Project A-Ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody

プロジェクトA子3 シンデレララプソディ

6.40(4K votes)

Ranked #8491Popularity #8155

episodes

Type

OVA

Status

Finished Airing

Aired

Jun 20, 1988

Studios:Studio Fantasia

ComedySci-Fi

Synopsis

In the middle of another break from school, A-Ko dreams of finding the perfect boyfriend. Because of this, she and C-Ko get into an argument that leads to C-Ko running away and nearly getting hit by a motorcyclist named Kei. While working part-time at a fast-food restaurant to raise money for a party dress, A-Ko meets Kei and immediately falls in love with him. B-Ko happens to like him as well; however, both A-Ko and B-Ko are unaware that C-Ko is the apple of Kei's eyes. (Source: ANN)

7,432 Members

Worth Watching? — Global Verdict

6.0/10

Average Review Score

33%

Recommend It

Reviews Worldwide

International Reviews

Thedude3445

Recommended

After a hilarious smooth-jazz billiards opening, Project A-Ko 3 makes the disastrous mistake of suddenly turning two of our three protagonists into vile boy-lovers, reversing everything from the first two movies. But, in classic Project A-Ko fashion, the whole thing devolves into self-aware lunacy about the way that these characters don't fit as hetero whatsoever, and it turns into some really idiotic nonsense, in the best way. In the end, this ends up being gay after all, so it's all redeemed anyway. I am willing to put up with any amount of heterosexuality if it means that C-Ko is made happy.

19 found helpfulMay 6, 2020

Kamezuki

Mixed Feelings

Community Discussion

“Cinderella Rhapsody” is the third installment in the “Project A-Ko” franchise, and while it maintains the general production values from its prequels, it’s a step down in terms of plot quality. This OVA introduces a new character named Kei, a motorcyclist who almost runs over C-Ko and is subsequently run over by A-Ko. Kei hardly speaks, and he doesn’t do that much, but A-Ko and later B-Ko fall for him immediately for no reason. I realize it’s part of the humor of the OVA to have the two girls fall head-over-heels for a guy with seemingly no personality, but after both of them spent so muchtime fighting for/over C-Ko in the past two installments, it seems a bit out of character for them to suddenly be boy-crazy. C-Ko is also even more annoying here than in the previous stories, especially in how she treats A-Ko. Meanwhile, B-Ko’s minions get a little more screen time here, which is nice. Most of the OVA is rather slow, with the wacky action and outrageous destruction which this franchise is known for only happening towards the end. The end is also a bit confusing — the city defense forces are called on, perhaps due to a misunderstanding, and there’s a whole montage of various people around the city stopping whatever they’re doing, donning Power Rangers-type gear and heading towards the spaceship. This whole sequence could have been explained better. The voice acting is mostly good, but some of the minor characters, like the ones in the aforementioned montage, sound like they’re just reading their lines (perhaps they’re not professional voice actors). Kei hardly speaks, but for the few words he does utter, the delivery is okay. The music is similar to that of the first OVA — not bad, but not particularly memorable. Same with the animation and art. Regarding objectionable content, there are a few scenes with nudity, with the most explicit being a scene where some men are watching an adult film in a theater, and are very clearly “interrupted.” There are also a fair amount of flashing lights in this one. Overall, this OVA is a downgrade from the previous two installments of the franchise, but it is still somewhat watchable and further explores the zany characters of Graviton City. I recommend watching this only if you have seen the movie and the first OVA, but I advise that you keep your expectations low.

theo1763

Mixed Feelings

Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody takes a bit of a different direction compared to the previous movies, and honestly, I’m not sure it completely works. Instead of the crazy, over-the-top action the series is known for, this one slows down and tries to do more of a romantic comedy setup. This OVA is really all about A-ko trying to be older, get a job, and have a boyfriend, which resolves into a rivalry with B-ko over a new guy named Kei. It's played mostly for laughs, and there are definitely some funny moments, but the romance itself is really more of a spoof and doesn'treally seem that important. The shorter runtime also has the effect of making it feel like the story never gets a chance to build up before it's already nearing the closing stages. The characters are still the selling point, though, and they're still as entertaining as ever. A-ko and B-ko are constantly bickering, and poor C-ko just wants to spend all her time with A-ko while everyone else fights around her. Kei is set up as the "love interest," but he does absolutely nothing, which I kind of found even funnier in itself. He's just sort of sitting there, and rather than being the center that the setup makes you think he should be, he becomes more of a plot device than an actual character. Mari, however, is quickly becoming one of my go-to supporting characters in this series. She cracks me up just by showing up, and in each sequel, she's just gotten funnier and funnier to watch. The aliens do come back, but they don't really do much in this one. They're actually kind of just attempting to stay alive as A-ko and B-ko keep ruining their ship, which is kinda sad but also really funny in that running gag type of way. From a visual perspective, the animation doesn't look that different from the earlier films, so it still looks good for its time, but there's a lot less action than in the earlier films. Instead of giant battles and city-hopping, it's more of a comedic film with smaller character moments. The voice acting and music are well done; they don't really stand out as anything special, but they do get the tone right. I also noticed some of the designs and references here this time are a little more like Macross or even Voltron than Gundam, which I originally suspected. Maybe it's a mix of all of them, as the series always manages to spoof numerous anime. Overall, I liked Cinderella Rhapsody, but I can also understand why most fans would agree that this is the weakest of the sequels. It's humorous, it has its one-liners, and Mari particularly made it worthwhile, but it just lacks as much punch as the earlier ones. This one is a 6 out of 10 for me.

0 found helpfulSep 8, 2025