Ranked #723

Ginban Kaleidoscope

Being from a cold weather climate winter sports have always been a part of my life, and that includes figure skating. What little girl from my generation didn’t admire the grace and beauty of Katarina Witt and not want to emulate her? Ice skating anime is pretty rare and to my knowledge this is the only one I know of. It’s quite good and should appeal to almost anyone, even if you don’t know a double axel from a triple toe loop.

Ginban Kaleidoscope revolves around a young Japanese skater, Tazusa Sakurano whose dream is to make it to the 2006 Winter Games in Torino. She is one of the top skaters in Japan but has the unfortunate tendency to fall in big events. After another disappointment while at an event in Canada in which she suffers a bad fall she suddenly finds herself possessed by the spirit of a Canadian teen who died in a plane crash, Pete Pumps. What follows is some hilarious comedy, sports drama, and a little romance.

Having an athletic background I think I can relate too many of the themes presented in this anime. Though it is obviously dramatized for the screen I think the figure skating portion of it is fairly realistic. The interaction between Tazusa and Pete is amusing considering to everyone else she is talking to herself. Some of it is the kind of things only Japan would think about, such as Tazusa holding in going to the bathroom because she didn’t want him to see her doing that. Everything from her changing her clothes and bathing blindfolded so that he couldn’t peep on her to her eating tomatos because he hated them was also amusing and in a way gave some realism to the situation they were in. The comedy all works and I found myself laughing all the way through it.

There are a few inconsistencies though. Mainly they revolve around Pete's possession of Tazusa. In the beginning we are told that he can only see what she sees and can’t manifest his spirit outside of her but this is contradicted many times later. Pete sees things that he shouldn’t be able to be seen, and Tazusa will speak at him as if he was standing next to her. Now I know why they did it, to have her not speak to anyone and not have a physical form for Pete for the audience to see might have been a bit odd but the story could have been written better to account for this. It’s a minor annoyance but significant considering how important this was to the plot.

Tazusa and Pete are the only real important characters in the story. The entire show is seen pretty much through her perspective. Little development or screen time is given to any of her classmates, family, or even skating rivals. Most of them just come across as background scenery. None of them really feel like villains as the main antagonist in the story is really Tazusa against her own fears. Anyone who has competed in athletics knows that, especially at higher levels of competition, everyone has talent and everyone’s talent is usually pretty close to one another it is the mental toughness that often makes the difference. Tazusa's doubts about herself and her ability and her fears are very important to the story and make her feel very real. I thought she was a very interesting character and was the main reason I liked this show so much.

Pete is also a good character but ultimately not as interesting as Tazusa. This is mainly because the story really shows no interest in developing him at all as a character. We learn almost nothing about him. He was a pilot, he lived in Japan a lot, and he hates tomatoes. That’s about it. Never does Tazusa even try to find out about his personal life, his family and friends, or even what he looked like. I thought this was a bit farfetched as if I had some guy possessing me I think I would probably want to learn something about him.

I wouldn’t call the art amazing but it is very good. The settings are very nice and the characters are appealing. I really liked Tazusa's skating costumes and the sports action was well done. There were a few inconsistencies such as characters talking in profile out of the sides of their mouths. The music was good, the OP/EN songs as well as the incidental score and the songs played during the skating events. I thought Tazusa's and Pete’s voice actors turned in a solid performance.

Those of you who like sports drama and comedy should really enjoy Ginban Kaleidoscope. While it’s not an amazing series for the ages, it should be worth quite a few laughs and tears.
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For every anime where a plucky amateur becomes the star of the competition, for every anime where love and peace makes the hero or heroine new friends, and for every anime where dreams come true, there is Ginban Kaleidoscope; a bittersweet tale about reaching for your dreams and finding that winning isn't everything.

The strongest aspect of Ginban is easily story. Though the premise is hokey, the execution is flawless and handled exceptionally. Most tales of this nature often fail by lending themselves to comedy. Ironically, Ginban does that, but the jokes are just pointed enough that they sell. Not every joke, such as the running gag of Mika thinking Tazusa is yelling at her when she's yelling at Pete, hits the mark, but the dialogue between Tazusa and Pete is full of zingers and visual gags that nearly always hit the mark.

Still, while the comedy is suprisingly good, Ginban does a praise-worthy job at handling the gravitas of a romance between a living person and a dead one. By the end of the series, it's very clear Tazusa's feelings for Pete. The resolution of which is purely bittersweet but well-crafted. Likewise, so is the resolution to Tazusa's Olympic dreams which demonstrate how much Tazusa really won.

The characterization of Tazusa is also amazing. Her development, attitude, and the whole of her parts when all is said and done is not only the antithesis of the stereotypical Junichi Sato heroine, but it highlights her individuality, her brazen independence, and her determination as something that can be admired as well. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the cast, but Ginban is so scattered and minimalistic with how it handles the supporting cast that it's better if you just focus on Tazusa and Pete, solely because this series very rarely focusing on anyone else.

Unfortunately, the technical aspects are hardly of praise. The art is sub-par and many of the performances are filled with reused animation. Even in the big performance, it's mostly just a rehash of an earlier performance with nothing that signifies how grand the performance is actually supposed to be. To further the point, I'm pretty sure you could have a drinking game for every time they use the animation where Tazusa falls on her butt.

The sound aspect is better, but not because of the BGM (which is rather bland) or the songs (which are also rather bland), but the performances, especially by lead Ayako Kawasumi in a role very uncharacteristic of her other performances. She completely sells Tazusa's entire attitude better than probably anyone else could. Hiroyuki Yoshino as Pete also does a capital job of filling the role of Pete. The Engrish was a bit hard to bear, but he was great when he stuck to Japanese.

In short, Ginban was a very pleasant experience. It's technical aspects may not be up to par, but the storyline and how the character of Tazusa is handled and performaned are praise-worthy for their brash originality.

Overall, I give Ginban Kaleidoscope an 8 out of 10. read more

For a sports anime, it wasn’t that bad. I’m not really a fan of sports-themed anime, but Ginban Kaleidoscope had another aspect to it that I liked. Comedy.

Comedy is probably Ginban Kaleidoscope strongest asset. Every episode had something you can laugh about. Some gags were repetitive, such as Tazusa’s inability to restrain herself from talking to Pete in public. It’s either people think she’s crazy (cause she looks like she’s talking to herself) or when she says something mean to Pete, people around her think that they’re talking to them and in turn they get hurt (Specially Tazusa’s coach and her friend Mika). Tazusa’s tomato binges are also something to laugh about.

The characters were OK. Pete was likable, but I’m not sure about Tazusa. She is a bit high-maintenance. I don’t get where all her pride comes from because almost everyone hates her. The two characters were OK, but like most characters in typical romantic comedy shojo anime, they don’t have a lot of depth.

The voice acting was so-so. I guess I have to note the engrish. It was a good effort, especially for Dominique Miller’s seiyuu, Maya Okamoto. Smug and cocky sounded like Smag and Cacky. The surprising is, the extra voices had better English pronunciation/accents.

Animation was sub par. The drawing wavers almost every episode and it’s very noticeable. Takashima’s face changes every time he makes an appearance. There’s nothing special with the colors either and the colors are inconsistent as well.

I actually like the music. Both themes were very poppy, catchy and contemporary. Definitely fit for a shojo anime fanatic’s taste. I like the inserts and BGM too. Most of them were inspired by classic music. In fact, most of them ARE classic music.

It’s not bad, but it’s not that good either. I like the story, but I wish the other aspects were better too. I’m still glad I watched it – it’s still worth it after all. read more

This anime scores good points all round from my perspective. The story is good and the characters are pretty well connected with each other.
The chosen sport of skating is very well done by the animation studio and they have got the correct "feel" for the sport, it feels elegant and smooth as if the viewer was actually on ice him/her self which gave the series a slight edge to other sports anime.
The characters support each other well in this series and brings out the struggle the main characters feel to achieve the best they can on the rink with the added pressure of being a media scape-goat and the burden of being an Olympic representative.
It is really the sound that gave this series a 9 out of 10, the music fitted perfectly with the series, especially the jazz parts, and gave it an elegant feel which added to the sports action.
The humour isn't bad either although sometimes repetitive and I especially like the part where the voice actors try to speak English (probably not part of the official humour but never mind).

All in all, a good egg of an anime. :P read more

The Story isn't really much interesting, because I didn't even know that she should win the Turino Cup olympics, It kinda revolve around the 100 Days till later in the story, I give it 8/10

The Art is pretty much, well it's very good, but then...In some episodes, Tazusa's Arms are longer than it should be before! So I'll give it 7/10

The Sound, is actually, OUTSTANDING! The opening and the ending theme song is really what gave Ginban Kaleidoscope, its name. The opening song is Focused on the Ginban (literally meaning: Figure Skating) part, we see in the opening theme: 'Dual', Tazusa and Pete Skating, while in the ending theme: 'Energy' we just see a Kaleidoscope well, make Ginban Kaledioscope Complete, xD so 10/10

The Characters was alright, though some of the character wasn't really focused at all, Some of Tazusa's Competitors was just focused later on the story, because the Anime pretty much focused on Tazusa and Pete. So 8/10

The Enjoyment is, I really don't know what to put it in here, I enjoyed the Anime very very much, which makes me mad if I just missed one episode, xD so I'll give it 9/10

Overall, I'll give it a...9/10 ^^; read more

*Goddamn it. It has been a year since I watched this anime for the first time, and I still can't get over it... So I had to watch it all over again to re-live such a beautiful story that didn't let me sleep the night I finished it, and even now, I still I can't get over it...!! This is one of those animes that make you wish you were a multi-millionaire so you could sponsor animes you really love! I wish a could sponsor this one for a second season... :(

*Put shortly: watch the first episode, and you will instantly fall in-love with this anime. I guarantee it! Just be warned: it doesn't matter who you are, what gender you are, this anime will make you cry a lot and you will have a hard time falling asleep that night, and you will wish you were a multi-millionaire so you could sponsor it for a 2nd season. Ask anyone who's watched this anime... they will all tell you they cried a lot...... I warned you, OK?

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Are you wondering why Ginban Kaleidoscope has only a cumulative rating of 7.63/10.0 ? Well, it is because the anime ONLY ONLY covers the first 2 of the 9 total volumes of the story-line!!! Everyone rates this anime 8 or lower because the anime is not the complete story, so these people do NOT know what happens later in the manga! (I do know what happens! so that's why I rated it high.) (Thought I'd share this important information/facts before starting the review.)

My Review is short: Ginban Kaleidoscope was such a beautiful story. I totally fell in-love with it. Everything, the comedy, the main two protagonists' relationship, the story-line, the drawing style, everything, and especially the relationship between the two main protagonists! This was a beautiful story that just hooked me in in the 1st episode, and will also hook Y-O-U in, right from the very first episode! The story was very enjoyable and each episode just made me go to the next within seconds because it really catches your attention amazingly fast! It is impossible not to love the two main characters. They're the perfect couple! The story was very very unique, very interesting, and most important of all, very ENJOYABLE.

CONCLUSION: Ginban Kaleidoscope is such a beautiful story that is worth re-watching all over again a few months after you finish watching it the first time. This story is a MUST-WATCH and you will definitely enjoy it! I totally recommend it to EVERYONE reading this review!!! Just remember though, the story continues in the novel/manga so that is why people rate it no higher than 8/10, because the anime has an incomplete story-line. This anime is only for those of you that like romance/love animes! :P

I strongly suggest you download the episdoes and not watch them online since the video quality online is low... I have a fast internet connection so it took me less than a minute to download each episode. I recommend you download the first 2 episodes of this anime, and watch them, and then decide, am I already in-love with this series? or not? Here's the link:
http://www.muffindomain.com/index.php


Sources:
http://lightnovel.org/2007/12/26/review-ginban-kaleidoscope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginban_Kaleidoscope


*Thank you for reading my short review. read more

Ginban Kaleidoscope is a sports anime series about Tazusa Sakurano, a sixteen year old Japanese figure skater with an attitude problem and Pete Pumps, a Canadian stunt pilot of the same age. Since they're both from other sides of the earth, how are these two related? They share the same body, that's how. Well, not exactly. Concidentally, at the beginning Tazusa and Pete have a competition in the same place, at the same time, and, at the same time they both mess up. While Tazusa's mistake was minor, Pete's cost him his life. However, due to unknown circumstances, Pete is unable to go to heaven and falls back to earth landing in Tazusa's body, trapt there for one hundred days...

Story

I'm not really one for sports anime, but the fact that Ginban Kaleidoscope is a romance, or something of a romance pulled me in. The plot focuses on Tazusa, who is trying to get an Olympic spot in the 2006 Winter Olymics in Torino. However, due to her past failures and an apparent knack for being picked on by the media, this journey of hers isn't easy, especially with a ghost posessing her.

Since it's a twelve episode series, Ginban Kaleidoscope doesn't have nor make the time for little unimportant side-stories and is right to the point. This can be a good or bad thing since it doesn't really leave room for character exploration, but it also doesn't make you yell, "Get on with it already!" Ginban also likes to use two main conflicts and alternate between the two, those conflicts being, Tazusa's dealing with the media and Tazusa's success and failures as a figure skater. After a while, that kind of method can get bland, but luckily, the series is short.

Though the story is more or less pretty straight forward the end can leave something with an unsatisfied feeling, but maybe that's just me.

Characters

As I mentioned before, the main characters of this series are Tazusa and Pete. They seem to be polar opposites, but as they say, opposites attract, right? Ha, but the two share one characteristic in common, and that's determination. Tazusa, according to another character, has a "clay/stone mask," I find this hard to believe since most of the time Tazusa is yelling at someone, usually Pete. She's loud, short-tempered, and quite childish, but I guess that's what's likable about her. But, I think, personally, there wasn't anything about her that made her truly memorable as a character.

Pete, in contrast to his host, is a bit more contemplative, and well, most things that Tazusa isn't, especially optimistic, despite the fact that he's dead. I liked Pete because he was sort of funny, in the silly kind of way. Or it could've been because of all the Engrish he randomly spews. As a pair, I think Tazusa and Pete are a good duo, while not as good as other anime duos, they're pretty good.

The other characters in the series, well, the reoccuring ones, are all right, there isn't anything particularly special about them... Well, one of them looks a little like Yuki Nagato from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, but that's it really.

Art, Sound, and Some Other Stuff

The sound was good, I think, everyone's voice was well suited to their character and the acting was more or less convincing. Also, one thing about Ginban, it uses a few English phrases, and, while normally, Engrish sounds a bit weird, it wasn't as bad as some I've heard.

To be completely honest, I neverwatched all of the opening or ending songs, so I can't make a comment about them, however the former was a bit pop sounding.

Animation was okay.... Sometimes the color was weird, and there was a bit of reused animation... Also, during the last episode there was a bit of a continuity problem in which they weren't sure for a second about what was in Tazusa's hair.

Overall

Overall, Ginban Kaleidoscope was a pretty good series. It's not one that I would recommend since, there are some things in it that are confusing, and it wasn't really addictive when watching. But it is different than other things I've seen since it's a pretty upbeat series with a sad ending (depending on your preference with the characters). It had it's funny moments, and I think that's what I enjoyed most about it, and maybe that's how it'll be for you.


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i thought, for a sports anime, that it was pretty good. the ending was kind of loose and it could have been better (but i haven't relly seen an ending i like yet). personally, i LOVE ice skating so that's probably what attracted me to this anime, plus the front cover looked cute.

i like how the guy relates ice skating to the flying plane thing (can't remember what it's called) and i would have cried at the end, if i wasn't at my friend's house =]

overall, it's a pretty good anime, and i do recommend it to people who want to watch a shorter anime and comedy type thing read more

This is one refreshing one...It was the first one i watched based on rink skaters so the idea was quite appealing to me. The sports culture is aptly portrayed in this one most of the time. The story is touching..comical scenes are downright funny especially the sequence at the end of the second episode. The music is average but the show doesnt really need to depend on it.

This is a cute one...do watch it..warms you up really.