Kaleido Star

Storyline

4 ½:

The protagonist of the story, Sora Naegino, is your stereotypically naive, yet oh so talented female lead. A gemstone that just needs to be polished a little, so to speak, until she can shine as brightly as her will allows. This girl has a dream- to perform at the world famous Kaleido Stage, a haven for acrobats. To fulfill said dream, she travels from all the way from Japan to America, only to find that she had missed her chance to audition! With fortune on her side, Sora somehow succeeds in joining the cast: Kaleido Star follows the story of Sora and her experiences as a member of the Kaleido Stage. To some, the plot behind this particular anime may seem dull: of course, that's purely subjective. But for those of you who appreciate a soft, warm storyline that focuses primarily on friendship, character development, and even the occasional comedic moment- this anime is right for you. Personally, I would have given it a full rating in terms of storyline, but I know that some would feel unfulfilled due to the blatantly obvious lack of romance.

Music

3 ½:

The choice of music is around average (what they have of it), and it severely lacks a soundtrack outside of the opening and ending animations.

Characters

3 ½:

Although the character development was wonderful, it doesn't change the fact that the characters themselves were, initially, notably stereotypical. Granted, there were a few original characters that stood out: but that's something you can discover on your own.

A talented, hardworking, naive protagonist.
Her beautiful but cold and condescending rival.
A charming tomboy and an average girl who support the protagonist throughout the series.
The man behind the scenes who pushes the main character to do her best.

And the list goes on. Although they're all somewhat stereotypical and (boring, sorry to say)- they do suit the storyline perfectly in their own rights, hence the above average rating.

Animation

4:

It's nothing too fancy- a little rough edged, maybe the eyes are a little bit too big, or maybe too squinted? Again, this is an entirely subjective topic. However, one thing that can be said is that there's nothing else like it. Colourful, exciting, warm, powerful. It's like cotton candy that leaves a sweet taste in your mouth: who would expect something so delicious from something that looks so simple?

Overall

4:

It's not a classic, but it's definitely worth watching!

Kaleido Star was a very fun anime! I simply loved everything about it!

Sora, a young girl from Japan, comes to America in search of her dream. She wants, with all her heart, to be a member of the famous Kaleido Stage, a combination of musicals, acrobatics and magical effects. With the help of her friends, she struggles to make this dream come true.

Genres: comedy, drama, fantasy, romance, tournament
Themes: acrobatics, gymnastics

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This aniem has beautful characters, a great and inspiring storyline and every episode is capitvatign an excites you......one of thsoe anime that you can't help but fall in love with kaliedo star i stunning,brillant,breath taking,captivating it takes a true otaku\anime fan to apreiciete an anime thats a true masterpiece"

(This review contains *nearly* no spoilers)

This was the most amazing anime I've watched so far.

Sadly, in about two days, this anime will no longer be available to the audience.

However, I gave this anime an average of nearly 5.0 on everything, because not only did it have the most breathtaking ending, but it also had the strongest (in spirit) characters I've seen so far.

Overall, this was a pure win win anime, for it's storyline and characters were just unbelievably brave and fascinating.
They were all different in their own way. From Rosetta to Layla, there was just a mix of characters that all somehow contributed. Even the little supporting/background characters had their own charm.

The music was very well done, but my own taste in music sadly did not allow it to take the full 5 stars home.
But it was still very cheerful and bright music. So bright that it gave some light to my nighttime watcher mode world.

The animation was nicely done, with all the characters having their own little perks and all. Very eye soothing to watch.

In all, this was just an anime that I *HAD* to review. It was inevitable.




- News Flash -

Funimation finally has the DVDs selling in stores.

http://www.funimation.com/kaleidostar/

Not sure if it's only in English or not.
Enjoy!~

I don't know what to say, honestly. This was the best anime I have ever watched. I am very VERY glad I decided to watch it before anything else. I love how it has it's serious moments and it's funny moments and it's touching moments where Sora has no idea how Ken feels about her. It.....It left me speechless honestly. I can NOT wait to watch the second season/prologue to it. Let me tell you this, you will NOT, let me repeat, NOT be wasting your time watching this, I promise you that. I feel like i have so much more to write but I just don't know what it is! Which really stinks because I want everyone to watch this and KNOW that it is a VERY VERY awesome anime to watch. Soo, watch it. I guarantee to you won't be sorry that you did. I HIGHLY recommend it!

This anime's main theme is "trials and tribulations", and shows Sora's determination to complete her tasks. Most characters were able to be developed in a way that did not really impeded in the progress of the storyline. The pace of the anime was smooth, and no episodes felt like fillers. There were a couple of emotional curveballs, but none that surprised me toooooooo much... Overall, great anime, really inspired to show the same dedication that Sora has to her skills as what I should be doing in my own life as well.

Sora Naegino is the most plucky girl I have ever watched. After all that she goes through to achieve her dream, she stays smiling happily through it all. Having encountered a couple of things that she has gone through, this girl's ability to face it all head on and not get too far away from her dream is astounding. And, surprisingly, she isn't too much of a Mary Sue! She's written well enough where you can believe her character and everything that she thinks about without thinking, "Man, she's just perfect, isn't she?'

The supporting characters get their own development too, which progresses nicely and doesn't appear too forced. Most of what goes on in her friends' lives still has an effect on Sora, which makes it pleasant to watch and seems less like filler.

Overall this show has an original premise with good characters, and when you watch you end up rooting for them as well, and fearful of what might happen next. This show throws curveballs at you all around, some expected and some completely surprising. And this is what makes this show a show I know I will return to rewatch in the future.

The anime is about the amazing Kaleido Stage, a well known circus in America. The anime is beautifly drawn and even though it doesn't match up with actual physics their shows are pretty amazing. The stories are very cute and funny! The willpower of Sora, the main character, is so amazing. It's as if everyone at this circus hates her but she still moves forward in her goal. It is a very inspring and kawaii anime that everyone should at least try and watch. This manga has it all: school life, hardwork, romance, pervy comments (Fool the Stage Spirit) fortune telling, kawaiiness, it even has a little bit of magic thrown in there.

The plot is what impressed me the most as I began to watch this series. Each episode has some theme running through it, and shows how Sora and her friends face the challenges of life in a performance troupe and how their characters develop along the way. While some other shows running over fifty episodes long suffer from having too many "episode-of-the-day" plots, the great thing about Kaleido Star is that almost none of the episodes feel like they're filler bits. Every single event has importance to the greater storyline, and characters undergo changes all the time (for better or for worse). In addition to that, it doesn't always focus on Sora's character, but also involves the future of the Stage and many, many plot twists. Some of the other characters also experience major changes, and most of them have a back story that is revealed as the show goes on. It's a commendable effort considering the fact that I've watched about half of the series by now and the plot hasn't bored me one bit.

All I can say is that I really enjoy watching Kaleido Star. It manages to draw you into it's story, and you begin to feel like you're "there" with Sora, experiencing her joys and sorrows, laughing when she does, crying when she falls, and cheering when she gets on her feet again.

Who says there isn't any magic? If you can feel the warm fuzziness in your heart - the magic's right there.

Kaleido Star is totally awesome! It's one of my favorites right now. It's about a 16-year-old girl named Sora. She has wanted to join Kaleido Stage since she saw it when she was little. She misses the audition, but gets in anyway. Eventually, she becomes one of the best stars.