Kyosuke Kasuga is a boy like any other at his tender 15 years of age. The story begins when he moves in with his family in the city where KOR takes place. As He climbs a neighbourhood staircase, he comes across a red hat flying in the wind. Kyosuke jumps up and grabs the hat, and ends up meeting the owner of the hat. A girl, owner of a girl's look but a woman's body. They briefly greet each other and Kyosuke says goodbye without even knowing her name, but that girl had enchanted him in such a way that he kept daydreaming about her, especially after receiving her red hat as a gift.

The Kasuga family had just moved in, but the reasons are as unusual as possible. Kyosuke, Kurumi, Manami, and her father Takashi were part of the Kasuga family, which was endowed with the most varied psychic powers. Hence the reason for the change of city... each time they revealed their powers, they had to change cities, to avoid the inconvenience of people who did not know how to handle the Kasuga family's skill. For the seventh time, the Kasuga were moving to another city.

Later, Kyosuke learns that the sweet girl he met on the steps was actually one of the city's most dreaded delinquents, Madoka Ayukawa, along with her friend Hikaru Hiyama. Over time, he meets Madoka and Hikaru, each revealing their own charms, thus unfolding the most famous love triangle of the decade.

Kimagure Orange Road, is a romantic comedy, one of the forerunners of the genre. Unlike the angry characters we see today, Kyosuke is a boy that many of us could identify with, discovering the world, immersed in the nostalgic atmosphere of the 1980s and the confusion generated by his psychic powers. And the story unfolded along the Hikaru-Kyosuke-Madoka love triangle in such a way that would make us laugh and cry, showing us the facets of a love that begins in adolescence and continues through the adult life of the three of them.

... Last updated on July 28th, 2023, 7:15pm

I understand people's critique of the story not progressing, but I actually like the sitcom-like nature of it. Fun plotlines, with ESP stuff being unique for a slice of life manga. Madoka is super cool and I actually like Kyosuke. (Yeah, sue me)

Not to mention the anime movie addresses most of those things- Cuts down the fluff and is more plot driven, makes the protagonist decisive, etc. So I would recommend that if you were hooked by the beginning of KOR, but wanted to see a quicker conclusion.

... Last updated on February 10th, 2020, 10:52am

IF you get bored with the ecchi annd slapstick, the repetitiveness of situations and misunderstandings, the dumbness of the MC, the lack of character and story development (Madoka aside maybe),
IF nethertheless you're still after some sweet, heart warming love story,
THEN i'd humbly call out to your sense of enterprise and perseverance, or suggest to skip to
While it essentially remains a light romantic comedy, at some point everything gets into motion, and something may change your stance on many "dimensions" of the series.
As for Madoka's cult, I'm alo kind of part of it, she's one of the most striking heroin i've come across ; is it because you don't get to see that many whimsical (kimagure), independent and strong female leads in romantic shounen ?
Edit: after some reflexion, I decided I couldn't go without mentioning the OST of the animated series (for good old J-Pop) and the first OVA "I want to return to that day" (for the moving resolution of relationships)

... Last updated on July 10th, 2014, 5:54am

I can't believe it have 18 volumes. I tried to read it until 64th chapter, but I am tired with same story and so long indecisive guy without any improvement at all. I skipped all the chapter and read the last 2 chapter, and I can't believe all 18 volumes really have the same plot. You just need to read about 20 chapter, and then read the last volumes, and you will get the rough about the whole story. It's not really bad, but it have no improvement. It should not dragging that long, 5 volumes and it might get 10 star.

was start pretty interesting but turn out to be typical gag manga, repetitive, slow paced and no developement. i read till chapter 127 so far and the situation keep unchanging from the beginning..

... Last updated on December 9th, 2012, 2:20pm

Madoka.. yes the girl that made me dream in my early teen years
the epotome of coolness that no girl in manga nowaday can reach
well the manga isn't perfect nor the anime but it still make people want to read it and watch it
so it aged well and that's enought to make it a great classic and a legend

Now that i've distanced myself from this manga i can finally give an impartial comment.
I've always wanted to know the feel of Japan in the 80's for teenagers and young adults, and this showed me a great light world, with the disco, the clothing, it felt really good.
As far as the genre goes and the story, it's no different from the stories nowadays, this story used every single trick in the book and threw in the ESP thingy, which provided an interesting twist to the work. Sometimes it was good, sometimes it was average, sometimes it was poorly done, but my guess is that i see it that way because i'm a seinen kind of person.
The art was standard 80's style, which i really like, and it had good quality.
I do have to say that i stopped midway because i was a bit tired of the same sequences and because the plot wasn't really moving foward, but it's the same thing with manga nowadays, so don't let that stop you from reading. It was a really fun read.
As far as the plot and characters go i have to say i'm a tiny bit disappointed, but that's only because it reminded me of Lum, especially the main character, and how frustrating it is to follow the main character, not that he's a bad guy or an imbecile, it's also not because of the trouble between the girls, i would have some trouble choosing too, but simply because he can so indecisive sometimes that it really got on my nerves. Ayukawa and Hikaru were good characters and so was the rest of the cast.
As a writer i felt really frustrated because there were a few situations i would love to see getting explored but they were resolved quite simply. I did forget sometimes that this was shounen and a romantic comedy and wanted more from the characters.
This story starts out nicely, it grips you right off the bat, and then it develops slowly until it finally ends. The ending wasn't rushed and that is good to see.
Overall, and despite the negative bits i wrote, i still loved reading this, and i'll probably read it again very soon.
If you want to read a romantic comedy and a classic of the shounen genre then this is for you.

I heard so much about this and got really hyped. Only to be a bit disappointed. The story line and character build up was good but the art lacked sophistication. Plus, why the ESP being thrown in? Come on. It just made it even more of an irritation than anything else.

Kimagure Orange Road is the source for all the romance manga you see nowadays and you can thank it for all those ecchi situations you see. BUT, the art here is really sweet and even the perverted scenes don't look dirty at all like they do nowadays. So I would say that anyone over the age of 15 should definitely read it and don't mind the art at all. I say this as a 80's manga art hater but I still finished the series. So I would say read this for the funny comedy and romance. Ofc, I really hated the main character for not going to the right girl in the starting itself (you'll know who I mean veryyyy soon into your reading)

... Last updated on January 19th, 2010, 2:42am

Watch it (anime) & Read it (manga) when i was a little boy and fall in love with this work.This manga brings back many memory of old days.
Sure it artwork/ graphic/ story line is so old but my heart flutter every time i re-read it.