Kimagure Orange Road TV Pilot · review
I realize this review won't help a single person who HAS seen or read the source material, but I went in blind and actually enjoyed this special: Y'know, I had no idea what Kimagure Orange Road was, except that it was some 80s series, and then the sequel movie was directed by Tomomi Mochizuki, who directed the excellent Ocean Waves and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. so I was gonna watch that sequel movie without any context, but then I saw this one-off OVA and thought, hey, maybe it'll give me some good context to watch this first, since Mochizuki also directed it. And yeah, it's pretty nice. Turnsout this was made BEFORE the TV show, a pilot of sorts, so it's basically what you're "supposed" to watch first even if it assumes you are already long familiar with these characters. It's cute and unassuming, but its main draw is the all-encompassing 80sness of it, which I will admit I am quite susceptible to. Good music, good antics. That's probably all you need sometimes.