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Now in Japan
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 15 December 2005 00:00 |
 I've never really liked sports anime - there's usually a set forumula for such series to follow, which usually involves much agonising over getting stronger, unlikely comebacks, and unnaturally good talent. Eyeshield 21 was the first sports show in a while to really catch my attention, mainly because it took a much more comedic approach to the subject than usual, and now Ginban Kaleidoscope follows its example. Who ever thought figure skating could be this much fun...
1 - The 10 Billion Dollar Girl
16-year old Tazusa Sakurano is a Japanese figure-skater with no
shortage in the ego department, thinking herself about as good as you
can get in both the skating & looks detaprtments. While performing
in the Women's Figure Skating Grand Prix, she stumbles and
lands badly, leaving her injured & out of the competition.
Shortly
afterwards, she begins to hear a strange voice in her head - it claims
to be a Canadian by the name of Pete Pumps, who was killed in a plance
crash at the same time the Tazusa had her fall, and whose ghost has now
taken up residence in her body. After several failed
attempts to get rid of Pete (looks like he's stuck in her head for 100
days), Tazusa realises she's going to have to get used to his
presence. In the meantime, she has to work on her skating
techniques techniques if she's to realize her dream of being selected
to skate at the Olympics...
2 - The Keyword is Tomato
So when Pete died and tried to go to heaven, he was intercepted by the
Almighty Himself & given his marching orders - and the "exit chute"
as it were led straight into poor Tazusa. That explains how he
got into her head - but for poor Tazusa, it means any shred of privacy
is gone as Pete can see and hear anything she does. It's a killer
for her concentration, getting dressed is done blindfolded, and bathing
has suddenly lost its appeal. And she daren't even think about
doing "that", despite Pete's urgings (use your imagination there! :)
) But while there's no way of getting him out of her head, there
are ways to make his time there as uncomfortable as possible.
Pete's not Tazusa's only problem, though - she's found herself on the
wrong side of the Japanese media, and with a press conference about her
most recent competitive failure coming up, her ego's not its usual
confident self - and the press hounds are looking for a kill...
I freely admit that while ice-skating has a certain appeal,
this isn't a series I was originally planning to stick with - but
despite by initial misgivings, Ginban Kaleidoscope has turned out to be
one of the most enjoyable new shows of this season.
The series seems to be less about skating - it really just forms the
backdrop to events - and more about Tazusa learning about herself &
perhaps growing up a bit.
Tazusa
has a genuine ego / attitude problem at the beginning of the
series, which I hope will be "corrected" by having Pete hanging around
in her head. I quite like that setup, actually - it adds a little
fantasy element to the usual sports anime formula, and while some of
the other elements just didn't click with me (mainly the Tazusa versus
the press & her skating rivalry) the comedy side of things
just worked so well for me that I couldn't help but go with the flow.
That said, Pete being Canadian means that there's English to be spoken, and some of it is truly bad Engrish. Fortunately, Pete
seems to master Nihongo a lot quicker than Tazusa's picked up
Eigo, so that problem will hopefully be kept to a minimum.
Plot-wise,
stalker / reporter Nitta looks set to be the main "bad guy" here - his
intentions aren't quite clear yet, but he seems to be manipulating
Tazusa & her main rival for his own
ends. The upcoming Olympics (coincidence that this is airing not too
far ahead of the 2006 Winter Olympics? I think not...) will also play
a part as Tazusa aims to secure the only spot on offer for Team Japan.
With Pete still floating around in her head, I suspect the comedy side
of things will remain the focus, but there's plenty of other things
going on here as well. Surprisingly good, and worth checking out.
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