Kaleido Star

areaseven · April 25, 2004

GONZO Digimation/G&G Entertainment/TV Tokyo/King Records, 2003-2004

ADV Films, 2004-2005

Directed by Junichi Sato (Sailor Moon, Gate Keepers)

Rated 13+ for mature situations and mild language.

Sora Naegino travels from Japan to the U.S. to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a member of the Kaleido Stage, the world's grandest spectacle. Unfortunately, due to some mishaps around the city, she misses the final audition and is told by star acrobat Layla Hamilton to go home. But when she accidentally injures a cast member, Sora is chosen by stage owner Kalos Eido to take her place in the show. She must now conquer her stage fright and peer pressure from other cast members to prove herself worthy of being part of the Kaleido Stage.

Story: B

Kaleido Star seems like a promising story, but it feels like a derivative of other underdog titles like Ace o Nerae!, Battle Athletes, Princess Nine and Sakura Wars - only with a huge serving of Cirque du Soleil on the side. Where it lacks in originality, Kaleido Star makes up for it with creativity and a host of interesting characters.

Animation: A-

While not GONZO Digimation's (Last Exile, Yukikaze) best work to date, Kaleido Star boasts some very good digital animation and lots of pretty colors. Character designs by Hajime Watanabe (Kodocha, Animation Runner Kuromi-chan) and Fumitoshi Oisaki.

Soundtrack: A-

Of course, something like this has to have some decent music. Mina Kubota delivers a remarkable orchestral score to go with the acrobatic performances.

Sub vs. Dub

Kaleido Star features Ryo Hirohashi (Rakka in Haibane Renmei, Tails in Sonic X) as Sora, Sayaka Ohara (Racquel in Scrapped Princess, Ezra in Vandread) as Layla, Mai Nakahara (Miina in Onegai Twins, Chihaya in Maburaho) as May, Hiro Shimono (Ayato in RahXephon) as Ken, Chinami Nishimura (Kiki in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Greta in A Little Snow Fairy Sugar) as Mia, Takahiro Sakurai (Boma in Heat Guy J, Shun in Gate Keepers) as Leon, Susumu Chiba (Bakunetsumaru in SD Gundam Force) as Yuri, Fumiko Orikasa (Pacifica in Scrapped Princess, Chise in SaiKano) as Marion, Takehito Koyasu (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Betterman) as Fool, Keiji Fujiwara (Eledore in Gundam 08th MS Team, Edmundo in Heat Guy J) as Kalos, and Unshou Ishizuka (Guld in Macross Plus, Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop) as the policeman.