Orange - Reviews

I started by watching the anime version which at this time is being released and could not wait for the ending so I decided to read the manga instead. I will say Orange is now one of my very favorites (anime and manga) due to its beautifully done story line and amazing characters. This review is spoiler-free but has some suggestive information of the plot.

Story

Who has not ever though what it would be like to write to your past self to avoid making mistakes? I believe everyone has had a similar though at least once in life. This story revolves around the topics of “regret” and “friendship”. The purpose of the story is to avoid Kakeru’s death. The premise itself may not be very original, but it was so well developed that it became a masterpiece in my eyes. The plot is well-paced (not too fast or too slow), the premise is intriguing from episode one going forward, and the story is very relatable and full of emotions. This story is promising in the sense that it will definitely take you in a roller coaster of emotions while keeping it so relatable to the audience that you will have to be prepared for your heart strings to be pulled time and time again. I am 26 years old at this time and I can honestly look back at a similar experience in my high school years and a very different perspective in life now that comes with time and becoming mature. The plot really got me from the get go and I highly recommend the manga and anime alike to anyone.

Art

The art in the manga was amazing, there are a lot of chapters that show so much color and they were beautiful. The scenery displayed in the manga was also really neat and the character’s design was very pleasant to the eyes. The characters were somewhat average but given the fact that they are “normal people” in a “normal word” it made sense they were that way. I also felt the art was very consistent throughout the chapters so all in all, the art was a good asset.

Characters

The story revolves around a group of 6 friends during their high school years. Although all of them are fairly present throughout the story and have a goal in common keeping them together, I felt the story revolved mostly around Naho, Kakeru and Suwa. Everyone in the “gang” has a personality of their own and a heart of gold so they are all very likeable. However, since the main characters (namely Naho, Kakeru and Suwa) are explored the most in the story, they are the ones with the most development and personal growth. I think the characters personalities, the fact they were very genuine and good people, and that they were very consistent in the way they were throughout the story made Orange as a whole a great anime/manga.

Overall

Orange has a very intriguing plot with good graphics and amazing characters. The manga/anime may be best suited for those who enjoy a good shoujo story. Orange has romance, emotional moments and beautiful characters that will take you in an amazing journey.

First of all, to everyone who recommended this to me, I hate you all. Having said that, I love this and I recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind a tragedy or mentions of suicide. The storyline was beautiful and involved time travel in a way that avoids paradoxes. It is extremely emotional and funny. There are love triangles and pure innocent characters. The slow burn was real, yet not frustratingly paced. The story was stunningly melancholic in the best of ways. I cried. I don't do that a lot. it gave me an appreciation for my friends that I hadn't thought about for a long time. Also, hug your parents and those close to you.

The charecters in the story, and I think the author as well, have a savior complex. I deeply dislike the portrayl of suicide as other's fault and if only they had done the right thing they could have "saved" the person who died. The charecters throughout walk on egg shells to say the perfect thing or to push other charecters together. It's horrible. It places the blame on the survivors and adds to the guilt many often feel. Suicide is preventable, but there is only so much people can do. The most important thing is to be kind and loving and watch out for warning signs. Which is exactly what the charectes did, they didn't do anything wrong, and yet spent the whole story racked with guilt trying to make up for their "mistakes" and "save" the boy who died.

This was my first "journey" into School Life genre and I did not know what to expect, at first I read three chapters, then three more day after, but after that it just exploded, it sucked me in and it was page after page, becoming more interesting with each chapter. 

Story is alright, it has a good pacing, becoming faster later on and throwing things at you, but then again taking time to explore what just happened. It has few weak points, for example time travel is not well thought through, but this was for me a character driven manga.

When it comes to art I'm not an expert, it looked good, especially when faces and emotions had to be captured, there are some things I dislike but all in all I didn't notice anything that bad.

Characters are emotional, with different motivations and way of thinking, they are all unique and have their own way of doing things. Shame, fear even plain stupidity are all playing their roles here and it makes our heroes feel human. Now, when it comes to that human part there is only one thing I have a problem with here, that is how there is lack of bad emotions, jealousy for example, not to spoil the story but two guys like same girl, and I just think more could have been done for that part, especially when series focuses on regrets.

I only read the first three volumes but I suppose this contains some spoilers. Also this talks about suicide, so please tread carefully.

Naho is so annoying to me. She's way too naive to be believable and it's extremely frustrating to read about her doing anything.

More importantly, however, this series downplays mental illness in a really insulting way. Severe depression isn't magically cured because you have friends. If someone is that determined to take their own life they're going to do it regardless.

Also, Kakeru HARDLY KNOWS THESE PEOPLE. It's not like they're life-long companions or people he's formed close bonds with over a long period of time. They're his new friends. And sure, he can care about them, but he hasn't formed a deep enough emotional attachment to them in order to warrant them being a deciding factor in not killing himself.

It's also not your fault if your depressed friend takes their own life, and this series sends the message that if your friend dies, you are responsible for not doing enough and you should spend the rest of your life feeling guilty about it. Which simply isn't true. And, again, in the case of Orange, these people hardly fucking knew the guy who died, so they have even less responsibility than a group of life-long friends would (and again, even then they wouldn't be responsible).

I understand that depression is different for everyone but I lost my younger brother to suicide some years ago when he was 17. He wouldn't have been saved by having someone who understood him. He had friends. He had a girlfriend, even. If the brain is that desperate and that damaged, it does not magically fix itself and you do not get over your depression that easily.

Someone in Kakeru's position could indeed feel overwhelmed enough to take their own life. That's not what I have an issue with. What I have an issue with is how the series acts like you're either depressed enough to be suicidal or you're not depressed enough for other people to worry about you.

Lastly, the letters are unbelievably laughable. Especially all of them having letters magically from the future. I don't know what the explanation is for them, but I'm assuming it's something incredibly stupid, because the rest of the series is incredibly stupid.

Even if I don't factor in the disgustingly oversimplified mental health side of things, this series is very boring in every other aspect. The characters suck and are annoying and generic. The rest of the plot is... honestly pretty pathetic.

I dunno. I'm probably taking this too seriously. But I hate this series. I know it's a shoujo and I shouldn't be looking for anything deep and meaningful but I think this is a rare case where a series actually is potentially sending a harmful message.

I mean, people should be nicer to others and they should care more about their friends' mental health and all, but if your friend is that severely depressed to the point of seriously considering suicide, you're hardly going to be able to cure them and make their problems go away.