Kimagure Orange Road TV 9/10

This is the best show you've never seen. If you've seen it then you agree with me. This is the best romantic anime ever and it's told from the guy's point of view no less.

Dating back to 1987, the 48 episodes of KOR are on par with Maison Ikkoku as anime TV series of that time that stand above all others. Hand drawn with great art the backgrounds of KOR are colourful and detailed. The character designs are among my all time favorites (being the old-school whore that I am) with the VAs being nothing short of spectacular. A wide range of characters portrayed by VAs that are absolutely perfect. This should explain why no english dub exists for this series, no-one could do it justice.

The most amazing technical part if this series is the music, from the background instrumentals, to Madoka's saxophone playing, to the staggering number of insert songs that capture the mood perfectly, to the OP and ED themes you can't skip while watching, this show has it all. For the record the first ED theme is my all time favorite from any anime and rest of the OPs and EDs are all in my top 30. Keep in mind that that's out of about 1000 songs. Not bad KOR.

Of course what good is technical excellence if the story blows goats? Luckily KOR has a story that's fine like cherry wine.

Enter Kasuga Kyosuke. He's just moved into town with his dad and two little sisters. Having to move again and again isn't unusual for him since his family has psychic powers and must re-locate once the locals start to suspect. He can teleport, can perform telekinesis, has dreams that foretell the future and can hypnotize himself. One day not long after moving he has an encounter with a red straw hat that changes his life.

Enter Madoka Ayukawa. Beautiful and mysterious, Kyosuke saves her hat and has an argument with her about the number of stairs near his house. 99 or 100? He says they should settle for 99.5 and she laughs. For him it's love at first sight but he doesn't catch her name as she disappears down the stairs.

Kyosuke begins school at his new junior high and meets his soon to be sidekicks Komatsu and Hatta, two perverts to the nth degree who appear throughout the series. Kyosuke and his 2 younger twin sisters, Kurumi and Manami, must now attend school and hide their powers or risk having to move again. He soon meets the 3rd and last main character in the story.

Enter Hikaru Hiyama. More cute than beautiful she accidentally kisses Kyosuke and becomes determined to make him hers with as much shrill, hyper activity as possible. Kyosuke's inability to tell her he's not interested begins the main plot thread of the series.

You see Hikaru is childhood friends with Madoka and while she's cheerful and friendly, Madoka is cold and withdrawn. Madoka, known more around school for her truancy and associating with delinquents, has few close friends and because of this has to outwardly support Hikaru. This leads to a love triangle that causes Kyosuke (and Madoka) nothing but problems.

Hikaru loves him, chases him, feeds him, jumps on him and shrieks in delight. Kyosuke LIKES her but loves Madoka. Of course he's VERY indecisive and isn't helped by Madoka's capricious nature. One minute she's all smiles and chocolate, the next she's goosestepping down his Champs Elysées. This brings us to Madoka. Beyond all reason she loves Kyosuke back as much,if not more than he loves her but she's torn between that and a) loyalty to her friend Hikaru b) general distrust of others.

Kyosuke's thoughts are conveyed to the viewer throughout the series with really great freeze frames where he explains things so there are no secrets there.

Hikaru isn't all that bright so we know what she's about (at least on the surface), behind her nauseating cuteness lies a badass that tries to be tough like Madoka.

Madoka on the other hand is more difficult to understand, I look at her this way. She was a tomboy most of her early girlhood, when she grew up she became a knockout but her tomboyishness has made her a fighter and she's gained a reputation as "Madoka the Pick". Being unusually good looking for a sukeban (delinquent schoolgirl) she doesn't deal with the attention well, distrusting most people since she thinks they only pay her any attention because of how she looks, so she treats most people coldly. This is exhibited by the types of friends she had in her life before meeting Kyosuke. She doesn't care what most people think of her because of this but when she finally encounters someone that she desperately wants to think well of her she has a very hard time getting past that.

Most of the episodes revolve around various characters having various misunderstandings about various other characters. Hilarity ensues. There are also alot of nice moments between Kyosuke and Madoka as he slowly learns more about her and she slowly changes from beautiful sukeban to regular girl (she still can kick ass but not as often).

This is a romance first and foremost with characters more realistic than in most other series. No one is perfect, the psychic powers Kyosuke and his family possess only add to the comedy and don't really detract from the main story, and we get more insight into the minds of the main characters that results in making them more human that is usually possible in anime. A great show and extremely highly recommended. SEE THIS SHOW!

I also must add that the ending of the series is one of the nicest ever and you'll have to look out for my KOR movie review as the story isn't complete without it.