Ginban Kaleidoscope

Figure skater Tazusa Sakurano is on the fast track to the Olympics. As a top contender, her chances rest on a single competition in Canada. However, during her program, she falls and hits her head on the ice, knocking her unconscious. At the same time, Canadian stunt pilot Pete Pumps goes down in a fiery blaze.

After her devastating failure, Tazusa returns home to Japan, but she starts hearing a voice in her head. In reality, when Pete had arrived at the gates of heaven, he was denied access for his sins. Instead, he was told to wait 100 days and is now trapped in Tazusa's body! Unwilling to let this interrupt her life—even if her body is a bit crowded—Tazusa moves forward with skating, all while a pesky voice may just be able to help her achieve her dream.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sakurano, Tazusa Main

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Pumps, Pete Main

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Miller, Dominique Supporting

Okamoto, Maya Japanese

Juiltyve, Ria Garnet Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Takashima, Yuuji Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta Japanese

Yano, Hitomi Supporting

Nakamura, Chie Japanese

Mishiro, Yukie Supporting

Suzuki, Hiroko Japanese

Honjou, Mika Supporting

Inoue, Marina Japanese

Shitou, Kyouko Supporting

Murai, Kazusa Japanese

Nitta, Kazuya Supporting

Chiba, Isshin Japanese

Maruyama, Shunpei Producer

Takahashi, Yuu Producer

Takamatsu, Shinji Director, Episode Director

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Reviews

Dec 2, 2024

GT3_gamer

Recommended

My goodness, how do I even start?
First of all, I'm really glad for stacks recommendation and post forum of MyAnimeList. This is how I found out about this anime. Second, I want to show my gratitude for this studio because I always thought anime studios big or small always have at least 3 to 5 anime in their name but this studio only has two. Kudos to all of the animators and staff that work on this anime, you are all amazing.

Now let's start this review with animation. As expected from a retro anime, the animation is not that great but that is the charm ... of it. Even tho it looks rough, it reminds you that this anime aired in the early twenties. Even the aspect of the show using 3:4, that's when you know it's old. I expected it to be rough and I get it how it is.

Second, the OST. I love the ost so much. Usually, I don't want to talk too much about this because as you all know from my reviews, I always said that, as long as the OST and animation mix well together, I always give it appreciation. But not this one, dawg, because I want to praise it more. The OP and ED were an absolute banger, but the one that I want to talk about is the episode's OST. Like omg, I couldn't tell you how much I love it, especially the title OST. I don't know why but that OST just made me feel like I was playing Tom and Jerry Fist of Furry, it was that good and funny. When it was time to be serious, the OST flipped 180 degrees and really hit you good. It's so heartwarming to listen to.

Okay now onto the plot/story. Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed on this one, I thought the moment Pete possessed Tazusa, he would have some control of her body but what I get is a hilarious soul ride. Some kind of parasite that lingers around its target and honestly I actually think this is better. Though, I thought it would be bad because, for the love of god, Tazusa could never talk in silence. Like, girl, you will be seen as a crazy person, please lower your voice. I'm not joking throughout the series I always scream through my PC saying, "Stop embarrassing yourself" but to my surprise, it actually works pretty well. Especially, when that gimmick got to be the plot for one of the episodes. (Poor Mika)

Now, I want to talk about the VA. Just a quick one, they all do great. Especially for the English VA. I always thought the moment Anime using Japanese VA to voice a foreign character would be bad and I wouldn't like it for the rest of the series but here I felt like it was a great use of Japenenglish, because not all of the characters speak fluent English. So, I can actually understand that it was intentional to make them speak very weirdly in English.

Last but not least, the characters. Oh boy, this section would be long but I simply going to talk about the two main characters, Tazusa and Pete.
Tazusa as a character is very charming and annoying. She calls herself the most beautiful woman who ever existed (or something like that) making it clear that she is cocky and she will never get down until she gets what she wants. It actually charming for 16 years old girl, and very realistic as well because her rival is not exactly the same age as her.
Then, Pete, he is as a character is very much just a guy that positive for every condition possible. He looks at things and thinks, ahh life is good, which is the opposite of Tazusa. That's why their chemistry is very good.

Overall, I enjoy watching this series, I give this 8.7/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by GT3_gamer (42)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Mar 21, 2023

PixelB

Recommended

Ginban Kaleidoscope is a bittersweet romantic coming of age story about Tazusa, an arrogant figure skater looking to go be Japan's sole Olympic representative.

This show manages to do things that shows with much better budget, animation, and cast of characters fails to deliver, and that's character development. Pete Pumps, a ghost possessing Tazusa seems to just be some setup for a comedy, especially when you consider that Pete shares all the senses that Tazusa does. You'd think that most of the show would be the comedic moments of the manzai between Tazusa and Pete, as well as the occasional ecchi scenes where Pete--havingTazusa's senses--sees ... her naked.

Surprisingly, the show manages to develop a bond between Pete and Tazusa. Figure skating is still an important motif, especially paired with how Pete similarly was a budding talent in airplane acrobatics, where both have similar types of performances, judging, and theme. The airplane and figure skating themes intermix just as much as Tazusa and Pete bond over their time together. This is especially so when Tazusa's in constant anxiety over her performances or is in slumps because she fell down in too many long programs.

There are still lighthearted comedy scenes, and they're pretty good at that. I actually would have wished for there to be more robust slice of life scenes, but unfortunately, while there are a decent chunk of slice of life scenes, the characters are lacking. While Pete, Tazusa, and also her coach are good characters, the rest of the cast basically do not exist, both in serious competitive settings as well as comedic ones. Tazusa's little sister, her classmate, and even her rival characters basically don't get too much screen time at all.

Despite the multitude of flaws that this show has, the relationship between Tazusa and Pete is good enough to ignore a lot of the flaws. Again, Tazusa uses her figure skating to showcase her feelings for Pete, and Tazusa skates in order to "fly in the air with Pete." While Tazusa of old would have cared about getting the Olympic medal, she now cares more about her performance with Pete. It's warming. The show could have easily given Tazusa an olympic medal for her brilliant performances, but there's something poetic about her getting just out of reach of reaching that point, because Tazusa's performance wasn't done with the intention of scoring well, but merely her final hurrah for Pete.

This show was adapted from a long 9 volume light novel run, so I'm guessing the awkward lack of characters, weird pacing, and sudden change in plot focus arises from the anime trying to cram 9 volumes of content into 12 episodes, which is impossible. Still, the anime did an adequate job. Yes, the animation is a slideshow, but I would stil recommend watching it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by PixelB (449)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Mar 23, 2015

Flawfinder

Not Recommended

(Author's Note: This is an old review that I would have written differently now, but I might as well post it on here just because)

One thing you’ll learn upon leaving high school is that everything that happened during that time is utterly meaningless in the adult world. And unless you’re one of those heathens who married his highschool sweetheart without divorcing her in two years time, your first love is one of those things. Pretty soon, you’ll realize that it was nothing special other than being another small experience in your youth, move on, and then date that college chick that’s as smart as she ... is fun to be around.

A similar thing happened to me when I got started on my anime hobby. Back when I thought they were all the length of American sitcoms that went on longer than a roadtrip from Texas to Brazil and I treated those anime like we were having a fling, I found a peculiar little series on Youtube that I was surprised to find was only 12 episodes long: Ginban Kaleidoscope. For those of you who have never heard of the series, it’s this anime directed by that dude who did the first 100 or so episodes of Gintama, School Rumble, and such centered on this ice-skating chick who gets possessed by this Canadian pilot that died in a plane accident. For some reason, he can only ascend to heaven after 100 days, so he has to share the girl’s experiences until then – including seeing herself when she goes to the toilet and experiencing what she eats (and he hates tomatoes), so she puts up with him until then. As you probably expect, they fall for each other, help each other out, and basically act like a retarded version of Hikaru no Go.

If you’re planning to watch this anime…uh…don’t. It’s not very funny, it adds nothing new to the coming-of-age sports genre, and it’s more of a product of its time than John Hughes’ films. As you probably surmised, I didn’t like this anime, even back then. The only real reason I committed to it was because I was more romantically inclined at the time and wanted to see these characters get together despite one of them being a ghost (who never spoke any Canadian). So I officially entered an “I watch you and you entertain me” relationship with the show, only to get frustrated with these stupid romantic comedy hijinks that felt like it was playing me for a fool without showing any real commitment to its promise. There were eventually some moments where I had fun, but around the end, I realized the show and I wanted different things and we parted ways amicably after we were finished with each other.

Looking back on that show as of today, I wonder what it was my high school self ever really saw in it. But regardless of what I feel now, I cannot deny that it was an important moment of my life due to being the first anime I ever finished from beginning to end. Even if the experience wasn’t great and there was no real love to justify that old “it’s better to have love and lost than have never loved at all” spiel, it was still an experience that helped shape future events in regards to my hobby. Okay, I went back to my long-running comfort food that will never grow old and betray me for a while, but eventually I realized how full of bullshit they were too (apart from Ranma, who forgave me for cheating on her and we entered a long-term relationship that was way more successful, but more on that another time) and sought out more of these series that were less than 100-episodes long. I think you can guess what happened from then on.

My first real girlfriend in terms of anime didn’t pan out. But hey, I survived didn’t I?

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Flawfinder (117)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Girls Sports Anime (With little to no fanservice)

by Kaoru-Mori-Stan

43 Entries · 17 Restacks

Underrated Sports Anime

by Neko-Hoshishima

10 Entries · 23 Restacks

Animax & Hero TV

by sstnrs

43 Entries · 3 Restacks

	Poll: Ginban Kaleidoscope Episode 1 Discussion hirahira - Jan 15, 2009	13 replies	by sunsetocean »» Oct 21, 2024 8:17 PM
	How did you like the ending of GB? Lilly1x - Nov 21, 2008	10 replies	by MermaidZarugoza »» May 25, 2024 11:30 AM
	Poll: Ginban Kaleidoscope Episode 12 Discussion hirahira - Feb 7, 2009	40 replies	by ManuelFragment »» May 6, 2024 9:25 PM
	Poll: Ginban Kaleidoscope Episode 9 Discussion hirahira - Jan 15, 2009	10 replies	by ManuelFragment »» May 6, 2024 9:22 PM
	Poll: Ginban Kaleidoscope Episode 2 Discussion hirahira - Jan 15, 2009	11 replies	by ManuelFragment »» May 1, 2024 9:51 PM