Goal of this page: 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. Details of this drive is listed on their Preorder Page.

      What is this KOR thing anyway?

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 of 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 hold the option to obtaining the rights to this 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, 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 it was created in 1 992.

      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. It was 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. Fi nally, 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. But it is a long while towards reaching its lofty goal. That is why I hope to create the third and "final" crusade to push KOR TV through.

      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 w ill 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 ==> need to to gather ~1000 VHS preorders
Scenario #3	If nobody preorders VHS edition ==> ~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 numbe r of LD preorders exceed 500.

Pricing is as follows:

Type:	Number of tapes/LDs	Price
VHS:	12 tapes in SP mode	$360
LD:	12 discs in CAV?? mode	$420

4 episodes will be placed on each tape/disc for a grand total of 48.

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 time period: After the magic goal of 1500 is reached AND when all the deposits are collected, then production work will take place which will take 8 months. The deposit will be half of the listed cost above (Either $180 or $210) After the 8 months are up, sponsers will be asked for the remaining sum and they will finally receive this classic masterpiece!

      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 down when enough pledges have been collected and the other half 8 months later down the line when it will be finished. So you can pledge your order now and start saving today.

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 $35 per disc with 4 episodes. Now where can you get a deal for that much quality anime anywhere? 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.

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. Ask your friends or anime club representatives for their opinions. Visit my SuperKOR page to find all the possible info and links on it. 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.

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 be fore 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 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 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 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 this banner to your web site. It will show that you're a KOR TV Pledge Backer. 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>
	</a>
	</center>

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 have pledged a preorder. 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.

      My Disclaimer:

This page is NOT a commerical venture on my part. I am in no way affliated with Animeigo. I derive absolutely no financial benefit from this page. I am merely a 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!