Starring Miki Ito, Emi Shinohara, Michie Tomizawa, Tessho Genda, Shuichi Ikeda, Asami Mukaidono, Daisuke Gori, Sayuri Ikemoto
Directed by Yuji Moriyama
This time the series takes an odd turn. Cinderella Rhapsody starts off with a sepia-toned scene of several women playing pool. The style is much more realistic, and the tone is closer to film noir than slapstick. It focuses on subtle movements and glances like the slight jostle of earrings when someone tilts her head. It is only with great effort that you can tell the characters are actually A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko. The scene plays out slowly, without any comedy other than A-ko’s break shot literally breaking the balls, and your first thought upon seeing it will probably be, “Did I just put on the wrong movie?”
In a way, this scene is a good metaphor for the entire film. It’s out of place, the jokes are less frequent, it plays its parodies too straight, and it’s just kinda boring. What’s more, the opening scene has some of the best animation since the original film, making it feel like a waste of effort that could have gone into a more interesting scene. Overall, Cinderella Rhapsody is a disappointing entry in the series.
The problem is that Kei is actually smitten with C-ko, and nobody realizes it. So is A-ko supposed to be Cinderella, or is it C-ko? A-ko fits the role of wicked step-sister, but the movie still plays her as the hero which makes it confusing. It’s kind of muddled and leaves the viewer trying to figure out what’s going on rather than sitting back and enjoying the jokes. It also loses any sense of plot twist since the audience is already aware that Kei loves C-ko. A-ko and B-ko are the only ones surprised by the plot twist. Since we know that A-ko and B-ko’s actions are pointless, it makes the whole film seem pointless, too. I can kinda see where they were trying to go with this one, but the twists on the Cinderella story only work in hindsight and we all know that hindsight isn’t the best way to experience a joke.
It might have been parodying titles that I’m just not familiar with, but even then there’s nothing about the scenario that has any innate humor to it. The original concept was humorous because it set up such a strange relationship between the characters. B-ko’s refusal to let go of a kindergarten argument and her adoration of a character whose traits can only be described as horrifically obnoxious is great fodder for comedy even when you don’t know what specific movies it’s making fun of. This time the concept is too much of a normal romance plot to be humorous. Nothing about the setup seems out of place in a realistic story, so focusing on it just makes the story slow and bland.
It’s also disappointing that B-ko’s father doesn’t make an appearance at all. After making Project A-ko 2 so memorable, his absence now is a huge blow to the film. The aliens are also downplayed, making only a brief appearance at the end. The big party that every Cinderella story must have is held on their spaceship, which has now been remodeled into an amusement park called Space Ship Land. But other than the setting, they have no connection to the plot. Also, the action has been left out almost entirely, leaving even the end of the film rather void of excitement. This lack of action completely ruins the ending, which might have made the film much more enjoyable.
I wish I could say more good things about this film. I want to like it, and every time I see it I want it to be better than I remember, but it’s definitely not up to the usual Project A-ko standards. There’s still enough good comedy to be worth a watch for anyone interested, but there’s a lot of waiting in between the good bits. If the first film was great, and the second film was pretty good, then Project A-ko 3 struggles just to be average.
If you want to track it down, you may need to nab a copy of the compilation disc Project A-ko: Love & Robots, where it resides sandwiched between the second and fourth films.
Project A-ko has some interesting promotional materials, but none more amazing than this bizarre music video for Cinderella Rhapsody’s theme song.