Kimagure Orange☆Road

Kyousuke Kasuga is no stranger to being the new kid at school. Despite only being a third-year middle schooler, he has spent his entire childhood avoiding those who discover his family's paranormal powers, and he has had to change schools seven times as a result. Upon catching a beautiful girl's hat, he becomes optimistic and hopes that he and his family have finally moved for the last time.

When Kyousuke gets to school, however, he learns a different story. The elegant girl he just met turns out to be none other than Madoka Ayukawa—also known as "Madoka the Pick"—a delinquent known to smoke, drink, and get into fights. Her best friend is first-year Hikaru Hiyama, a childish and energetic girl who quickly falls in love with Kyousuke. Enamored with both girls, Kyousuke tries to balance a delicate triangle of emotions, all while dealing with the antics brought about by a family with paranormal powers.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ayukawa, Madoka Main

Tsuru, Hiromi Japanese

Kasuga, Kyousuke Main

Furuya, Toru Japanese

Hiyama, Hikaru Main

Hara, Eriko Japanese

Jingoro Supporting

Ogata, Kenichi Japanese

Kasuga, Manami Supporting

Tomizawa, Michie Japanese

Kasuga, Kurumi Supporting

Honda, Chieko Japanese

Umao Supporting

Suzuki, Katsumi Japanese

Ushiko Supporting

Nakajima, Chisato Japanese

Master Supporting

Yara, Yuusaku Japanese

Hatta, Kazuya Supporting

Tatsuta, Naoki Japanese

Kobayashi, Osamu Director

Matsuura, Noriyoshi Sound Director

Mochizuki, Tomomi Episode Director, Storyboard

Kou, Yuu Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Apr 4, 2025

patkarunungan

Recommended

One day, whilst browsing an anime group, I chanced upon one of the most beautiful female characters — Ayukawa Madoka from 'Kimagure Orange Road.'

I grew up as a 90s kid with Ranma ½ but, unlike in Europe where it is well known, it's unknown in my country, so I decided to check it out. It turns out to be one of the beloved 80s series.

But in 2024 going forward, is it still worth watching this anime? It depends.

It's a story of a 15-year-old teenager, named Kasuga Kyousuke. He has supernatural powers, and for many years, his family has been moving from place to place ... once their powers are revealed.

Once he moves to a certain town, he meets a beautiful but mysterious girl named Ayukawa Madoka. Eventually, her friend Hiyama Hikaru came to like him. As a result, Kyousuke got entangled in a love triangle. Hikaru is sweet but not the girl he fancies. Madoka might have some form of attraction to Kyousuke, but she gives way to Hikaru.

How will this mess end?
___________________________________

Let's go over the negatives first:

***Ayukawa is criticised as Mary Sue.***

She can play the trumpet and guitar very well as well as sing so well. She can speak English. She can compete in skateboarding. She can fight multiple thugs bigger than her and lots more.

I don't disagree, but I don't think you should dismiss this anime just because she is presented as perfect.

This anime is a teenage boy's fantasy. Madoka's beauty and perfection might not exist in the real world, but every boy who has admired a lady perceives his lady as perfect and beautiful as Madoka.

***The characters are one-dimensional.***

Except for some changes in Madoka, the characters have been the same. Kyousuke is an idiot all throughout. Hikaru has the emotional age of a 5-year-old, and Madoka always has to give way. Hatta and Komatsu are funny at the beginning because they're horny. But depending on your tolerance, they become more and more insufferable. Yuusaku, who likes Hikaru, are just there to threaten Kyousuke or sometimes beat him up, but there's nothing really interesting going on for that character.

I think this is done for comedy's sake and putting them into funny situations. The comedy is mostly slapstick and therefore dated, but it has its charm. There are horny sex jokes that are no different to what is available today.

***This anime is consistent in its inconsistency.***

There are a few occasions when Madoka sees Kyousuke using his powers but she does not question him so she shrugs it off, and the next episode goes as if it didn't happen. It's worst in the few episodes leading to the finale.

There's also the time travel element. Sometimes, it assumes that a certain event in the past can be changed. But sometimes, it assumes that events in the past are fixed and that any time travel you do has already been taken into account.

KOR was created during a much simpler era when the idea of binging a series was unheard of. The 48 episodes of KOR are in many tapes: VHS or Betamax.

Unlike today where KOR can easily be seen on an online streaming platform, you could only rent one or two tapes at a time, provided they are available. Or buy these tapes, which can cost quite a considerable sum.

Therefore, it's not something meant to be binged. Otherwise, you will be annoyed by the inconsistency of writing.

The writers did not bother with keeping things consistent because it's just a weekly affair where you turn your brain off.
___________________________________

The positives:

***Madoka is quite the waifu.*** Her character design is top-notch. She is awesome despite being unrealistic.

Ironically, the negative point of being a Mary Sue becomes a positive point if you happen to like her. I could say the same for Yamamoto Yohko in 'Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko' but not for Rey, whom I dislike, in the sequel trilogy of Star Wars.

Incidentally, she is often referred to as one of the first tsundere. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first read it. I have long thought that the tsundere archetype comes from Asuka Langley Soryu. Too many of the tsundere I know are abusive to the male character, either physically or verbally. Not so with Madoka. She satisfies the definition of initially hiding one's feelings, at least in the second meeting. She does not abuse Kyousuke as a gag. The only time she does this is when Kyousuke does something really dumb.

That's why I dislike Taiga from Toradora. I'm not that keen on physically abusing the main character for gags. Madoka on the other hand feels refreshing.

***Stunning animation and 80s music***

The animation is stunning, especially the colours. Its level of detail is impressive.

Though I am not a fan of 80s music, the music in the opening, the endings, and the background music are impressive. They give a feel of nostalgia while simultaneously seducing you to give other 80s music a listen.

***What is it like to be young again?***

I haven't watched this back in the day, and some of the things in this anime are not realistic. Yet, this anime can make you connect to your younger you. It gives you some space to imagine what is it like to be young again.

You laugh and cringe at Kyousuke's foibles and recognising a part of you in him, that you were once a fool.

Hatta and Komatsu are cringy from an adult's perspective, yet perfectly normal (though perhaps an exaggeration) for a teenager with raging hormones. Again, it makes you remember that part of your life in bygone days.

**Added Benefit: you might want to explore other 80s anime***

Kimagure Road is a gem, though not without flaws. If you like it, it may prompt you to explore other 80s anime. I'm thinking of other works by Rumiko Takahashi not named Ranma ½ (though a rewatch someday is in order). Or perhaps works by Mitsuru Adachi.
___________________________________

Conclusion:

Whilst I love Kimagure Orange Range and think you should give it a chance. Let's get real. I don't think 4 cours' worth of anime, especially an episodic one, would fly today.

But if you decide to watch it, I don't recommend that you binge it. It's best watched and savoured slowly.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 9, 2020

unimportantuser

Mixed Feelings

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Feb 24, 2021

gantt

Not Recommended

story ,art ,sound that is just something you can not juje the show is so old so don't expect anything pleasing to the eye , ear and mind from the story as it moves at snails pace
Characters they become more of corpses without their souls as the series progresses the show throws all its best cards in the introduction of the characters but that is pretty much it any expectation of seeing more depth out of this characters is crashed

enjoyment a 4 -10
i only enjoyed the first couple of episodes but afterwords it becomes repetitive
and nothing of progression ... really happens that it would be worth your time
please don't waste your time with this abomination i would not recommend it even if you are running out of anime to watch with the romance tag

ovaerall 4-10
the 4 is very kindly give cause it is still too good for this anime

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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