Story Discussions

Orange (Manga+Live Action) [Spoilers]

Orange. This is the title of a story I will never forget, and it will always remain in my heart as I go through life with my friends. It was written by Takano Ichigo, who, from reading this manga, has given me the impression that she (I hope Ichigo is a she, it's hard to tell from such anonymous like authors-although I like the anonymous-ness of a lot of mangakas, it gives them an air of mastery.) is a totemo subarashii author.

I first read the manga when I was craving a sweet and somewhat corny romance to read during my studies; I had stockpiled a new list of manga to read for whenever I need a fix, and Orange was one of them. I chose to read Orange first because it was short, the storyline entrigued me a bit - the synopsis didn't give too much away, just enough to leave me asking a few questions - , and the art cover looked really cute. However, I soon discovered that this manga was a lot more worthy of my first read than I originally perceived.

This story is about love, friendship and regrets: how regrets can weigh us down, but also encourage us to make a change; how friendship and love can allow us to make moral choices, and how friendship and love can ultimately give us a reason to live.

Just recently, the subbed version of the Orange Japanese live action movie came out, and as soon as I heard, I was itching to finish my schoolwork and find a time to watch it. I'm still debating with myself whether reading the manga first or watching the movie is better, but I think I've concluded that reading the manga - given that it's only 22 chapters, about 2-3 sessions worth of reading - it's worth having a full picture before watching the movie. The movie, in my opinion is a complement to the manga - mind you, the live action is an utterly beautiful replication and adaptation of the manga to a T.

[Disclaimer: from now on, spoilers are ahead. Please, if you haven't read Orange and/or watched the live action, do not read on until you have. Me = strongly against ruining individual experience.]

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I believe that the story is highly centred around Kakeru and Naho, and the other friends warm up on you, but to be honest, I couldn't recall the other two female friends' names without doing a quick search. Hagita is a gorgeous character, he puts about 80 percent of the humour into the story, and his love interest Azusa (I ship them (*o*) although we weren't given many other options) is totally cute. Hagita saved the day afterall ;P SUPER HAGITA!

Suwa is also a beautiful character. He brings life to the group, he's like the father of them all, always looking out for them. He had to sacrifice his own love for Naho, and try his best to encourage Kakeru and Naho together because he knew that saving Kakeru was more important. Poor boy. The way that Takano makes us feel better about Suwa's sacrifice is how she paralleled the two worlds, where in one Suwa and Naho are married and have a child.

Speaking of the parallel worlds, I loved it. There wasn't much of a technical explanation on how exactly they transported the letters through time, but that wasn't that important. If you're the kind of person that would read this kind of manga about the growth of love and friendship, worrying about the technicalities shouldn't be important. Although, in the live action, they portrayed a slightly different delivery of the letters, in the form of a will of heart through the cherry blossom trees, which is not in the manga, but it is a beautiful and acceptable adaptation nonetheless. The fact that the Naho, Suwa and the rest from the future wrote letters for them in the past, fully knowing that it would not change their own lives and bring Kakeru back, but it would bring Kakeru back for the other world, shows an air of selflessness and love.

Kakeru and Naho's relationship gave me feels from the get go. They have such a beautiful, simple relationship and love between them, that soon becomes quite complex as Naho reads the letters from her future self, and spends more time with Kakeru. Naho reminds me of myself at times, when she is often too shy to do something different,  to do what her future self is telling her to do. It's hard to make the smallest change when it's something you wouldn't have done on your own.

All the characters in the live action are perfectly cast for each of the main characters, I believe Japan has a talent for this kind of casting, but this is ultimately the best I've witnessed. On top of things that are the best, I think this live action is the best I've come across as of yet. There were some parts of the live action that I kind of liked better than the manga, or rather, it made more sense. But like I said, the movie complements or enhances the already beautiful manga to the max.

I love the metaphors that are made, I'm not sure if this was exactly in the manga, but when Kakeru and Naho were trying to carry a big heavy mat on their own, and Kakeru's ankle was injured, they were struggling, just like how Naho is the only one who Kakeru confided in, and they are trying to continue on, but it's not enough. Then suddenly the rest of the fam come in and hold the mat, and lift the 'weight' off of Kakeru, saying "it's okay to let us take the weight, if it's too heavy, don't try to take it on your own." Then Kakeru lets go, and the mat is easily carried by the rest of them, even without Kakeru. Also in the live action, I loved the way that a lot of the time the characters would just take their time to respond to each other, kind of what it's like in reality, it takes a while to register everything. They do it do beautifully.

This story holds a special resonance in my heart, as Kakeru reminds me a lot of my best friend, and the friends remind me a lot of myself and my friend group, of a similar number. I shed many tears in the manga and again watching the live action - it definitely pulled on my heartstrings. It's a manga and a movie that I would gladly invest in if I found it in hard copy. I hope you found something out of this story too (*^^*)

~LaraRara