The Essentials
Name: Kaleido Star; Kaleido Star: New Wings (season 2)
Genre: Comedy, Action
Episodes: 52 total - Season 1: 26 episodes; Season 2: 25 episodes; OVA: 1 episode
Released: TV: April 3, 2003 - March 27, 2004; OVA: September 24, 2004
Based On: N/A
Director: Junichi Sato (season 1), Yoshimasa Hiraike (season 2)
Produced By: HoriPro, MediaNet, TV Tokyo
US Distribution By: ADV Films
Major Japanese Cast
Sora Naegino: Ryou Hirohashi
Layla Hamilton: Sayaka Ohara
Fool: Takehito Koyasu
Ken Robbins: Hiro Shimono
Mia Guillem: Chinami Nishimura
Anna Heart: Akeno Watanabe
Kalos Eido: Keiji Fujiwara
Yuri Killian: Susumu Chiba
Rosetta Passel: Kaori Mizuhashi
May Wong: Mai Nakahara
Leon Oswald: Takahiro Sakurai
Sarah Dupont: Aya Hisakawa
Marion: Fumiko Orikasa
Jonathan the Seal: Etsuko Kozakura
Policeman: Unshou Ishizuka
Cathy Taymor: Kotono Mitsuishi
Major English Cast
Sora Naegino: Cynthia Martinez
Layla Hamilton: Sandra Krasa
Fool: Jay Hickman
Ken Robbins: John Swasey
Mia Guillem: Nancy Novotny
Anna Heart: Kira Vincent-Davis
Kalos Eido: Rick Burford
Yuri Killian: Illich Guardiola
Rosetta Passel: Serena Varghese
May Wong: Hilary Haag
Leon Oswald: Mike MacRae
Sarah Dupont: Luci Christian
Marion: Kim-Ly Nguyen
Jonathan the Seal: Tiffany Grant
Policeman: James Faulkner
Cathy Taymor: Shannon Emerick
Scores
Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherency/Story Arc: 8/10 (x 2 = 16 pts)
English Dubs: 7/10 (x 1 = 7 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)
Total: 167/200 (83.5%)
Review
Kaleido Star, and it’s second season called New Wings, is a show about a girl named Sora Naegino who has come to the United States to try to become part of the world renewed performing circus troupe at Kaleido Stage. Things don’t start out well when someone tries stealing her suitcase, causing her to be late to the audition. As a result, the current star of Kaleido Stage, Layla Hamilton, tells her to go home. However, after accidentally causing an small injury to a performer, keeping them out of that day’s performance, the manager of Kaleido Stage, Kalos, tells Sora to take her place. And so begins Sora’s trip towards Kaleido Stardom.
The first season is largely based on the improvement of Sora as a performer and Layla’s slowly growing acceptance of her on the stage until Sora becomes a star. The second season is set largely around what happens to Sora now that she is at the top and now has other performers trying to climb the ladder to chase her. Also, despite being the top star of Kaleido Stage, she hasn’t yet yet become a true Kaleido Star, at least according to the stage’s resident spirit Fool.
At first glance, a series about a girl performing at a circus wouldn’t seem all that interesting. I’m not exactly one who finds performing on trapezes and other such contraptions (some of which I never even knew existed) overly exciting. However, the story kept me watching, and after not too long, I, who cares nothing about trapeze performances, started cheering Sora on to successfully perform that trapeze trick she’s been practicing, or whatever performance she was getting ready for.
At 51 TV episodes plus an OVA, Kaleido Star may run a little long, but it does very well at finding a story line and consistently progressing that storyline from one episode to the next. Also, the two seasons have distinct story arcs, so someone can watch either season without necessarily wondering how they got there or feeling like the ending is incomplete (though obviously watching the first season is a good idea before watching the 2nd).
I consider animation to be pretty good in this series, and the music is very good as well. The English dubs aren’t spectacular, but they’re good enough to be able to listen to without flinching. Overall, I’d rate this a pretty good series.
First Watched: July 2006 - January 2007
Do I Own: Season 1
Do I Recommend: Yes
