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Plot Synopsis

Sora Naegino is dreaming of becoming a member of the Kaleido Stage since she watched "Alices Adventures in Wonderland" at Kaleido Stage with her parents. One day she starts her journey from Japan to America, however when she arrives in America her suitcase is being stolen. But with Soras awesome athletic skills she soon catches the thief and a kind policeman drives her to Kaleido Stage. Although the casting is already finished she manages to be accepted by Kalos, the owner of the Kaleido Stage, and is now finally a member of the crew. On her first day of training, only by misunderstandings, she challenges Layla Hamilton, the top star of Kaleido Stage. Now Sora has to master Laylas"Golden Phoenix" in only a few days. If she fails she has to immediately leave Kaleido Stage, but if she succeeds Layla will accept her and Sora can finally fulfil her dream to be the true Kaleido Star. Synopsis by: Chibi`kyo

Story & Characters

Preliminary Note: This review relates to Season 1 only. A review for Season 2 (New Wings) is available here: http://reviews.minitokyo.net/1260/kaleido-star/.

Kaleido Star brings a tried-and-true formula to a circus context. The elements of doing your best, not giving up, working together, amongst others, are all present and dished up by the truck-load. While these elements can hardly be seen to be original, their application into a circus is fresh and enjoyable (to this reviewer at least). In this story there are no mecha, space ships, magic spells, magical girls, or other "typical" anime fare. The story relies on character development, character interaction and a solid story to keep the viewer hooked; and does this in a creditable manner. The story primarily focuses on Sora Naegino who tries to follow her dream of joining the Kaleido Stage and the challenges associated with achieving that dream. Story structure, while episodic, does manage to flow well as the viewer follows Sora's attempts to win people over to her side, step up to various challenges, and overcome the obstacles placed in her path. Viewers get to see the motivations and attitudes of other secondary characters change, sometimes quite markedly, as the season progresses particularly in their interaction with Sora, the main protagonist.

Characters are generally well-developed and become increasingly likable throughout the season. That said, they are generally cliche stereotypes, such as the earnest trier; the enigmatic beauty with a deep secret; the nervous aspirant; the tomboy; the bratty kid/s; the animal mascot; the pervert; etc. While most attention is given to Sora, this does not mean that the others are left out in the cold or shoved to the sideline. As commented above, a key attribute to this series' appeal is the value of character interaction and how these different characters evolve individually as well as collectively as a consequence.

Being basically a shojo anime (from the same director as the Sailor Moon series), Kaleido Star had a surpising degree of appeal to the reviewer (being male) as the story was a refreshing change to "typical" anime in the context to which the series was presented. That, along with the fact that it reminds the viewer of the uber-trendy Cirque du Soleil performances in terms of costumes and the elegance of the shows. While most of the performances would face substantial difficulty in being completed in reality, that was another appealing facet of the show - being able to suspend one's beliefs and get entirely absorbed into the drama and beauty of the show. You will find that the end of the season takes you on an emotional roller-coaster; so be prepared accordingly.

Rating

8 (good)

Art

Anime production for this series is from Gonzo Digimation - surprise, surprise. Well reputed for providing a seamless blend of computer-generated imagery (CGI) with cel-based drawings, Studio Gonzo pulls off an elegant visual feast, particularly in respect of the performances and costumes. Character design is pleasant to look at and has no noticeable drop in quality throughout the first season. Background scenery was not entirely memorable, as generally the buildings and settings in the city could be anywhere. The attention to the Kaleido Stage complex itself, however, made up for that with the attention to detail including the off-stage and back of house locations (storage areas, dressing rooms, offices, etc.) as well as the on-stage areas (stage, auditorium). Similarly, the attention to detail for the training halls and dorm areas must be similarly acknowledged. While the series focuses on character interactions, the attention to the settings in which the characters interacted enhanced the immersive feel of the show.

On the technical front, the video was vibrant and colourful with no noticeable tearing or bleeding of colour. This would be expected for an entirely digitally-produced title (no standard production cels here). The Madman release (Region 4 for Australia/New Zealand) had a few technical hitches with a number of discs. These were replaced by Madman presumably after re-authoring but had noticeable evidence of colour banding on gradient backgrounds on the replacement discs (e.g. sunsets, skylines, etc.). When viewed on LCD monitors (Dell 2407 and Apple iBook G4) this banding became even more pronounced, but was not a substantial detraction from enjoying the show.

Rating

7 (above average)

Sound

Primary listening to the audio was with the Japanese track. Spot-checks to the English track was also made for basic comparison. The Region 4 release had two Dolby Digital audio streams included (2.0 Japanese, 5.1 English), which were identical to the Region 1 release from ADV. The relevant voice actors for both Japanese and English tracks conveyed appropriate attributes for their respective characters, such as Sora's enthusiasm; Layla's elegance and privileged upbringing; Anna's tom-boyish brashness; Fool's seriousness and deadpan one-liners. That said, subtle nuances of dialogue were often conveyed better on the Japanese track than the English, such as situations were Sora's enthusiasm was touched with uncertainty. In many respects, Fool was a significant influence on the show when his seiyuu could deliver outrageous one-liners with all sorts of innuendo in a total deadpan voice (and give the strong impression he meant it). Interestingly, a number of those one-liners were carefully edited for the English audio track; which took a bit of the impact out of them when observing Sora's response. If viewers are wanting to appreciate a lot of innuendo between Fool and Sora, use the Japanese track rather than the English.

Music comprised generally simple orchestral scores for the various episodes. Variations of themes for each character were often used - Sora, for example, had several variations of her theme used in different situations. Different themes were also used for each show; and a generic, but pleasant, theme used when Sora was rising to the challenge. The music, while obviously recycled in parts, was appropriate to the context in which it related and was able to convey suitable emotion, tension and release. CD soundtracks for the background music are difficult to find unless the Region 2 special edition box sets are acquired. They are not available separately, which, in this reviewers opinion, is an unfortunate situation as the soundtrack is pleasant enough to be enjoyed separately.

Rating

8 (good)

Presentation

The Madman release (Region 4 for Australia and New Zealand) brought out the entire season in a 6-disc collection. Each disc was single-sided dual-layer (DVD-9), which was capable of containing four or five episodes per disc, with a few extras. I'd expect the ADV release (Region 1) had a similar configuration. This enabled a comprehensive presentation without overly compromising quality (predicated on the minor video criticism above).

In addition to the show itself, a range of expected extras was included on most discs, including clean opening and closing credits; art and sketch galleries; some interviews and commentary; and the usual trailers for other ADV shows. A 16-page booklet was also included in the Madman release containing various pictures and short biographies of the main Season 1 characters.

To sum up, Kaleido Star, while not overly original in the plot department, is a refreshing change to many anime shows out there. The tried-and-true formula elements are conveyed convincingly with characters that are easy to get interested in and cheer on as they work towards their goals. The show has a lot of comedy elements combined with varying degrees of dramatic tension. There are no aspects of violence or inappropriate language in this show, which is again a nice change. The season comes with a PG (Parental Guidance) rating in Australia as some themes could be inappropriate to younger viewers (particularly some of the innuendo between Fool and Sora as described above). That said, this season is entirely enjoyable and well recommended for general family viewing.

Rating

9 (very good)

Final Verdict

8.17 (good)

Reviewed by davidh01, 1y 14wk ago