Kimagure Orange Road, Second Impressions (EP 7-30)
In my “first impressions” post, I mentioned that there are essentially two directions that a “love triangle” can take. The first is a shallow, soap-opera-ish melodramatic path, which is the most common one. The second one is the path of “Honey and Clover” took with Takemoto, Morita and Hagu. I feel almost “embarrassed” to call it a love triangle because that makes it seem so much less interesting than it actually was. In H&C, it wasn’t anyone’s fault that the triangle existed, nor was it due to indecisiveness or overt jealousy. It simply is the way that it turned out, for better or for worse, and there is a strange sort of wistfulness to how it plays out.
In a lot of reviews, people say that Kimagure Orange Road’s “triangle” is due to the indecisiveness of the main character. Yet I think that trivializes it into the same old romance formula we’re used to. Kimagure Orange Road, no matter how rusty and sometimes-shallow it is, is better than that, because it is observing the lives of youth as they grow up. There is a strange blur between friendship and love that is occurring frequently throughout the series, but the convergence of the two is what causes the conflict. The “triangle” in the series, Madoko, Kyosuke, and Hikaru, are all good friends with each other. The two female characters have been friends since childhood. In my opinion, the reason why the “triangle” persists isn’t because Kyosuke is indecisive, but rather because, like anyone would be, he is afraid of shattering a common, familiar friendship. It is obvious to even the most dense viewer that the main “heart” of this show lies between Kyosuke and Madoko, yet if Kyosuke actually acted on this, the friendship of the group would be shattered. Whereas if Kyosuke continues in the “indecisive” limbo that he is now, the friendship can continue. It’s a kind of social inertia, a preference for familiarity over change.
Now this might just me, but I really like Madoko’s character design (see above picture) . Actually, this might just be a common preference I have, because I liked Kyoko’s character design as well, and they are somewhat similar. Neither have flashy hair or eye colors, neither have any special glamor or flash to their appearance. They are just drawn in a relatively simple and more realistic way, and both have a certain kind of gentleness to them. Although early on the series, Madoko was anything but gentle, and I am glad that the writers decided to ease up on that side of her personality.
I feel sorry for the character of Yuusaku, who is brought up a lot for comedic purposes, but his dedicated to Hikaru in some way has earned my respect. If this world were perfect, he would get some prime development time and some sort of happy conclusion, but I have a feeling that this won’t happen since he is just a “side” character.
I’m not sure yet whether KOR is going to creep into my “favourite anime” list. That will depend on how the characters and relationships are developed further, as well as how it all ends. The dramatic and emotional moments haven’t reached the level of sincerity and maturity that Maison Ikkoku had, but that’s okay. This is, after all, a story about youth. And I think Maison Ikkoku just had some formula that hit all the right notes for me. It may be unfair to compare the two of them, as they are very different.
2 responses so far
There are some random episodes left, but you are correct-Kasuga does not want to destroy the fun times he is having with the two girls…
And yes, KOR is one of my favorites, Mainly because of Madoka Ayukawa.
Continue to watch the series, as within the randomness, there is a good amount of story left.(Keeps mum as the best part, the movie, is still coming up :P)
Note 1- The Character designer of Maison Ikkoku(Around ep. 30) and KOR is Akemi Takada. So that could be partially why you feel that they are similar…
While I hated the seeming “indecisiveness,” it is very important to point out that so much of that wasn’t deciding between which girl, but rather deciding whether or not it was worth breaking apart the friends.
On the other hand, there are plenty of times where it goes more shallow, when Kasuga reflects that he maybe does, or at least should, like Hikaru. That’s when I grew frustrated. When he was lamenting after Madoka while dating Hikaru, I didn’t mind too much, but when he started mooning over both of them in a sense, he became a less likable character. I lost the respect I could have had when basing it on the “don’t break the friendship” idea when it was made clear that maybe his fickleness was not nearly so admirable.
The first movie, however, really draws on the deeper aspects. I think you’re really going to enjoy it. The other movie is nice too, although much more like a really long episode of the series. The first is something different entirely.