The Kaleido Star: New Wings Vol-2 (2004)
Animation Production: Gonzo
Released by: ADV Films
Episodes: 6-9
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

My gosh do I love Kaleido Star! The show’s lively, colorful and fun spirit is something that makes it not only entertaining to watch, but also something that makes you want to share the experience with others. Personally I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to see this series with me, I think it will be a lot of fun for her to see all the colorful theatrical acts and costumes.

With this latest installment in ADV Film’s release of the series we start making some nice inroads into the second season’s storyline and get a better understanding of what challenges lie ahead for Sora and the rest of the Kaleido crew as Layla makes a return appearance and Sora starts uncovering the path she must take to become a true Kaleido Star.

Story

“At Kaleido Stage, the competition to become Leon’s partner heats up when Dracula is turned into an ice-skating show. Sora and May give it their all, but neither is sure what will satisfy the fickle Leon. Then, tired of being typecast, Rosetta startles Kalos with a promise: She’ll learn the trapeze in three days—or quit Kaleido Stage! Even with Sora’s help, the odds aren’t good.

In New York, Layla finds a new dream on Off Broadway and invites Sora to be a guest star. May, however, has her own plans and will stop at nothing to steal Sora’s part! And closer to home, Sora discovers a secret: Marion loves the trampoline. But she won’t do it for fear of hurting her father. Marion’s talent, though, is undeniable. Is there some way Sora can persuade Marion to perform?” - DVD box

Review

This second volume in ADV Films’ release of Kaleido Star: New Wings Vol-2 contains episodes six through nine in the series, which include:

Episode 6: Amazing Match on Ice
May shows Leon her ice skating skills and while her presentation fails to impress him, he does like the idea of the production of Dracula to take place on an ice rink. Now in order to get the leading role and be Leon’s partner both Sora and May will need to show who’s the best ice skater. The only problem is that Sora has never skated on ice before. Can she master this skill and win the coveted role?

Episode 7: Amazing Rosetta of Sweat and Tears
Rosetta is tired of doing the same act and has a strong desire to become a full-fledged trapeze artist. Can Sora help her get started with her trapeze training and will Rosetta have what it takes to master it? It may not be as easy as it looks.

Episode 8: The Ever Amazing Miss Layla
This week everyone at Kaleido Stage is off to do their own thing, that is, everyone but Sora, who was invited personally by Layla to come to New York and take part in a stage act with her. Overhearing a conversation about the invitation May secretly travels to New York with Sora and will now do everything she can to upstage Sora once more. How will Layla react?

Episode 9: Marion’s Amazing Debut
Looking at doing something that will entertain the kids between performances of Dracula Sora and her friends decide to put together a kids stage. Will Marion decide to take part in it as its young trampoline entertainer?

First impressions, this collection of episodes was far better than the ones on volume one of Kaleido Star New Wings. With four full episodes (there were two review episodes in vol-1) we are given a much fuller narrative that extends throughout all four episodes, not to mention better character development. Each episode taken as is can stand alone story-wise, but it is the elements that tie them together that help make their combined punch that much more powerful. Specifically we have three main elements running together towards a future resolution, Sora’s will and spirit, May’s competitive spirit and Leon’s attitude towards everything that Sora and Kaleido Stage stand for.

On the Sora front, now that Layla is no longer with Kaleido Stage, she constantly finds herself mentally struggling with her role on the stage, especially now that Leon has basically taken over and changed things radically from what they used to be. Without Layla as her guide Sora begins doubting herself and even her own abilities to rise to the occasion. This becomes a major theme within the stories in this DVD and by the time episode 9 ends we can start seeing some movement on Sora’s part towards identifying what exactly is causing this and how to best tackle it so that she can overcome it the same way she did when she first arrived on the scene.

Adding to Sora’s challenges since the first episode of Kaleido Star New Wings is May Wong, who up to now has been presented to us as someone that is completely driven by a single goal, to upstage Sora and take her place as the leading Kaleido Star. This needless to say made her character come across as shallow and frankly dislikeable. Here though we finally start learning her backstory and what it is that has driven her to become what she is today. So now, May’s character transforms into something completely different than was first presented to us as she is shown to have much in common with Sora, including her own motivations and drivers to be a part of Kaleido Stage, than could have been anticipated.

Wrapping it all together is Leon’s who’s arrival to Kaleido Stage signaled some large changes to not only the productions themselves, but also to the spirit of Kaleido Stage as its atmosphere went from being a fun and audience-centric one to one that is more Leon-centric. This has proven to be a major blow to Sora, who up until his arrival was doing dramatically well on stage. In the first two episodes here he continues to build on what he’s been doing so far as he directs more dramatic changes be made to Dracula, changing it to an ice skating act and decrying Sora’s idea for a kids stage acts between performances of Dracula. However, by episode 10 we finally get to see some pushback from Sora, who catches Leon off-guard, further pushing in his own mind the idea that Sora is unlike anyone he’s ever run across.

All in all I loved this DVD as the stories had a more emotional umpff to them than the previous ones. Seeing the further development of May as not only a rival, but somewhat of a mirror image of Sora also proved interesting and certainly added to the character development of everyone in the cast. I also like direction the writers seem to be taking with the storyline as it looks like its being setup for a huge comeback for Sora and turnarounds for major characters like Leon. Time will tell how this holds up and whether this is exactly where they are going with it I guess.

Production-wise the show is as beautiful to look at now as it was in the previous season. The theatrical segment in which Sora takes on dual roles was tremendously enjoyable and magnificent to look at. The animation is mostly speaking very good, with the theatrical segment adding an extra level of pizzazz. The soundtrack is fun and lively to listen to with several pieces that capture the spirit of Sora’s personality and spirit. The voice acting was needless to say very well done, with the English dub being particularly well directed and acted.

On the DVD front this is another great release from ADV Films, that comes loaded with many goodies! These bonuses include a small poster of Layla doing her act from episode 8, production sketches from the show, clean versions of the opening and closing theme sequences and previews for other ADV Films releases. Both the audio and video transfers seemed perfect with no visible problems to report on.

Final Thoughts

This is a must-own series for any anime fan. The show is on the more light-hearted side, but the characters, story and settings will catch your heart and imagination and never let go. If you have younger members of the family this one could also prove to be a fun watch for them.

Kaleido Star gets our highest recommendations.

Jeffrey Couto