New Anime for the week of 6/21/2004

The final championship battle has begun, and Misaki faces her greatest challenge. Angelic Layer has proven to be an emotional roller coaster, and doesn't fail to keep up that pace in its last few episodes. Fans of the manga will enjoy this reinterpretation of the original story and a much more in-depth look at the lives of the characters involved. Angelic Layer stands out as one of the best stories out there and these final episodes do everything right to not tarnish that image.

The cast truly comes into its own with these last few episodes. The emotional play between Jessica Boone's Misaki and Christine Auten's Shuko is a defining moment in this series. Andy McAvin continues to shine as Icchan as even he gets caught up in the emotional journey. This one is well worth the 26 episode journey that the viewer takes to get to the end.

As Sora adjusts to her life with Kaleido Stage, a few new faces come in to shake things up. Sora finds herself working even harder to take care of a lost seal and then a young girl who doesn't quite understand that perfection doesn't always mean an entertaining performance. From there, Sora does her best to make Layla's birthday special. Rounding out the disc, Sora has a chance to truly become a star of Kaleido Stage, but first she must overcome her biggest challenge to date. With this second volume, Kaleido Star is falling into a nice rhythm. A slice of life show, Kaleido Star follows a young girl with determination in her heart. This show is filled with interesting characters, lots of fun moments as well as strong dramatic storylines.

Cynthia Martinez in the role of Sora continues to hold the whole show together. Cynthia does a great job of bringing out the right emotions to make Sora a character everyone can relate to. She's backed up by strong performances from Jay Hickman as the Fool, Luci Christian as Sarah and Kira Vincent-Davis as Anna. The star is still Sora, but the cast helps make her shine. Kaleido Star is proving to be a show worth watching.

Sanzo and his friends face their toughest challenge to date as Homura and his team decide it's time to stop playing games and get serious. After facing a town full of demons, Sanzo and company face off with Homura for the fate of the Maten Scripture. As Homura's plan comes into focus, Sanzo faces a past life where our heroes worked together. While the series has wandered a bit from its original journey, this storyline is really coming to a head. There have been lots of hints at the past of our heroes, but seeing them as they were is a real treat. Saiyuki continues to please mixing strong dramatic storylines, a sense of fun and great action.

Not to be overshadowed by the serious storyline, the cast continues to shine as well. David Matranga as Sanzo continues to be strong as he pushes strong emotions through Sanzo's exasperated attitude. Greg Ayres' performance allows Goku to show true growth from the early episodes. This is really contrasted with the flashbacks as Greg gets back to playing a more naïve Goku. Not to be outdone, Illich Guardiola as Gojyo and Braden Hunt as Hakkai continue to shine in their roles. Making a huge impact is Jason Douglas as Homura. There is definite menace in his presence, yet moments of humanity sneak out in the performance. With this series quickly coming to a close, the build up is strong for the final volume.