The series follows Sora Naegino, a young Japanese girl, who travels to the United States to fulfill her dream of performing at the world-famous Kaleido Stage.

Sora Naegino is a young Japanese girl with great acrobatic talent who travels to Cape Mery (a mix of Los Angeles and San Francisco), California in hopes of auditioning for the Kaleido Stage, a world-famous circus which has mesmerized her since childhood.

A kind police officer gives her a ride to Kaleido Stage only to discover she had missed her audition, an event upon which her idol, Layla Hamilton, advises her to return to Japan.

Kalos, having seen her earlier chase, reconsiders and informs Layla that Sora's performance will eventually be the main act at the circus, earning her reluctant respect.

With the help of stage manager Ken Robbins, the performers Mia Guillem and Anna Heart, young Marion Benigni, as well as a lot of hard work and determination, Sora begins to earn the respect of those around her.

This leads to the most talented of the new Kaleido Stage recruits, the Chinese-American May Wong (who is also an ex-figure skater) to question and challenge Sora's position as Leon's partner and star of the show.

Sora's first goal in the season is to attend the circus festival in Paris, but the competitors will do anything to attain the title of 'festival winner': betray, deceive, or even attack their opposers.

After many trials and rejections, Sora eventually aims to become a "True Kaleido Star" while creating a fun, conflict-free stage, the complete opposite of what she experiences at the festival in Paris.

Unfortunately, despite the likeliness of her being able to comprehend the role fully as she herself never carried a smile when she first came to Kaleido Stage, she has difficulties acting out the part and leaves the rehearsals mid-way frustrated.

In a desperate attempt to be reborn, Layla runs off on a solo bicycle trip to upstate New York in hopes of rediscovering herself.

[4] The story takes place fifteen years after the events of the anime series and it revolves around Sora's younger sister, Yume.

[6] In a review of the first Volume, Anime News Network called the series "heartwarming fluff without too many sugar calories" and praised the Japanese voice cast for stellar performances, with particular emphasis on Ryo Hirohashi and Takehito Koyasu.

"[10] Despite being put off by the recap episodes, Anime News Network positively reviewed the first Volume of Kaleido Star: New Wings.

While critiquing the story as "straight from the shōjo drama playbook," the review held praise for the visuals, stating that "the best thing about Kaleido Star is, far and away, the amazing animation and production values.

"[14] Anime On DVD proclaimed the OVA to be "a beautiful piece of work and the best way to close out things for a while as it is much more oriented on the comedy and the lighter side of the characters...