Review of Ginban Kaleidoscope

Summing this anime in 1 sentence: Olympic ice skater possessed by Canadian ghost and her attempt to get to the Olympics.

This was a rather new anime, even though it was on during the period of late 2005 to early 2006. I had seen my share of anime and this was a refreshing take, considering that it had involved ice skating (which I had a bit of knowledge about) which was seldom covered in anime these days.

I must say that I was initially sceptical that the show might not be good due to the fact that I had heard nothing about the anime through reviews, which was usually not a good thing (i do know exceptions such as Kino’s travels, Midori no hibi and Planet ES that were lightly covered but had been wonderful series). Hence, before I watch the actual anime, I went to find out a bit more about the anime to get myself into the mood. I did not find much though.

The premise is a Olympic skater, Sakurano Tazusa, a 16 year old Japanese girl that calls herself the 10 billion dollar beauty (how’s that for a ego boost). She was a competent female lead, with a quick temper, exceptional talent and well, she was really cute in various situations. She was then possessed by this Canadian show flight ghost, Pete Pump, for 100 days and he was not able to leave her body until then. He was able to experience things according to how she felt. In fact, in the first episode, she learnt it the rather hard way when she tried to soak herself in hot water but instead let him see her…*cough body cough*.

This anime talked about the journey of the two, from foes in which Tasuna often used her tomato methods to torture the hell out of Pete to a blossoming relationship. It was a really simple anime to start with, as they did not deal with many other characters except the two of them. Some people might consider this a huge waste considering that there were other characters that would do well in some character development but I was satisfied overall by this show.

The main strength of the anime for me was the ending. Without spoiling too much of the anime, I would say that this was one of the anime where it was generally just average/good for the 11 episodes and it just wowed you over with the last episode with one brilliant ending. It did not fall back on cliches (I wish it did cos i am a sucker to lame endings where everyone is happy) and it gave you a bittersweet ending that wrapped up the whole series completely.

It had a healthy dosage of jokes that was not too excessive or low-brow, even though the sudden outbursts of Tasuna and her sarcastic remarks were wonderful. Her constant tsundere-ness toward the reporters, her general manager and Pete was amusing and it was never too boring. Having a meido constume for one of the short routines would make any self-righteous male anime watcher happy. I know i did. I truly loved her as a character and she was developed very well, from a sarcastic brat to a lady that finally realised her own potential and mature beautifully.

The relationship of Tasuna and Pete was the main draw here. Tasuna often called him various names but Pete is perhaps the only person in the world who could stand such a high-handed gal like Tasuna. He was always patient, taking her potshots such as “Pevertogeist” and the likes. In the end, their relationship was very beautiful and it turned out with one of the most fabulous ice skating dances that I had ever seen. It was probably one of those anime that stuck on you and made you feel for the anime characters and these two really made it right.

Graphics wise was a bit on the average side. You would not find any Kyoto animation (of haruhi, AIR and FMP fame) quality right here but it was pretty decent for a 2005 anime and the artwork was decent and competent for the series.

Music wise was good, as they had rather good music throughout the whole series, with nothing that was annoying at all. It was good since the companionship of music with ice skating was something that was required. The OP was catchy and I must say that I could find myself humming at it after watching. The ED did not leave too much of a deep impression though. It was just so-so.

Gindan Kaleidoscope is a nice anime that would not be in my top 10 anime list due to the fact that it did not have the wow factor in it, but the last episode as well as the “feel-good” factor about the series made it a very enjoyable watch. All in all, i think i would definitely recommend it to those anime watchers that like a dash of sports and romance in it. Some of the parts of the show such as her ice skating performances would have possible re-watching value.

Just watch it, you would not go wrong.

If you dont…

SHAME ON YOU!

I rate this anime 8/10, simply because i like Tasuna and the ZOMG great ending. Without these two, I would probably give it just a 6/10.