“The Keyword is Tomato” is an episode title that made me feel different about tomatoes. From the fairly unique premise to its depiction of the media (mainly in Japan), not to mention some fairly funny Engrish scenes, I was hooked when watching this series. Every character was quirky in their own rights and this series about figure skating was quite the adventure. The chemistry between each character was a joy to watch. Honestly, I didn’t expect to enjoy a series that seemed like a typical sports anime. But, anime has both pleasantly surprised me and proved me wrong about judging a book by its cover. This is the world of Ginban Kaleidoscope. 

Ginban Kaleidoscope, or Skating Rink Kaleidoscope in English, follows the life of 16-year-old Tazusa Sakurano, a figure skater from Japan who aims to be the candidate for the Torino (Turin, Italy) Olympics. During the qualifying rounds in Montreal, Canada, Tazusa failed a Triple Lutz, crashing down and losing consciousness. Meanwhile, a Canadian stunt pilot called Pete Pumps experienced a malfunction during his performances, crashing to the ground and dying. Due to his sins, however, he was not allowed into heaven until 100 days have passed. This caused him to unwillingly possess Tazusa. Now the two have to share bodies for that duration and put up with each other. 

During the anime's 12-episode run, we get to see many struggles Tazusa has to deal with. Besides Pete possessing her body and having to share her five senses, Tazusa also has to overcome her rival, Kyoto Shito, for her to be the Japanese representative. She must also deal with the high standards of Mrs. Yukie Mishiro, the news media’s constant bashing of her character, her school life, and, later on, a new rival, Ria Garnet Juiltyve. Despite how many conflicts there are for this short series, the anime manages to execute all of this with grace. All the conflicts also aided in building the relationships of each character, particularly with Tazusa and Pete. They both started up complaining about each other and questioned why they’re stuck like this. But later on, after Pete agreed to help Tazusa with her studies, their relationship got much better and stronger too. 

At first, the series starts like most sports anime; Tazusa enters into a tournament, she tries her best to outperform everyone else, she fails, she goes back home. The series’s art and animation aren’t that impressive either, even for 2005 standards. The show seems, at first, typical. What did stand out was the stunt pilot scene, where Pete dies. After Tazusa meets with Mrs. Mishiro about her needing to smile, the infamous “kiss my grits” Engrish scene comes to play after bumping into Dominique Miller, an American figure skater. All of this is fun and all, but when Pete officially announces his presence, Tazusa gets into a lot of crazy situations that, when talking to him, would cause many misfortunes. Although Tazusa is shown to be a bit of a brat, she later starts to be kinder to everyone around here. Even so, she would make the snarking comments to Pete, Mrs. Mishiro, and the news. Speaking of which, the news reporters try to cause drama to Tazusa because of how she doesn’t act like a sweetheart and that she fell at the bottom during the World Championships while Kyoto Shito was injured. The mass media built it up and said Japan was guaranteed that they will two spots for the Olympics. But since Tazusa didn’t make it in the top 10, Japan only got one candidate to send in the Olympics. Not everyone in the new reporter wanted drama. Kazuya Nitta was an ally for Tazusa as he would try to highlight the good and friendly rivalry that she and Kyoto had. Pete was also aiding Tazusa in her school work, especially English, and formed an idea for her short program. I can’t forget about Tazusa’s coach Yuji Takashima, her little sister Yoko, and her best friend Mika Honjo. While they don’t contribute much to the plot, they helped Tazusa feel more lively and they are good comedic characters. Though Mrs. Mishiro appears to be an intimidating person from the Japan Skating Federation, she helps pusheTazusa to become the official representative for Japan. Not to mention that she would also defend Tazusa from news reporters and the mass media who try to create a big scene just to sell papers. 

While Ginban is mainly a sports anime, it also has comedic moments as well, like how Coach Takashima would think all of Tazusa’s comments to Pete were directed at him. Romantic elements appear in the show to help build Tazusa and Pete’s relationship to be even stronger. The ending also got to me, even if I know it was going to happen. Yet, all that build up lead to that final scene. And it was beautiful.

Ginban Kaleidoscope is a hidden gem of an anime and should not be overlooked. Every characters’ interactions play off fantastically. Some scenes were imaginative like the free program. Tazusa and Pete’s relation were closer at the end in more ways in one. The anime even made me have an interest in figure skating. This is a wonderful anime with funny, intense, and emotional moments.