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SUMMARY

For a teenager, moving from school to school can be difficult.  As Kasuga Kyosuke wonders if he’ll like this new town, he meets Ayukawa Madoka.  Immediately struck by her beauty, Kyosuke decides that, yes, he does like this town.  But can Kyosuke keep his twin sisters, Manami and Kurumi in check?  You see, these three carry the Kasuga family legacy of paranormal power.  

Things look better for Kyosuke on the first day of school when he discovers Madoka is in his same class.  But why are his new friends Hatta Kazuya and Komatsu Seiji warning him to stay away from Madoka?  To make things worse, Madoka won’t speak to Kyosuke.  The situation goes from confusing to complicated when Kyosuke runs into Hiyama Hikaru, and she falls for him.  It wouldn’t be so hard, except that Hikaru and Madoka are childhood friends.  With Hikaru constantly at his side, can Kyosuke get the chance to tell Madoka how he feels? 

With Kyosuke stuck between Madoka and Hikaru, and Hatta and Komatsu pursuing Manami and Kurumi, things couldn’t be more difficult.  That is until Hikaru’s childhood friend Hino Yuusaku begins to stalk Kyosuke for stealing “his” girl.  Can Kyosuke decide between Madoka and Hikaru and still keep the family secret from everyone? Or will the Kasugas be discovered and have to move again, ruining everything.  High School romance, schoolyard gangs, and a giant monster cat; life is never dull on Kimagure Orange Road.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: This DVD release of Kimagure Orange Road is remastered from the original VHS and it shows. Watching this series is like putting on your most comfortable shoes or jeans.  The DVD captures all the scratches, jitters and imperfections of the original tape, and frankly, I like that.  No aliasing, color bleeds, or artifacting was present on any disk, and there was excellent color saturation.  If you have ever tried to capture your VHS collection and transfer it to DVD, you can appreciate the exacting transfer of Kimagure Orange Road (KOR). 

AUDIO:  The Dolby soundtrack is crisp and has excellent stereo.  The recording has superb distance effect, in that distant voices sound distant, but are not difficult to hear.  The sound effects are also skillfully mixed and well balanced.  No particular sound is too loud or soft.  Naturally, there isn’t a lot of surround sound due to the age of the audio track.

EDITS: There do not appear to be any edits in the episodes. The full opening and ending credits as they appeared on TV are used.  There are “full” credit endings included as an extra track on each volume.

EXTRAS: There are no extras on the DVD (unless you count the full credit ending as a bonus). Given the issues with licensing omake content, this isn’t that surprising.

Now with the packaging, there is plenty! First is an exclusive art box for all twelve volumes.  On the back of the box is typical DVD jacket content with a nice picture of Kyosuke and Madoka.  However, each side of the box features excellent artwork of Kyosuke, Madoka, and Hikaru.  The clothes and poses of each panel capture the atmosphere of the series very well. The underlying backdrop of the box itself is a slice of orange motif, but it’s done in lemon yellow.  This may take you by surprise, until you discover the reason while watching KOR.  Among the number of box sets I have, this is clearly the most complete design. It’s one of only two box sets I keep sideways on the shelf. 

The other omake content in the box set is a 58-page booklet of liner notes.  This book contains an amazing amount of information about the series.  There is a vocabulary section, however, it lacks pronunciations.  There is also a complete production listing, including a list for the seiyuu and some of their other roles. There are also complete translations of each opening and closing theme and an airdate guide.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW
STORY: The interactions between the main characters are maintained within a realistic framework for Junior High students.  Well, as realistic as you can get with paranormal powers and UFO’s. Even though the series has a rather simple plot line, each episode isn’t quite what you think it is from the title (except for episode 40).

It is rare that a series can have such a subtle affect on you as you watch.  I would say that the big draw of the KOR story line is curiosity.  The timelessness of the story, the beauty of the characters, and the rather interesting plot lines all merge into a series that is hard to stop watching.

ACTING:  The seiyuu in Kimagure Orange Road are veteran actors, and the quality of the acting is what you would expect.  Absolutely wonderful!

FAN SERVICE: The fan service, or exposition of story information, in KOR is done very well, mostly delivered by Kyosuke via introspection.

There is nudity, but not a lot.  It’s done tastefully, if not in an uproariously funny manner at times.  The other bits of ecchi content are done in a manner unlike today’s obvious “okane-shots”, yet are tied into each scene very skillfully.

CONCLUSION:

There is a big difference between classic anime and typical anime. Kimagure Orange Road illustrates just how big that gap is.  Many people have seen Tenchi Muyo tend to think of that title as a “classic” love triangle anime.  I would beg to differ. Kimagure Orange Road is the real classic, Tenchi is merely a copy.

KOR introduced the love triangle anime to viewers with a more sophisticated approach.  The primary girls care as much for each other’s feelings as they do for the ordinary guy. The secondary characters provide the bulk of the comedic color.  While the story is laced with the supernatural, it still retains a flavor of the everyday life of lovesick youth.  No beating over the head over a trip to the amusement park, no electroshock from glancing at another female, and no “oh we just thought we’d all move in together” plot contrivances.  In fact, any anime that makes use of these gags, are incorporating elements from KOR.

There is so much going on in KOR that it almost defies description.  It’s like trying to tell a girl how beautiful she is, and the only thing you can awkwardly spit out is that “you look nice”.  It is a complex story, and save for a few episodes, eschews comedy in favor of drama.  The one episode that is a true comedy/parody is episode 40, and absolutely not one to miss.

KOR, at it's core, is a simple love triangle anime. Yet it takes that well used convention, and turns it on it's ear!  I can’t go into individual details, because this review would then be 120+ pages long. Those who are fans of Tenchi, Hand Maid May, and the like, will enjoy KOR.

The subtitles are simply outstanding! You have a choice of omake subtitles, standard subtitles, or no subtitles.  The omake subtitles add cultural “liner note” subtitles to the standard subtitles.  For those that are not well grounded in Japanese culture, this extra information makes the series much more enjoyable to watch.  The subtitles are also color coded during conversations with multiple characters.

Shin Kurokawa, the AnimEigo translator, did an outstanding job on this project. He managed to capture the feel of each character and situation!  The subtitle also retains Japanese pronouns such as oneechan, obaasan, and sempai, and is pure pleasure.  My only misgiving about the translation is the rare occasion when statements are made that seem out of character. For example, Kyosuke will be translated as saying “God Damnit” for “Shimata” instead of simply “damnit”.  I can’t see Kyosuke as the type that would use such strong language.

AnimEigo says in the opening to their liner notes that “…we gave some thought to the fans that would be watching it.  It was clear to us that you would not be average anime fans; not only are you serious otaku…” While it may be true that only serious fans would buy this box set unseen, this is not a series that can only be appreciated by “serious otaku”.  Just like Macross and Mobile Suit Gundam are classics of the mech genre, Kimagure Orange Road is a classic of the school romantic comedy. While watching this wonderful series, you too may recall those awkward days of growing up.  

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