Forum - View topicREVIEW: Kaleido Star Season 2 + OVAs DVD
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richfam
Posts: 34 Location: Lindsborg, KS |
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When I first watched Kaleido Star, I was a little bit disappointed in the second season. I had loved the first season, and was hoping that the second season would be more of the same... but May and Leon were unlikeable characters whose only purpose seemed to be to turn Sora's life into a living hell.
But, as I would re-watch the show, I discovered that I enjoyed the second season more each time. After the third time through, I was actually enjoying the second season more than the first! May and Leon are annoying, but they drive the story to far more potent emotional peaks and valleys than you can find in the first season. So I now think that the second season is the best part of the show, and I will occasionally skip the first season altogether and just re-watch the second season by itself. But the first season does have what I feel is the best episode of the entire series: the spectacular first season finale. The Angel's Maneuver is wonderful, but for me it doesn't quite surpass the Legendary Great Maneuver (and its aftermath). |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Well, I can certainly tell who is a Layla fan and who isn't a Rosetta fan. I don't get the hate for the Rosetta OVA. After it was spoiler[shown that she was the next to be chosen by the Spirit of the Stage doesn't it make sense to show at least a bit of that transferal? And then to actually get a bit of back-story for Fool, something I never thought I'd see, was pretty cool as well.]
Anyway, the first half of the second season is really... hard to get through. At least, it was for me. Maybe because I watched it only a month or two after the first season, but (even past the 2 recap episodes) it just felt like we were going back to things that Sora already conquered in the first season. However, once all the pieces are in place and we learn certain characters' motivations, it truly is outstanding. And as I've said before, the final episode (not the OVAs) is easily one of my favorites in all of anime. spoiler[When everybody got up on the stage and performed as Sora was doing the Angel Maneuver... that was just perfect.] |
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Cryssoberyl
 Posts: 241 |
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Absolutely, completely agree with the review as far as the first half of the series. Unfortunately, for me the second half could not make up for the misery that Sora (and I) endured during that time. There were many tough moments in the first season, but nothing on the level of spite and abuse that is focused on Sora for 12+ long episodes.
spoiler[And as if May, Leon, and the rest weren't bad enough, to me Sora's absolute nadir comes from a heartbreaking emotional betrayal by Layla in episode 39. After a shattering failed performance, surrounded by hostility, more hurt and vulnerable and in need of encouragement than ever before, Sora goes to Layla, her idol and mentor, the person with whom Sora had already shared a profoundly intimate, life-changing experience. Layla, who now callously turns her back and says "I am so disappointed in you." No matter what happens afterward, and no matter what her justifications, I'll never be able to forgive Layla for doing that. (Thus I ship Sora/Rosetta with ferocity. She is the only person who was truly faithful and supportive to Sora through it all.)] So, although I also agree that the grand finale was glorious, the show had gone too far to heal the wounds it had inflicted. I am forced to look back on it as a deep disappointment compared to the magic of the first season. (Although I feel even that has been diminished by association, due to the above-mentioned reasons...) Last edited by Cryssoberyl on Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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extatix
 Posts: 25 |
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I wished Funi would release the OVA's seperately. Not gonna buy the second season again :/
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Takamachi Ryoko
 Posts: 332 Location: 東京, 日本 |
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As much as I like to read Carl's reviews, I have to say I do not completely agree with this one. I mean the rest of the conclusion look fine but story C+. Come on!
I was a bit disappoint with the 2nd season at first but it turned out magnificent enough to keep you watching. The recap episodes, can't be helped since they filled the gap between two seasons. Kaleido Star's 2nd season maybe bored to some but it worked just fine, and personally, I think the story deserves a more appropriate score than that. There are many show with more disappointing plots yet WTH do they received better scores. Heh! Been here more than 4 years and this is my first post. |
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asimpson2006
 Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
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I happened to like Season 2 of Kaleido Star and I happened to enjoy Sora's struggle on the stage mainly because spoiler[ even though she the LGM at the end of Season 1, she is still not a true star on the tsage.] Then with the coming of spoiler[Leon and May who take the spot light then Sora has to earn the right to be the star again makes her a more developed character.]
I understand why she felt that way, I would to be mad too if spoiler[I trained someone or worked with someone to be the best in the world only to get the world stage then just to quit when they were just about to win only because it didn't feel right. Layla has ever right to be mad for what Sora did, I know I would be if I was in her shoes. Now if Sora has quit due to injury and Layla got mad, then I would say Layla was just being a bitch about it.] As far as Leon and May go, I hated both of them at first, but after spoiler[Leon got some back story and development] I have come to like him as a character. I still can't stand May regardless even if she did redeem herself later on. She has to one of the least likable female characters in anime that I have ever seen. |
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ssgOverlord
 Posts: 91 |
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I actually enjoyed the second season. I remember watching it the first time over 3 days, and all of my spare time was dedicated to watching how Sora would overcome her latest trial - but she didn't overcome anything. Her failures were stacking, with no signs of recovery. I found that to be the thing that kept me watching through the first half. "It has to get better at some point, it just has to." And well, my expectations were blown away. The finale had me in tears with its execution.
Anyway, I own the recent sets from Funimation and I have to say they are fantastic. Both in looks and packaging. I'm amazed in two normal sized DVD cases, we have all 51 episodes plus the OVAs, with colorful artwork everywhere and no noticeable drop in video quality. It's a lot better than the thin-pack approach in my opinion, the cardboard on those wear pretty easily. |
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zrdb
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I've had both seasons of the originial ADV releases for years and now-as then-I really enjoy Sora and her adventures. Of course I love Aria and The Magic Users Club too-but what is point that I'm trying to make? Junichi Sato is the person responsible for all these series!
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tuxedocat
 Posts: 2183 |
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The first half of this second series completely soured the entire show for me. Besides the fact that Sora just kept accepting all the abuse, her remaining in this situation made no sense to me.
Maybe this is just a symptom of my Western thinking, but when the employer hires someone who instantly makes the work environment hostile (May), and then adds a male partner (Leon) who is narcissistic, sadistic and quite possibly insane enough to drop me, the employee, on my head, ---I would start shopping my resume around. Sora, for reasons I don't understand, just sticks with Kaleido, despite the fact that the "Legendary Great Maneuver" would make her resume quite attractive. For the first few episodes, that what I thought the term "New Wings" was referring to. (That Sora would leave the Kaleido Stage, find her inner fire again elsewhere, only to return to "save" Kaleido. Of course, this would be necessary following Kaleido's scandalous death of the female star (May) due to an audience-witnessed fall caused by the male star (Leon) who is now in the slammer awaiting manslaughter charges.  )
Instead, what I got was 12/13 episodes of depressing, soul-crushing, soap-opera-ish tedium. It tainted the whole show for me. Maybe somebody could explain to me why May was in any possible way a likable character. I have heard her described that way by a few fans, and I just don't understand it. Leon, to me at least, was more interesting since he was kind of evil, if not a little crazy . Those evil/crazy types are at least fun to watch... |
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naninanino
 Posts: 680 |
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I don't know about you guys, but I couldn't stop watching. At last we get the much welcome drama introduced in worthy magnidutes. No pain, no gain is one of the winner recipes of a show for me. Improvement if you ask me. No matter what the show, there will always be the ones who liked the first half better.
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Megiddo
Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Considering May views Sora as responsible for Layla's departure from Kaleido Stage, as well as the pure jealousy of being able to perform the Legendary Great Maneuver with her idol Layla, I can at least somewhat see why May acts the way she does around Sora. And honestly, when she developed spoiler[her "Demon Spiral" when one of her arms was completely useless], you cannot tell me that it didn't at least impress you. And even after spoiler[she won the Paris circus contest thing, she didn't flaunt it in front of Sora. In fact, she knew that Sora was ahead of her at that point]. So she just kept working harder and harder. She puts forth the effort to be the best (something I cannot say about Leon), so while her personality may be off-putting I still liked her character in the second half of the show. |
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richfam
Posts: 34 Location: Lindsborg, KS |
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For me, it was all about character development. One of my favorite scenes in the second season is when May discovers spoiler[that Sora has injured herself by practicing too hard]. If this scene had occurred earlier, May would just have walked away laughing sadistically, but instead she showed real concern and compassion. And during the preparations for the Angel's Maneuver show, not only is May the only one to realize what's going on with Rosetta... but she actually *does* something about it. The old May would never have noticed or cared. Granted, May is probably never going to be anyone's favorite character, but watching her develop as a character through the course of the season is great fun. I think character development can be more interesting when you start with a deeply flawed character like May. |
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ssgOverlord
Posts: 91 |
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Personally, the almost Super-Robot styled names and the barking always stopped me from 'hating' May.
Of course, the development she undergoes was also interesting. |
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kaizoku00
 Posts: 53 |
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I really liked the second season because of all the hardship and crap. Sora hitting rock bottom was necessary for her to push off to ultimately surpass May, Leon and Layla. Watching her overcoming soul-crushing events was personally inspiring to me. For me it made the whole second half feel that much more satisfying to watch.
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tuxedocat
Posts: 2183 |
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Well, both of you have presented thoughtful and reasonable arguments in favor of May. I guess my perception was different. I felt that the "New May" becoming all nice, concerned and conciliatory seemed rather insincere. It didn't work for me after the show made such extreme efforts, for 12 episodes, to build her as a villain. Her spoiler[mastery of the "demon spiral" after her injury] served more as an irritant than an achievement, as if the show was telling me "See? She's a little trooper", to manipulate me into liking her. At this point,her presence in the show seemed irrelevant, since she had served her purpose as an obstacle. The attempts at humanizing Leon were even more feeble, IMO. Did they really expect me to feel comfortable about Leon partnering up with Sora? spoiler[He was the reason for May's injury! While this was not a surprise to me at all, it did succeed in convincing me that he was a total bastard in desperate need of psych meds. Why on earth would they expect me to just feel comfortable about putting poor Sora's safety into the hands of a guy like that?]. *shudder* - maybe I should try watching it again and see if my perception is different the second time around. So far my negative reaction to the second season has prevented me from buying the show. |
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