02-02-02 This is a memorial page showing you the effort by KOR FANS who helped get KOR TV out to the US starting way back in 1994, being a formalized process in early 1997, and achieving fruition in Nov 1997 and getting tapes/lds by late 1998. Now 4 years later, the KOR TV DVD version will be released as well in 2002. I hope this allows you to share and enjoy the grassroots effort by the fans for this wonderful anime. Ja Ne! SuperKOR Master

Thanks to all who help make this dream become a reality!!! Click here to find out the official announcement from AnimEigo!!! Plus it is not too late to put in an order! You have until the end of August 1998 to be one of the fortunate few to jump in on the deal! Remember that first shipment will start in September so act now before it is too late!

News of this effort has appeared in:

Anipike Site of the Week!

Goal of this page: First, to present all the details and history of this drive effort. Next, to present a persuasive presentation to "hardkor" and general anime enthusiasts alike to invest in the effort to bring over the entire 48 episodes of the Kimagure Orange Road (KOR) series over to the US for commerical distribution by AnimEigo. Note that this page is not designed to replace or to compete with the AnimEigo's signup page, but rather work in conjunction with it. This means that for all the signups, I'll be referring all pledge sponsers to submit their order by clicking AnimEigo's KOR TV Preorder Page.

Kimagure Orange Road (KOR) is an old-fashioned romantic comedy anime series with a touch of the supernatural. First conceived in 1984 by Izumi Matsumoto, it is unanimously considered to be one of the finest anime series ever produced. It details the magical, kimagure journey of 3 special people and their friends and families along that walk of life known as Orange Road. If you wish to find out more details about this legendary series, please peruse my SuperKOR Page.

      Now what's the deal?

Now that you have a background understanding of this phenomenal series, I can proceed with the purpose of this page. Although many KOR pages out there like my SuperKOR page attemps to present the complete picture of KOR, it does not even begin to compare with the actual content itself. Currently, the only available access to this world is through the 8 OAVs (Original Animation Video) and the final ending movie. While these serve as a good introduction, it certainly is not representative of the vast, wide scope into the KOR universe. The final piece of the puzzle to fill this void in the hearts of anime fans out there is the 48 episodes of the TV series which serve as the "prequel" to the OAVs and movie. First Created in 1987, it has never found its way to US distribution. The company who currently holds the option to obtaining the rights to this portion of the series is AnimEigo

      So what's the hangup?

You might ask the question, if the series is so good, why hasn't it been released in the US by now? Good question. The answer lies in the era it was created. Back in the 80's, the anime revolution was beginning to take off, aided by such series as Robotech. However, in order to promote the growth of the anime genere during this time period, fansubs (fan-translated versions of bootlegged copies) of the best anime series, including KOR, were created for showcasing at anime clubs all around the country. However, this proved to be a 2-edged sword. While it did boost the popularity and interest into anime, it often proved fatal for the fansubbed series itself. Small, independent, quality-driven US distributors such as AnimEigo were reluctant to pick up the series for US distribution fearing the market was already deluged and saturated by KOR fansubs, which it already was. As such, it seems that KOR was a victim of its own success. I understood AnimEigo's position in purusuing the matter cautiously given the lukewarm response it has received in releasing long, episodic anime TV series such as UY. Another costly venture that fails to take the market by storm could have proven fatal for the company. I know many fans out there certainly would not want that to happen, given that AnimEigo was voted the best US Anime distributor by the annual newsgroup poll, REC.ARTS.ANIME for past 5 years running ever since the poll was created in 1992.

      So there's nothing that can be done, right?

Given the dire situation described above, it would seem that way. KOR TV would die an ignominous death, locked away forever in only the minds of its adherents, depriving future generations the capricious enjoyment of this series. However, a handful of KOR believers refused to give up hope. They kept the faith, hoping that one day KOR TV will be finally released in the U.S. Beginning in 1995, Eric Shinohara and Bryan Ogawa led the first petition "crusade" drive. Originally, it was just a drive to bring just only the LD version of the series over to the U.S. Nonetheless, it was the first attempt at a grassroots effort by fans of the show to gather signatures for the petition. They wanted to demonstrate to AnimEigo that indeed KOR was marketable. Here's a link to their formal letter presented to AnimEigo. Taking up the effort later was James Li who led the second "crusade" with this page. Through their persistence, they effectively presented a "mandate" by the fans to AnimEigo. Finally, it culminated in convincing Robert Woodhead of AnimEigo to consider the effort. Now, beginning in March 1997, AnimEigo has finally takened up the task of signing up people on their Preorder Signup Page. However, AnimEigo has defined a rather ambitious goal of getting at least 1500 preorder signups that it must collect before it consider the effort. That is why I hope to create the third and "final" crusade effort to push KOR TV through over the top.

      What are the terms?

The details are very simple: convince at least 1500 people to preorder the entire series. Now comes the complicated conditions. You can preorder either a VHS or LD(Laserdisc) version. Of the 1500 orders, if 500 of those orders are for the LD version, it will be produced. Anything less and it won't be counted towards the final tally. Thus it would imply that you will need at least 1500 VHS preorders if the LD preorders fall short of 500. Let me illustrate the 3 possible scenarios which can occur:

Scenario #1	If LD preorders < 500 ==> need to gather 1500 VHS preorders
Scenario #2	If LD preorders > 500 ==> gather 1500-(# of LD signups) VHS preorders
Scenario #3	If nobody preorders VHS edition ==> gather 1500 LD preorders

Of course, the last scenario seems very unlikely. The ideal and simplest scenario to shoot for would be Scenario #2. If that is fulfilled, then we merely add up both the VHS and LD preorders together to get the magic number of 1500 as long as the number of LD preorders exceed 500.

Pricing is as follows:

Type:	Number of tapes/LDs	Price(US)	Price(Canadian)
VHS:	12 tapes in SP mode	$360	~$497
LD:	12 discs in CLV mode	$400	~$552

4 episodes will be placed on each tape/disc for a grand total of 48 episodes. (Update November 28, 1997!) Shipping will NOT be free in the continental US! Due to the fragile nature of the goods, AnimEigo will make arrangements for special shipping which will cost about an extra $10 per shipment. Sorry about the misinformation before about free shipping in continental U.S. This was assuming using the "cheaper" shipping method.

Subtitling Format:
The format will be as follows: English subtitled by the best subtitling company out there: AnimEigo. Original voices, of course, will be left intact. The subtitling will be "hard-coded" instead of closed-captioning triggered.

The time period: After the magic goal of 1500 is reached, then collection of the deposits will begin. This would roughly take about one month, depending on how fast contributors submit their deposits. The actual production work to subtitle the entire series will take roughly about 8 months. The deposit will be half of the listed cost above (Either $180 or $200) After the 8 months are up, sponsers will be asked for the remaining sum and they will finally receive this complete classic masterpiece! If we can get enough pledges by the end of August '97, we can get KOR TV in the summer of  '98!

      That's Kind of Pricey! Why should I buy?

Much like how we support quality programming for public television, we should do the same for quality anime. Please realize the unique opportunity we are being presented with: the ability for fans to bring KOR TV over to the US for another generation of fans to experience. This type of co-sponsership arrangement has never happened before in the anime industry! But it will only happen if we fully sponser it. And if this venture proves successful, who knows what other quality series we can bring over? With the internet serving as the global linkup, we fans have been empowered to create a universal community where we can act as one to communicate our viewing desires to anime companies. It is an opportunity we should not pass up.

What can you buy with a dollar these days? A cup of coffee? 2 soft drinks at the vending machine? 4 plays at the video game machine? How much satisfaction can you derive from these pleasures? A few seconds? A few minutes? Maybe an hour? How about getting something special that will last you over a lifetime of heartfelt memories? Because by saving as little as a dollar a day for one year, you can own your very own copy of the KOR TV series. And you don't need to put the money down all at once. Only half of the money down when enough (1500) pledges have been collected and the other half 8 months later down the line when the production work will be finished. I estimate it will take at least 6 months to collect enough preorders if 7 people make a pledge daily for the next 6 months. So you can pledge your order now and start saving today. If you start saving a dollar a day now up until enough pledges are collected (starting in April), you'll have enough for the deposit! (6 months minimum=180 days=$180 dollars!)

You might ask how it compares with the pricing of anime titles out on the marketplace today. It competes very well. A single tape with just 2 episodes of a "Class A" anime title will run for a retail price of $24.95. Even when you apply the markdown discount, you can expect to pay $19.95 per tape. Each of the 12 KOR tapes will contain 4 episodes and cost $30 each. That translates to a price of only $15 per two episodes. The Laserdisc version is even more of a bargin, costing just $33.33 per disc with 4 episodes. Now where can you get a deal for that much quality anime anywhere? You could buy the unsubtitled KOR TV series on LD selling in Japan, but of course it will cost you close to $1000! To further sweeten the deal, I will attempt to try to convince AnimEigo to "serialize" each of the preorders for both the VHS and LD editions, much like sports collectibles. This would further enhance the value of this special series. Latest Update: I've emailed them about the above proposition already, and Robert Woodhead has indicated that they are amenable to the idea of including one of two bonuses to pledge members: either including a "Certificate of Authenticity" type document to certify the set number and total number of sets produced for both VHS and LD of the complete TV set, or include a special T-Shirt. It probably would depend on what the preorder pledge members wanted as their "bonus".

I realize it is a major demand on any consumer to buy all the episodes of an anime series without knowing exactly what to expect. So I encourage you to do your own "research" into the series by buying or renting any of the aforementioned OAV tapes or manga material available for it. Click here for more information on the titles or description of the OAVs. Ask your friends or anime club representatives for their opinions. Visit my SuperKOR page to find all the possible info and links on the KOR universe. Learn everything about it before making your choice. I want you to make a well informed decision. It is a major commitment which should not be treated lightly. If you ultimately decide not to make a pledge into the effort, then that's fine too. At least you took the time to consider the propositions made. Better to be absolutely sure now than to bail out at the last minute when the pledges are to be collected. If you still wish to help in other ways, please click here.

      I have questions! Do you have the answers?

Why should I consider buying when DVD is coming out? Shouldn't I wait?
DVD is indeed a technological marvel, but unfortunately people don't realize the copyright constraints built into it. The reason is that it enforces country coding. What that means is even if the KOR TV series was transferred to DVD in Japan, you wouldn't be able to play it on your US DVD player! So that means you're still stuck with the same situation: having to wait for a U.S. distributor to obtain the rights and then release it on DVD. However, if AnimEigo does get permission to release the KOR TV series in the U.S., it can later release the series on DVD at an appropiate time (most likely 5 years down the line). Another liability of DVD is the lack of studio support in releasing titles for it. If the big Hollywood moguls such as Disney and Paramount won't commit to DVD, what makes you think that the Japanese animation studios will? If you're still worried about DVD, Pioneer will be releasing a hybrid player that will play not only DVD, but also LD and CD! That way, you can have the best of both worlds! Finally, AnimEigo has clearly expressed the fact that they will ONLY make enough KOR TV LD sets to fulfill the preorder pledge quota (roughly around 500+). The few remaining extras which are to be used as replacement for defective disks will be sold at a significantly higher price on the open market (about $50-$60 each disc) But still, there will be a very limited quantity produced. So that means there will be just about over 500+ COMPLETE U.S. KOR TV LD Sets in existence in the whole world. Imagine the collector's value in that! And if you follow anime merchandising news, you would know that rare KOR items such as the complete Singing Heart 2 CD Set, KOR Eternal Collection, and even the illegally made KOR Triangle Series artbook have fetched prices well over 2-5x its original value! So if you do choose to opt for the LD set, you will be making a very prudent investment indeed!

I don't have an email account! So does that mean I can't sign up?
You say you can't sign up because you don't have an email account? No problem. I've accounted for that contingency. If you have access to a web browser (which you are using to view this page), then please click on either of these links: GeoCities or Hotmail. Both these organizations offer FREE email accounts which you can view your mail through a browser. If you're worried that your submitted email account might change or expire before this venture is finished, then I suggest signing up for the Bigfoot Service. It allows you to keep one universal email address you can pass to people, while at the same time allowing you the flexibility to change email accounts providers at will. This service is particularly helpful for college students. Now you don't have any more excuses for not signing up :)

I've already own some fansub tapes of KOR TV. Why preorder?
Aren't you feeling just the slightest pangs of guilt of owning some or all of fansubbed versions of KOR TV? You needn't be if you preorder a fresh, "master" copy to replace the low quality, Grade B copy. And I bet one of the main reasons you got some fansub KOR tapes in the first place was because you were "hooked" on KOR. Am I right? If so, show your support for the series again by preordering a copy. You shouldn't tolerate watching Madoka-san or any other character in anything but the BEST possible picture quality for maximum viewing pleasure, which is what you will be getting by making a preorder pledge. Madoka should be admired in the best possible light, don't you agree? Help her into the "light" by making a pledge today!

If I do make a pledge, do I have to come up with the money now?
Depending on how close we are to fulfilling the "magic number" of preorders, most likely no. You will be notified when to send your deposits ONLY when the minimum preorder ceiling of 1500 orders is reached. Most likely, that is 6 months down the line (starting from April), so that means you can make your pledge now and start saving up today! And the deposit is ONLY half of the total sum. (either $180 and $200) You will only have to submit the last half of the order 8 months down the line after the preorder drive has finished, so that should allow plenty of time for saving up! (Update: November 30!) Now that the petition is completed, AnimEigo has disclosed the possible payment scheme and dates. Starting January '98, you will be charge 1/2 the payment. Later on, in December 98, you will be charged the second and last half of the payment. Or you can choose from a 4 payment plan scheme.

Can I just order some but not all of the episodes? Or pick and choose which tapes I want?
Unfortunately not. First of all, it would be a nightmare trying to manage and keep track of all these sub-orders. Second, full preorders of the entire TV series is necesary in order for AnimEigo to have the capital for licensing the series. Plus you won't really feel complete unless you possess the entire 48 episodes, for the first and the last and all the episodes in between are linked and tied together by an "invisible red thread" of destiny of which it cannot be broken.

Why must I wait 8 months after the preorder deposits are collected to get my merchandise? Couldn't AnimEigo release it on a tape by tape basis as they go along?
Again, the reason is a matter of logistics. It would be very messy trying to send out that many separate tapes to 1500+ people 12 separate times throughout the production period. And it would also put into confusion the payment scheme. That is why AnimEigo felt it would be much simplier to produce and release the entire finished set in one shot rather than in small increments. Though I do empathize with you waiting that long for Ayukawa to appear on your TV screen. But remember the adage though: Good things happen to those who wait! That is why we should try to get the preorder drive finished as soon as possible!

I've signed up a while back on some other fan petition page. Do I have to sign up again?
Yes you do! Sorry for the misinformation here before. It has been brought to my attention that none of the fan-based petition's collected pledges have been transferred to AnimEigo. So its best you repledge again by going to the Preorder Page. Sorry for the inconvienence!

      I want to Pledge! How do I do it?

Please click this link:

AnimEigo KOR Preorder Page.

After clicking this link, just fill out the form to officially sign up! Make sure you have an email address beforehand.

      What Else Can I do to help the effort?

There are many things you can do to help drive this effort. The first is to spread news of the effort through word of mouth. Ask your friends or family if they're interest in making a pledge. Ask them to ask their friends if they are interested. Or go bug your local anime club reps to preorder an offical copy for the club. The key thing is to spread the word.

Another thing you can do is to affix these varieties of banners to your web site. It will show that you're a KOR TV Pledge Backer. You don't even have to be a pledge member to put up the banner! And it doesn't matter what type of web site you might have. The more sites that display any of the banners, the more exposure for this effort, and the better chance the preorder effort will fall through. If you do include one of the various banners, please email me and I will include your site in the Thanks! Page. Last, it would be greatly appreciated if you can store the banner images locally on your web site, whenever possible, to alleviate the load on the server.
Another Link to the banners is at Kyosuke46

For the small,"lite" low download version:
(Thanks to Sam of Server for creating this banner up for me!)

Here's the html code to include:

	<center>
	<a href=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143>
	<img src=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/korbann1.gif>
	</a>
	</center>

Here's another"lite" low download version:
(Thanks to Virgilio A. Cuasay for creating this banner!)

Here's the html code to include:

	<center>
	<a href=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143>
	<img src=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/support.GIF>
	</a>
	</center>

Yet another"lite" low download version:
(Thanks to Michael Dhanuwidjaja for creating this banner!)

Here's the html code to include:

	<center>
	<a href=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143>
	<img src=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/kortvban.jpg>
	</a>
	</center>

Here's the "streamline" animated banner:
Thanks to Angel Ryan for creating this banner!)

Here's the html code to include:

<CENTER>
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/">
<IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/s_kor.GIF" HSPACE=1 VSPACE=1 BORDER=0 HEIGHT=111 WIDTH=446>
</A><BR><A HREF="mailto:itami@hotmail.com">
Banner made by Angel Ryan</A><BR>
</CENTER>

For the "deluxe" edition, please use this banner:

Here's the html code to include:

	<center>
	<a href=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143>
	<img src=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/kortvlogo.GIF>
	<br>Please Click Me for More Details!
	</a>
	</center>

For the "techno" look, please use this banner:

Here's the html code to include:

	<center>
	<a href=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143>
	<img src=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/kortv-techno.jpg>
	<br>Please Click Me for More Details!
	</a>
	</center>

Here's another big banner to use (thanks to patlabor@pacbell.net!)

Here's the html code to include:

	<center>
	<a href=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143>
	<img src=http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/Kortv.jpg>
	<br>Please Click Me for More Details!
	</a>
	</center>

Here's a JAVA banner! (Thanks to Chris Chiang)

Here are the individual files if you want to host the banner on your site: Image1.jpg, Image2.jpg, Image3.jpg, imagefader.class. Be sure to use the 'Save As' option in your browsers to retrieve the files.

Here's the html code to include:

<center>
<table border=1>
<tr>
<td>
<APPLET CODE="imagefader.class"
 ALT="This browser is not java enabled!" WIDTH="357" HEIGHT="228">
<PARAM NAME="sleeptime" VALUE="100">
<PARAM NAME="delay" VALUE="20">
<PARAM NAME="step" VALUE="0.05">
<PARAM NAME="demicron" VALUE="www.demicron.se">
<PARAM NAME="reg" VALUE="A00012">
<PARAM NAME="bitmap0" VALUE="Image2.jpg">
<PARAM NAME="bitmap1" VALUE="Image1.jpg">
<PARAM NAME="bitmap2" VALUE="Image3.jpg">
<PARAM NAME="url0" VALUE="http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/index.html">
<PARAM NAME="url1" VALUE="http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/index.html">
<PARAM NAME="url2" VALUE="http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2143/index.html">
<PARAM NAME="target" VALUE="_self">
</APPLET>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</center>

If you're an aspiring graphics/manga artist on the net and wish to contribute a banner, I would be more than happy to include it on the page! Also, if you want to help out with the drive effort by emailing various anime clubs you know in your area to reserve their very own copy, please let me know also. I am attempting to assemble a team to email every anime club in America and would be happy to enlist any volunteers.

As a means of showing thanks to all the people who have contributed to the effort, I will be creating a THANKS! page. This will include all the people behind the scenes, those who have included the above banner on their web site, and those who've already pledged who wished to contribute some feedback. Please email me with your name and any item you want to plug (like your email address, web site, or your comments) at the address below if you wish to have your name mentioned in the THANKS! page.

     Progress History Chart
Given the current pledge rate of about 2% each week, I estimate that we shall reach our goal in the second week of December.

Dates:	Total Pledges	Progress Indicator: 100%=1500 Preorders
October 27	1312	87%
October 27	1292	86%
September 23	1154	77%
September 3	1106	74%
August 6	1005	67%
July 25	960	64%
July 1	873	58%
June 7	723	48%
June 4	656	44%
May 20	630	42%
May 6	566	38%
April 24	534	36%
April 18	458	30%
April 1	292	19%

      My Disclaimer:

This page is NOT a commerical venture on my part. I am in no way affliated with AnimEigo, Geocities, Hotmail, or any other possible entities mentioned above. I derive absolutely no financial benefit from this page. I am merely a simple fan who like everyone else wishes to see KOR TV make it to the US. I hope you appreciate my efforts. Take Care and Happy KORing!

Thanks to the people who have visited.