That's how I would summarize Orange in a single sentence.
Story - 4/10
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First of all, let's talk about the core plot device of this anime ~ Time Travel. Here's the thing about time travel,
1) You explain completely how it happens (or)
2) You don't explain it at all because the focus of your anime is something else. So you leave the viewers to come up with some sort of romantic connotation for it.
Orange did neither. It just half-assed the whole thing.
[Spoilers below]
The second thing that bugged me about this story was the entire motivation behind the intense desire to save Kakeru. Let's get the facts straight. In the original timeline, Kakeru was always depressed, wasn't part of any club, didn't have most of the sweet moments with the group, and so on. How did he become such an important person to them that they regretted it so much 10 years into the future that Suwa and Naho were willing to sacrifice their own lives together to save him?
But the most important thing that absolutely made no sense to me were the actions future Naho took. So basically she was open to sacrifice her life with Suwa and was ready to forsake their FUCKING KID to save this one dude whom she had a crush on for half a year of high school. Just try to wrap your head around that for a minute. Just made me personally feel bad for Suwa who is one the nicest characters written in anime. Of course, she could've structured her letter better to make sure that they all save Kakeru while still not sacrificing the relationship with Suwa. But yeah, no, that didn't happen.
Playing the devil's advocate to myself here, maybe Naho and Suwa wouldn't have gotten together in the first place if it weren't for the death of Kakeru. So maybe she is not as senseless as I think she is. But still, just a pet peeve.
Character - 5/10
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Suwa, the bro-est of all bros. He made the anime worth the watch along with Hagita, Asuza and that one tall girl. And this anime would've been a 10/10 if Hagita and Asuza were the two main MCs.
Air-heads and bird-brained girls are a common anime troupe. Normally you'd expect these kind of characters to provide some comical relief along with another character in a relevant anime. But Naho here is so annoyingly dumb it was infuriating to watch. Made me want to drop the anime around the middle. Can't really comment on the character of Kakeru because yeah, can't really relate or make an insensitive comment about a guy with suicidal tendencies. But then again, if I'm ever so inclined, I can definitely empathize with him, but he could've directed those frustrations a little better.
But again, Suwa, what a freaking strong and open-hearted character.
Sound - 8/10
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Pretty good. Both the OP and ED fit in so well.
Animation - 8/10
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Kinda went to shit in the middle but other than that, the style fit the theme of the show really well.
In the end, Orange had the potential to be a true 10/10 anime that could've been hailed as a classic. But it got so many things wrong. However, it also got a couple of things right, mostly the friendship between the group. Maybe if they had removed the romance from the show and made it completely about friendship... it could've been something.
Orange. Watch it for Suwa and the rest.
...and why is it called Orange again?
