Review: Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning

The cover of the DVD leaves out the time travel element, and makes it sound like he had woken up after a three-year coma. That's not the case.

I found it to be a light, touching romance with few surprises (given that I was partially primed for the fantastic elements). Essentially it's a very human show, with the relationships between the main characters forming the core of the plot. The time-travel elements allow a chance to return to the past and live through the lost three years. On the whole this makes for a much more satisfying conclusion.

The "what if..." is basically, "what if I were moved into the future, so that all my dreams were three years behind me, my loves and life three years advanced?"

On the whole it's a little predictable, but I enjoyed it very much regardless.

Animation is a little rough in spots but generally follows a simple but effective style suiting the film. Music and sound effects fit the film well, with the "theme song", an instrumental piece of piano music, bringing a quietly lyrical feel to the score.

I found the English voice acting a little too melodramatic, with the dub showing a degree of conflict and betrayal that just isn't there in the source material. the VA for Kyosuke sounds by turns a little too strong and a little too weak to fit the part. The Japanese VA suited the film much better.