Kaleido Star Season 1 Marathon

Last Friday and Saturday I took time to marathon the first season (26 episodes)of Kaleido Star (not "ka-lie-doh", but "ka-lay-doh") since I had heard that it was pretty good. Well, whaddya know, it is pretty good :) I'd hafta agree with BluWacky that it's one of the better shoujo shows in recent memory (Unfortunately, I didn't catch Princess Tutu when it was on so I guess I'll hafta wait for the DVDs to be released). So, as spoiler-free as possible...

Our heroine, Sora, is very likeable and chou-genki, of course. She does have some struggles during the course of the season, of course, but with her "get it done" attitude she overcomes them. And wow, some of the acts that she and the others in the cast perform on the Kaleido Stage are definitely impossible in real life but awesome. There is a supernatural element to the show with Fool, the spirit of the stage. Besides fortune-telling, his favorite activity, like Jiraiya from Naruto, is peeking in at pretty girls. His role is to guide Sora, who's been chosen by the stage, to complete the so-called "mystical act". But I'll let y'all find out what that is when you watch :)

Of course, this being a shoujo series, there is a mascot. One very kawaii, but not annoying, Jonathan the Seal. I'm going to hafta get one of those dolls, now ;) The only notable departure from normal shoujo happenings is the relative absence of any kind of romance plot (no matter how hard Ken might try. Poor guy). Perhaps that'll show up in the 2nd season.

I don't really have any major complaints about Kaleido Star so I can wholeheartedly recommend it to those of y'all that have any interest at all in shoujo. You'll enjoy it :) Visit ADV's Kaleido Star site for info about the DVDs. I suppose I'll hafta buy them now ;)