Kaleido Star — BrandWiki

Kaleido Star

type	tv series
director	Junichi Sato (1–26) Yoshimasa Hiraike (27–51)
producer	Yoshiyuki Furuya Takeshi Sasamura Shunji Namiki
writer	Reiko Yoshida
music	Mina Kubota
studio	Gonzo G&G Entertainment
licensee	Crunchyroll (streaming)‡R3R‡
network	TV Tokyo
first	4 April 2003
last	27 March 2004
episodes	51
episode list	List of Kaleido Star episodes

Kaleido Star (カレイドスター) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Gonzo. The series was created by Junichi Sato, who also directed the first season, and written by Reiko Yoshida. Kaleido Star: New Wings was directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike. Three original video animations have been produced, as well as a manga series and a novel. The series follows Sora Naegino, a young Japanese girl, who travels to the United States to fulfill her dream of performing at the world-famous Kaleido Stage.

Plot

First Season

Sora Naegino is a young Japanese girl with great acrobatic talent who travels to Cape Mery (a mix of Los Angeles and San Francisco), California in hopes of auditioning for the Kaleido Stage, a world-famous circus which has mesmerized her since childhood. However, she runs into difficulties as soon as she arrives. She gets lost on her way to the Stage, is leered at by a mysterious stranger, and has her bag stolen by a thief. Employing her acrobatic skills, Sora chases down the criminal.

A kind police officer gives her a ride to Kaleido Stage only to discover she had missed her audition, an event upon which her idol, Layla Hamilton, advises her to return to Japan.

Media

Episodes

Music

1 Take it, Shake it – Sugar (Episodes 1–13) 2 Yakusoku no Basho he – Chihiro Yonekura (Episodes 14–26) 3 "Tattoo Kiss" by r.o.r/s (Episodes 27–51) 4 "Blanc et Noir" by Ryō Hirohashi and Kaori Mizuhashi (The Amazing Princess Without a Smile OVA)

5 "Ray of Light" by Sayaka Ōhara (Legend of Phoenix ~Layla Hamilton Monogatari~ OVA)

1 Real Identity – Sugar (Episodes 1–13) 2 Bokuwa Kokoni IRU – Sophia (Episodes 14–26)

Opening:

Lyrics: Kyoko Asakura
Music: So Kikuchi
Arrangement: Shinichiro Murayama
Music: Production: Hori Pro Inc.

Lyrics: Chinhiro Yonekura
Music Chinhiro Yonekura

Lyrics: Mizue Takada
Music: Dream Field
Arrangement: Keiji Tanabe

Lyrics: Yuki Matsuura
Music: Mina Kubota
Arrangement: Yuki Matsuura

Ending:

Lyrics: Kyoko Asakura
Music: Satori Shiraishi
Arrangement: Shinichiro

Lyrics: Mitsuru Matsuoka
Music: Mitsuru Matsuoka
(Toy's Factory)
1) "Escape" by r.o.r/s (Episodes 27–50)
2) * Lyrics: Mizue Takada
3) * Music: Keiji Tanabe
4) * Arrangement: Kenji Tanabe
5) "Yakusoku no basho e" (約束の場所へ) by Chihiro Yonekura with Kaleido Stars (Episode 51)
6) "Tattoo Kiss" by r.o.r/s (The Amazing Princess Without a Smile OVA)
7) "Golden Phoenix ~Nando demo~" (Golden Phoenix ~何度でも~) by Sayaka Ōhara (Legend of Phoenix ~Layla Hamilton Monogatari~ OVA)
8) * Lyrics: Kaleido Stage
9) * Music: Hitoshi Sakimoto
10) * Arrangement: Hitoshi Sakimoto

Insert:
1) "Ray of Light" by Layla Hamilton (Sayaka Ōhara) (Episode 50)
2) * Music: Mina Kubota
3) * Lyrics: Yuki Matsuura

Manga

A manga series, titled Kaleido Star ~Wings of the Future~, began serialization in Shōnen Fang's on 19 February 2007.[4] The story takes place fifteen years after the events of the anime series and it revolves around Sora's younger sister, Yume. Because Sora has not visited her family in years for reasons unknown, Yume joins Kaleido Stage in hopes to meet her.

Serialization in Shōnen Fang magazine ended in September 2007 when the magazine went defunct.[5]

Novel

A novel, titled Mr. Policeman's Amazing Wedding (ポリスのすごい結婚式), was released on 10 February 2006.[6]

Reception

Season 1

In a review of the first Volume, Anime News Network called the series "heartwarming fluff without too many sugar calories" and praised the Japanese voice cast for stellar performances, with particular emphasis on Ryo Hirohashi and Takehito Koyasu.[7] Anime On DVD also noted Koyasu's performance, the quality of the animation in the performance scenes, and the fulfilling climax of the final episode.[8][9] Mike Lewis of Underland Online noted Kaleido Star as being "...an extraordinary series is in a class all its own."[10]

Season 2

Despite being put off by the recap episodes, Anime News Network positively reviewed the first Volume of Kaleido Star: New Wings. While critiquing the story as "straight from the shōjo drama playbook," the review held praise for the visuals, stating that "the best thing about Kaleido Star is, far and away, the amazing animation and production values. The circus scenes are wildly original and sometimes breathtaking; the animation quality hasn't dipped at all in the second season." Cynthia Martinez also won notice for developing her performance as Sora.[11] Anime Advanced also looked at the first volume and praised it highly, noting that "Kaleido Star gets my highest possible recommendation. This is a show that dreams are made of."[12]

Summing up the series, Chris Beveridge of Anime On DVD said that "Kaleido Star has been a great series overall with a somewhat weak second season that really took its time to find its own voice," but that "it's still a series that's very easy to recommend on a whole and one that is very much worth showing to a younger audience."[13] ActiveAnime's Holly Ellingwood commented that "The finale is climatic and fulfilling." and summarized the series as being "An anime that is a pure joy to watch. Exhilarating, Kaleido Star is a stirring series that is both inspirational and remarkable."[14]

Extra Stage

Anime On DVD proclaimed the OVA to be "a beautiful piece of work and the best way to close out things for a while as it is much more oriented on the comedy and the lighter side of the characters... It's a great little self-contained story that plays strong in a similar fashion to the last episode of the series but without quite so much angst and hardship associated with it. It leaves you laughing and really smiling at the end of the disc."[13]