Note to self: Hurry! Post before you're drawn in by Tai Pei again or get sidetracked by menial things!!!
I wanted to talk scatteredly briefly on two shows that Des and Dagger brought up in their recently posted posts: Kaleido Star and Nabari no Ou. Having tackled the first in this post I'll save the latter for when my next bout of focus occurs. Sorry Daggeroo ^^;
Apologies if this post comes off as poorly conducted. It was really meant to be a smaller comment on Des's post, though it then turned into an excuse to force myself to write something beyond my days at work ^^;
PS: Jonathon is not only the name of an adored member around here, it's also the name of the seal in Kaleido Star *giggles*
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Kaleido Star - My younger sister recommended this one to me after having seen a couple of episodes at a friends place. The main drawing point, to her, was Fool, if I recall correctly xD
The first arc was absolutely wonderful. It balanced everything so well with both character development and story progression. Sora's journey flowed with such ease, which, in a way, is ironic when you consider it wasn't actually straightforward by any means. But it also made her progression/success that much more sensible; all the more lovely to watch. She still struggled through hardships after having won Layla's recognition and throughout the duration of preparing/performing The Big Act.
Speaking of which, that part is like a convoluted showcase of Kaleido Star's brilliancy. Just thinking about it gives me chills. Despite being almost bitter to swallow, the finale was so perfectly composed that it nigh on broke my heart. It sure set up the stage for part two, "New Wings", to put it mildly :P
But maybe it did its job too well. Where the first season pulled off exactly composed "interludes" where Sora and Co faced a massive threat to their life on Kaleido Stage, season two felt very jarring in that aspect. I had no real issues with Mai and her persistent usurpation of Sora, even though it got tiring to see Sora constantly fail to step up to the plate as she had in the past. Leon was a thrill from beginning to end, in spite of the time it took to unfold his character.
What bugged me to the point of almost giving up on it was "Sora's conflict-free stage", with all the contradictions and stalling it caused. They pretty much dumbed down/voided what had been accomplished in the first installment. It seemed very out of character for Sora to go through that emofused stage for so long*. Even with the finale rapidly approaching the misplaced angst was prolonged absurdly.
[*Ok, ok, I do understand on some level it's relevancy with Layla gone + Mai pushing her way to the stage + Leon messing everyone up. I still don't approve! >.>]
BUT! Then the switch was finally turned. Way too sudden but oh-so-welcomed ;_; That same feeling I got from the first finale settled in my heart and it was beautiful. All the pieces fell into place equally precisely. Everyone was in character while taking a leap forward at the same time. THIS was truly the Grande Finale~ in double-coated glory that concluded that Kaleido Stage was more vibrantly alive and glorious than ever.
And so, while my love primarily belongs to Season 1, it was beyond worth while hanging in there to be rewarded with such a splendid ending as the one Kaleido Star: New Wings spoiled me with =)
