The Show:
I reviewed Kaleido
Star when it was first released in 2004 and found it to be quite enjoyable
and fun and highly recommended it. Fellow anime reviewer Don Houston
reviewed the boxed
set of the first season and thought that it was "a quality show all
the way around." My hopes were high for the second season.
Since the first set wrapped up the main storyline, where would they take
the show? Unfortunately the answer is nowhere new. In this
season they set up things so that Sora has another rival, actually two
this time, but after this time it doesn't seem natural and real.
They have really forced to plot past the breaking point to set up the season
and made the first volume one a big disappointment.
Series Background:
In the first season of Kaleido Star, Sora Naegino travels to
the US from Japan to chase her dream, joining the world famous Kaleido
Stage. Though she's talented, young Sora has to prove herself to
the current Kaleido Stage cast, especially the star, Lala Hamilton.
Over the corse of the season, Sora's skills grow and she slowly wins over
the cast with her energetic personality and never-say-die attitude.
She even wins over the stuck up Layla. In the end Sora becomes the
star's partner and the two of them manage to preform the Legendary Great
Maneuver, the ultimate trapeze stunt that leaves the crowd speechless.
While preforming it though, Layla breaks her arm very badly and has to
quite the stage. Layla hands over the staring role to Sora, and puts
the care of Kaleido Stage in her capable hands.
This Season:
After the first two episodes that retell the events of the first season,
the latest chapter in Sora's life begins. With Layla gone, Kaleido
Stage is having a tough time of it. The crowds are still a bit thin,
and to boost attendance the management hire Leon Oswald, the world's greatest
trapeze artist. Leon's even more stuck on himself than Layla ever
was. On opening night he decides that the talent of the performers,
especially Sora, is lacking and leaves in the middle of his first scene.
So Sora decides to save the show by preforming both roles, hers and Leon's,
for the rest of the show. To make matters worse, a new rival jumps
on stage during the closing number and challenges Sora's right to headline
at the Kaleido Stage. (My gosh, where was security? Do they
let just anyone jump in and take part in the show??) May Wong was
the highest scoring candidate in this year's crop of applicants to the
Stage, and she insists that she's going to be the next Layla Hamilton.
I really enjoyed the first season of this show, and highly recommended
the series when it first came out. I was looking forward to this
sequel, and popped it into the DVD player as soon as it arrived.
I'm sorry to say that I was sorely disappointed in the way this season's
story has been unfolding so far. While the first season had realistic
problems for Sora to overcome, this season I have trouble suspending my
disbelief. The fact that the head of Kaleido Stage lets Leon come
back after walking out in the middle of a show was pretty dumb especially
after he said that he may walk out again, but to let him rewrite the shows
and cut out Sora's part was ludicrous.
I also couldn't believe that everyone was treating May like a goddess
even though she had only been with the Stage for a couple of days.
She is instantly set up as Sora's equal even though she has no professional
experience. To make matters worse, she commandeers equipment that
Sora needs for her own use and no one seems to care.
The fact that both rivals hate Sora and constantly criticize her performances
is puzzling too. Has everyone forgotten what she did in the last
season? This time the series has lost the sense of fun and excitement
that the original season had. They are trying to paint Sora as the
underdog once again, but it's just coming across as being really stupid.
It's too bad, because the first season was a lot of fun.
The DVD:
Audio:
This DVD has a 2.0 Japanese soundtrack and a 5.1 English dub. The sound
quality was very good in both tracks. The voices were clear and there wasn't
any hiss or distortion. The English dub was more full and rich, being a
5.1 mix, but I enjoyed the Japanese dub a little bit more. I really
disliked a couple of the voices on the English audio track. The actress
who voices Sora in the English version has chosen an annoying voice for
her. She sounds like a three year old, with a very high-pitched cutesy
voice, and it gets old fairly quickly. The dorm leader Sarah's voice
had a fake British accent that sounds incredibly inane. The other
actors do a good job, but I still prefer the original language track.
Video:
I was very happy with the way this show looked. Being a recent
show, the full frame picture was very good. The colors were bright and
full, and the lines were tight. There was some light aliasing but this
was minor it wasn't distracting. This is a nice looking show.
Extras:
The DVD comes with a clean opening and closing, and a three-minute reel
of production sketches. There is also a five and a half minute featurette
on Serena Varghese, in which the actress is followed to class at the University
of Houston, and then we see her in the recording booth dubbing tracks for
Kaleido Star. For some reason they never mention what she's majoring
in, which I found a little odd. Final Thoughts:
Final Thoughts:
I really enjoyed the first season of this show, which is why I'm so
disappointed that this second season is so weak. The plot is idiotic
and the actions of most of the characters are unrealistic. It was
really hard to sympathize with anyone this time around. Sora's insecurity
was believable the first time around, but this time it isn't. She's
more than proven herself, and the fact that she won't stick up for herself
is rather irritating. I really wish this show was better, and while
I hope it improves, I really doubt it will. There are too many quality
shows out there to waste your time on this one. Skip it.
Buy: