Kaleido Star volume 1: Welcome to the Kaleido Stage

Reviewed By:  Carla Land

DVD  ADV Films

Review based on disk 1 (episodes 1-4)

Rated 12+

What it’s (basically) all about: Sora wants to be a Kaleido Star. At the age of 16 she leaves her home in Japan to travel to the world famous Kaleido Stage to try out. After a series of mishaps, she makes it in, and starts to get the respect of her fellow trainees. Things are not easy, though, and the star of the whole show, Leila, wants Sora out- and she tries her best to get her kicked off the stage every chance she gets. Sora is meant to be on stage, though- that is, if the Spirit of the Stage has anything to say about it.

Nitty Gritty: First of all, the Kaliedo Stage is like a giant trampoline/ trapeze on which a Cirque du Soleil type show is performed. There is a lot of twisting, leaping, jumping and flying going on, and several times some falling, which makes things seem more realistic when characters mess up.

On the first disk, at least, there is nothing offensive in this show. Sora is a talented acrobat, and she’s a nice girl, but she’s also got things against her- her parents don’t want her there, the star hates her, she’s got a spirit the size of a Ken doll floating around her bedroom telling her fortune- and each episode she gains a little knowledge about what kind of person she is and what kind of player she wants to be on the stage.

Fool, the Spirit of the Stage, gets tied up and hung upside down from the window by Sora a lot, especially when she’s taking a shower. There is no bad language, no inappropriate sexual situations, and even the costumes aren’t that revealing.

Survey says: The rating is 12+, but I think the show is fine for younger audiences, at least as far as disk #1 goes. It may be safer to put in YA/ Teen collections because of the rating, though, just to keep noses from getting out of joint, but girls as young as seven would find it enjoyable to watch.

Personal Ad: I cannot stand this anime. I had to force myself to watch the first disk. The sugary sweet “everyone work together and make this the best show EVER!” message of every episode makes me ill. I imagine it would be a big hit with little girls who love Cirque du Soleil, but I am not one of those.