Orange Road DVD Credits Cause Controversy

The 1987 Kimagure Orange Road (KOR) anime television series has always been a fan favorite in America, so anticipation was very high among the select group of American anime fans that pre-ordered the limited edition KOR DVD boxed set from AnimEigo. A tremendous controversy has erupted recently as AnimEigo has begun to ship copies of the DVD set to consumers. In order to effectively provide viewers with the opportunity to skip watching the opening animation sequence again and again with each episode on the DVDs, the opening animation sequences are only viewable through the DVD menu, separately from the episodes themselves. Consumers were not informed that the DVDs would employ this feature, and many fans are quite upset over AnimEigo’s decision. The general consensus is that while most fans will not actually watch the opening animation sequence of each episode, the episodes simply seem incomplete with an opening animation attached. In simple terms, fans prefer to have an opening animation and not watch it rather than not have any choice.

AnimEigo has published a detailed explanation for their decision and stated that they will refund full purchase price to unsatisfied consumers. The explanation also states that a re-pressing of the DVDs that includes the correct opening animation segments before each episode on each DVD is unfeasible at the present time, but not entirely out of the question for the future.