Orange (manga)


Orange is a Japanese romance manga series written and illustrated by Ichigo Takano, aimed at the shōjo and seinen demographics. It was first serialized in 2012 in Bessatsu Margaret manga magazine and later in Monthly Action. It has been compiled into 6 volumes as of 2017. Its chapters are published online in English by Crunchyroll and in print by Seven Seas Entertainment. It is also published in France by Akata, in Poland by Waneko, and in Spain by Ediciones Tomodomo. A live action film adaptation of the same name was released on December 12, 2015. An anime television adaptation started to air in July 2016. A spin-off to the manga began serialization on March 25, 2016, in the Monthly Action magazine published by Futabasha. An anime theatrical film, titled Orange: Future, premiered in Japan on November 18, 2016.
On August 22, 2019, it was announced that a 7th volume will be published which will serve as the true finale.

Plot

In Matsumoto, Naho Takamiya, a second year high school student, receives letters sent from herself 10 years into the future. Her future self asks her to prevent her "biggest regrets", which has something to do with the new transfer student from Tokyo, a boy named Kakeru Naruse. At first skeptical, Naho begins to believe the letters as they accurately predict events. When the letter asks her not to invite Kakeru to go out for the first day, Naho and her friends decide to invite him anyway. Kakeru ends up not attending school for the next two weeks.
To prevent another mistake, Naho resolves to do what the letters order her to do, such as volunteering on a softball round, encouraging Kakeru to join the soccer team, objecting to him pursuing a relationship with an upperclassman, and insisting that the two watch the fireworks alone. Naho learns from the letters that in the future Kakeru is dead, having died by suicide around Valentine's Day in the same school year in which he enrolled.
During the Bon Festival, Kakeru explains to Naho the reason for his absence: his mother died by suicide because of a mental breakdown caused by him leaving her for friends, and not taking her to the hospital on the day of enrollment as he promised. This causes Naho to also feel guilty, as she feels they share responsibility for Kakeru's mother's death. Later on, Suwa tells Naho that he has also received letters from his future self, asking him to be a good friend to Kakeru and save him from his death. Suwa hides the fact that he and Naho are married and have a child in the future, as he realizes Naho and Kakeru are in love. Although he has feelings for Naho, his future self realizes by saving Kakeru, he is giving up a future with Naho. Because he knows of their feelings, he listens to the letters and supports them as much as possible. Later, Azusa, and Hagita, and Chino admit they have received similar letters. They all agree that though they may not be able to change the fate of their future selves, they may create a parallel universe where Kakeru is still alive.
To cheer up Kakeru, the five friends organize a celebration for his 17th birthday, in which Kakeru confesses his feelings to a surprised Naho. The five also join the relay race team to back Kakeru. With his friends' encouragement, Kakeru wins the race. As his reward for winning the race, Kakeru kisses Naho. However, on New Year's Eve, Naho and Kakeru argue over the latter's grandmother's health. The two become distant over the following weeks, up until the day that Kakeru is supposed to die by suicide, as Naho manages to confess her feelings as well as telling Kakeru to share his plan for suicide.
On the night of Kakeru's supposed death, the friends' plan to meet up is interrupted as Kakeru does not arrive on time. The five search throughout Matsumoto and manage to stop him from getting hit by a truck. Kakeru apologizes, telling them that he had been thinking of suicide, but at the last second decided not to after realizing that doing so would mean that he would never see his friends again.

Characters

;Naho Takamiya
;Kakeru Naruse
;Hiroto Suwa
;Takako Chino
;Saku Hagita
;Azusa Murasaka
;Rio Ueda

Media

Manga

The original manga series is written and illustrated by Ichigo Takano, and originally began serialization on March 13, 2012 in Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret, however switched to Futabasha's Monthly Action in 2013. The first tankōbon was released by Shueisha on July 25, 2012, who published two volumes of the series. The first two volumes were later republished by Futabasha on December 25, 2013. The manga ended serialization on August 25, 2015, and the fifth volume was published on November 12, 2015. It was later announced that an additional sixth volume based on Orange: Future would serve as the final volume, which was released on May 31, 2017. The series is licensed in English in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment, who published the series in two omnibus volumes. Crunchyroll Manga simultaneously published the series on their website.
A spin off manga began serialization in Monthly Action on March 25, 2016.

Live action

A live-action film adaptation was released on December 12, 2015 in Japan with Tao Tsuchiya and Kento Yamazaki as the main characters; directed by Kojiro Hashimoto and written by Arisa Kaneko.

Anime

The anime adaptation of Orange is produced by Telecom Animation Film, directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki and Naomi Nakayama, and written by Yūko Kakihara. The series premiered on July 4, 2016 on Tokyo MX and AT-X. The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll outside of Asia, while Funimation produced an English dub as the series aired. The opening theme song is "Hikari no Hahen" by Yu Takahashi, and the ending theme song is "Mirai" by Kobukuro, which also served as the main theme song for the live-action film and the anime series.

Episode list

Film

An anime theatrical film, titled Orange: Future, was announced at the end of the television anime's final episode. The film will retell the series' main story from Suwa's viewpoint, and will also feature an original story written by Takano which is set after the anime and manga series. It is scheduled for a 2-week premiere in Japanese theaters that premiered on November 18, 2016.

Reception

Volume 1 reached the 30th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and, as of July 29, 2012, has sold 31,451 copies; volume 2 reached the 31st place and, as of December 2, 2012, has sold 68,977 copies; volume 3 reached the 20th place and, as of September 7, 2014, has sold 111,934 copies.
On manga-news.com, it has a staff grade of 17.5 out of 20; volume 1 was chosen by the staff as one of the top manga of the week as a "new crush" and volume 2 was also chosen as one of the top manga of the week. On planetebd.com, it has a staff grade of "good, nice". It was number 23 on the 15th Book of the Year list by Da Vinci magazine.
The English release was reviewed favorably by Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network, who gave both omnibus collections an overall A− score. She praised the "poignant and moving" story, but warned the issue of suicide may make it a difficult read for some people. Eva de Gans of Dutch magazine Aniway recommended the series, praising its visuals and "endearing and relatable" cast of characters, while criticizing Naho and Kakeru's characterizations as passive, timid characters and the "unconvincing" explanation of the time travel. The series was nominated for the 2017 Eisner Award in the "Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia" category.
The second omnibus volume reached number 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list for manga on June 19, 2016, where it remained on the list for four weeks.