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When I first heard about Kaleido Star (which was quite long ago due to how long this has been out) I didn't find much interest in it and dismissed it as another lame girl-who-gets-everything-and-helps-everyone cliche.

By the time I finally watched the first episode, I understood why this was popular. Sora not your average I'm the best and I can save everyone heroine. She fights hard and gives it her all which is quite inspiring to watch! It also goes to show that hard work pays off and there are good sides to many people, etc, etc. She also wasn't perfect and constantly failing at ... things, however that appeals to people more because its natural! The stunts are amusing, the stage absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, the music adorable. You'll definitely fall in love with this from the first episode.

Storyline: Although the concept of gymnastics is quite unique, Sora as the typical heroine is quite cliched. However, cliches are used because they work and it most certainly did for this series!
Music: Beautiful. It gives off a whole different meaning.
Characters: From Sora who you'll love, Layla the princess with a sad past, snotty show girls, loyal friends, Jonathan, and Ken's puppy dog love there's a character to love, hate and laugh with the entire time.
Animation: Breathtaking. There's no other way to say it. Kaleido Stage is beautiful, the shows unique. It compares quite well to Circus d'Ole.
Overall: It leaves a good feeling and you'll defiantly want to go watch the second season! Recommend!

Okay, I admit it, I love The One but when it first came out and I read the beginning I quit of the 5th page. It was only after I have read everything else I wanted to when I decided to pick this up again.

Story: The story isn't that amazingly unique and original in terms of a girl being forced to go into the fashion industry and finding hardships and love on the way, etc. However, this type of story is usually very well received by the general population therefore the story should (and is) quite good. I gave it a 8 to balance ... out the good with the bad.

Art: Right, at first glance the art kind of turned me off. Maybe its because I don't enjoy the type of eyes and body that the mangaka uses but once you get into the story, it's much easier to ignore and/or grow to like it. I gave this a 10 even though I initially didn't like the art is because when the fashion industry part came in, the art turned absolutely SPLENDID! It's beautiful really and definitely worth a 10.

Character: Cane Lele is probably just like most other manga heroines. She's ditsy, clueless, hates something (in this case the fashion industry), denies that she loves someone (coughcoughyouknow!cough), etc, etc. But even with all the regular cliches, there are some quite enjoy parts to her character. You do end up sympathizing with her and you'll definitely laugh at her remarks and responses. This is simply because most girls (and not being sexist here, guys can read shoujo manga too but the MAJORITY is girls) will react in the same way as her. She's just one of the characters that you'll met along the way and like Lele, you'll also laugh and sympathize or maybe even hate the other characters as well.

Enjoyment: A definite 10. The humor in this manga is one of the best aspects. Lele's stupid clumsiness, Angus's brother-complex, the love hate relationships between Feihung and her "boytoy!" The list goes on and on. You'll laugh, cry and get angry throughout the whole story. That's the sign of a great manga.

Overall: 9. It's great but for something to be OUTSTANDING there has to be more. Right now, I've only read 37 (because it's not been finished translated yet) so I can't say for sure how the story goes after. I heard it's much better. If it is, I'll return to this review and rewrite to give it another shot.

When I first heard about Skip Beat, I (sadly) wasn't one of the first people who loved it from its summary. In fact, after reading the brief summary I went "Psshhh, what's so great about this? No originality at all! The art isn't even that great either!" and walked away.
The reason I first started to read it was because
1) I had finished my favorite manga at the time
2) I was extremely bored and it was ranked quite high
Horrible reasons I know, and I really didn't think I would enjoy Skip Beat at all. In fact I don't know why there were so many ... people that love this series.

After the first chapter, I was hooked. The main girl at first was just like any other but the comedy and sarcasm and carefully drawn out eyes got my attention. Plus, the originally "not so original" plot began to seem much more interesting. After that, I read every single chapter up to 139 in about 3 days.

Story: It's not that high on the originality style because I can probably name a couple of stories that revolve around revenge and etc. However, the plot after the beginning, although a bit cliche, is still quite different and makes you crave more. That's the important thing, sure plot is necessary but even if the plot isn't "original" so long as the characters are good, then the story will automatically be good. Which is why this is 9.

Art: Okay, so the bodies are a bit exaggerated and elongated to show how "beautiful" they really are. Even though this a bit of a turnoff for me at first before I read the manga, I grew to be able to ignore the bodies and focus more on the facial expressions and eyes. Her eyes are amazing, it shows you all of the emotions and feelings. Since you can grow to ignore or later like me now, enjoy the exaggeration then art goes to 10. If you can't, it's more 9 since you cannot deny that most shoujo manga art is quite beautiful.

Character: No matter what anyone says, characters are JUST AS or even MORE important than the plot. No matter how unique or original your plot is, if your characters don't match up to it, the book or manga is not going to fare well. What Skip Beat lacks in it's originality department, it shows up in the characters. I won't go into great detail at the people because it would border on spoilers but as you read you can greatly identify each of the character's inner thoughts. Since this is told in Kyoko's perspective, you get to see how crazy she gets and laugh your head off at her "misfortune"! Truly an interesting main character.

Enjoyment: It's great. That's all I can really say. You laugh, you sympathize, you cry and you get angry along with Kyoko. It's amazing when a manga can get you going that much. This manga really is great and I'm sure even the worst critics (like me) can enjoy this.

Overall: 10. Simply (almost) perfect. A great read!

(Man that really was long! But I hoped this helped at least someone!)