Rating: 
Summary: UNDER THE BIG TOP
Review: 16 year old Sora Naegino has come to America to try out for Kaleido Star, a Cirque de Soleil-like extravaganza that picks only the best talent to perform in its shows. At a loss as to the location of the show when she sets down in America, she goes to ask a magazine vendor for directions. A stranger overhears her question and kneels down beside her, looking at her legs, even touching them and telling them how nice they are. Leaving her suitcase unattended as she tries to get away from this pervert, her belongings are stolen by a thief. Sora shows her acrobatic skills as she captures him. After being delayed a the police station as a suspected runaway, she finally gets to the audition late and is not even allowed to try out by orders of the resident star of Kaleido Star, Layla Hamilton. She is allowed to stay on and watch the show. When a trampoline performer is sidelined by an accident, the owner of the show, Kalos, who just happens to be the stranger that had looked at her legs before, asks her to take the injured performer's place. Sora will have to prove herself as she will have to perform before thousands of people with no rehearsal. These first 5 episodes are mainly about Sora's attempts to fit into the troupe, even though most of the performers are hostile to her. They believe that she has some personal connection to Kalos that lets her achieve unearned status and oppurtunity. Everyone else has to work hard for the little time they get on stage while Sora walks in off the street without even a rehearsal and gets stagetime. Despite this, she is able to get the respect and friendship of some of the troupe due to her hard work ethic and dedication. Mia and Anna, two of her fellow performers begin to realize that Kalos may have shown her special consideration due to her abilities. Then there's always the Spirit of the Stage, a lecherous doll that appears to Sora to give her advice, saying that he only appears to those destined for the stage. This first volume was excellent. The animation is great. The voice acting first rate. The characters are great. Lots of humor. Some drama. It really makes you root for the success of Sora. Highly recommended. No great extras here, just the standard clean opening/closing, production sketches. Does come with a little Sora cardboard standup if that wows you.
Rating:
Summary: New favorite anime!
Review: I gave this a try even though I usually prefer magical girl anime, and I was very surprised. The animation is beautiful and the story is inspirational. Kaleido Stage is a bit like Cirque Du Soleil, but it has themes like ballets (Romeo & Juliet,etc.) instead of just random tricks. Sora the main character goes through ups and downs as she tries to rise to the top and become a Kaleido Star! If you only buy one anime this year, this should be it!
Rating:
Summary: Kaleido Star!!!!!!
Review: I saw the first episode via a demo disc in Newtype USA. I thought it would be cheezy, but it turned out to be very well animated. (It has a fresh new style that's totally not generic) The characters are beautifully animated and the storyline is just plain cool. Buy it, you won't regret it!
Rating:
Summary: Kaleido 5 STARS
Review: i was so prepared to hate this anime becuase it looked so silly. but i really did end up enjoying it. sora is sweet and determined and her initial failings make her even more endearing (unlike the sort of heroines who always succeed at everything they try, really making you want to slap them). i'm not sure what charles solomon is referring to in his review about sora being "something of a klutz". it's true she hadn't studied ballet or trapzeeze. she's a gymnast. so it's natural that she'd mess up a few times when she's trying ballet or trapeze. and the initial screw-ups on the trampoline are due to a serious case of stage fright. i'd say that her opening scene with the roller-skates proves she's not a klutz. this is certainly not the most deep or involved plotline i've ever seen, but for some reason i'd get strangely excited to see the scenes where they were performing. the animation is above-par, particularly the motion sequences (like when the guy rips off sora's luggage) and the voices are spot-on for each character (though i've only watched the japanese version). i'd highly recommended it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Show but Mediocre English Dub
Review: Kaleido Star has a very engaging storyline that spans through 51 episodes without any filler episodes. Although episodes 27 and 28 are recaps, which are very common for a long series, the entire series progresses gradually to tell us the story of an innocent girl who dreams to become a famous Kaleido Star. Unlike most circus performances, the shows showcased in the series are enchanting, entertaining, magical, and often times very romantic in nature. The original Japanese version deserves 5 stars but the English dub would have to settle for 3 stars. On average, I will have to give this DVD four stars. It seems that Pioneer or Geneon is the only US studio who can dub Japanese anime correctly and it is the only studio who has demonstrated the finest care and effort in performing its tasks. Other studios make loads of errors that are very irritating to us who understand both Japanese and English. Several gross errors in this DVD:
1. English Mistranslation
The title of the first episode should be translated as "My Debut on the Amazing Stage" rather than "My Amazing Stage Debut." The stage in which Sora performed her debut was amazing but Sora's debut was rather embarrassing. Although Cynthia (the English voice actor for Sora) tried to make a comment, "Well, sort of," after she read the title of episode one, that does not correct the fact that the translation staff mistranslated the title! 2. Choice of English Voice Actors
Sora - Cynthia Martinez sounds unnatural when she tried too hard to imitate Ryou Hirohashi (the original Japanese voice actor.) The unnatural high-pitch voice is annoying but bearable for now.
Kalos - they should use a good-natured masculine voice for Kalos. Even though he acts tough and demanding, he bears good intentions if you can read his mind.
Ken - most unbearable choice! The English voice actor sounds more like a 38-year-old man than an 18-year-old boy! Ken's voice is supposed to give life to a tender, gentle, caring, and sweet guy. Did ADV's staff study the character profiles before they picked the English voice actors? As soon as Ken appears in the story, I have to switch to the Japanese track. I can't bear the English dub! 3. Deliberately Changing the Dialogue
Sometimes the English dialogue has to be changed in order to adjust for the timing of the original Japanese dialogue. As long as they can get the overall meaning, we would let the screenplay alterations go. But in this particular DVD, some of the dialogue alterations actually changed the original screenplay and that is very annoying because that is disrespectful to the original work! For example, in episode 2, when Kalos found Sora cleaning the stage, the English dub said, "you are a little on the short side but I think you will work out." Kalos never meant to say that Sora was short. He only said that she had nice legs. This incident is actually another indication to show Kalos' ability to see Sora's potential in becoming the next Kaleido Star. The English dub has a degrading tone which implies that Sora barely made it into the troupe. Sora's response should be "He's a weird boss" rather than "Oh, that's nice." Her original line shows that she did not understand why Kalos kept on looking at her legs. In terms of timing difference, I don't see why the English staff has to change this dialogue. In episode 5, when Mr. Policeman met Sora's Dad for the first time, he actually said "Pap Pap!" rather than "Come here." And Sora's Dad's response was "Pap Pap?" rather than "No, thanks." The English dub missed the joke! (In episode 19, Ken also called Sora's Dad Otousan, or Father. I hope they won't change that one because Ken really meant to call him Dad, in his funny and cute way.) Although they did put down the correct translation in the English subtitles, for those who watch the show in English dub only would miss all of the good stuff! 4. Pronunciation
I wonder whether the English voice actors had listened to the original Japanese track before they dubbed the English track. Kaleido is pronounced as "Ka-LAY-dO" rather than "Ka-lie-da." According to the English phonics, "ei" is pronounced as "a" whereas the German phonics pronounced "ei" as "i." In this case, the English phonics is applied and therefore, Kaleido should be pronounced as "Ka-LAY-dO." How could the English staff make such a big mistake?! Kaleido Star is so popular in Japan that it is slated for a re-run in Japan starting this month. (The original broadcast was from April 3, 2003 to March 27, 2004.) And there will be an episode 52 coming to Japan this Fall as an OVA. I am very much looking forward to it! It is very disappointing that ADV didn't put as much attention to details to the English dub as some of its other counterparts would. This failure has given opportunity to its competitors. Although they have shortened the window in bringing the latest anime to America, the mistakes they made in the dub cannot deter fans from buying bootlegs or downloading fansub. Since I have to watch the original Japanese track with subtitles anyway, if I have to pay 5 times more to buy the flawed English dub, why not stay with the bootlegs? Oh My Goddess is doing so much better in America than in Japan because the English dub is better than the original Japanese track. At this point, there are about 40 episodes to go before ADV finishes with the entire Kaleido Star series. I hope everyone would make improvements in the upcoming episodes so that this wonderful piece of artwork will shine even brighter than its original Japanese version. ^_^
Rating:
Summary: Great Show but Mediocre English Dub
Review: Kaleido Star has a very engaging storyline that spans through 51 episodes without any filler episodes. Although episodes 27 and 28 are recaps, which are very common for a long series, the entire series progresses gradually to tell us the story of an innocent girl who dreams to become a famous Kaleido Star. Unlike most circus performances, the shows showcased in the series are enchanting, entertaining, magical, and often times very romantic in nature. The original Japanese version deserves 5 stars but the English dub would have to settle for 3 stars. On average, I will have to give this DVD four stars. It seems that Pioneer or Geneon is the only US studio who can dub Japanese anime correctly and it is the only studio who has demonstrated the finest care and effort in performing its tasks. Other studios make loads of errors that are very irritating to us who understand both Japanese and English. Several gross errors in this DVD:
1.English Mistranslation
The title of the first episode should be translated as "My Debut on the Amazing Stage" rather than "My Amazing Stage Debut." The stage in which Sora performed her debut was amazing but Sora's debut was rather embarrassing. Although Cynthia (the English voice actor for Sora) tried to make a comment, "Well, sort of," after she read the title of episode one, that does not correct the fact that the translation staff mistranslated the title! 2.Choice of English Voice Actors
Sora - Cynthia Martinez sounds unnatural when she tried too hard to imitate Ryou Hirohashi (the original Japanese voice actor.) The unnatural high-pitch voice is annoying but bearable for now.
Kalos - they should use a good-natured masculine voice for Kalos. Even though he acts tough and demanding, he bears good intentions if you can read his mind.
Ken - most unbearable choice! The English voice actor sounds more like a 38-year-old man than an 18-year-old boy! Ken's voice is supposed to give life to a tender, gentle, caring, and sweet guy. Did ADV's staff study the character profiles before they picked the English voice actors? As soon as Ken appears in the story, I have to switch to the Japanese track. I can't bear the English dub! 3.Deliberately Changing the Dialogue
Sometimes the English dialogue has to be changed in order to adjust for the timing of the original Japanese dialogue. As long as they can get the overall meaning, we would let the screenplay alterations go. But in this particular DVD, some of the dialogue alterations actually changed the original screenplay and that is very annoying because that is disrespectful to the original work! For example, in episode 2, when Kalos found Sora cleaning the stage, the English dub said, "you are a little on the short side but I think you will work out." Kalos never meant to say that Sora was short. He only said that she had nice legs. This incident is actually another indication to show Kalos' ability to see Sora's potential in becoming the next Kaleido Star. The English dub has a degrading tone which implies that Sora barely made it into the troupe. Sora's response should be "He's a weird boss" rather than "Oh, that's nice." Her original line shows that she did not understand why Kalos kept on looking at her legs. In terms of timing difference, I don't see why the English staff has to change this dialogue. In episode 5, when Mr. Policeman met Sora's Dad for the first time, he actually said "Pap Pap!" rather than "Come here." And Sora's Dad's response was "Pap Pap?" rather than "No, thanks." The English dub missed the joke! (In episode 19, Ken also called Sora's Dad Otousan, or Father. I hope they won't change that one because Ken really meant to call him Dad, in his funny and cute way.) Although they did put down the correct translation in the English subtitles, for those who watch the show in English dub only would miss all of the good stuff! 4.Pronunciation
I wonder whether the English voice actors had listened to the original Japanese track before they dubbed the English track. Kaleido is pronounced as "Ka-LAY-dO" rather than "Ka-lie-da." According to the English phonics, "ei" is pronounced as "a" whereas the German phonics pronounced "ei" as "i." In this case, the English phonics is applied and therefore, Kaleido should be pronounced as "Ka-LAY-dO." How could the English staff make such a big mistake?! Kaleido Star is so popular in Japan that it is slated for a re-run in Japan starting this month. (The original broadcast was from April 3, 2003 to March 27, 2004.) And there will be an episode 52 coming to Japan this Fall as an OVA. I am very much looking forward to it! It is very disappointing that ADV didn't put as much attention to details to the English dub as some of its other counterparts would. This failure has given opportunity to its competitors. Although they have shortened the window in bringing the latest anime to America, the mistakes they made in the dub cannot deter fans from buying bootlegs or downloading fansub. Since I have to watch the original Japanese track with subtitles anyway, if I have to pay 5 times more to buy the flawed English dub, why not stay with the bootlegs? Oh My Goddess is doing so much better in America than in Japan because the English dub is better than the original Japanese track. At this point, there are about 40 episodes to go before ADV finishes with the entire Kaleido Star series. I hope everyone would make improvements in the upcoming episodes so that this wonderful piece of artwork will shine even brighter than its original Japanese version. ^_^
Rating:
Summary: Would You Like To Swing From a Star
Review: Sometimes an anime that is out of your regular genre surprises you. While it is possible to mistake Kaleido Star for a 'magical girl' anime, it really bears more resemblance to sports and idol anime, and I'm not drawn to those. Be that as it may, I have an opportunity to watch the early episodes of Kaleido Star, and while acrobatic wannabe Sora Neigino has no magical powers, she has a magical way of getting through her challenges that quickly charms the watcher. After missing an audition for the Kaleido Stage, a series of clumsy mistakes manages to catapult her into a job. Despite the protests of the beautiful Layla, who is the current star. And indeed, a very talented and egotistical woman she is. Kaleido is a performance are much like the Cirque du Soleil put on, with even more spectacular displays. When you aren't following the plot, there is a great deal to watch and admire. The episodes focus on the lives of the characters, more than on the stunts, Layla and her partner Yuri, Carlos the owner, Ken who is both gofer and stage manager, and Fool, the spirit of the stage (and the closest thing the show has to magic). Fool appears as a costumed doll with a knack for the tarot and mildly perverse remarks. How these players and the many others deal with their challenges and reach their goals is the meat of Kaleido Star. Brilliantly scripted and acted, Kaleido Star has enjoyed great success in Japan, where it has run to 51 episodes. The work is extremely watchable, and, more important, bears up under repeated watching. It is aimed at the warm and fuzzy loving younger set of watchers, but I found myself getting quite involved in the story. This is very much a family anime, with a strong emphasis on values and very little that is even slightly risque.
Rating:
Summary: Would You Like To Swing From a Star
Review: Sometimes an anime that is out of your regular genre surprises you. While it is possible to mistake Kaleido Star for a 'magical girl' anime, it really bears more resemblance to sports and idol anime, and I'm not drawn to those. Be that as it may, I have an opportunity to watch the early episodes of Kaleido Star, and while acrobatic wannabe Sora Neigino has no magical powers, she has a magical way of getting through her challenges that quickly charms the watcher. After missing an audition for the Kaleido Stage, a series of clumsy mistakes manages to catapult her into a job. Despite the protests of the beautiful Layla, who is the current star. And indeed, a very talented and egotistical woman she is. Kaleido is a performance are much like the Cirque du Soleil put on, with even more spectacular displays. When you aren't following the plot, there is a great deal to watch and admire. The episodes focus on the lives of the characters, more than on the stunts, Layla and her partner Yuri, Carlos the owner, Ken who is both gofer and stage manager, and Fool, the spirit of the stage (and the closest thing the show has to magic). Fool appears as a costumed doll with a knack for the tarot and mildly perverse remarks. How these players and the many others deal with their challenges and reach their goals is the meat of Kaleido Star. Brilliantly scripted and acted, Kaleido Star has enjoyed great success in Japan, where it has run to 51 episodes. The work is extremely watchable, and, more important, bears up under repeated watching. It is aimed at the warm and fuzzy loving younger set of watchers, but I found myself getting quite involved in the story. This is very much a family anime, with a strong emphasis on values and very little that is even slightly risque.
Rating:
Summary: CUTE!!!!!
Review: This DVD was so cute! It's about Sora Naegino wanting to become a star at the Kaleido Stage. The first day she arrives, she twists a little girl's arm and has to take her place! If you like acrobatic stunts, and alot of magic sort of things, than Kaleido Star is right for you.
This DVD has clean closing and opening, six ADV previews, sketches, character profiles, and a Sora Naegino Standee. I can't wait for the second DVD of Kaleido Star to come out on June 22!
Rating:
Summary: Kaleido 5 STARS
Review: THis is a great anime. I saw the first episode in the May issue of NEWTYPE. Sora Naegino first saw a Kaliedo Stage Performance with her parents when she was young and from then on she wanted to be a performer at the Kaleido Stage. She has many conflicts, and has many funny moments. Bishie ALERT: there is one totally hot bishie Yuri, and the other bishie who obviously likes Sora is Ken. by they way this series is directed by Junichi Sato who also did : Pretear(orginal creator) and Sailor Moon (episode and series directorand Sailor moon r(storyboard,series director) So of course this is an awesome series!!!! CHECK IT OUT!! (the op and end songs r very catchy too!! i wish there was a sountrack!!) THIS IS A MUST BUY!!!!
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