Kimagure Orange Road episode 1

Transfer Student! Embarrassed First Love

Aired:
Apr 6, 1987
Synopsis by:
George Robbert
The episode opens with Kyousuke climbing a long hill of stairs near his house, counting the steps. He thinks he sees a UFO, but realizes that it is only a red straw hat blown his way on the brisk wind. He jumps up and catches it. An attractive gal at the top of the stairs tells him, ``Nice catch!'' and thanks him for catching it. She thought it would go all the way to the bottom of the hill. ``There are 99 steps.'' Kyousuke finishes climbing the hill and counts 100 steps They argue a bit until a gust of wind forces Kyousuke to grab for the hat again and he compromises on 99.5, which gives them both a good laugh. As she leaves, Kyousuke asks her about the hat. She replies ``Keep it! You look very good in it.''

On his way home, a very happy Kyousuke thinks that he just may like this new city. On arriving home, he's hit by a large flying dresser. His family possesses ESP ``power''. His sisters, Kurumi and Manami, have been using this power to move the furniture. He scolds them for doing so. The family has to move every time someone finds out about their powers. This move, their 7th, was brought about when Kurumi, to show off, ran the 100 meter dash in just 3 seconds. Their father, Takashi, a photographer, shows up just in time to prevent a fight among his kids with a few well-timed photographs.

Manami notices the hat that Kyousuke dropped when he came in. He grabs it before his sisters can do more than comment that it's weird. Jingoro, their cat, sneaks out of the apartment building after a close call with a falling refrigerator. Kyousuke notices that he's missing, but it is Kurumi who ``flys'' him back, surprising a pair of lovers, Ushiko and Umao, who make regular appearances throughout the series.

The next day, Kyousuke and his sisters go to school, and admonish each other not to use their powers. They see Hikaru getting a ride to school on the back of a motorcycle driven by some punk. To avoid being run over, Kurumi ``pushes'' the bike back a ways, confusing the rider. As Hikaru gets off, the punk asks her out, but is turned down. Hikaru escapes the consequences through clever use of teachers passing by. She also tells off the Kasugas for staring.

Kyousuke is introduced to his class. His guess at which empty desk to use is wrong; that one belongs to Ayukawa. His is next to those of Komatsu and Hatta. They immediately engage him in conversation about their favorite topic, girls. Komatsu has quite a photo collection. They also warn him not to get involved with Ayukawa, ``She's a bad one and skipping class right now.''

During break after class, Komatsu and Hatta explain the surroundings to Kyousuke. Kyousuke hears someone playing blues on the saxophone and goes off to investigate. His two friends come up and tell him that that's Ayukawa Madoka, also known as ``The Pick.''

On the way home from school, by a river, Hikaru is surrounded by a gang of bikers, including the one she turned down this morning. She taunts them, and they don't take it well. Meanwhile Kyousuke learns from Manami that Kurumi has followed Hikaru, thinking she's cool. Komatsu and Hatta are overjoyed to find Kyousuke has these attractive girls as sisters. Kyousuke ignores them and runs off with Manami to stop his other sister.

Back at the riverbank, the confrontation escalates to physical violence. Kyousuke arrives just in time to prevent Kurumi from joining the fray. However, they aren't the only ones who've arrived at the scene. Just as Hikaru is pinned, a sharp, well thrown guitar pick in the hand stops the lead biker. Of course, this comes from Madoka, ``The Pick.'' Madoka then proceeds to clean up the bikers with her superior fighting ability.

The three Kasugas come down from behind the pillar where they were hiding. Kyousuke is astonished to find that the girl he met on the stairs yesterday is also Madoka, ``The Pick.'' She is equally surprised to find that he is in her class. However, when Hikaru asks, she denies knowing him.

Madoka takes out a cigarette to smoke and relax after the fight. This is too much for Kyousuke, who explodes the cigarette with his powers, runs up and shreds the next one. He tells Madoka, ``If you smoke cigarettes now, you won't be able to have healthy babies.'' Madoka doesn't think he's big enough to lecture her, and gives him a slap that knocks him to the ground.

That evening, at home, Kyousuke nurses his sore face and holds the red straw hat, both gifts from the mysterious Ayukawa Madoka. He thinks to himself about the events of the past couple of days as Madoka's saxophone music plays in the background.