Sea Slugs! Anime Blog » Kaleido Star

Returned From Training

Kabitzin — Fri, 23 Jul 2004 11:50:45 +0000

As Ender mentioned last time, I’ve been on a slight hiatus from blogging this week. This is mostly due to the fact that I have been undergoing intense Kaleido training in the Grand Canyon. That or I have been marathoning Kaleido Star during every waking hour that was not spent toiling at work or playing FFXI. Ender and I both agree that at least a little time should be spent blogging on some of the older (and sometimes more obscure) series that may have missed the surge in anime blogging. In this spirit, I will probably start posting about Kaleido Star and also Fruits Basket soon. I had not seen either one prior to two weeks ago, and both are excellent series.

Kaleido Star, especially, is a series that is very dear to my heart now. When Ender first told me about it, I thought “A series about a circus…. lamexor!” However, it is very difficult to really put into words how incredibly cool this concept is. It amazes me how few people even know about this series. I have yet to see anyone cover the first half of the series, and so I will be starting at the beginning and probably covering up till 26. Ender posted on the latter half of KS already, but he said it would be easiest if I just replaced his posts with mine to avoid weird archiving issues. I’m still not sold on that plan, so I still have some decisions to make about that. In the meantime, to keep the archiving logical, I may adjust some of the old timestamps on existing KS posts, just so the archive will be in order by episode.

Kaleido Addict

Kabitzin — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 04:06:58 +0000

So Ender’s recent posts and endorsement of Kaleido Star finally perked my interest and I picked up episodes 29 and 30. After watching them both (about 4 times each…) I am completely hooked and in need of more. I never imagined how cool a series about a circus could be, but the stunts are absolutely captivating, and the characters are totally awesome. I’m glad I got into it in time for the start of the second season, but now I am in agony until the next episode comes out! Curse you Ender!

If I can somehow (*hint* *hint*) get my hands on the first season, I may need to cap it, and overlap into Ender’s KS posts. We both agree that more people need to know about this series! Man, first Stellvia, now Kaleido Star… at this rate I might have to actually listen to Ender’s recommendations from now on :grin:.

Kaleido Star 30

Ender — Sun, 11 Jul 2004 16:36:31 +0000

A rather humorous episode, chock full of SD…much more than usual, in fact. The new prodigy, May Wong, is a quite psychotic and full of herself, and cannot stand the sight of Sora! Upon contact, she immediately breaks into a gutteral growling spree. Meanwhile, Leon forces Mia to change the script to Saiyuki, giving him almost all the stage time (and virtually none to Sora), threatening to leave if she doesn’t comply. For now, Sora and the gang can only meekly submit to his demands, as the audience is lovin’ Leon.

Tons of hilarious moments, including Sarah’s attempt at bonding with May through her goofy “Chinese Cat-style martial arts!”, and Fool’s new peeping adventure. He’s much more outspoken these days! I also dig the new chibi eyecatch scene!

The real meat of the story starts when Rosetta makes a surprise visit, asking Sora to hide her for a bit. Evidently she wants to join Kaledio Stage permanently, but her agent is against the idea, and is chasing her down. She manages to rile things up during her stay, by getting into a spat with May, leading policeman-san in a wild goose chase, and making a pathetic attempt at the trapeze. Too bad her agent has finally tracked her down! What kind of surprises are in store for them? Go and download it now! Now! Now!

Kaleido Star 29

Ender — Sat, 10 Jul 2004 23:35:55 +0000

Woot! A new season of Kaleido Star is upon us, and it’s shaping up to be awesome. The story picks up much later after the dramatic finale of the first season; although Sora managed to gain the respect and friendship of the Layla, the two could never again perform together due to Layla’s crippling injury. Without their top star, the Kaleido Stage is struggling to stay afloat. Though Sora tries to fill Layla’s shoes, her star power simply isn’t great enough, and the audiences don’t acknowledge her. Thus, Carlos resorts to other methods.

In steps Leon Aswald, a renown performer whose name carries as much weight as Layla’s. The attendance rate skyrockets as women flock to see this grey-haired bishie in action in the next production, “Saiyuki”. He had joined the stage after hearing how Sora had completed the Mystical Act, but upon meeting her in person…

Well, let’s just say that Sora once again decideds to improv and puts her own spin on things, to the delight of the children in the audience and to the chagrin of Leon, and he abruptly leaves the performance midway. Thus, Sora is forced to play both parts, which is not only physically exhausting, but presents a small problem in the scene that they both are supposed to appear together.

Here we discover that Leon’s ideology is vastly different than that of Sora’s; while Sora performs to delight the audience (esp. the young children), Leon performs for only for himself, to bask in the glow of praise. We can see the dichotomy in the audience as well, as the children who came to cheer for Sora are frightened by the rabid female fans of Leon, who mercilessly boo Sora down when she assumes both parts.

To make matters worse, an upstart young biotch jumps onto the stage and denounces Sora in the middle of the performance, claiming the she herself was the actual successor of Layla. She then proceeds to one-up Sora with her own amazing acrobatic stunts. Who the heck is this girl? Why the hell does she announce her stunts like she was in a fighting anime (Eternal Angel Turn! Dream Spiral!)?? And is Sora just gonna stand by and take that sh*t?? Watch and find out!

Kaleido Star 26 (First Season Finale)

Ender — Fri, 09 Jul 2004 03:10:35 +0000

Wow, Kaleido Star certainly pulls out the stops for this last episode. So just what is the Mystical Act? Well, you’ll have to watch and find out Great ending for the first season; it certainly brought a satisfied grin to my face.

Kaleido Star on the whole was a truly entertaining series; at first I figured it would be sort of lame, but I was quickly proven wrong; it had a winning combination of comedy, music, and gung-ho spirit, plus an unusual Cirque du Soleil type theme that sets it apart from other “genki” series. The stage performances are all lavish and well-imagined, and the soundtrack from the series is also quite memorable as well. As I recall, Matthew and BluWacky also enjoyed the series, and you might want to check out their blogs on it. I still can’t believe Matthew marathoned the entire first season though. He is XtremE!

I’ve been trying to convince Kabitzin to watch this series, since I really think he would enjoy it. However, he is typically reluctant to take my word on these kinds of things since my tastes usually run different than his. Maybe if he got a recommendation from someone else, he would be more inclined

Sooner or later, I’ll get around to posting on season 2! Of note is that episodes 27-28 recap the first season for those who missed it.

Edit: First Season final rating: 5.0/5.0 KS is a series that I can pretty much recommend to anyone. It’s also one of the few series I have managed to convince Kabitzin to watch.

Kaleido Star 25

Ender — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 01:51:54 +0000

With renewed strength and resolve, Sora and Layla begin their final training for the Mystical Act, which involves some crazy midair momentum shifts. Carlos and the Fool still won’t tell them what the actual act is though, as they are still mentally unprepared. More problems crop up later though, as Layla’s shoulder injury becomes serious, and forces her to go to the hospital. As Yuri tries to stop the act from proceeding (partially out of concern for Layla, surprisingly enough), she spills out her feelings about the act, and why she feels she must complete it.