Kimagure Orange Road First Impressions
Although I am still very much in a slightly obsessed mode (with Maison Ikkoku), I’ve decided to begin watching Kimagure Orange Road. This series is not nearly as long as Maison Ikkoku, which means it will be slightly better for my schedule, but compared to modern anime series it is still double the length of most longer series nowadays. Regardless, Maison Ikkoku’s length, in my opinion, helped make it as unique an experiences as it was. KOR seemed like a natural series to continue onto because I have always heard that Maison Ikkoku and Kimagure Orange Road are the two “classic” series in this genre that everyone must watch.
I have now watched up to episode 7 and will post my initial impressions. Like Maison Ikkoku, the series starts off in a very light-hearted manner. There is a great deal of comedy so far in the series and it also has the typical sidekick characters who exist mostly for laughs. I’m kind of skeptical at this point because there has been a bit of “shallowness” so far, which as you know I’m not the biggest fan of. True, Maison Ikkoku also had some of this, but the emotional, mature moments in that series far outweigh any negatives caused by those tendencies. The pure likability and sincerity of the story also helped. The question, I suppose, is whether Kimagure Orange Road will go down that same path. Will there be really strong points in the series later on? At this point, it is entertaining, sure, but it hasn’t really transcended the typical school-romance-triangle genre yet.
The series appears to be focused around a love triangle involving two friends. This could potentially be a very satisfying series which explores friendship and bonds in a way similar to Honey and Clover….or, in the worst case, it could be nothing more than a shallow soap-opera-ish love triangle. Judging by the reviews, I believe it may the former. I’m hoping that all the praise it receives is appropriate and that I will enjoy it as much as I did Maison Ikkoku.
On a side note, I notice that most of the slice of life series I enjoy are either seinin (late teenage/adult men) or josei (late teenage/adult women). Unfortunately, KOR’s wikipedia page classifies it as “shonen” (young boys). But, I’m not one to prejudge so…..on we go.
P.S. There is a specific aspect which I like….there are certain scenes where Madoko, one of the female characters, plays the saxophone. It begins as a solo, then slowly, the strings join in and the music envelopes the scene….it is very satisfying and effective.
8 responses so far
Well, all the episodes aren’t fun but, the ending is quite good, when Kasuga use his powers, it’s fun, in the oav, it’s pretty much the same, as it’s when he use his powers that it’s interesting. The films are good, different but good.
The Kimagure Orange Road manga is correctly classified as shonen because it was serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.
Typical of many shonen stories from those days, it starts out shallow as you can see. As the series progresses though, I think it deepens (and yet rises above its original material), due to its talented staff and cast: Akemi Takada’s (Maison Ikkoku, Fancy Lala) beautiful character designs, Osamu Kobayashi’s (Beck, Paradise Kiss) masterful direction, Shiro Sagisu’s (Evangelion, Bleach) moody (but not emo -_^) soundtrack, Toru Furuya’s and Hiromi Tsuru’s unforgetable voice acting..
I’ll always love this series for its innovative visual and musical approach. The opening and ending credits were music videos unto themselves. Kanako Wada (who sings a lot of the songs on the soundtrack) delivers a rocking performance that breaks away from the sugary idol crowd (which persists to this day for better or worse, heh).
Oh! And Kyousuke’s internal monologues are so deftly done — the freeze frames mimic his father’s profession as a photographer, plus we absolutely know what Kyousuke’s thinking which deepens the mystery of what the other person is thinking. It made for a lot of enjoyable on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments! ^_^
Ah, I can’t believe I forgot to mention the monologues - I enjoy them very much.
Heh, it really is a small world. I followed your link to sheet music for “Hello Sadness” and discovered that you are the same site my roommate Cicero was telling me about a few weeks ago. I’ll probably be back to see your final opinion on Orange Road, since you are enjoying it I might watch it.
Cicero told me he suggested Ranma 1/2 to you. Ranma is okay, I’d say the first 3 seasons are the most solid, after that the good episodes become better, but the other episodes become increasingly insipid, and even start to repeat old plots. Truthfully I sometimes felt like there were 2 different writers- one I liked and one I hated. The OVA’s were usually good though- (Especially “An Akane To Remember”- although you have watch at least the first 3 seasons to get why). Avoid the 2nd movie, even Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma’s creater) despised the 2nd Movie.
Starting with the first episode, you’ll probably notice similarities with “Love Hina”, which is another reason a lot of people don’t like Love Hina- it’s a mix of Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, and Tenchi Muyo, with extra doses of fanservice and panty shots. (Personally I take a “meh” view on Love Hina. I don’t hate it, but I don’t particularly enjoy it either.)
Oh and definitely watch the subtitles, not the dubs (which are more common)- the dub is terrible for Ranma 1/2.
Since you seem to enjoy music associated with anime, I’ll just say that the music is weaker than Maison Ikkoku- probably becasue they targeted a younger audience. The OVa music was pretty good though, and there were a few good songs during the usual season.
My favorite music from the regular season is probably Ryoga’s Theme music. It fits his character very well. The jarring music laid over a simple rhythm fits Royga well, who to me always seems out of harmony with himself and his surroundings- and yet he continues to struggle on anyways.
Then there are the peripherals like Character Image Songs. Probably the best for Ranma 1/2 is Shampoo’s song: “Wo De Airen” which is quite sweet. I also enjoy the pairings of songs that explore the different sides of the same character. For example Akane’s Baka Song compared with Akane’s Lullaby, or Ranma’s “Not Cute, Not Sexy” in contrast with his “November Rain”.
Speaking of Image Songs, have you looked at any of the Image songs associated with Haruhi Suzumiya? I particularly enjoyed the two songs associated with Nagato (”Select” and “Yuki, Silent, by the Window”).
Anyways, I’ll bug Cicero into coming back and giving you the lowdown on Ranma characterization, since he’s more into that then me.
Oh, and if you are interested in our discussion about Tsundere’s and Takahashi couples, you might want to check out the articles on them at tvtropes [DOT] org.
PS:
Truthfully though, if I were to suggest another anime to watch it would be “Starblazers” aka “Space Battleship Yamato”. I got Cicero hooked on it.
Both the Japanese and English Versions are good- although there are some significant differences created by editing.
I guess you might only be interested in Romance. In that case have you seen the Ah My Goddess series?
I would say that I have a preference for somewhat idealistic slice-of-life shows in general, not just romance, though clearly romance shows are a fair chunk of the slice of life category. The reason is that I am more of a character-oriented viewer, rather than a plot oriented viewer. I enjoy shows where I really become attached and invested in characters and their development and growth - action and plot twists aren’t as interesting to me, though they can all go hand in hand, of course. But it just so happens that slice of life tends to be more character-oriented than say, sci-fi or action. Though, of course, I enjoy a deeply woven/complex plot as much as anyone else.
But no, I haven’t seen “Ah My Goddess”. Even though am very much an anime fanatic, I have seen relatively few anime, because I try to only spend time with the “good” ones. My list is here: theowne.myanimelist.net . As you can see, it is relatively short compared to the mammoth lists usually found on that site.
I must admit that I have never really gotten into image albums or the sort of widespread associated music which appears on many anime OST’s. I usually content myself with OP/ED songs, as well as background music/score from the shows themselves. The reason is because I tend to more strongly associate this music with the content of the show. For example, “Hello Sadness”, to me, embodies Maison Ikkoku in every way, but a significant part of that is because it was used in the show so frequently. I don’t know if image albums (if I understand them correctly) would elicit the same response from me, but I suppose trying new things never hurt anyone.
And although I realize that this isn’t exactly a common view, I never really became a fan of the “Suyumiya Haruhi” series. Maybe I should give it a second chance.
Also, I almost never watch dubbed anime, so if I do get around to watching Ranma, it will probably be in Japanese.
Thanks for your comments. Say hello to your roommate for me (heh).
That’s interesting, since it’s my love for the characters of Star Blazers that really attracted me to it (that and the Wave Motion Gun- which was really cool when you’re ten).
My strongest memory from when I watched it as a kid were the scenes when the members of the crew would get a limited time to call back and talk to their family on Earth.
I guess it’s different from your main interests, but I think you might like it. You might prefer the English dub as the focus was shifted from the ship to the characters in the English dub. They also cut out almost all the fanservice.
AhMyGoddess might be right up your ally. I liked it, even though I thought the original OVA’s developed too fast and the new TV series started too slow. (I suggest you start with the TV series). It’s a romance show, but closer to slice of life then some. There is never any real significant romantic rivalry.
The basic plot is this: A young man (Keichi) starting college is very unlucky, but despite this is kind and good. (Think Godai but smarter). Because of this he is approved for one wish, and a Goddess (Belldandy) appears to him to offer him this wish. Shocked, and thinking this might be a joke, he blurts out the first thing to come to mind: “I wish a goddess like you would stay with me forever.” So she does.
Of course this creates a whole host of new problems for Keichi, but considering he gets the company of Belldandy who he quickly falls for he’s quite happy. Soon Belldandy’s meddling older sister (Urd) appears, who seems intent on living vicariously through her sister, and intends to move their relationship along as quick as she can. Then Belldandy’s younger sister (Skuld) shows up- she is quite put out by this mortal stealing her big sister away, as she wants her sister to come back home and spend time with her. So she wants to break them up.
The main complaint about Belldandy and Keichi are that they are “too perfect” and that there isn’t enough conflict, but others find it peaceful and sweet.
The main thing standing in the way of a progression in their relationship is the very thing that brought them together. Keichi’s wish. You see, Keichi would like very much to court Belldandy, but he can’t help but wonder, does his wish require Belldandy to respond affirmatively to his wants and desires? If he asks for a date, or even sex, would Belldandy be bound to agree by his wish? Keichi wants Belldandy’s real love, and because of his wish he can not be sure what Belldandy really wants. Getting around this conundrum takes quite awhile.
On Haruhi Suzumiya, I think I might enjoy it so much because I’ve read the novels it’s based on. (English translations are available at a site called Baki-Tsuki). The characterizations are much deeper there, plus a lot of the character development takes place in events scheduled for the 2nd season. Much of this was eluded to really well in the 1st season, but without repeated viewings or reading the novels you might miss it.
As for Image Songs, I think they are the most interesting when they show a side of the character that couldn’t appear in the show itself for some reason. Nagato’s song for example is based in part on events that occur much later in the books, in which you learn that one of the first things she observed coming to Earth was snow (yuki). It’s no accident that the most popular Haruhi Image songs are all for the alien characters- as it goes much further in showing their different personalities that simply can’t be shown in an anime. Since these songs often show a different side of a character, I thought it was something you would enjoy.
The plot sounds familiar. In fact, I think I may have begun the series but never finished it, for whatever reason. I’ll give it another chance.