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Orange
Episode 13

by Nick Creamer,

How would you rate episode 13 of
Orange ?
Community score: 4.2

The date of Kakeru's original death approached slowly in Orange's final episode, as Naho steeled herself to reconnect with him on Valentine's Day. These early minutes of this double-length finale were easily the episode's weakest, as the combination of consistent production woes and over-repeated dramatic material offered one more example of Orange's worst features. The show has had to work hard to drag its drama out over thirteen episodes, and beginning with a largely redundant series of anxious conversations between the show's cast only played into that failing.

Fortunately, everything from Naho and Kakeru's eventual meeting onward was far stronger. From the production to the pacing to the underlying writing, Naho and Kakeru's Valentine reunion was Orange at its best. The idea of future Naho finally getting her feelings through to the current Kakeru was gracefully conveyed through both dialogue and workmanly match cuts, and Kakeru's feelings were understandable and well-observed as usual. Kakeru's fear of hurting Naho is a fairly common romantic comedy obstacle, but in his case, it made sense based on his own self-hatred. And Kakeru's description of his suicidal depression rang wincingly true.

Kakeru's depression didn't express itself as anger at the world or pessimism about the people surrounding him. Kakeru's anger was all directed at himself, and it only continued to build as he isolated himself and then blamed himself for that isolation. His depression has consistently been expressed as a combination of vicious emotional cycles and a loss of joy in the world, and this turning point was smartly framed not as a return to happiness, but a return to desiring happiness. You don't immediately climb back out of suicidal depression, but arriving at the capacity to believe you could be happy some time in the future is a massive and critical step. Beyond coming to terms with his guilt, Kakeru was desperately in need of some kind of hope, some belief in a future day worth living for.

That hope is ultimately what saves him, when the discovery of his mother's last message nearly brings him to repeat the events of the first timeline. Both his retreat into despair and his ultimate turning from it felt very realistic. Even though Naho had gotten closer to him in this timeline, his mother's text message was still a cutting blow - frankly, it seemed almost perfectly written to amplify Kakeru's existing guilt. But in the end, it's not necessarily our conscious weighing of feelings that guides us; at the moment of truth, Kakeru just happened to flash back to the happier times he spent with friends in this timeline, once again realizing the possibility of happiness in his future.

I was also happy to see the group ultimately admit the truth to Kakeru and show him their letters. “We have to save Kakeru, but we can't let him know anything about it” has always been an awkward sticking point in Orange - even within the earlier scenes of this episode, their knowledge of the future made for an uncomfortable wall between them and the boy they were trying to help. It was a smart choice to not have Kakeru make a big deal of this reveal in either a practical or emotional sense - the letter conceit only gets more contrived the more it gets prioritized, so simply letting this scene end in an affirmation of their collective bond was the right call.

Of course, Orange's finale couldn't help itself from doing some more ill-advised rambling about time travel in its first-timeline segments, and nearly every scene continued for longer than it had to, but that's all become part of the package with Orange. Overall, while this finale didn't do much to address the show's consistent failings, it succeeded in selling its own emotional peaks on the back of its consistently excellent character writing. Orange was a messy show, but it was very good at pulling itself together for the key moments. I'm happy to see this sensitive little drama end on a strong note.

Overall: B+

Orange is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.


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