New Kimagure Orange Road Review

[Zephie-chan]

No complaining! Let's get straight to the punch (spiked though it may be):

New Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning...
... is a wonderful romance movie based on the manga by Matsumoto Izumi and Terada Kenji. The screenplay, written by Mr. Terada, takes a more "real" approach than the series did. Let me try to explain, if you will...

STORYLINE
Taking place in 1989 and 1992 (respectively), the series technically takes place a year after the events in the series.

Kyosuke first receives a call early in the morning, disturbing a dream about his love in life Ayukawa Madoka, from someone claiming to be him! The caller tells him to "Watch out for the car." What car? Who is this? Of course, Kyosuke doesn't believe him and promptly hangs up. A normal school day passes, he forgets all about that call from the morning, and on his way home Kyosuke is hit by a car! Meanwhile, simultaneously, we see his future self from 1992 being hit by a bomb!

Kyosuke wakes up from his unconscious state after being hit by the car finds himself in 1992, three years into his future! Now he must find out what happened to his future self and also find a way for him to get back to his time period before he disappears forever!

Can he work up the courage to talk with future Madoka when everyone thinks he's is dead and gone? Can he cope with these future events while keeping his composure and loyalty towards Madoka when he meets up with an old friend?

"Three lovers, two lives, across a sea of time..."

ANIMATION
First off... HELL YES IT'S GOOD! The animation in NKOR (New Kimagure Orange Road) has to be some of my favorite of all time. Not only have the characters been "revamped" to receive new looks, but the animation itself is more fluid than the series. I happen to like the new looks and prefer them over the old Kimagure Orange Road designs.

The new designs bring unique looks to each character, and give them new life, while they still retain their old seiyuu from the series (always a plus). Those who are fans of the series (I am, of course), may or may not like the transition, I however found it quite refreshing overall. This is a Studio Pierrot animation, after all.

MUSIC
Of course, being a movie, there isn't much to review. There is little music in this anime to being with. At least that I can remember. My favorite piece is "Kyosuke #1", a song Madoka performs in the movie on the piano. I'm a sucker for piano songs, mainly because I play it myself, and I had to learn this song right away!

The music in the movie matches the mood. It's a romance movie, and the music blends in very well. The composers, arrangers, and singers were wonderful... mostly. I have only one real thing to complain about: What is up with that woman trying to sing English when she, clearly, cannot whatsoever? There's an insert song that a dancer dances to, and the Japanese woman tries to sing in English... it's like nails on a chalkboard, I kid you not.

FINAL COMMENTS
This second movie of Kimagure Orange Road focuses on love and nothing but. There is very little supernatural material like the series contained (no telepathy, moving things with his mind). There is some, but not a lot. From an interview with the writer, Mr. Terada, we know this is because he wanted to focus more on real life events of the lovers lives and cut down the fantasy in it. He did it well.

OVERALL SCORE: 9.5
If you're a romance fan, or a fan of the series, it's a must buy! Even if you're not, you should really take a look at this movie. The blend of story elements and romance is well done, and the plot doesn't stop moving for an instant, unlike the series where a lot of stuff was at a stand still while Kyosuke tried to figure everything out. I think everyone will enjoy this movie regardless. It's lovable, sensual, and is just really beautiful in general.

But watch out for ADV as this was one of their earlier "bad ones". What I mean by that is that they made a fuck up by permanently overlaying English text next to the Japanese, like a fansub translation (ADV Films was once ADV Fansubs, you know), during the opening scene and credits. That kinda ruins shit for me... I don't know about you. Their voice actors for this English production aren't the best, but they certainly are better than their Samurai X dubs... Ugh... Still sends shivers up my spine. The .5 reduction of the score was due to ADV's incompetent ability to produce a successful English production, as always.