Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Ginban Kaleidoscope – episodes 9-12

April 11, 2006 on 10:03 pm | In Ginban Kaleidoscope | 11 Comments

You may be familiar with the fact that some shows that were okay to pretty good can have excellent endings. Ginban Kaleidoscope has one of those endings.

Spoilers

Tazusa goes to the Olympics and meets far more success than the Japanese press would have given her credit for. She manages to achieve these lofty heights by learning to love skating and by reconciling herself to the fact that Pete is going to have to leave her.

The last three episodes of Ginban Kaleidoscope fired on so many cylinders that it wasn’t funny just how far the series had come. By the time episode ten rolled around, Tazusa was a significantly different person: one who wouldn’t use rudeness as a first resort.

It’s easy to see why Tazusa would fall for Pete: any man with patience enough to live with her is probably in line for sainthood. Why he felt for her situation was cleverly explained through his analogies: a professional respect that led to friendship and love due to his persistence at softening her hardened exterior. Tazusa still has a sharp tongue, but she uses it in justifiable instances.

The rest of this show, beyond a genuinely hilarious, actual laugh out loud recurring joke, is based more on feeling than on anything quantifiable. The final skates are exciting despite the fact that the first is shown in an almost identical fashion to that of the initial waitress skate.
The last ever skate is a triumph of the romantic form and I salute it for its visual poetry and the depth of its feeling; I honestly didn’t think that Ginban Kaleidoscope had this in it, and am not ashamed to admit that I teared up for the first time since Monster in my consumption of the Torino episodes.

To put it simply, I loved the abruptness of this ending; this style is one of the ultimates in tear-wringing yet its understatement makes it so much more effective than the standard. For these final seconds, and a nice epilogue that doesn’t ruin the tone of the excellent credits lead in, Ginban Kaleidoscope gets my salute.

11 Comments

1. Great to see this series get the praise it deserves. It looked ordinary — and was ordinary in many ways — but had heart. And it especially had Kawasumi Ayako, who I think delivered one of her best-ever performances as Tazusa. That character development was partly script and partly great voice-acting.

   Comment by hashihime — April 12, 2006 #

2. The ending was soo greeeaat! I watched all episodes after eachother and then I cried a river T_T

   Comment by MoGx — August 10, 2006 #

3. i already watch the first episod.but i want to watch all again until ending.i like the main character.she is crazy for nothing.

   Comment by nob — July 31, 2007 #

4. *sniff* *sniff* i already watched all 12 episodes.. the first and second ep was really funny.. but after ive watched the last episode i said, ‘wow.. nice.. but so sad..’ and then i ended up crying the whole night…………….

   Comment by mahyeirs — August 4, 2007 #

5. I really love the story, although the ending was not happy, still the whole masterpiece was such a nice and wonderful story. How i wish Pete is alive to stay with Tazusa… Well the story starts at a very funny and humurous situation, but as the story goes, it suddenly transforms into a dramatic scene. Well i cried after finishing the 12th episode. The personality of Pete and Tazusa are really very ironic to each other but it is good combination.

   Comment by Sakura — August 6, 2007 #

6. this is the first time that ihave watched this,and it so,so very nice and i luv it so much..hope theres seoson 2..

   Comment by kenelly — August 9, 2007 #

7. Uhm, only 12 episodes??

   NO OVA or MOVIE or something like that?

   Comment by Triton — August 11, 2007 #

8. grabe…i love this very much…even i have a periodic test singit ko pa rn to sa sched ko….i wish there’s season2…i want to have a happy ending eh….i wish pete will reencarnate….and tazusa and him will live happily ever after…heheheh!why is there only 12 episodes?hmm….huhuhu!season2!season2!season2!season2!season2!season2!

   Comment by honey — August 19, 2007 #

9. where can i watch this anime with complete episodes in the internet..?! i want to watch this all over again… i believe that there will be a sequel.. hopefully.. so sad T_T…

   Comment by mixmich — October 28, 2007 #

10. i only saw the second episode but i am allready enchanted by it!

    Comment by blue flame — June 4, 2008 #

11. i simply love this anime. I watch loads of them and they’re really amazing, this one is one of the best. yes it is short but it’s great, begins with humour, ends with love, simply great =D i did wish the ending was a bit better though, it was soo sad i couldn’t stop crying. i really wish they’d be season 2 in which tazusa and pete could reunite and stay 2gether XD <3 <3

    Comment by anime lover — July 27, 2008 #

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