I just discovered this title yesterday night, and I just had to write a post on it...どうしても!
The manga, written and illustrated by Takano Ichigo, consists of just 5 volumes - and that is enough to take your heart on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Orange was serialized from 2012 to 2015, followed by a live action adaptation in December 2015 starring the popular actor Yamazaki Kento, and finally an anime adaption that aired its first episode on July 4th (my birthday y'all!!) this year.
I chanced upon it as I was looking at the list of ongoing anime series on the site I usually watch my anime and was hooked from the first episode. The detailed, realistic art of the anime adaptation depicting the mountain city of Matsumoto is reminiscent of the style of Makoto Shinkai (of the 5 Centimeters Per Second fame).
Matsumoto really exists, in case you're wondering - it's situated in Nagano Prefecture on the main Honshu Island of Japan. And nope, it's not the first time the setting of an anime is based on an actual site. In fact, the fame of such anime titles help to boost tourism in these places that inspired these anime, contributing to the growing popularity of pop-culture tourism. I myself have a bucket list of places in Japan I want to visit because of the animes that were inspired by them - Yuwaku Hot Spring in Kanazawa, Ishikawa (from Hanasaku Iroha), Hitoyoshi City in Kumamoto Prefecture (from Natsume Yuujinchou) - just to name a couple. And もちろん, Matsumoto is a new addition to this bucket list!
Back to Orange - (possible spoilers ahead!)
The storyline of Orange is played out in two timelines that alternate at certain points - one of the "past", and one of the "future".
The "future" follows five friends - Naho, Suwa, Takako, Azusa and Hagita - who meet together 10 years after they graduated from high school. The reason for their gathering - to pay respects to their friend Naruse Kakeru, who passed away 10 years ago. As they dig up a time capsule the six of them buried 10 years ago and visit Kakeru's grandmother, they find out that Kakeru's death was not caused by an accident, but by committing suicide.
In the "past", 16 year-old Takamiya Naho finds a letter addressed to her by her own self from 10 years in the future. She initially thinks that the letter is a prank, but comes to realise that the contents of the letter is true when the letter predicts events like Kakeru's transfer to her school and other happenings. As she reads on further, she finds requests from her future self - to not make the same decisions she would regret, and to save Kakeru.
What really struck a chord in me was the internal conflicts faced by the main character Naho. She is given foresight into what would happen and the regrets she would have as a result of the decisions she makes by her future self, yet she still struggles with her decisions at the moment. In one scene, she gets frustrated and thinks about how easy it would be for her future self to tell her what to do, since "she" isn't the one who has to go through the difficulty. I think about the many things I'd write to my past self - the things I'd implore me to do and not regret - and wonder if I would actually have the resolve to right the wrongs of the past at those moments in time.
Currently there's only four episodes out in the still-ongoing series, but I couldn't wait and finished up the manga in a few hours (thankfully and sadly it's only five volumes). The plot progression is really satisfying, and not filled with plot cliches. Even though I know the whole story and how it ends now, I'm still anticipating the next episode, and the next... and the next...
Anyway, here's the PV of the anime adaptation! It has no captions so I took some time to translate Naho's voiceover to the best of my limited Japanese language abilities :')
In the present, 10 years into the future, Kakeru is not here with us.
I'm writing this letter, so that the 16 year-old me won't regret the things I am regretting.
If only at that place, at that time, at that moment...
If only I had noticed the most precious thing...
The me living 10 years in the past,
From here on there is a lot of happiness and bliss waiting in store for you.
I ask of you, please notice that happiness...
I hope you will not get rid of that happiness.
Aaaand the live action PV which almost made me tear again even though I've already watched the movie :')
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