Website - Kimagure Orange Road
Website - Kimagure Orange Road
I'm going to dispense with an introduction to this series since Wikipedia takes care of that for me. "KOR" is an abbreviation for "Kimagure Orange Road" throughout.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
The reviews are written according to the order that I viewed the things that are reviewed.
Before watching this movie for the first time, I watched episodes 5-8 from the TV series. The most gratifying part was seeing Kyosuke act decisively. He confessed his feelings to Madoka, broke up with Hikaru, and dealt with Hikaru's obsessiveness without making concessions. The music was also very well done. That out of the way, some criticisms follow.
Hikaru's use of tears to try to make Kyosuke come around was grating. It's awkward for the viewer when there are more than a minute or so cumulatively of crying in a movie. Well ... it's awkward for this viewer, at least. It felt like she was basically trying to manipulate him into compliance by playing on his emotions, which is rather unseemly and childish. On the other hand, seeing Kyosuke stand up to this, even though he was wavering at times, was gratifying.
I was also somewhat irritated that Madoka did not show Kyosuke much affection, even though he was making some very hard decisions that benefited her. I suppose this was due to the childhood friendship between Madoka and Hikaru. I was almost expecting Kyosuke to say something to the effect of "I'm giving up a friendship for you, you need to be supportive of that", but Madoka did end up telling him in an understated way that she supported his decision ("I won't blame you for what happened"). Still ... Hikaru kissed him, while Madoka turned Kyosuke's attempt into a hug instead. It's somewhat asymmetrical. I'm hoping that they fix this in the second movie, entitled Summer's Beginning.
Comedic romance needs to end in such a way as to make up for the tension of the intermediate episodes. I Want to Return to That Day falls a little short in that regard, particularly in comparison to the ending of the Maison Ikkoku manga. Nonetheless, I suppose that since the characters in KOR are considerably younger and less experienced than the characters of Maison Ikkoku, it might be acceptable that KOR dials down the physical relationship of the couple — the emotions still seem to be there.
Vindication! Unlike the movie, the last two episodes of the TV series ignore the irritating Hikaru and focus on our two protagonists. The plot was fantastically executed. Kyosuke and Modoka travel back in time 6 years due to Kyosuke's mischievous grandfather, and their actions explain a large part of the plot of the movie and the beginning of the series.
It was interesting to see how much of a crybaby Yuusaku was six years ago. It's somewhat akin to Hikaru's behavior during the movie. When Kyosuke takes a side trip into a parallel universe around 6 years into a future that has no memory of him, he sees Yuusaku and Hikaru out on a date at the theme park. You get an idea of the unpleasant personalities that these two characters have, especially when they are together, with Hikaru manipulating Yuusaku into a rage at one particular moment. This makes Kyosuke's detachment from Hikaru during the movie ever so much more gratifying.
The plot gives the viewer an idea of the bond of destiny between Madoka and Kyosuke. Kyosuke rescues the Madoka of 6 years ago from a gang of soccer plays and a fall from a cliff, using a conspicuous display of psychic power. The Madoka from the present then travels back in time and meets him, due to Kyosuke's grandfather. Kyosuke admits to her that he has psychic powers, and Madoka accepts that readily. I think what happened is that she had not previously made a conclusive connection between her psychic rescuer of 6 years ago and Kyosuke. His confession helps her to realize that the two are the same person, and then everything falls into place for her. She continues to stay one step ahead of him (I'm making a reference to the "New Year's" episode here) and tells him in a roundabout way that she loves him. Kyosuke's confession in the movie, then, was a follow-up on this one.
We also learn that Madoka drastically changed her appearance starting 6 years ago after her encounter with present-day Kyosuke, who in fact was stating his preferences based on the present-day Madoka. At the end of the last episode, Madoka and Kyosuke revisit the opening of the penultimate episode, a conversation under a tree. Kyosuke revises his earlier dialogue to mention (indirectly) that he loves her for who she is, which was a poignant gesture in context of the way Madoka changed for him. Truly, this was an amazing way to tie up a TV series — it far surpasses the ending of the Love Hina TV series.
Seeing this ending has forced me to revise my earlier assessment of the series from trite to favorable. Given the recurring theme of time-travel in the series, perhaps it is apropos that I watched the movie first. The movie raised questions which were answered retrospectively by the ending of the TV series — much like several other issues that Madoka and Kyosuke faced themselves.
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