[Spoiler Warning]
It’s a well known fact that shoujo anime have never been the most original pieces of work. They follow a very basic and straightforward structure, and more often than not end up feeling way too dramatized and overly-melodramatic for no apparent reason. Once you've seen one you've seen them all, right? Some people would beg to differ, and as to disprove my claim the adaptation of Orange reared its ugly head out of the deepest depths of shoujo hell itself to quickly rise to the top of this season's charts, smirking all the while it does it. Watch as the magnificent story of Orange
...
unfolds, giving us deep insight into taboo topics like depression and suicide, viewed in distasteful shoujo fashion.
The story of Orange revolves around Naho, a carefree girl in her second year of highschool. One day, she stumbles upon a magical letter that is able to foresee her near future. The letter was sent from Naho to Naho 10 years in the past in hopes of her younger self being able to correct the mistakes she once made in highschool. How did the letter get there? Err.. A black hole in the Pacific ocean.. n' stuff.. I couldn't make this shit up even if I tried, could I? Anyhow, it's up to Naho to correct her past mistakes by saving the new transfer student, Kakeru Naruse, from taking his own life. As convoluted as the plot may seem, it's not bad straight off the bat for lacking a sense of realism. Instead, Orange's problem is that even that which is supposed to be grounded in reality feels like it isn't. What I'm referring to is the lousy presentation the series decided to resort to when tackling both the internal and external conflicts of the characters, like Kakeru being depressed for the sake of it and Naho being the weakest and most helpless creature on planet earth, thus making it unbearable to watch her interactions with Kakeru as she hopelessly tries to undo the regrets that the letter spoke of.
Adding on to that, to say that Naho is not a very outgoing girl would be an understatement. At certain times she appears to be completely and utterly socially inept, despite seemingly being a part of and having a decently-sized group of friends. Such a protagonist works great for Orange though, as having anyone other be the lead instead of such an indecisive girl would bring about a rather quick and uneventful resolution to things as no mind-mindbogglingly unnecessary conflict would ever arise. The fact that Naho prioritizes the most trivial of things over changing the future is also a huge problem. She finds out that there’s a way to undo one of her regrets simply by writing “No” on a piece of paper. And what does she do? She messes it up by postponing it to go and clean the classroom. And even when she isn’t caught up in anything and has a clear resolution of what she’s supposed to do, she doesn’t do it simply due to reluctance. I understand that she’s a refined girl and all but that doesn’t mean that she should constantly refrain from going out of her comfort zone every once in a while due to her shy demeanor when her actions will literally dictate whether a person lives or dies.
Following the cursed traditions of the shoujo genre, it is a given that emotion beats out logic in 99% of cases. And as such, logic and rationality completely cease to exist within the relationships between the main cast. Fuck magical letters that bend the space time continuum, Suwa's attitude towards Naho and Kakeru's relationship is where the real supernatural stuff kicks in. I don't care if he's the nicest guy on the face of the planet, no person has the ability to undermine their own feelings like that solely for someone else's sake, especially seeing as he knows Kakeru for like, what, a month? I'd have a difficult time believing it even if the two knew each other since birth, but at the start of the series they're not even buddy-buddy entry level yet. The relationship between Naho and Kakeru itself often tends to fall into unbelievable territory as well. How unrealistically oblivious these characters are to each other's feelings for a handful of episodes is what makes the series feel so stretched out at times since instead of going from A to B, their relationship has a bad habit of going on detours and wandering off to C,D and F. The "Oblivious teenagers" trope in romance anime has been oversatured beyond repair and it doesn't help when the anime at hand has a set premise that it can't seem to get to the point of because it's too busy playing a game of ring around the rosy with its' romance. Nevermind that they saw the fireworks together or held hands, that's just what friends of the opposite sex enjoy doing. No implications what so ever.
Most of the characters in Orange aren’t good or bad, but rather painfully average as they tend to play into various cookie cutter tropes due to the genre at hand. Starting from the bottom in a literal sense, we’ve got Naho. She’s weak, inattentive to an unhealthy degree, lacks the confidence to say a single sentence without stuttering, crying or running away and has no defying personality what so ever. All of these things when combined essentially just make her an all-around terrible character, with her only redeeming quality being the fact that she's relatively cute. You remember that one time you were at the shopping mall and walked by that small child that was very clearly lost? That's Naho in a nutshell. She's got absolutely no clue how to act or even think on her own and while her constant blunders keep the story moving forward, her lack of resolve ultimately makes her an extremely unlikable character.
I know it may seem like I'm nagging on her simply because she is a flawed human being, something that's supposed to make her more realistic and/or relatable. Brief rundown: A character is (not) complex when he or she is not a perfect human being or close relative of Jesus-kun. Whether a character is complex or not is simply the aftermath of good writing, something that Orange lacks entirely. Comparing her to Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion would be good practice of that. Shinji, at the end of the day, is a well-written, multilayered and sympathetic character. Granted, he is not a likable character, but his personality is entirely justified during the course of the series and the anime makes the viewer very well aware of that. Naho, on the other hand is also unlikable, but her personality is not justified in the slightest, nor is she the least bit sympathetic. She is presented as a mentally-handicapped schoolgirl that can't be bothered stepping out of her comfort zone when her actions literally dictate whether the person she loves lives or dies, and that just makes her a cunt.
Angsty Teenager-kun (Angst-kun for short) first enrolls into the story appearing as a mystery figure, as for a good duration of the story we don’t know much of anything about him. This is totally acceptable though, because by the time the nature of his character comes to light, you'll be wishing he had just remained angsty for no apparent reason. After many not-so-subtle hints throughout the anime, it is then revealed that Angst-kun suffers from clinical depression. I liked you Kakeru, I really did. Due to Naho's over-incompetence in every situation, I had come to view you as the hero who takes the initiative, thus making this story move if but a single inch further. Unfortunately, Orange seems to have a very falsified perception of depression and suicide and for that, Angst-kun had to be the scapegoat and embodiment of the writer's complete and utter lack of knowledge on this subject. There's also no real way to feel sympathy for him either, seeing as his other attributes consist of being heavily controlling and having severe anger-management issues. I can see why him and Naho get along so well. Here's how Kakeru's cycle of depression tends to play out:
Step 1: In case everything is going well, make sure to bring up your dead mother for no apparent reason other than to kill the mood
Step 2: Get pissed off about friends trying to cheer you up and unnecessarily lash out at them (preferably Naho)
Step 3: Quick, make a run for it!
Step 4: Regret doing so & turn suicidal :'(
Step 5: Rinse and repeat
If that wasn't enough, they top it all off by demonizing the relationship between his mother in order to victimize him further, until pulling a Shigatsu where it actually turns out his mother was a living saint the whole time! You know, they were just taking her bad deeds out of context, when in actuality she really cared about him.. Fuck off. Moving on, Suwa is easily the most likeable and respectable character in the entire story. However, while you can tell that unlike Kakeru, he genuinely cares about his friends' wellbeing, his stance on Naho and Kakeru's relationship is far too idealistic to be real. While his goody-two-shoes persona does make him prevail over the likes of Kakeru, it also makes his character all too stale and predictable. His best moments are easily the ones in which he feels conflicted whether or not to act upon his intuition and snatch Naho for himself instead of undermining his feelings. Unfortunately, they are very few and far in between, as for the overwhelming majority of the show he simply acts as Kakeru's wingman without bothering to intervene. No one else in their group stands out.
Setting aside their heavy resemblance to puddle-toads, the character designs are somewhat visually-pleasing and even help the aesthetic in a sense. The animation doesn’t really have any opportunities to shine as the most intense it ever gets is just the characters running away from each other (I just made myself giggle).The opening looks decent for what it is and the ending is mostly just a slideshow of still images, but the directing is really where the technical department of Orange shines. I was skeptical to see the poor guy behind Steins;Gate and Texhnolyze be reduced to directing Orange, but alas, he once again successfully utilizes many different editing tricks in order to enhance the atmosphere and the various emotions displayed throughout, shrugging aside any previous doubts of mine. If anything, it just proves his talent is being entirely wasted on a project like this, as a few directing tricks ain't nearly enough to pull it back on its' feet.
Yuck. The happy-go-lucky J-pop feel of the opening and ending made me nauseous. OST and voice acting aren't anything too impressive but get the job done. KanaHana going "Eh?" 20 times per episode made me want to nom on a handgun.
It's been made very evident to me that I'm not the target demographic for this show. Orange is like my antithesis in every sense of the word, from the obnoxious cast and generic plot, to the subpar theme exploration and lacklustre pacing. Trying to complete this series was excruciating in every sense of the word. There was no light at the end of this dark, desolate tunnel. After finishing it, my psyche feels like it's been violently flushed down the toilet, head-first and everything. What was it all for? For the credibility of this review? Definitely not worth it. Apart from the directing choice, there was not a single enjoyable element in Orange to be found. Even the driving force of the show - The drama which all fans of the show (fujoshi, mainly just fujoshi) gush over felt surreal and managed to miss its mark entirely. Muh depression :<
At its core Orange is an extremely character-driven show and as such, a weak cast is the biggest detriment it can possibly have. Poor characterization accompanied by constant, God-awful melodrama and a false perception on serious subjects like depression and suicide drag the series through the dirt, when it could have been much, much more. While the themes themselves are fairly intriguing as they are rarely ever brought up within the medium, the lack of proper execution doesn't give them much of anything to stand on, and as such, they tend to violently tumble over and fall into the realm of boring impracticality, where they'll soon after be forgotten. It prioritizes constant melodrama over everything else, and suffers heavily because of it. Every weaker aspect is subsequently amplified as the show progresses, and the only way it can be fully appreciated is if the doctor's prescription of sleeping pills is currently at a standstill.
Alternative Titles
Japanese: orange(オレンジ)
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
13
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jul 4, 2016 to Sep 26, 2016
Premiered:
Summer 2016
Broadcast:
Mondays at 00:00 (JST)
Producers:
TMS Entertainment, DAX Production, TOHO animation, Lawson, ABC Animation, MediaLink Entertainment Limited
Studios:
Telecom Animation Film
Source:
Manga
Demographic:
Shoujo
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#14632
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#222
Members:
844,623
Favorites:
7,082
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 198 / 212
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Your Feelings Categories Sep 25, 2016
[Spoiler Warning]
It’s a well known fact that shoujo anime have never been the most original pieces of work. They follow a very basic and straightforward structure, and more often than not end up feeling way too dramatized and overly-melodramatic for no apparent reason. Once you've seen one you've seen them all, right? Some people would beg to differ, and as to disprove my claim the adaptation of Orange reared its ugly head out of the deepest depths of shoujo hell itself to quickly rise to the top of this season's charts, smirking all the while it does it. Watch as the magnificent story of Orange ... Sep 25, 2016
[CONTAIN SPOILERS]
_INTRO_ School life is so fascinating and a typical shojo romance without a setting in high school isn't common, "orange" is no different but there's a lot more to it than just being your every day's anime. __PLOT___ The plot is quite open from the first episode itself,nothing much of suspense.we're being introduced to Naho a 16-year-old girl,about to attend her second ... Sep 25, 2016
Adorned with lush textures of green and wrapped up in the endless blue horizon of the summer sky, Orange rests softly on the lips like a faint drop of nostalgia just waiting to be recollected. Approaching the quiet slice of countryside that remained dormant over many winters, we're flung back ten years to where it all began. The place where two paths collided but only one was allowed to move forward. A place tucked away behind walls of foliage, cradled in a valley older than time itself. There it resides, a small town that carries with it a sense of cultural simplicity that only the
...
Sep 25, 2016
Tell me, dear reader, why do you think this series is called Orange? Is it because of the symbolic orange juice from episode three? Is it because the main character’s hair looks rather orange in the sunlight? Both are interesting and passable theories, but I would like to present my own:
It’s because the main character has the intelligence of an orange. Orange is one of those common scenarios where the show starts off pretty well but then fizzles out towards the end, but not really because it has strong drama in the beginning that falls apart later--in fact, the first episodes are not particularly overwhelming. But ... Sep 25, 2016
"Sometimes it's better to learn from the past than to try and go back changing it all... But if given the chance, what would we really do?"
-Anonymous Have you ever regretted something so much you'd do anything possible to change the outcome? Maybe it was something as trivial as not asking that one person out, forever leaving the question out there of "what if?" Or perhaps you even knew of someone hurting internally from depression, and didn't give your best effort to help them cope, with the worst possible outcome reaching fruition. At times, this can make us feel helpless, responsible or even apathetic. Hindsight is ... Oct 9, 2016
Aw, those sweet teenage years, your first crush, those sunny afternoons hanging out with friends, that hot suicidal boy your future self told you to hook up with… Wait, wut?
Introducing Orange, an anime that will challenge your patience with a super original game of Will they, won’t they? and ultimately makes you wish that not only the angsty-but-kind-at-heart Kakeru, but all the rest of the cast dies in the end. Story I have to admit, I really enjoyed the first two episodes of the show. We’re introduced to a bunch of friends and their sweet dynamics, everything feels super sweet and lovely. The main character, Naho, receives ... Sep 26, 2016
"Life comes in twists and turns" - a line from Orange
LA couldn't said it any better... Orange was one of the more prominent and known drama anime to come out of Summer 2016 and for the most part, the popularity of this show is justified, however there were something that irked LA by the halfway point to it, as most media do, they have subjective and objective flaws no matter what. Orange is another one of the anime with the trend of "time travel" used, but for the majority of Orange, the "time travel" is a small element and "speculation" to the plot that a major focus ... Oct 19, 2022
I am not a big fan of shoujo shows (or manga). Mostly because it is the most formulaic type of all media. But that doesn't mean when one title catches my interest (like this one) I don't give it a try.
I liked the cast of characters. The personality and acting of the main female lead makes her more of a hit or miss (I had no issues with her); but the way she and her friends act together is really heartwarming. Their friendly interactions are likable and it seems they trust each other, since they are willing to talk about their issues to each other ... Nov 17, 2016
You know, I thought I was immune to being disappointed by anime at this point of my life, but apparently the medium still hasn't lost it when it comes to getting my hopes up, only to crash them back down with more impact than Icarus hitting the ocean after he flew too close to the sun. I mean obviously I'm not a fan of the manga having never read it, but Orange really looked promising based on the limited research I did. A shoujo romance that was only five volumes long and critical acclaims across the board with a premise that goes beyond the usual
...
Sep 26, 2016
Orange strikes me as a typical over-dramatic romance Shoujo with a bit of spicy added to it.
STORY Orange starts off a bit different when comparing it to other Shoujos. One evening, our MC Naho gets a letter with information written to herself from her future self. The letter contains the exact events of the day, including the fact that there will be a new transfer student in her class. The Naho of the future gives the present Naho plenty of instructions on what to do, so that she will have no regrets. My first problem begins with the time traveling aspect. If the future is ... Sep 25, 2016
*No spoilers*
Orange is a nice anime. If you're looking for an anime that's fast-paced, comedic and unpredictable, then you should definitely look elsewhere, but that, in no way, means that this anime is bad. Orange is a simple, slow paced high school drama, but, unlike many others of it's kind, it remains realistic. Of course, these are still teenagers, so it isn't unlikely for the viewer to get frustrated by a few actions (or lack there of) caused by misunderstandings and teenage insecurity, but the drama makes good use of these moments for character growth and other such things. Orange is an anime makes you feel all ... Sep 25, 2016
What if one day you recieved information about a certain tragic event that will take place in the future, you know it's gonna happen..how are you gonna change it? what if something you do only makes it worse? what if changing it affects someone else? there is no way to know for sure, you never what could happen unless you act...maybe that's why the show is called "Orange" (?) you know it has a taste but it is unpredictable, it could sweet,sour..you never know unless you take a bite. I don't know, I could very well be wrong here.
This is story of "Orange", One morning ... Sep 25, 2016
Suicide and other mental conditions like it are a difficult subject to comprehend when you aren't the person who is having the thought or desire to kill yourself thinking that the world would be better off if your existence was wiped from it. It's something that many people face and it becomes a difficult barrier to overcome when one doesn't have someone there to try and help. So, we have Orange, a...confusing series that despite having such themes and a plotline revolving around it, doesn't actually do it very well.
Story: Takamiya Naho one day finds a strange letter addressed to her in her ... Sep 25, 2016
Often times, the shoujo genre focuses a lot on the romance, relationships, and drama. Orange doesn’t exactly stray from that either considering romance is part of the show. However, the series adds a bit more of a twist in the form of time travel. You heard right. Time travel. It’s a plot element used in the series to forge the overall story as we see how events of the past really can affect events in the future.
Adapted from the manga of the same name, this series seemed overdue given the context and something that can easily fit within the anime medium. It has already received ... Feb 7, 2019
Orange is an adaptation of a manga of the same name. A manga that was hyped to high heavens but seemed to have been quickly forgotten not too long afterwards... The anime had a similar fate and I think I know why.
This review will contain spoilers throughout. This story is about a married 26 year old mother who found a way to send a letter to her past self from 10 years earlier, in an attempt to fix her regret and save a male friend of hers (who also happened to be a potential love interest) from committing suicide around that time. Of course, anybody with ... Sep 25, 2016
In a world where tragedy happens, do you think you could change it?
The final episode was just released so I wanted to write a review while it was still fresh in my mind. I should also note that this is my first review. Lets get right into the story. Orange, in my opinion, is much more than a typical romance, high school drama. It tackles the touchy subject of death, and how it can effect even the smallest thing. From the beginning you learn that something tragic happens in the future, so with this in mind you are rooting for the MC (Naho) the entire time, ... Dec 11, 2023
I'm not usually one to write reviews about animes, and I doubt my username is helping me emphasize my appreciation for this anime.
Aside from awkward close up shots the animation itself is generally quite pretty. But animation quality is not what this is about. This short and sweet anime spoke to me in volumes and reminded me of a time when I struggled with severe depression back when I was younger. Orange really goes out of its way to depict all the gut wrenching assortments that come with depression. Ultimately Orange is a story about one's struggle with loss, fear, detachment, loneliness, and acceptance which creates ... Oct 1, 2016
What I liked:
-The animation was alright. It wasn't amazing but wasn't terrible either although the quality did seem to reduce a bit towards the end. -Sound was alright too. -Includes some more serious themes (depression, suicide) and also a little sci-fi elements (parallel worlds). What I didn't liked: -The female main character, Naho, was incredibly annoying and got increasingly annoying as the episodes went on. She is the generic shoujo female main with an extremely shy personality but a nice and caring person to her friends. -The male main character, Kakeru, wasn't much better but a slightly easier to understand when you look at his circumstances. Nevertheless, ... Sep 25, 2016
So for the past three months or so, I have been watching Orange every Sunday. At first, it was an enjoyable experience- bittersweet- like the plot intends for it to be. After Episode 5 or 6, however, things begin to take a weird turn. You see, I read the manga a few months before the anime started airing because I wanted to see the story unfold in its original creative form and enjoy the characters, plot, etc, just in case the anime adaptation ruined it.
Did it? In a way, yes. ~~ Story (8/10): ~~ As far as the story goes, it stays the same as the ... Oct 13, 2016
Everyone has the desire to turn back time to do things that they should have done instead. The future self filled with regret vs. the present self filled with ignorance. What happens when the two collide? Enter the story of Orange, presented as a romance drama with a time-travel twist yet it finds a good balance between them.
The story starts out with Naho receiving a letter from herself 10 years in the future. It details about the incoming arrival of Kakeru in her life and how she must save him because he’ll die in the future. What I like about this predicament is that Naho ... |