Tonight, for the first time since I joined CJAS, we will be showing footage from my favorite series, Kimagure Orange Road! The lineup for tonight is episodes 5 and 6 from the OAV series. Episode 5 is entitled Spring is for Idols, and episode 6 is called The Birth of a Star. Both center around the introduction of a new character, Hayakawa-san, an idol singer coming to town. But first, let me give a general introduction to the series in general.

Kimagure Orange Road is comprised of a 48-episode TV series, an 8-episode OAV series, a "final movie," and the Shin Kimagure Orange Road movie. KOR really should be watched in that order, so if you haven't seen the TV series, don't worry if you find the OAVs a little strange. Kyosuke Kasuga is a 15-year-old student who has recently moved into town. Even though his father is a photographer and therefore moves a lot, the likely reason why the Kasugas have moved is the fact that the siblings are ESPers. That's right, Kyosuke and his sisters, Manami and Kurumi, are all fairly powerful wielders of ESP-related powers. Cool as this might be, flagrant use of their powers has caused many a relocation (Kurumi running the 100-meter in under 4 seconds comes to mind). So... Kyosuke has come to a new town, full of possibilities. These possibilities manifest themselves strongly in the form of two girls, Madoka Ayukawa (woo hoo!) and Hikaru Hiyama. If you haven't guessed it yet, KOR revolves around the love triangle that ensues between Kyosuke, Madoka (yay!), and Hikaru. Hikaru, a year younger than Madoka (^_^) and Kyosuke, openly shows her affection for Kyosuke. She fawns over him, runs to give him hugs, makes him lunch, and just generally showers him with attention (too much attention, IMO). Although Kyosuke does like Hikaru (she's so affectionate and bubbly), he is also drawn towards Madoka (she rules!). She is Hikaru's childhood friend and is a lot less obvious when it comes to her feelings for Kyosuke. Being the omni-present audience, we figure out early on that Madoka (wow!) does have strong feelings for Kyosuke, but he finds her a large mystery.

Kyosuke's powers often get him into trouble (if not, his sisters' powers do), and this is a common amusing occurrence throughout the TV series. OAV episodes 5 and 6 are no exception. In episode 5, Kyosuke somehow manages to switch bodies with the idol singer, Hayakawa, and the resulting chaos is truly something to behold. Hayakawa, being a much clearer thinker than Kyosuke, soon discerns that two girls are quite in love with him, and he moves to take advantage of this fact. Kyosuke, on the other hand, gets a visit from Hayakawa's high school girlfriend. She was Hayakawa's inspiration and motivation in his pre-idol-singer days, but he has forgotten her since (the scum!).

Episode 6 is the continuation of the story developed in the previous episode, and it entails Kyosuke's frantic attempts to remedy the whole situation. Hayakawa has been finding out just as much about Kyosuke as Kyosuke has found out about our idol singer, and our hero is rightly worried. Not only does he have to protect his family's secret, but he also has to rectify whatever damage Hayakawa may have inflicted to the fragile Kasuga-Ayukawa-Hiyama relationship.

Happy viewing!

*Author's Note* Yes, Madoka is my favorite anime character.