Orange: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 by Ichigo Takano Review

Hello bookworms! I’m back this week with another review, this time of a manga!

I’ve been a fan of anime for a couple of years now, but I didn’t get into manga until last year. Shamefully, I must confess that I’ve been more into the manga collecting side of things rather than the actual reading part of it. My manga collection is pretty impressive at the moment, but the number of manga I’ve actually read is disappointing. To make matters worse, a large majority of manga I’ve read were from the library, rather than books I spent my hard earned money on.

So to remedy this flaw of mine, I decided to finish Orange: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 this month. I picked up this book at Barnes and Noble months ago, read the first volume of this omnibus, then put it down. I’d heard amazing things about this series, so when I finally spotted it at Barnes and Noble, I knew I had to get it.

Orange: The Complete Collection Vol. 1

Orange: The Complete Collection Vol. 1, by Ichigo Takano

Release Date: January 2016

Genre: Sci-fi, Romance, Drama, Shoujo, YA

Goodreads

Synopsis:

On the day that Naho begins 11th grade, she receives a letter from herself ten years in the future. At first, she writes it off as a prank, but as the letter’s predictions come true one by one, Naho realizes that the letter might be the real deal. Her future self tells Naho that a new transfer student, a boy named Kakeru, will soon join her class. The letter begs Naho to watch over him, saying that only Naho can save Kakeru from a terrible future. Who is this mystery boy, and can Naho save him from his destiny? This is the heart-wrenching sci-fi romance that has over million copies in print in Japan!

★ My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars ★

I am really loving this series so far! The edition I read was an omnibus of the first 3 volumes of the series. Volume 2 of the omnibus edition contains the remaining volumes of the series, volumes 4 and 5. Reading the omnibus edition allowed me to binge the series a little bit and save some money as well. It also made the volumes easier to find, as manga is in high demand. Rather than chasing down 5 separate volumes, I only have to look for two.

The edition aside, the story is beautiful and tragic at the same time. We follow Naho after she receives letters from her future self, telling her she must save the new student, Kakeru, from a tragic future. Her future self tells her what’s going to happen each day, and what she wants high school Naho to do inside in order to save Kakeru. Majority of the story follows Naho in her quest to help Kakeru, but it also very much about about Naho living her high school life with her friends, seeking to prevent any regrets she may feel in the future.

I adore the premise of receiving letters from your future self with the goal of resolving something that happened in the past. While reading, I often thought about what I would do if I had the chance to write letters to my past self, or the chance to live my days using letters from my future self. The series makes you consider your own life and regrets, in my case, it motivated me to try my best to live with my life with no regrets and show my loved ones how much I love and appreciate them while I can.

Although the series has a melancholic atmosphere to it, the scenes of Naho living out her high school life are cheerful and fun for the most part. The romance budding between her and Kakeru is so sweet! I think this story is a perfect sci-fi story that isn’t too heavily focused on action, technology, or anything like that, which I really appreciate. It showcases that sci-fi can be much more than what most people think.

I also love all of the characters! Each person in Naho’s friend group genuinely cares about each other, and it’s just so heartwarming to read. They all seem so genuine in trying to be great friends to one another all while figuring out who they are at the same time. I love Suwa, he is an absolute sweetheart that I want to protect at all costs. I personally relate to Naho’s struggle of overcoming fears to put yourself out there and say what’s on your mind. Sometimes I would get frustrated with the characters because I would want them to just! say! it! but I’m trying to remind myself to be realistic and understanding of the characters. Regardless of my frustration, I love the characters and I want all of them to be happy and achieve their goals.

I think the art in this series is beautiful as well! Takano is talented in both storytelling and illustration. To have a beautiful story paired with amazing art is so wonderful. I also have the first volume of Takano’s other series, Dreamin’ Sun, so I’m eager to dive into that once I complete Orange.

I highly recommend this series to anyone, and I believe it’s a great choice for anyone who is looking to start reading manga. It’s a short series, full of beautiful art, and a unique story. However, there is quite a lot of discussion about depression and suicide in the series, so please be aware of that!

I know it’s going to become much sadder in the next volumes, so I’m currently trying to mentally prepare for that. Once I’ve finished the manga, I’m going to watch the anime, so keep your eyes peeled for reviews of both the rest of the manga and the anime!

Also, side note: if you really want to read this series and you have a Crunchyroll subscription, volumes 1 through 5 are available to read on their website 🙂

Have you read or watched Orange? What did you think of the series? If not, are you planning on checking out the manga or the anime? Would you be interested in seeing anime reviews as well? Let me know in the comments  ♥

Thank you for reading and talk to you soon!

All the love,

Tracy  ♥

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