Hello, allow me to introduce myself! Among other handles, I go by the name of Char. I’ve been a part of the online Project A-ko scene since about 2000 as a member and contributor to Gravitoncity, and I later founded and was admin of Gravitonhigh for about ten years.
Like the majority of 90’s anime first-wavers, I was introduced to Project A-ko via the Sci-fi Channel’s second anime week, consisting of both Dominion Tank Police, Venus Wars, Lensman (I think…) and of course the clear winner, Project A-ko. Even though most of the in-jokes went over my head at the time ( I got the Fist of the North Star one, thanks Nintendo) this movie literally blew my mind. An animated action comedy was a completely new genre to me, and although I liked all of the other movies, this one I loved. I made a videotape when the movie aired again on Memorial Day and watched it over and over. The host of the Anime Week, Ralph Bakshi, mentioned in one of the bumps that Project A-ko had several sequels, so for me the hunt was on at the local video stores and newsstands. This led to a lot of other happy discoveries like Bubblegum Crisis and the works of Rumiko Takahashi.
My earliest forays online on my Dreamcast web browser were in search of more information about Project A-ko and any merchandise that may exist. In fact, I got an eBay account specifically to buy a Rapport Comics collection of A-ko comics (that I couldn’t read). My hunger for more A-ko was not sated by the few offerings available to Americans and I started collecting items from Yahoo Japan auctions, with an emphasis on books. I started scanning my collection so it could be available to others, my proudest contribution being the W.I.C. collection of production art that would have been the Cream Lemon Project A-ko episode. If you’ve ever seen it, it was probably my scan.
Although it is not really something I have an affinity for, or any real skill in doing, I have started another A-ko website (this one). I love Project A-ko and its characters and it is my cheerful duty to pay them back for the enjoyment they’ve given me by keeping these materials circulating on the internet.
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