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.