Orange (オレンジ) is a 13 episode romantic drama based on the manga of the same name by . The series aired in Japan over the Summer of 2016.
Naho is an average, shy high school student. She has a small group of friends, loving parents and a peaceful life. In the beginning of the school year she receives a letter claiming to be from her future self. The letter foretells a transfer student named Kakeru will be joining her class and she and her friends must absolutely not invite him to hang out with him after school. She thinks the letter is a joke until things in it start to come true. Her hesitant personality stops her from paying heed to the letters warning and her group of friends spends the afternoon with the transfer student.
As the days go on more and more comes true from the letter. Naho begins to fall in love with Kakeru and begins to believe that her future self is trying to save him from something. She tries as hard as she can but her uncertainty continues to plague her actions. She struggles to become closer with him and to prevent whatever has caused her the levels of regret that allowed her to transcend space and time. Is she able to prevent the future foretold and an she rely on her friends to believe and help her? What happens to Kakeru that leaves such a deep mark her?
This was one of the series' I was anticipating this year given that i have read and enjoyed the manga. It was great to see it in color, action and with sound. Though having to focus on the story as it unravels at it's own pace, instead of being able to quickly read through the manga, reveals how melodramatic the story is from time to time. It becomes seriously sappy at some points, embarrassingly so. In the manga I had a great urge to smack Naho in order to make her move forward with the things she needed to do. The anime didn't elicit the same strength of action, but was still non-the-less. The anime follows the manga pretty closely, so its an either or option in my opinion. The characters still suffer from their shallow, happy-go-lucky personalities that i didn't like in the manga. Not that they are bad, but there isn't as much doubt or reservation in them as I would like...in order to make them more realistic.
The animation is well done with a calming and natural color palette. The character designs are traditional shojo in nature, tall lanky frames, large watery eyes. There is even the occasional flood of flower pedals in some scenes. I do have a fondness for the classic shojo aesthetic, even if it is a little antiquated these days and unnatural in design. Yet you come to expect that type of artwork in this story. This is a true and through shojo romance story that also carries some important messages about regret and self loathing. While it uses time travel as a way to implement the premise of the story it's not really about jumping back and forth in time. The letters are the only thing that travel time. It was easier in the anime to keep track of when the story would shift from the adult and teenage time lines, color played a huge part in making that easier. But don't go into the series looking for something that relies heavily on sci-fi tropes, that part is only the catalyst and not the actual focus of the story.
The anime was simulcast on Crunchyroll, which also houses the electronic version of the manga. No word on the anime being picked up for video distribution in America, but it's probably only a matter of time. The manga is available in tankoubon format by Seven Seas. There will also be a theatrical treatment in Japan November 2016, I am assuming it is a continuation of the story so it will be completely new material. Or it could be a condensed retelling...which hopefully it won't be.
Naho is an average, shy high school student. She has a small group of friends, loving parents and a peaceful life. In the beginning of the school year she receives a letter claiming to be from her future self. The letter foretells a transfer student named Kakeru will be joining her class and she and her friends must absolutely not invite him to hang out with him after school. She thinks the letter is a joke until things in it start to come true. Her hesitant personality stops her from paying heed to the letters warning and her group of friends spends the afternoon with the transfer student.
As the days go on more and more comes true from the letter. Naho begins to fall in love with Kakeru and begins to believe that her future self is trying to save him from something. She tries as hard as she can but her uncertainty continues to plague her actions. She struggles to become closer with him and to prevent whatever has caused her the levels of regret that allowed her to transcend space and time. Is she able to prevent the future foretold and an she rely on her friends to believe and help her? What happens to Kakeru that leaves such a deep mark her?
This was one of the series' I was anticipating this year given that i have read and enjoyed the manga. It was great to see it in color, action and with sound. Though having to focus on the story as it unravels at it's own pace, instead of being able to quickly read through the manga, reveals how melodramatic the story is from time to time. It becomes seriously sappy at some points, embarrassingly so. In the manga I had a great urge to smack Naho in order to make her move forward with the things she needed to do. The anime didn't elicit the same strength of action, but was still non-the-less. The anime follows the manga pretty closely, so its an either or option in my opinion. The characters still suffer from their shallow, happy-go-lucky personalities that i didn't like in the manga. Not that they are bad, but there isn't as much doubt or reservation in them as I would like...in order to make them more realistic.
The animation is well done with a calming and natural color palette. The character designs are traditional shojo in nature, tall lanky frames, large watery eyes. There is even the occasional flood of flower pedals in some scenes. I do have a fondness for the classic shojo aesthetic, even if it is a little antiquated these days and unnatural in design. Yet you come to expect that type of artwork in this story. This is a true and through shojo romance story that also carries some important messages about regret and self loathing. While it uses time travel as a way to implement the premise of the story it's not really about jumping back and forth in time. The letters are the only thing that travel time. It was easier in the anime to keep track of when the story would shift from the adult and teenage time lines, color played a huge part in making that easier. But don't go into the series looking for something that relies heavily on sci-fi tropes, that part is only the catalyst and not the actual focus of the story.
The anime was simulcast on Crunchyroll, which also houses the electronic version of the manga. No word on the anime being picked up for video distribution in America, but it's probably only a matter of time. The manga is available in tankoubon format by Seven Seas. There will also be a theatrical treatment in Japan November 2016, I am assuming it is a continuation of the story so it will be completely new material. Or it could be a condensed retelling...which hopefully it won't be.
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