This anime has some of the most beautiful artwork I have ever seen. The colors are amazing, the opening song is catchy, and the style is great. It's also very good natured and clean cut; the only pervert is the Phantom of the Stage, and he makes you laugh, not cringe. The potential love interest, Ken, is genuinely sweet and kind, there is a kindly policeman who pops up at just the right moments, and the "bad" characters are only bad because they are harsh to the protagonist,Sora, not because of any unforgivable offenses on their part. The plot is somewhat predictable, requiring minimal brain activity, but the show does not become boring. A sincere, smile-provoking DVD.

This is one of my favorite Anime's. I've read alot of negative reviews on this and I think those people are just nit-picking. Okay, Ken's voice is a little odd. So what if the dubbed version doesn't match perfectly to the Japanese subtitled. It's extremely hard to translate and match up what the characters are saying. I think our American voice actors/actresses do a marvelous job and I commend them on their work. This is a great story with cute characters. It's also very funny. The goals and aspirations of the characters are relatable to problems we may face. (Of not the same actual problems, obviously.) It's a great story for the kiddies as well as people as old as I am-23. My husband also enjoyed this series. So it's not so cute guys will hate it!

This is a very cute anime series. It is about a girl named Sora, who travels from Japan to America to live out her dream of being a performer in the famous Kaleido Stage!

The thing that stands out to me the most in this series is the art and animation. All the scenes are brightly colored, and the performances are amazing. Also, the characters are fun, each with their own unique personality and strange habits and quirks.

The story itslef is the only thing really keeping this series from getting 5 stars, in my opinion. On a whole it's wonderful, but the individual episodes sometimes end up feeling very much like a soap opera. Fans of dramatic shows or action might be put off by just how cute this show is.

Art: 9/10 Animation: 8/10 Story: 7/10 Characters: 8/10 Overall: 8/10 Trying to get a friend or family member into anime? This might be good for people who enjoy Cirque du Solei type shows. Swearing, violence, and sex are virtually nowhere, so this would be okay for kids ages 8 and up.

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. ^_^

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.