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Kaleido Star New Wings Review

August 15th 2008 23:24
Kaleido Star New Wings - Anime Review




Information:





Studio: GONZO
Licenced by: ADV Films
Length: 26 Episodes
Year: 2003
Genre: Drama, Slice of Life, Shoujo, Sports


Synopsis:



A young girl, Sora, travels from Japan to America in the hopes that she will be able to try out and perform in the circus stage show, Kaleido Stage. But once she arrives, troubling encounters after encounters befall her, preventing her from making the auditions in time. Can she still fullfill her dream even with the antagonism of the current star of Kaleido Stage, Layla Hamilton?


Review:


The first season of Kaleido Star was a show I enjoyed immensely, so the wait for the second season has been excruciating. Now I see it’s been worth the wait, at least if the first episode of new material is anything to go by.


After a weak start to the second season and some bumps along the way with characters that suddenly felt out of place and unlike themselves, Kaleido Star finally started to hit its groove and work its way back to where it belonged.


Unfortunately, it did not go beyond the highs that it achieved once before and in some ways felt like something of a retread as it got closer to the end.That said, this second season does manage to end on some really high notes and provides for some excellent entertainment.

So while much of this season was seemingly going to hinge on how Sora cracked the shell that surrounds Leon, he becomes little more than an observer towards the end. Instead, Layla comes back to challenge Sora for the part in the new show and is quite sure she can outdo her with the Angel's Maneuver.

Layla's done good in challenging Sora throughout the series in different ways and with different mindsets, but here she's intent on simply teaching Sora about how she has to properly behave as a prima performer. But in the course of it she loses herself some to the competition and is more intent on winning than achieving what she really needs to by challenging her and the competition feels somewhat awkward and out of place. The entire thing absolutely needed to happen but this is something that should have happened awhile ago. Because it was done in a way that it had to be dealt with later, it completely minimized Leon and made a lot of these last episodes feel like a retread in some way.

The finale and its performances are simply beautiful though as is a good deal of the competition between Layla and Sora. For all my griping about it, it is very easy to be captivated by their performances and to become very much engaged by it as they internally express what they're feeling.

Though a touch forced in how the performances were affecting the audience, it does reach out to you and it's a strong way to close the series.


The opening and ending for the second season is very well done. The songs were suitable for the anime and give the anime more atmosphere and sensation. I found myself singing side by side with the opening and ending most of the time. As for the BGM, they fit nicely into every scene and give you the feeling and a very pleasant mood as you continue watching the series.

Kaleido Star has been a great series overall with a somewhat weak second season that really took its time to find its own voice. In a lot of ways, as expressed above, I don't think they completely found their own voice but they do set it up nicely for what will happen in the future.

Looking back at the progress Sora has made since the start of the series, she has definitely grown in some ways but in many others she's still the same " and still far too innocent. There were so many areas that could have been fleshed out much more in the relationship department that could have provided some better angst and growth.
Grade: A - I would say this is a master piece and is the best anime ever produced by GONZO.
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1 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Anonymous

March 6th 2009 03:56
I totally like the first part and the second part of this series. Yeah, the beginning of the second series was weak in relationship, but again, it's good for the younger auidences.
The middle to the end of the second season was the best. I really like it and at times i thought some words were a little off. Anyway, I totally agree with the grade you given to the series.

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