According to "Kimagure Orange Road" creator Izumi Matsumoto, Ayukawa Madoka's physique was inspired by the American actress Phoebe Cates.
The ACBC café was inspired by a real one called Genso Katsudo Shashin Kan.
The Japanese word "Kimagure" can be translated several ways in English: capricious, whimsical, and indecisive. This refers to how Kysouke can't choose between Madoka and Hikaru, and how Madoka's mood can shift between soft and hard.
The series' setting was inspired by the Umegaoka, Gotokuji and Shimokitazawa neighborhoods in the Setagaya Ward of Tokyo.
The adoring lovers that appear in brief cameos in most episodes, Ushiko and Umao, have joke names based off of farm animals. "Ushi" is Japanese for "cow" and "Uma" means "horse".