Orange (manga)

Orange (オレンジ, Orenji) is a slice of life romance shōjo/seinen manga series written and illustrated by Ichigo Takano.^[1][2] It was first serialized in 2012 in Bessatsu Margaret manga magazine and later in Monthly Action.^[2] It has been compiled into 5 volumes so far. It's published in English (online) by Crunchyroll,^[2] in French by Akata^[1] and in Spain by Ediciones Tomodomo . A live action film adaptation of the same name was released on December 12, 2015.^[3]

Plot

One day, Takamiya Naho receives a letter written to herself from ten years in the future. As Naho reads on, the letter recites the exact events of the day, including the transfer of a new student into her class named Naruse Kakeru.

The Naho from ten years later repeatedly states that she has many regrets, and she wants to fix these by making sure the Naho from the past can make the right decisions—especially regarding Kakeru. What's more shocking is that she discovers that ten years later, Kakeru will no longer be with them. Future Naho asks her to watch over him closely.

Characters

• Takamiya Naho^[1] is a highschool girl who receives a letter from herself ten years in the future. At the beginning she ignores the letter but when she realizes that everything written there is true, she makes the impossible to save Kakeru.
• Naruse Kakeru^[1] is a transfer from Tokyo. On the first day of classes his mother told him to return home directly because she had to go to the doctor with him, but he did not follow her and went out with Naho and her friends. That same day his mother committed suicide. Regreting everything in his life, Kakeru commits suicide, making everyone think it was an accident.

In the new past, Naho tries to save him, making everything in his mind change.

• Suwa Hiroto^[1] is Naho's bestfriend and is in love with her. After Kakeru's death, ten years later, he marries Naho and have children but after seeing Naho's sadness he writes a letter for himself and asks him to make Naho happy even if he is not the one by her side.
• Chino Takako^[1] is Naho's friend. She also received a letter from herself in the future, so she helps Naho and Kakeru to be together.
• Hagita Saku^[1] is Naho's friend and likes reading manga. He also received a letter from himself and helps Kakeru. He likes Azusa but denies it.
• Murasaka Azusa^[1] is also Naho's friend. She received a letter from her future self and helps Naho and Kakeru. Ten years in the future she is married with Hagita.

Volumes

• 1 (Shueisha: July 25, 2012; Futabasha: December 25, 2013)^[4][5]
• 2 (Shueisha: November 22, 2012; Futabasha: December 25, 2013)^[6][7]
• 3 (Futabasha: August 22, 2014)^[8]

Reception

Volume 1 reached the 30th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and, as of July 29, 2012, has sold 31,451 copies;^[9] volume 2 reached the 31st place^[10] and, as of December 2, 2012, has sold 68,977 copies;^[11] volume 3 reached the 20th place^[12] and, as of September 7, 2014, has sold 111,934 copies.^[13]

On manga-news.com, it has a staff grade of 17.5 out of 20;^[1] volume 1 was chosen by the staff as one of the top manga of the week as a "new [release] crush"^[14] and volume 2 was also chosen as one of the top manga of the week.^[15] On planetebd.com, it has a staff grade of "good, nice".^[16]

It was number 23 on the 15th Book of the Year list by Da Vinci magazine.^[17]

Information

• Yume Miru Taiyō, another manga series by the same author
• A live-action film was released on December 12, 2015 in Japan with Tao Tsuchiya and Yamazaki Kento as the main characters; directed by Kojiro Hashimoto and written by Arisa Kaneko.

References

External links

• Orange at Crunchyroll
• Orange (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia