‘Can it be a coincidence that the girls’ schoolteacher, Miss Ayumi, has a hairstyle recalling that of the magical girl Creamy Mami? Is it possible that Mari, the hulking warrior-schoolgirl, is a feminised take on Kenshiro, the titular Fist of the North Star? Is that Captain Harlock’s vessel, the Arcadia, stuck to the prow of an alien battleship? When the girls go to the cinema, are they watching a pastiche of the recent hit Harmageddon? And when they leave the cinema, do we get a momentary glance of the words “Spartan X-ko” on the marquee, referring to Spartan X, the Japanese title of Jackie Chan’s Wheels on Meals? Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.’

Almost a year after I handed in my 12-page article on Project A-ko, the Anime Limited collectors edition of the Blu-ray that contains it is finally coming out.