Kimagure Orange Road (きまぐれオレンジ☆ロード Kimagure Orenji Rodo) is a popular shonen romantic comedy manga series from the late 1980s. Written by Izumi Matsumoto, it was later adapted into an anime series with character designs by Akemi Takada. In the mid-1990s it was novelized as well. The series deals with a love triangle between the main character, an indecisive esper named Kyosuke Kasuga, Madoka Ayukawa, a mercurial girl with a tough past, and Hikaru Hiyama, Madoka's ditzy best friend. Kyosuke falls in love with Madoka, and Madoka wants to return those feelings, but cannot because of Hikaru's involvement with Kyosuke.
While the length of the series demands that certain elements are repeated, and a number of running gags abound, the series for the most part avoids falling into formula, and this has increased its popularity.
The series consist of 18 volumes of manga (when first printed), 48 TV anime episodes, 8 OVAs, 2 animated movies, and 3 novels published as Shin KOR (New Kimagure Orange Road). Translations of the manga and novels exist in several languages, including Chinese and French. The Shin KOR novels have not officially been translated into English although all three have fan translations at various websites. In the United States, the TV series, OVAs, and the first movie is licenced by AnimEigo, although AnimEigo's license is slated to end as of late July 2006, while the second movie, based on first Shin KOR novel, is licensed by ADV Films. In addition, there is a five volume "cinema" radio drama set on compact disc. It has a slightly different storyline than the anime or manga, but more closely resembles the anime. It is put out by Victor Entertainment.
- From
Wikipedia