This totally broke my heart. Ayukawa is very low key and seems out of character at some times but she still has her temper.Hikaru goes between being an immature little girl with daddy issues to wanting to be a grown woman taking care of Kyosake. I think she is the most complex character in the entire series because her falling in love with Kyosake is for me a mystery, bumping head and boom she is his forever. The story is all about Hikaru and Kyosuke and boy is it a roller coaster in emotions, you forget that it is only teenage love and the drama is over the top due to the hormones. A heavy part in the Orange Road Series, left me in tears and a lump in my stomach.

I thought the movie was great, but I just have to wonder where is Hino Yusaku at the one time that Hikaru needs him the most? He doesn't even appear in the movie (unless that was him standing outside the telephone booth.) At the very least he could have served as a punching bag for Hikaru to vent her feelings with. Maybe he was left out so that we get the impression that Hikaru was completely and helplessly abandoned. Much sadder that way. Of course I still haven't seen the sequel, so maybe that will explain what happened to him. If not, I think that it is a very glaring oversight to exclude him, even if the many purpose of his character was for comic relief. He would have been honor-bound to confront Kasuga and try to use the situation to let Hikaru know what kind of guy he really is. I just thought it funny about Hikaru's comment to the twins on how hard it was to found the right guy, when Yusaku was probably trailing along behind her off-screen.

Well, I cried at the end of this movie too. And I'm a guy.Though the 2nd movie (Shin KOR Ano Natsu ni Hajimaru/Summer's Beginning) does reconcile a lot of the situations caused in this movie, Ano hi ni kaeritai is all the ending that's necessary to this series. If you're a fan of romance stories, this is certainly one to watch, as it's beautiful, atmospheric almost to the point of unbearability, and very honest. Sure, the animation's a bit dated, but I've yet to see any American animated feature attempt this with even the least bit of seriousness.Well worth your time, and I guarantee you'll never resort to WB teen soaps ever again!

This is probably best seen if you've at least watched the OAV series of Kimagure Orange Road (better if you've seen the actual series). It is a very serious ending to a whimsical television series. It is very mature in how it treats the relationship. I cried.