Kimagure Orange Road OAV 6

Love's Stage = Heart on Fire! (A Star's Birth!)

Synopsis by:
George Robbert
Hayakawa Mitsuru is standing on stage. He says that, before he sings, he has something important to tell the audience. When he came to this town, he ran into someone and switched bodies with him. That person is Kasuga Kyousuke, a person of supernatural powers. Kyousuke sees Madoka disappearing because of this and wakes up, yelling her name. Hikaru and the twins wonder, but his quick explanation, ``I was cheering her on stage,'' satisfies them. Kyousuke narrates that Shuuichi's band will be in this contest, and Madoka will be filling-in for a missing member.

Outside of the hall where the singing contest will take place, Komatsu and Hatta ask the fans to line up, and say that cute girls will be given preference. Some less than cute gals don't appreciate this and leave the two on the ground, hurting. The twins, Kyousuke and Hikaru find them like this. Suddenly an ambulance pulls up. Kyousuke goes over to investigate, worried for Madoka, and even more so when they see Shuuichi and the band run out to it. It turns out to be for Yukari. She collapsed because she has been practicing so hard; this opportunity means a lot to the band. Shuu is worried, and begs Madoka to sing in Yukari's place if she can't come back. Madoka tells the ambulance to hurry, and they head off.

Kyousuke tries to find Hayakawa to ask him not to tell about his ``power.'' The throng of fans is too thick for him to get close, so he tries teleporting. Unfortunately, his first try ends up in the girls dressing room, embarrassing everyone.

Hayakawa is arguing for another sound check; he wants his new song to sound perfect. His manager isn't keen on this, since he skipped the one last night. ``Remember you didn't come this far alone,'' says his manager. The fact that the audience is only kids who won't care if it's not perfect doesn't satisfy Mitsuru, but he settles for listening to a tape of the song. Thinking, he agrees with his managers comment.

Kyousuke finally finds Hayakawa's room and teleports in. Kyousuke figures that he seemed like a nice guy, so he shouldn't mind this request. He asks Hayakawa to keep what happened last night a secret. Hayakawa says he can't. It was a big shock to him, and he has to tell everyone. The makeup crew comes in, making further conversation on this impossible.

Hikaru finds Kyousuke and is worried that Madoka hasn't returned yet. He tells the band that he'll go look for her. Borrowing a policemans bicycle, he rides off to look for her. Since Hayakawa is going to tell the world about his powers, he's going to have to move from this town. ``If that's the case, I at least want Ayukawa by my side when my secret is revealed.'' He's so worried that he almost runs into a group of kids crossing the street.

Madoka is in a taxi, going nowhere. An accident up ahead is blocking all traffic. Since this is not getting her anywhere, she gets out and starts running toward the auditorium.

Shuuichi's band is waiting in the dressing room, worried since they're on standby and neither Madoka nor Yukari have returned. The band before them finishes, and it's their turn. Hikaru, the twins, Komatsu and Hatta cheer Madoka on from the audience. Shuu tells the band to take their time setting up. Unfortunately, the crowd doesn't like their delaying tactics and they are told to start. Since there's nothing else to do, the band starts playing.

Kyousuke sees Madoka running up the far side of the street and yells to her. She's happy to see him, and starts to run across the street. Unfortunately, just as she does this, a big truck comes speeding over the hill behind Madoka and is about to hit her. Kyousuke sees this and uses his powers to jump his bike across the street, grabbing Madoka from in front of the truck just in time. Madoka faints so she doesn't see him use his powers. He then teleports to the auditorium and rolls onto the stage where Shuuichi's band was playing. The audience loves this entrance for the singer.

Madoka comes to, on stage. Kyousuke apologizes that there's no time for her to change to her stage outfit. She points out to him that she can't sing, unless he lets her down. ``Uh, right,'' so he does. Madoka gets off the bike, takes off her jacket, hands it to Kyousuke and thanks him. Shuuichi's band starts playing ``Gaze of the Wind'' again, and the stage lights go down. Madoka ties up her hair, steps into the spotlight, takes the microphone and begins to sing. Kyousuke, watching from the wings, thinks, ``I don't know much about music, but Ayukawa is better than any singer I know.'' Hayakawa is also looking from the wings with an amazed expression on his face. His manager comments, ``Isn't she better than Mitsuru?'' When Madoka finishes singing, the audience explodes with applause. She exchanges looks of thanks with the other members of the band. All are sweating from the performance; they put all they had into it. She runs off stage and exchanges gestures of success with the person whose appreciation matters most to her, Kyousuke.

Before the winning band is announced, Hayakawa Mitsuru comes on stage to sing his new song. But, before he sings, he says he has something important to tell the audience. ``When I came to this town, I met a couple. Because of meeting this couple, I had an amazing experience, one that felt like I'd been hit on the head with a hammer.'' Madoka asks Kyousuke if he's talking about them. Kyousuke doesn't know, but is worried that Hayakawa will tell everyone about his experience and Kyousuke's power. Hayakawa continues by saying he want's to relinquish his title as an Idol Singer. He's had a girlfriend ever since high school. The audience is shocked. He's always wanted to be a star and sing in the spotlight, but also, he wanted to do it all for her. Kyousuke thinks Hayakawa is really a good guy, and now understands what he had to tell everyone. From now on Hayakawa wants to sing for all his audience, like a professional singer. ``Please let me sing for you?'' All the audience is touched to tears. It is Hikaru that leads them in an ovation for this brave musician. His manager comments that this is the birth of a real star. The entire audience is cheering wildly for Hayakawa, except for one girl. She is clutching her purse, with her head bowed, her eyes closed, and tears streaming down her face. She is Shiori, his girlfriend.

Shuu and the band are waiting in the dressing room. He tells them, ``Lets go home.'' The band thinks that they were hot and have a good chance at the prize, but Shuu points out that Madoka isn't a real member of the band, and she agrees. ``Let's go visit Yukari and take her something.'' After all, like Hayakawa said, they can always start over.

Since Shuu and his band had gone home, there was no one to accept the prize. And, because Hayakawa had told of his love affair, the contest was never broadcast on TV.

As Kyousuke, Madoka and Hikaru are walking away from the concert hall, a car drives up and stops next to them. It's Hayakawa. He asks Kyousuke what he really is, but when Kyousuke looks at Shiori sitting next to him, goes no further. He whispers to Kyousuke, ``Get your act together with Madoka, ok?'' and drives off, wishing him luck. The girls wonder what he said about Madoka. Kyousuke tells them that Hayakawa said that he thought Madoka ought to have won the singing contest. Madoka strikes a pose as ``The Phantom Singer, Ayukawa Madoka,'' and the three share a good laugh over this. The episode closes with a ``whimsical photograph'' of Madoka singing, and Kyousuke narrates, ``In May, when all the young leaves were in bloom, I heard an angel sing.''