project A-ko'', the female B-ko is infatuated with another female, C-ko, and tries to separate her from A-ko.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gateward |first1=Frances K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywsajx7jqAMC&dq=%22Project+A-ko%22&pg=PA274 |title=Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice: Cinemas of Girlhood |last2=Pomerance |first2=Murray |date=2002 |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8143-2918-4 |pages=274 |language=en |access-date=2024-06-13 |archive-date=2024-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622090518/https://books.google.com/books?id=ywsajx7jqAMC&dq=%22Project+A-ko%22&pg=PA274#v=onepage&q=%22Project%20A-ko%22&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> Though there are hints that the infatuation may be of [[lesbian]] in origin, it appears to be [[Platonic love|platonic]] in nature.<ref name="Swallow" /> B-ko is primarily motivated her ego and desire to control C-Ko, and acts like a bully throughout the film.<ref name="Ouelette" /> The film contains satire of the kind of sentimental attachments females can have for each other in other anime, such as ''[[Gunbuster]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levi |first=Antonia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Q7WAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Project+A-Ko%22 |title=Samurai from Outer Space: Understanding Japanese Animation |date=1996 |publisher=Open Court |isbn=978-0-8126-9332-4 |pages=133 |language=en |access-date=2024-06-14 |archive-date=2024-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622090237/https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Samurai_from_Outer_Space/4Q7WAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Project+A-Ko%22&dq=%22Project+A-Ko%22&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live}}</ref>

The relationship in the film has been described as a lesbian love triangle.<ref name="LATimes" />

During a screening of the film in 1993, Michael Flores explained the relationship as part of [[Japanese culture]] and common in Japanese television and film. In his analysis, women are separated from men until they are about 18 or 19, and women form relationships and have love affairs with each other before they become interested in men, a trope that is explored in Japanese films and TV shows.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Van Matre |first=Lynn |date=1992-02-16 |title=B Movie Mania |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-project-a-ko-b-movies/92951411/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=284 |archive-date=2024-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622090211/https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-project-a-ko-b-movies/92951411/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Additionally, it is common for anime and manga stories to include women who are independent and often powerful physical warriors, and A-ko is another example of this. Other examples include ''[[Battle Angel Alita]]'' and ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martinez |first=Dolores P. |title=[[The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries and Global Cultures]] |date=1998-10-13 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-63729-9 |pages=104}}</ref>

The destruction and rebuilding of the city of [[Tokyo]] is a common theme throughout Japanese media (including the ''Godzilla'' franchise and ''[[Akira (1988 film)|Akira]]''). In ''Project A-ko'', the Gavitron City is modeled after Tokyo and is rebuilt after the catastrophic destruction of the crashing space ship at the beginning of the film.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kroker |first1=Arthur |url=https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/items/d5c2863a-b804-4140-9128-936f5b15eb26 |title=Digital Delirium |last2=Kroker |first2=Marilouise |date=1997-05-15 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-312-17237-4 |pages=250–251 |language=en |access-date=2024-06-14 |archive-date=2024-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622090451/https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/items/d5c2863a-b804-4140-9128-936f5b15eb26 |url-status=live}}</ref>