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Review

by Theron Martin,

Orange

(live-action movie)

Synopsis:
Orange
Though she has a solid group of friends, 16-year-old Naho Takamiya is rather shy. Her high school life gets upended when she receives a mysterious letter supposedly from her 26-year-old self. Though she is incredulous at first, too much of what the letter says comes to pass, most of it concerning Kakeru Naruse, a new transfer student from Tokyo. The future Naho begs the current-time Naho to remedy the things that she has regrets about, most of which concern Naruse too. At first it's just little things, like passing on a chance to make Kakeru lunch, but gradually the stakes become more severe. For Naho and her friends, the consequences of those regrets run far deeper than just missed opportunities for love.
Review:

The first two volumes of Ichigo Takano's manga have already been released in the States, and its anime adaptation is one of the most anticipated shows of the Summer 2016 season. Before the anime version came along though, a live-action version was also made, released in Japanese theaters in December 2015.

The story is ostensibly a sci fi tale about communication across time, but it actually plays out more like a pure romantic drama. Though 90% of the tale takes place in 2015, it occasionally flashes forward to 2025 to show how the older Naho came to send her letter to her past self. The rest of the story is about Naho gradually growing to accept the truth of the letter and attempting to change things based on its contents, first acting alone and later with the help of her friends. In the process, she finds herself genuinely falling in love.

The most intriguing aspect of the story is the uncertainty under which Naho must act. Is just preventing regrets going to be enough to solve her problems? Or will her actions only spin off into new problems? When have future events changed enough that other changes might not need to be made? And what are the consequences for missing the most important – and yet seemingly most innocent – regret? These are all questions that hang over Naho and her friends as they attempt to remedy the most dire and complex problem concerning Kakeru. The ultimate solution isn't too surprising, but it's definitely satisfying because of all of the effort that goes into the setup.

Neither of the lead actors is a stranger to anime-related productions. Kakeru's Kento Yamazaki previously played L for the live-action Death Note TV series, while Naho's Tao Tsuchiya voiced the 10-year-old version of Satoru in ERASED, along with a handful of other live-action projects. Both turn in only mediocre efforts for fairly challenging roles, but the same could said of the other major cast members as well. Too much of each character's behavior just seems manufactured or forced. Some of the problem definitely belongs to the director, who sets up a few too many scenes that look extremely staged rather than creating a scene that plays out naturally.

Despite these shortcomings, the story still works. The plot offers a couple of substantial twists, the way that scenes come together by the end is convincing, and the camaraderie among the group of friends that absorb Kakeru seems genuine. The so-so acting also does not manage to limit the movie's emotional appeal. There are multiple points that could get viewers choked up or teary-eyed, and some of them come in unexpected places. If the upcoming anime version manages to capture this tone, then we could be looking at one of the year's biggest tearjerkers, despite its seeming lack of traditionally tragic content.

Production standards are typical for Japanese live-action adaptations: not bad, but not Hollywood-grade either. The movie uses a gentle and very understated musical score that doesn't actually contribute much to its emotional appeal.

If you like teen romance flavored with a bit of time-shift action, this is a movie worth checking out.

Grade:
Overall (sub) : B
Story : B
Music : B

+ Has a strong emotional appeal, surprisingly involving story, doesn't take cheap “outs”
Acting is often unimpressive, runs a few minutes longer than it needs to

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Production Info:
Director: Mitsujirō Hashimoto
Script: Arisa Kaneko
Music: Yoshihide Otomo
Original creator: Ichigo Takano

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Orange (live-action movie)

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