Kimagure Orange☆Road

Roughly twelve years ago, I picked up this anime series. A friend had it on Laser Disc ... LASER DISC. Given that, this should help you understand how old this series actually is. If you can get over the fact that this is a relatively old anime (and the fact that it shows) then this is a very well executed series.

Art:
As stated earlier, this IS an old anime. However, for its time, it was above average and, quite possibly, great. The artistic style really adds to the story (though a couple of the fight scenes were ... awkwardly executed).

Sound:
Again, ... the sound, by today's standards would be sub par. But for its time, it is way above good. The voice acting is way beyond good, which adds to the series story line.

Story/Character:
Without spoiling anything, all I can say is that the story is really good. Really the story is character driven. The three main characters REALLY shine but their personalities are drawn out very well by all of the supporting characters. VERY, VERY well done.

Kimagure Orange Road is a classic and one of my all time favorite anime. While it stands on its own as a love triangle romance/comedy its got some quirky characters and situations thrown in there.

At the very beginning of the anime you find out that the Kasuga family are espers, throw in over the top girl gangs and delinquents and you have a weird concoction with a romance anime.

Watching it today it is a bit dated for visuals, but even so they still work to this day as the animation is good enough that the characters are able to convey the emotions properly. ...

The voice acting is top shelf and the music while corny by todays standards has enough timeless "pop" sound to it that you can still get into it as a guilty pleasure.

While some of the minor characters can be accused of being one dimensional the main three of Kyosuke, Madoka and Hikaru easily stand fully developed. Madoka especially shows the full gamut of emotions in this anime. Yes while it can be argued she is the prototypical tsundere and in some episodes she certainly can be, however those episodes are mainly one and done filler episodes dealing with delinquent characters where as in most of the anime she is showing more girly and kind emotions. Kyosuke is the main character and he is generally likeable albeit the typical indecisive lead character. Hikaru is the other half of the triangle and best friends with madoka, she might be the least complex character as she has a strong crush on Kyosuke and just wants to have fun.

48 eps of tv goodness 2 movies and 8 ovas so the series is not what I would call short, but if you give it a chance it will be over before you know it. This anime is certainly a classic if you like romance anime it really should not be missed.

Kasuga Kyosuke is a typical Japanese 15 year old. He is doing his best to study and meeting the girl of his dreams on his first day on a stroll in his new town. However, the circumstance of his family’s move and the results of this encounter just happen to be the beginning of not the perfect life, but a series of shenanigans mixed with typical teenage hormones. For starters, why did he move to town? The thing is, Kyosuke comes from a family of espers whose powers generally range between telekinesis and teleportation and the occasional self-hypnosis. Because Kyosuke’s sisters have abused their powers ... in public view in the past, they have had to move on a number of occasions and Kyosuke hopes that this will be the last after meeting this beautiful girl.

At his new school, Kyosuke happens to learn he shares the same class with that girl he met. Her name is Ayukawa Madoka and she happens to be one of those most feared delinquents in town and that does nothing to prevent Kyosuke from pursuing her. However, when Kyosuke used his power under the impression he was alone in the gym to shoot a basket from the opposite side of the court while sitting down, he caught the eye of Madoka’s childhood friend, Hiyama Hikaru who is also a delinquent and fell instantly in love with him and is very open about it.

Now Kyosuke has to make sure his sisters don’t abuse their powers and find a way to let Madoka know his true feelings.

If you grew up on teen or coming of age sitcoms along the likes of “Saved by the Bell,” “Boy Meets World,” or “California Dreams,” I say this may be the anime for you but with some twists of special powers. It is a good mix of comedy and romance. There are some repeating gags such as the Kasuga’s neighbors, Umao and Ushiko, a married couple who repeatedly share their love for each other quoting Romeo and Juliet in very ridiculous scenarios. But if you like those kind of American teen dramas, then you are likely to ease into “Kimagure Orange Road” but of course with an appropriate Japanese twist.

The series for the most part is episodic with a few two parters here and there and is easy to get into without any previous exposure from the very start. I say having my teen years without smartphones and high speed internet access, I can understand the struggles the characters go through without that instant connective contact. I understand what it’s like to be 15 without an iPhone and having to run out and find that girl to apologize to her face to face over a misunderstanding. The series also does a good job of presenting why Kyosuke does not want to reject Hikaru’s feelings for him despite truly loving Madoka. He sees that Hikaru is really a nice girl and does not want to hurt her but he understands that he is only delaying the inevitable.

Madoka, despite representing the archetypical 1980s “sukeban,” or school girl delinquent, her character is given the most development. She can be rough and tough, but also comes across as genuinely feminine that would seduce many teenage boys.

I love how it is just teens from back in the day just having a good time. One of my favorite episodes was in the last quarter of the series which spoofs the kaiju genre. In that episode, it pays homage to Godzilla, Gundam, Saint Seiya, and Mothra all at once by using the Godzilla soundtrack, a tribute song to the Mothra song sung by the twins, and I will explain the Saint Seiya reference later.

The TV series ends out of convenience but I really can’t say how the manga ends because I have not read it. I heard the TV series has some changes from the manga but if anyone familiar can share some info I would appreciate it.

Well, outside a few brawls here and there, this series does not have much intense martial arts action, high paced racing scenes, world ending tennis matches that will kill the dinosaurs, or any space ending mech warfare so the so called “quality” of the animation being “out-dated” and/or “bad” is nothing really to be concerned about. It’s the original Shounen Romance Comedy so high quality HD animation should be the last thing you should worry about in the same way you should last worry about high quality production values in a 1990s teen sitcom. Granted the resolution and contrast is relatively grainy and plain compared to today but I don’t think such trivial qualities should negate this anime.

The character design works the way it needs to by presenting us with a teen romance comedy. Kyosuke appropriately looks like a 15 year old and his facial expressions convey what it needs to convey. Madoka’s design works in the way it is supposed to intend to, to make her a punk teenager with an adult and feminine feel. Manami and Kurumi work as pre-teens. 

I can tell the character’s apart and I can tell who is a boy and who is a girl unlike today’s anime so I don’t know where “the flaws” are. Granted we don’t see much Tokyo scenery but I think the series appropriately portrays Japanese home and school life and what suburban Japan feels like.

The limited action scenes with Madoka fighting off gang members were also archetypical of the sukeban genre of the time by fighting in the long skirt and with a yo-yo and all that. They are fast paced and not drastically over the top.

The series is filled with a who’s who in Japanese voice acting. For starters, Kyosuke is played by Furuya Tooru, who every anime fan should know. Famous as the voice of Amuro Ray from Gundam, Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon, Yamucha from Dragon Ball and Seiya from Saint Seiya. I love how he makes his voice a bit quieter and softer to make him a vulnerable teenage boy in comparison to the more confident and cocky Seiya who is 2 years younger than Kyosuke. And complimenting this casting is Tsuru Hiromi as Madoka. She is also famous world wide as the voice of Bulma from Dragon Ball and seeing this casting is this context really makes perfect sense and their chemistry works excellently well in this series. These two alone define what makes this series also awesome. The rest of the cast, are also some relatively big names like Kikuchi Masami, the voice of Yusaku in this series would later on become famous as the voice of Keiichi from Ah! My Goddess and Tenchi in Tenchi Muyo. In this series, his voice is appropriately rough and aggressive since he hates Kyosuke and like Hikaru.

But unfortunately, Honda Chieko, who voiced Kyosuke’s sister Kurumi and also the voice of Puuru and Puuru 2 in Gundam ZZ passed away to cancer back in early 2013 and she did a great job of playing a pre-teen girl without a care in the world.

The music is really excellent and appropriately sets the mood of youth, love, and summer. It has a distinct intensity and very romantic. My favorite song is Orange Mystery, the second opening theme. Prior to being used as the opening theme, it was used as a background song in some really good scenes and I really liked how it was used.

I still think that beyond just the art and animation, I think there are a lot more qualities to this series that will mostly appeal to older viewers and veteran anime fans as opposed to younger and newer viewers. I think older viewers understand what the world was like and even grew up as a teenager before what we had today so it is much easier to relate to. Watching this series made me feel young and made me want to go back to my youth and start over again in certain moments in my life. See my friends, say the right words, have more fun, and so on. Working in Japan, I understand some of the characters frustrations and gave me some insight. I also loved the Kaiju tribute episode which really made me enjoy the series much more.

This anime was by Studio Perriot, better known for its renowned anime like Urusei Yatsura, Great Teacher Onizuka, Naruto, and Bleach to name a few. Taking place over 48 episodes is this Junior High love triangle story between 15 year old Kyosuke Kasuga and his indecisiveness over the high energy Hikaru Hiyama, and the adult allure of Madoka Ayukawa.

Orange Road starts off with Kasuga and his family (dad and twin sisters) move into a new city and by a chance encounter comes across Ayukawa. They have some friendly banter between each other, and Kasuga instantly falls in love with her, and possibly like-wise for herself. ... However, in public Ayukawa is more serious and a bit cold, which throws Kasuga some mixed signals. Then, during his contemplation, he makes an impossible basketball shot in which Hikaru sees him and she falls in love with him.

What makes this a bit complicated is the character interaction between the love triangle as Hikaru and Ayukawa are best friends since childhood, and Kasuga whom while he is in love with Ayukawa, starts to date Hikaru. This begins the young-love complication between the three in their daily lives. As a side issue, Kasuga and his family all have supernatural powers (telekinesis, teleportation, hypnosis, etc.) that they refer to simply as “the power” and must hide it from public knowledge.

Unfortunately, where the romance and interest starts out strong, and with the “power” as an extra obstacle; the series tails off horribly to episodic nonsense with nothing progressing. It is a real shame because the lure of the show was amazing, but the love triangle never progresses and the use of power is totally lost on its potential. Sure, there is the occasional episode to reel the viewer back in, but so much is lost on this show, which is really unfortunate. This anime doesn’t even come to a conclusion without watching the movie afterwards. The movie takes place at the end of high school focusing on Kasuga finally having to make a decision between Hikaru and Ayukawa. If the viewer makes it through the anime, watch the incredibly sad non-power using conclusion.

Kimagure Orange Road (KOR) is widely regarded as a classic but I am absolutely bewildered as to why it is given such as a high honor. I went into this series thinking it would be a treat and came out of it with a voracious aggravation. As a product of the 80s, we have discotheques, skateboard races and embarrassing fashion choices. While the series starts of seemingly fun and quirky, it soon becomes a tiresome chore to sit through. This is largely due to the episodic nature of the series. Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with an episodic series but you have to make ... sure that your story can fit this type of format. It's a love triangle that stretches on for years, and it's not an interesting love triangle either. The main character, Kyosuke is in love with the mysterious Madoka but he is currently “dating” the bubbly Hikaru. Kyosuke is too cowardly to confess his true feelings, he makes a terrible mistake (usually involving breaking the heart of one of the girls), and he has to fix this problem within the remainder of the episode’s runtime. A reset button is slammed down whenever the credits roll. Rinse and repeat this scenario endlessly and you have Kimagure Orange Road.

There are many attempts made by the series to be dramatic and weighty to develop the a supposedly "epic romance" arc between Kyosuke and Madoka but this doesn’t work when status quo reigns supreme. The two characters almost confess their feelings to each other after going through life-threatening ordeals but pretend nothing of the sort ever happened in the very next episode. This all occurs between a sequence of slapstick, light-hearted events; leaving KOR with a severe mood whiplash. Kyosuke and his family are espers but the powers are gimmicky and have little bearing on the series - they are only used by the narrative to create or solve the aforementioned problems when they have run out of ideas (which happens a lot). KOR is hardly the serious drama or romance it pretends to be, and the ties it has to science fiction are flimsy. There is no plot to speak of as it is a slice-of-life anime but being so heavily formulaic and melodramatic is inexcusable.

There is a large amount of borrowing from 1980s American teen movies but KOR can only incorporate these tropes in the most insipid of ways, turning otherwise promising conventions into tedious filler. And there is A LOT of filler. More than half the episodes in this series are completely useless, with their only role being comedic fluff. Calling it “comedic” is probably giving KOR too much credit though, because it isn’t funny at all. In fact, most of these “jokes” are related to sexual harassment and other cringe worthy moments. KOR revolves around constant misunderstandings and lies, or degrading the characters for a joke. Many fans of the series attribute the spontaneous and rash decisions the characters make to them being impressionable teenagers but I don’t buy it, the characters aren’t just young and therefore stupid, they are *just* stupid. And if them being morons wasn't enough, they are also scumbags to boot.

Kyosuke may be framed by the narrative as an “innocent boy” in difficult circumstances, but this only works if he isn’t the cause of so many problems in the first place or at least makes an active attempt to solve them. Kyosuke basically decides to solve his problems by lying. He’ll never tell Hikaru he doesn’t want to date her, but he’ll mumble something about them not really being a couple when anyone else asks him about it. He toys with her heart and takes advantage of her kindness all whilst he daydreams about Madoka in a Playboy bunny suit. He plays two best female friends against each other. He chases a girl when he’s pretending to date her best friend. He is emotionally cheating on Hikaru but the story adores him too much to give him the School Days treatment. You can have a jerkass main character if the series addresses it. You can NOT, on the other hand, have a jerkass main character who the plot sincerely believes is a "nice guy" when there is nothing convincing to prove to the audience that this is the case. The audience should not be spoon fed the concept that Kyosuke is heroic when he is unable to free himself of his douchebaggery. Thus KOR fails at one of the most basic core principles of storytelling - show, not tell.

Hikaru is the designated villain whereas Kyosuke is the designated hero. Yes, Hikaru is annoying with her hyperactivity and very dense, but none of the troublesome circumstances in the series are her fault. Forcing the audience to view her as the perpetrator is just a way to let Kyosuke off the hook. Viewers are manipulated into seeing Hikaru as someone "bad" when she is genuinely innocent, much like how the plot says Kyosuke is "good" when he is the complete opposite. Hikaru’s life as a character is near non-existent as her only role is to be an obstacle between Madoka and Kyosuke officially getting together. The romance is framed as “nice guy” Kyosuke slowly changing the delinquent Madoka into a “good girl” through the power of love while being besieged by the love-struck Hikaru. This is multiple levels of wrong because the story presents Kyosuke to be righteous when he really isn’t, Madoka must be “fixed” by this kind of man, and Hikaru is supposedly an awful person for simply being in love with Kyosuke. Kyosuke overcoming Hikaru and finally winning the “prize” named Madoka, is the deeply sexist message strewn throughout the series.

The female lead, Madoka, is different from the others in the series - she develops and actually feels like a character for the most part. But this only because she is a highly idealised woman that men want and dream of. She is the wonderful and talented character of the cast because she *needs* to be as such. She is a Mary Sue created for Kysouke. Her sole purpose is catering towards the male gaze. Why does a boring and dreadful person like Kyosuke end up with Madoka? Because Madoka's very existence is rooted in the pleasing of Kyosuke. Her shallow background and lack of agency stems from this inability to live outside of being his "reward". She caters to many of Kyosuke's desires and even her "negative" traits such as aloofness and violent streak actually work as fetish fuel. Kyosuke is a sufferer of the Madonna-Whore complex. He thinks Madoka is highly attractive due to her delinquency but fears that this wild lifestyle means she must have had sexual encounters in the past. To solve this, Madoka is rendered by the plot to be a virgin and "not that kind of girl" despite her personality clearly contradicting with a life of celibacy. Madoka's life conforms to being the perfect girl for Kyosuke. We KNOW it will be Madoka in the end because it's a part of Matsumoto's sexual fantasy, no matter how hard they might throw the suggestion that Hikaru is fine too. Hikaru never stood a chance. It's predictable and lazy.

Kyosuke is a sack of shit. While Madoka is an interesting character (albeit a dream girl), it doesn’t help her when she’s in love with said sack of shit. This obviously isn’t how Matsumoto wanted Kyosuke to be perceived as. KOR gives Kyosuke an obvious favoritism as it never calls him out on his selfishness, instead opting to portray him as the sympathetic character you’re supposed to root for. Matsumoto empathized with Kyosuke because he is his self-insertion - an author avatar and escapist character. The fans, the majority of whom are male, admire Kyosuke because they can imprint themselves onto his blandness and live their Madoka-chasing visions through him. Simply looking at the large number of worshippers this title has garnered is a reflection of how easily people will eat up misogynist trite like a pack of undiscerning pigs. KOR is Matusmoto's wish-fulfilment and wet dream, and by extension KOR’s fans as well. KOR treating who Kyosuke will choose in the end as a giant mystery is a failure when the result is obvious (if Madoka's image being plastered everywhere were not enough of a clue). There is little to mention about the other characters. They are unmemorable and largely unimportant. Kyosuke’s sisters - Kurumi and Manami are nuisances, and his perverted friends - Komatsu and Hatta - with their aggressive brand of misogyny are deplorable.

The animation employs extensive use of stock footage and flashbacks. Despite it feeling like a rush-job and glaringly obvious when being lazy, it does manage to reach the average standard. It never falls to the point of being ridiculously off-model with the quality remaining consistent nearly all the time. It may be limited but it does well within its budget and the need to cover a length of 48 episodes. Despite the mediocore animation, everything is still quite nice to look at. KOR utilises a bright colour palette and Akemi Takada’s illustrative work. As expected of Takada, she breathed new life into Matsumoto’s plain and lacklustre character designs after she re-drew them. The male characters seem fairly boring in comparison to the female characters, but everyone remains highly expressive and although simple, the figures all manage to stand out from each other. This is a series aimed towards male audiences thus all the female characters have bishoujo features, but it isn’t overblown and is much more subtle than other titles within the same demographic.

As if the characters themselves weren’t annoying for their personalities, they have annoying voices to boot. Toru Furuya plays Kyosuke, the unlucky every man and his voice definitely gives off the impression of average. The only character that has a nice voice is Madoka. Hiromi Tsuru truly stands out for her performance as Madoka; she can shift her voice to fit the shy and awkward Madoka to the assertive and tough Madoka instantaneously. No one else has any good performances and are a pain to listen to. Chieko Honda and Hara Eriko use the most unpleasant, squeaky voices for Kurumi and Hikaru respectively. Komatsu and Hatta sound like two skeeves who live in a moldy basement. KOR has more dialogue than necessary and with these kinds of voices - you wish that everyone would just shut up for good. Most of the music was composed by Shirou Sagisu, well known for his work on Neon Genesis Evangelion. The voice acting may be horrible but the soundtrack is really quite brilliant. It is probably the only thing in this series I can truly enjoy. It is a highly highly popular soundtrack with over twenty CDs been released of it. It consists largely of 80s pop but a great variety in that genre is covered. There are many vocalists featured, all giving out fine performances with their catchy songs. This style of such music might not fit everyone’s taste it as it can be a little cheesy but it captures the mood of suburban teen life and a decent production value was put in it. I guess 80s music is just so good that even a crappy show like this can't sink it.

This anime would have better been as a two hour flick or cut down to 13 episodes rather than having it stand at 48. Age is no excuse for its poor execution and it pales in comparison to the older, Maison Ikkoku. I find it incredibly insulting when people compare the two. The fans and promotional art of the characters drawn in soft-focus attempted to sell this anime off as a dramedy; a nostalgic look at youth with all the angst and self-discovering that comes along with it. What I got instead was some bullshit sitcom with destructive ideas about women that I think people only love because they were younger and stupider back then and the series is now coated in a thick layer of honeyed nostalgia. KOR is often called an unintentional period piece and I agree with this notion - it captures a slew of outdated social norms perfectly. I would not recommend this series to anyone unless they wanted to know its significance in how the shounen romcom developed, or if they want to make fun of how badly it has aged. You can check out KOR for the history lesson but you only need to see a few episodes to get a general idea of how it's similar to other anime out there, you don't need to go through the whole whopping shebang. I doubt you would learn anything from actually watching this series. Just know that it pioneered many of the tropes and situations we have come to loathe in the modern day such as horrible protagonists and romances that don't go anywhere. I watched it to understand the influence it had as an older series but I think I destroyed half my brain in the process. Kimagure Orange Road is a complete waste of time and any investment in it will leave oneself invariably frustrated. This anime is deader than the disco in it.

A true classic. Please do not let the early animation style nor the length of this anime discourage you; it is a fantastic work, and deserves to be enjoyed by anyone who considers themselves a fan of romantic anime.

Something no one else has mentioned is the beautiful, original way the story wraps up. The ending is the best finish of any anime I have watched; it is magical, and makes watching all 48 episodes incredibly satisfying. Do yourself a favour and invest the time in this show; you will be rewarded.

Recommend to me by a couple friends who watched all the new anime series such as : Love Hina, DNA2, H&C, Suzuka, etc and this Anime blows them all away.

Art:
Made in the 80s , so don't expect too much as far as artwork goes. Very low level of fanservice, but considering the animation was made in the 80s, It is quite good. The artwork lack is made up 10 folds by the Storyline.

Sound:
The bgm/ost is beautiful. It felt as if I was in the 80s. The music blended very well with the story unfolding. We have the jazz from the main character, the Jrock/punk playing ... at just the right moments.

Story/Character:
For a 48 episode series, it may seem long, but I wished there was more to it. The story is about 3 friends who meet up and from there a story of friendship unfolds. It's love at first site for Kasuga and for the duration of the story, we get to see the friendship , the pain, the happiness that will soon follow as Kasuga decides on who he truly loves. At no point is this a shallow-like animation we see in Lova Hina or the newer harem animations. Character development is very strong for the main two characters, Kasuga and Ayukawa, with the 3rd girl in the love interest just there for stiring up tension IMHO. So, Sit back and enjoy a quality comedy-romance anime that does justice.

The series shows its heart from the very first introduction - "Kasuga Kyosuke, 15, living the best years of my youth!" Orange Road, at its best parts, is a story of youth and coming of age.

I think a lot is gained in the anime adaption compared to the original manga—Particularly with its music. Wistful tracks such as "Natsu no Mirage", "Jenina", and "Ano sora wo dakishimete" are carried by singer Kanako Wada's strong, moody voice. They help characterize Madoka as a distant and somewhat lonely character; Breaking the "perfect" illusion some fans imagine her to have. (Not to say the more upbeat songs aren't a ... blast too, such as "Night of Summerside")

Another aspect that the anime has going for it are Akemi Takeda's character designs. If you've seen Creamy Mami or even Patlabor, you're familiar with her work. She did promotional art for the show as well, using her trademark dreamy illustrations to make Matsumoto's characters pop off the page; I think her illustrations have a similar mood to the songs mentioned above. Izumi Matsumoto's manga style is serviceable, but Takeda's art is definitely more unique. (She also has a better grip on anatomy)

The extra touch of heart is what sets it apart from your typical romcom, such as Love Hina and Tenchi Muyo. It's more comparable to Maison Ikkoku. As if the visual style didn't already connect the two.

So, presentation aside, the show itself is light-hearted and goofy slice-of-life affair. Like I said, while there are little bits of emotional content sprinkled about, the core of the show is a bubbly 80's romcom. And yes, it's a love triangle story. There isn't too much drama since it's obvious who the winner is going to be, but it sets up some misunderstandings that some viewers might find frustrating. They personally didn't bother me, but I was also unfazed by Maison Ikkoku's various misunderstandings.

Onto what I thought of the characters:

Kasuga Kyosuke:

Pretty much your average romcom lead. (Plus ESP powers) Trust me when I say he's quite better than future archetypes, like the nerdy Keitaro Urashima (from Love Hina) and other boys of that ilk. For starters, 5+ girls aren't magically in love with him; I think his characterization is a lot more grounded than that. He's a growing 15 year-old boy. Given his constant inner monologues and narration, I see him as a kid coming to terms with his powers and the struggles of being a teenager. He stands up for Madoka whenever peers badmouth her, and has moments of courageousness. If only he'd have the courage to end the love triangle sooner, right?

Himaya Hikaru:

She's an energetic young girl who looks up to Madoka. When the series starts, she tries to be tougher than she actually is; She talks big to bullies and even tries to smoke cigarettes. But her character is somewhat flanderized to an overtly-bubbly genki girl as time goes on. There's a right way to write Hikaru, and there's a wrong way to write Hikaru. Given the proper writer, she becomes a lot more fleshed out. Overall I still find her to be funny and I'd often wish the best for her in the story.

Ayukawa Madoka:

Undoubtedly the star of the main cast. Cool as can be, Madoka isn't submissive at all. (Which is a departure from other female leads of the time) She stands independently and does whatever she wants, for the most part. Her mood is fickle, she's unpredictable, but ultimately I feel she wants a stable life--That's why I think someone "normal" like Kyosuke is appealing to her. Her hobbies include playing the saxophone and piano, which she plays whenever she's in a sour mood. I do think it's a bit ridiculous when they make her a master surfer though.

Since Orange Road is an earlier show of its genre, a lot of these characterizations have gone on to become archetypes. This could play a role on how modern-day viewers see them. Side characters like Kurumi, Manami, Seiji, Hatta, and Jingoro serve as comedic relief an that's all they need to be, really. They're the more innocent part of the show.

So all in all, I think it's a good piece of work. Definitely an 80's classic and a clear product of it's time. Depends if you like that sort of thing or not.

I remember watching this in my college dorm room back in the 1990's. A dozen guys packed into one tiny room watching n-th generation VHS fan-subs on a tiny TV, all shouting at Kyosuke whenever he was being a moron. By the end, I am pretty sure every guy in the room had a secret crush on Madoka.

This is the series that really stands out in my memory, after all these years. Looking back, I think it was the chemistry between Kyosuke, Madoka and Hikaru (i.e. the story writing), but it was also magnified by the stellar performances of the Japanese voice ... talent, Akemi Takada's character designs (yeah, old-school, but still awesome. Check out her art books, amazing stuff.), and the outstanding music, especially the songs by Kanako Wada (yeah, a little sappy but it hits you right here... 8>).

But what really stands out is Madoka. So much of her complexity is non-verbal and subtle. She doesn't usually berate Kyosuke for his foolishness, but you can feel her wounded heart in her voice, expression and what is left unsaid. But to Kyosuke's credit, he usually hears it loud and clear, just too late to avoid the damage he's caused. I think many young male viewers are attracted to Madoka's character because she represents an unrealistic idealized woman. But I recommend paying more attention to how not to break her fragile heart because it a difficult life lesson to master in real life.

Now, many years later, as I watch the series again, I find that it is still surprisingly poignant. After being married for many years to my own "Madoka", I've come to realize we guys are all Kyosuke's at times when we unknowingly hurt her feelings. Watching this again also refills my heart with the wonder and humor of young love. So if you're an old anime fan like me, I invite you to relive the best years of your youth.

Kimagure Orange Road is a classic Romantic anime and one of the best of the genre no doubt.


The story revolves around a love traingle between the 3 main characters. Kyosuke and Madoka are in love but their indecisive and whimsical natures, respectively, and their fear of hurting Hikaru, who's in love with Kyosuke, make things harder.


There are 3 main characters:

Kyosuke Kasuga - The typical indicisive male lead who's not very strong and courageous.
Hikaru Hiyama - A very clingy and not very intelligent girl who's Madoka's best friend.
Madoka Ayukawa: No doubt the best character of the show.The Archetypal Kimagure(whimsical) character. One of the first tsunderes ... in anime and one of the best characters ever created. She's musically talented, intelligent and beautiful.


The secondary characters do a good job on pointing out the main characters flaws and qualities, and some of them are quite entertaining.


The art is your typical 80's anime art, it's obviously outdated nowadays but the characters are very well drawn.


The soundtrack is very good, it fits the show quite well.
The voice actors do a great job, they sound very natural.


The show is very enjoyable, I consider it the 2nd best romance anime/manga of all time(1st is Maison Ikkoku), I Definitely recomend it, if you liked Masion Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura you'll like this.

Kimagure Orange Road is a forgotten gem that emphasises some important aspects of what it is to be in a relashionship (or even what it is to get into one in the first place) and the difference between true love and just passion while sometimes not taking everything so seriously, resulting in really fun episodes where all the characters have their time to shine. When I concluded the first episode I could already tell this series would be a fun rollercoaster and now, 48 episodes later, overall I am really satisfied with the anime.

Story: It includes a pretty simple premise: a love triangle between 3 ... teenagers. However what stands out is that the main protagonist Kasuga Kyosuke (and his whole family) has psychic powers like teleportation, telepathy and so on. This really impacts the creativity behind some episodes and it was pretty exciting to try to predict how those abilities would interfere with the relashionship between the main cast. Despite some very few episodes (43 as the biggest example) where I felt like the anime was dragging a little bit, it all comes together at the end very smoothly (those two last episodes were really unexpected).

Art & Sound: The art is very good considering this anime aired in the 80's, and even nowadays could be considered solid. Regarding the soundtrack I think this is where this anime really outstanded. "Kimagure Orange Road, through its music especially, teaches a virtue that is seldom taught, in particular to men. Sweetness. Sweetness is the most forgotten virtue"- this is from a comment written on a soundtrack video and I couldn't explain it better than this.

Characters: Kasuga, Ayukawa and Hikaru being the main cast naturally had more spotlight than other characters. However, they did not overshadow them (for example, I really enjoyed Yusaku as a character, his introduction and the funny moments created by him). The development was notorious regarding Kasuga and Ayukawa while Hikaru, despite having some moments here and there, remained almost the same (in the first movie this changes tho).

Concluding, the experience of watching Kimagure Orange Road was really unique - I felt happiness, sadness, stress and excitement while watching all the 48 episodes and surely I hope this anime gets more recognition nowadays.

Kimagure Orange Road is not a 80's classic by any means, how it managed to garner this reputation is beyond me. The only noteworthy thing this show managed to do was introduce many terrible romance cliches that have been infecting the genre ever since. That is the only legacy this poor show has in my eyes, other than that, the show itself is a poorly paced, boring, below average filler fest disguised as an intriguing love triangle.

The episode length is beyond what the anime needs to convey its simple story, thus most of the show is filled with filler episodes that don't go anywhere, ... making the show feel boring and utterly tedious. The story itself is absolutely awful, the first cliche to be introduced is the main male lead, who happens to be indecisive, that is basically his character trait, an immature indecisive twat that could clear up this superficial love triangle if he had an ounce of courage, but no he screws around for the majority of the series wasting the viewers time. The other characters are cliches as well, worst being Madoka Ayukawa, I am sorry, I don't comprehend why she became an anime darling of the 80's, Madoka is nothing more than anime's first "waifu" and nothing more. She is not only good at so many different tasks, she even excels at them, she has so many skills bordering on the point of being a superwoman, physically gifted in every way, able to play multiple instruments well, intelligent, as well as being beautiful, she has no glaring flaw from a distance. However this show expects us to believe such a mature, gifted individual used to be a delinquent, because reasons, yet in the ultimate move of irony constantly lectures the male lead on his immaturity, yes he should take the advice of a former delinquent very seriously especially when we never learn why she became one. Hikaru is nothing more than a hyper girl cliche who is there to be the wrench to true love, although its not her fault the main lead is a gutless scrub.

The rest of the anime at least saves it from me rating it a 2 or 3/10, at least the music was good for the most part and the animation is above average for the time period, but other than that, I have nothing else nice to say about this anime. The romance falls flat, the characters are cliches, the main female lead is just a hypocritical Mary Sue "waifu" with no real character. Kimagure Orange Road is not classic, its a dud, and a really bad one that introduced bad cliches and plot lines that still to this day affect romance anime.

8.9/10
+Timeless cel animation and fun, upbeat soundtrack
+Realistic portrayal of teenage love
+Sweet, likeable leads
-Teenage angst can be hard to relate to as adult viewer
-Ending, while satisfying, leaves room for more

Kimagure Orange Road (translated as Capricious Orange Road) is a classic buddy love story surrounding adolescence. What’s great about the presentation of this story is that it’s very true to life; sometimes life doesn’t always give us what we want, but oftentimes the solution is accepting the hard truth. Such is the love triangle surrounding Kyosuke, Madoka, and Hikaru.

Our MC Kyosuke stars in Orange Road, a sweet boy next door type who has a ... chance encounter with classmates Madoka and Hikaru. Continued misunderstandings keep them very close, if not make their friendship complicated. The episodic format allows for a nice slow burn for their relationships to progress organically. That being said, as the title translates, it’s also equally frustrating to watch these capricious (fickle) teenagers. Kyosuke’s actions, while believable, can be cringeworthy and hard to relate to. The “will they won’t they” keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat, however, and the eventual endgame romance is completely worth the ride. The cel animation is beautiful, and the soft, classical music combined with bouncy end titles add to the romantic atmosphere.

Could not recommend this amazing classic enough. Turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.

These are my thoughts immediately after finishing the anime and the first movie.

Kimagure is an anime I'd refer to as a "fluff" anime. The core plot involving the lopsided love triangle between the three main characters is intriguing, but it does not have meaningful progress after the first fifteen-or-so episodes. After this, it's mostly movie references and silly antics. There is little continuity between episodes. The Kasuga family's psychic powers are equally useful for getting Kyousuke into and out of dire situations, but they're never anything more than a plot device.

The series' aesthetic is strong, and the music is great. ... If you're interested, watch the first two openings for the anime.

The characters are a blast and have solid foundations, but they aren't developed well past a few episodes. If you're coming off of KareKano and want more of that juicy character development, then you may find yourself frustrated while watching this series.

That being said, if you just want a chill anime with romantic intrigue, then you can't go wrong with Kimagure Orange Road. It's up on Crunchyroll now and has a great summery feel to it, so now's probably the best time to watch!

The characters are well-defined and original; it's really nice to see a series that contrasts a sophistocated, prideful character (Ayukawa) with a childish, straightforward one (Hikaru) instead of the usual tsundere/yandere/loli mashups.

Even though there are a lot of unrealistic/escapist moments, it's kind of surprising to see that there's a lot of maturity in a shonen series like this. Kasuga learns not to make excuses in love, that he doesn't have to learn about Ayukawa's past to get along with her, and Ayukawa and Hikaru are reasonably forgiving.

But it has its weaknesses. The anime doesn't do a convincing job of explaining why Kasuga can't just ... tell Hikaru to beat it, and they never really connect the way Kasuga and Ayukawa do. There are also a lot of filler episodes.

Giving it a 10 might be a lot. But well, I really liked the whole anime so...

First, I knew about this anime thanks to those "city pop playlist" type of youtube video with anime footage and all, and damn it looked good for an 87 anime, I mean the colors were vibrant and the designs were appealing !

I really like romcom mangas/animes, so when I learned it was one of the first and even said to be the beginning of this genre, I sure wanted to watch it.
So here am I, watching the first episode of what would be one of my favorites. I can't ... really describe what I feel when I think about all its episodes. At the time of writing this I'm 18 and still, I feel intense nostalgia about the 80's, it's quite famous, almost feeling melancholia for an era you never knew. Well if nostalgia is the definition then KOR is the exemple.

You feel at ease but still adventurous while watching this anime, adventurous as if you just spent your vacations in the 80's japan and also adventurous as if you roam inside the feelings a human can feel.
To be honest, the story isn't particularly complex, not at all in fact. The episodes can even be watched separatly for most of them, your typical 80's and 90's series.
You still feel an evolution on all points, the story is really simple but really well built.

You get attached to the characters, to the locations, to the musics, to the jokes.

If you got a thing for older animes and romcoms, I'm begging you, give it a try and tell me what you think about it (don't forget the OVA and movies !!!)

I really like writting these I should do it more.

If you loved Ranma ½ like I didn’t then KOR is a step up and in a better direction plus you’ll actually feel like finishing it. As for the animation of this show its definatly Ranma ½ 1987 style so nothing really sharp but I like the way they went with it. The characters are good and you’ll find some of them annoying which means their filling their part right. As far as the music goes I’d say it’s a definite plus with the rock style guitar playing and a sax mixed in, it’s the love music from the late 80’s. Story line while good ... as a whole gets bogged down sometimes and they probably could have cut 5-10 eps out of this series. This is supposed to be comedic romance but well all I found was awkward situation humor.

Intro:

I'm usually down with pretty much any kind of anime, but Orange Road is the most BORING piece of garbage I've seen. I didn't drop it; I fastforwarded through the EPs after EP10 since there is literally NO development whatsoever until the final 2 EPs and the movies. An anime like Orange Road would have been ok if it only had 13 Eps, but nnnnnnnnnnooooooooooo, they just chose to torture their viewers with 40+ eps of the same thing. Additionally, unlike anime that are 2-3 times longer like Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha, it ISN'T entertaining. Long anime don't bother me at all so long as ... there's a hook to keep me reeled in. Unfortunately, Orange Road doesn't have that. It's an episodic mess and it made me almost fall asleep.

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Story: 0/10

As mentioned above, there is NO story development. The plot only progresses once you reach the final two EPs and the movies. That's why this should have been a 13 episode anime!

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Art: 3/10

The character designs are fine, but I'm really NOT a fan of its choppy animation. This probably has to do with the anime's age. I'm more so interested in animation made starting from 1990.

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Sound: 3/10

Anything other than the voice actors' performances is HORRID. Then again, I'm not a fan of 80s music, so there you go.

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Character: 2/10

The cast of Orange Road all fall into tropes I've seen before. The characters are fine, but their lack of development is precisely what's wrong with this show.

Kyosuke: Indecisive teenager, much like most of the protagonists in harem anime

Madoka: Tsundere.

Hikaru: Affectionate clinger.

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Enjoyment: 0/10

Yep. ZERO. Orange Road failed to keep me entertained, so it doesn't deserve a score any higher than 0.

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Overall: 0/10

I have seen masterpieces, so-so works, and rather bland with nothing out of the ordinary anime, but I've never watched ANYTHING quite like Orange Road. This anime, is practically the most appalling work I've come across, and I will not recommend it to anyone.

Kimagure Orange Road is a romantic-comedy slice of life anime that was made in 1987, so two years after Touch began its adaptation & 1 year Maison Ikkoku began its adaptation. Kimagure Orange Road was an anime that I was overwhelmingly recommended based off of my strong love for Maison Ikkoku, going into it, it looks pretty promising. Will it live up though? Let's find out. Just to throw it out there, this review will contain mild spoilers, read at your own risk.

Story:

The story of Orange Road revolves around the Kasuga family, but more specifically, Kasuga Kyousuke. Kyousuke & his family have moved to a ... new town due to the fact that he and his two sisters are espers and they were caught with their powers. Kyousuke soon meets this girl named Madoka Ayukawa, falling in love with her at first sight.

Much like Maison, the story set-up isn’t complicated, but it doesn’t need to be, as Maison Ikkoku proved with its incredibly strong writing. The big problem with Orange Road though, it just doesn’t make the effort. This isn’t to say Orange Road is poorly written or anything, but it doesn’t push its story concept to its potential. There’s an incredible lack of development on the part of both the story, & characters throughout the entire show’s run. Orange Road also doesn’t have a strong enough cast to make this simple story work as well it could, but more on the characters later.

The comedy in Orange Road is pretty good for the most part. Much like Maison, the comedy in this show revolves around timing & character quips more than it does being loud & random. So I’m going to have to give the comedy some credit. There is this one repeating joke between these 2 characters called Ushiko & Umao. It’s pretty much the creators being Kunihiko Ikuhara before Ikuhara started getting more involved in anime, I found it a little bit humorous & charming the first time, but the joke wears thin pretty quickly.

Orange Road also likes to reference & parody a lot of movies, both of its native-land & foreign. I’m personally not too big on this aspect of Orange Road, I can appreciate that the creators were passionate about these movies, but they’re incredibly intrusive to what lacking plot there is in this anime, and are usually just thrown in randomly for no reason.

Orange Road gets fairly good use out of the fact that Kyousuke is an esper, his powers will usually come into some form of play that help move the plot along. The creators were also able to make some pretty creative dream sequences out of Kyousuke & his family's powers.

Characters:

This aspect unfortunately kills a lot of the enjoyment of Orange Road for me, these characters are ruthlessly lacking in character. They aren’t irritable or awful, they just leave a ton to be desired. Our main man Kyousuke is the typical rom-com protagonist, he’s indecisive, caught in a love-triangle, he’s pretty much Godai from Maison Ikkoku, unlike Godai however, Kyousuke doesn’t really see a lick of development, he stays the same throughout Orange Road’s entirety.

Ayukawa is probably the best character in Orange Road as she actually has more than one character trait attached to her. Ayukawa is often labeled as one of the founding Tsunderes in anime, but Ayukawa isn’t annoying. She can go from angry to happy on a dime, but at least the creators didn’t exaggerate her personality for the sake of an unfunny joke. Much like Kyousuke however, Ayukawa suffers from a lack of development. Near the end of the series, they reveal bits about her past that show us how Ayukawa came to be the person she is today, but by that point it’s too little too late.

Hikaru is the other girl in the love triangle which consists of Kyousuke, Ayukawa, & Hikaru. Hikaru isn’t much honestly, she’s defined by being the innocent and happy-go-lucky character of the cast, though her happiness doesn’t feel too forced to the point of irritability. Hikaru is pretty much Kozue from Maison Ikkoku, though if Kozue was stripped of her personality & only had one defining character trait attached to her.

I’m actually going to do something a little different here & lump the side characters into this one paragraph. Firstly, I’ll mention Kyousuke’s sisters, Kurumi & Manami. They’re ok, the story doesn’t really get as much out of them as they could’ve, but they’re not bad. Kurumi is the more brash, playful, & carefree of the two sisters, while Manami is the smart, careful, & concerned of the two sisters. Next on our slate, we have Hatta & Komatsu, the only trait about these 2 are the fact that they’re idiotic perverts who really want to get close to girls, but specifically Kurumi & Manami. These two suck, they have barely anything to do surrounding the plot or the series, you cut them out of most of the episodes they appear in, and you wouldn’t lose a damn thing in the narrative. Next we have Yuusaku (not Godai). Yuusaku sucks, the series does nothing with him but repeat the same tired joke, Yuusaku loves Hikaru, Hikaru always rejects him & wants barely anything to do with him in favor of “Darling”. If you’re going to create a side character, actually give them some character, even the smallest of side characters in Maison that appear only once throughout the entire series have more to offer & say about them than Yuusaku does, cut this man out of the story, and nobody would miss him. Finally, we have Kazuya. Kazuya is probably my favorite of the side characters, mainly because Kazuya actually has more than one personality trait & does things that help move the story along. Kazuya is pretty much a younger version of Kyousuke, though he lacks the indecisiveness that Kyousuke has, so he’s more likely to take action.

The biggest fault with this series is just how little these characters have to offer. They barely develop throughout the entire series. The side characters are mostly just repeated jokes & caricatures, if you’re going to have characters in your story, actually give them some character, don’t make the mistake of giving us this somewhat large cast that has barely anything to offer.

Art:

This is one of Kimagure’s strong points. The art in this series looks pretty spectacular honestly, the backgrounds look neat, the series is colorful, the color palette offers us some nice variety, & the character designs look great. There isn’t one that’s really out of place for the tone of this series, which is a mistake I feel as though Maison made by making Yukari look the way she did.

The animation is good for the most part, but there’s quite a number of times throughout its run where it’s pretty blatantly obvious that the animators were getting lazy & cutting corners. Reused frames of animation, flat images just being moved across the screen, shaking the screen to create a false sense of movement, it can be jarring at times. For the most part though, the animation is pretty consistently good throughout, though not as consistent as some other shows that were out around the time of Kimagure’s release.

Sound:

This is another strong point for Kimagure Orange Road, the OST is stellar. Shirou Sagisu, who you probably know for Evangelion & Kare Kano composed the soundtrack to this anime. It's a very 80s disco, city-pop, & some bits of Jazz thrown in there king of soundtrack. There’s a good variety in the pieces & the vocal tracks sprinkled throughout are all pretty good.

The voice acting is decent, there’s some great performances in there, but also some one’s I’m not a fan of. Hiromi Tsuru is great as Ayukawa, but I’m also not a fan of Eriko Hiro’s performance as Hikaru, though I don’t want to pin the blame entirely on her due to the way Hikaru is written. It’s a solid cast, it gets the job done & fits the show pretty well.

Final Thoughts/Overall

I always like to say “Good writing can save bad art. Good art can’t save bad writing”. Although Kimagure doesn’t have what I would call “bad writing” its writing is incredibly lacking, while the artwork is damn near phenomenal. Kimagure is a product of being underdeveloped. It has the blue-prints that would create a great story laid out, but it unfortunately just doesn’t go the extra mile in trying to make something stellar. The characters are underdeveloped & flat, and the story doesn’t really see much development throughout its runtime. On the other hand though, I don’t find myself getting irritated with Orange Road, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this anime overall. I’d say I enjoyed about 50% of the anime. So with that being said, my final rating is going to be a 5/10 or a “average”. The OST & Artwork are definitely the highlights here, but if you want my opinion, you’re better off just watching Maison Ikkoku instead. It may be twice the length of Orange Road, but it has more to say & offer at the same time.

One of the few comedy anime I've seen that brought out moments of feeling true joy within me. Indeed, though by todays standards the animation is somewhat lacking (in terms of the fact that the show occasionally indulges in re-using bits of animation and character animations/movements are limited (though there are a few episodes here where I was genuinely surprised by sudden jumps in animation quality for short sequences)). However, the character designs are simple yet striking (hell, these designs probably formed the archetypes of every romance anime since this) and the environments attain a tactile quality that, across the entire series, builds a wholly ... believable world, even with how outlandish the series becomes near its end.

Of course, narratively and character-wise this could be stronger. Madoka is likely one of the greatest female characters in all of anime; her development and gradual breaking of her shell through the series is incredibly well done, which is helped by Hiromi Tsuru's wonderful performance. Kyosuke's development across the series is well-done as well (though he runs into the problem of being a love-triangle anime protagonist: he doesn't know when to man the hell up and just outright say that he loves Madoka, which is merely a character trait used to elongate the tension unnecessarily). Hikaru is the least complex and goes through the least amount of development. HOWEVER, what is notable is that in an episode (I can't remember which one) she talks about having been lonely as a child, not having had a sibling. Thus, her great attachment to Kyosuke is reframed as not merely out of childish infatuation but out of an alleviation of a kind of inner loneliness. And she is thus thankfully never treated as an object of ridicule.

However, what makes a lot of the series, and the finale, kind-of lacking (and what I hope the film conclusion will address) is that the series doesn't present a difficult choice in terms of which girl he prefers more. Instead, Hikaru is framed as merely an obstacle in the way of Kyosuke getting together with Madoka. It's clear to the audience that they both have feelings for each other, and it's thus only a matter of time before they get together. This is obviously a staple of romance-anime, but it would've been far more interesting if Kyosuke had to really struggle with choosing Madoka or Hikaru. Granted, this was made in 1987 so I perhaps couldn't expect something hugely complex, but the level of creativity the writers obviously had in terms of episodic narrative structure (I'm thinking particularly about the first time-travel episode) could've been applied to the central romance.

To say that I didn't have fun watching this would be a lie, however. There's a lot of genuinely clever material here in a series that feels a bit over-long towards the end, and when the animators are allowed to strut their stuff, they demonstrate immense creativity in terms of composition and staging. And the music (moreso the opening and closing tracks than any individual track in a normal episode) is often really, really great. It's also a series where I was genuinely invested in seeing the outcome of the romance, which doesn't happen often! It's a classic for a reason!