[HorribleSubs] Orange - 08 [720p].mkv_20160821_204422.968Hiroto Suwa is probably my hero. If you have ever loved a character in a love triangle while still loving the ‘intended’ romance you know why this normally happens, but Suwa is a completely different case. We learn in episode 6 that Suwa also has a letter, but what is very important in Suwa’s letter is what we seem to learn is not there. This begins with all of them trying to get Kakeru’s birthday out of him and figure out what present he wants. This turns out surprisingly well for all of them, and even leads to Kakeru finding out how much of a jerk Ueda is being to Naho. Ultimately Suwa asks last after Kakeru laments he cannot do anything for Naho, and Kakeru decides he wants a bouquet of flowers so he can give them to Naho. We see in the future that this never happened and so Suwa gives his wife the flowers for Kakeru, only for everyone to finally reveal to future Naho that Kakeru had loved her all along. In this future, Naho never knew that Kakeru returned her feelings.

[HorribleSubs] Orange - 07 [720p].mkv_20160821_203721.281 - CopyIn the past everyone finds out the presents in time and Suwa gives him the flowers, this leads to Kakeru’s confession to Naho and Naho beginning her struggle to admit her feelings. At first this just seems to be a light hearted confession episode but it turns into so much more. We see the struggle Suwa had probably even writing his letter. .  .and he only says to his past self, for some reason I just couldn’t support them. He says it as if he forgot, or as if he never got to marry Naho. Suwa is witholding this information for Naho and Kakeru’s sake. He knows that if his past self knew he got to marry Naho part of him might not be able to do it, might not be able to give up the future with the woman he loves to save his friend. He knows that Kakeru loves Naho and that maybe even her love and preventing his own hesitations could save Kakeru. Suwa proves that he loves Kakeru and Naho more than he simply loves Naho. This story isn’t just about the love between two people ending despair, it’s about the love between friends saving their friend.[HorribleSubs] Orange - 07 [720p].mkv_20160821_203752.328 - Copy

Suwa became…immeasurably amazing to me this episode. He selfishly gives up his love for Naho because he can’t live with the regret of not supporting Kakeru when he needs him. He gives so much to his friend when he needs it, and the future Suwa shows that he loves Naho and the friend he lost so much he would even give up his child. Knowing that they both get to have their futures gives me so much joy knowing this. I cried because Suwa knows it’s more than ‘deserving’ someone, it’s about your choices and your life. He is just a genuinely good person and I am glad he gets a future where he gets to love Naho and be genuinely happy. Yet I know that in this future too his love for his friends will also give him a genuinely good life. I feel bad that there will always be some regrets in his life, but it is choosing between regretting letting someone die and regretting not trying to be with someone. He knows Naho’s happiness and love for Kakeru, and he lets her have that.

[HorribleSubs] Orange - 07 [720p].mkv_20160821_203853.531 - CopyBut Suwa’s simple amazingness does not stop there. When Naho and Kakeru are talking about Kakeru’s past, he brushes her concern off. Suwa confronts him before he can walk off and calls him out on his sadness and asks him not to go out with his Tokyo friends because he knows that they will brush off Kakeru admitting when he wants to kill himself. Kakeru explains that he just wants to laugh with them and Suwa responds that Kakeru needs to understand they don’t want to just laugh if he’s suffering. These are such real things about depression and Suwa literally hugs him and cries. Honestly I want a third universe where they get together, LOL! But seriously, Suwa does what Naho can’t because she’s so shy. He fights to make Kakeru realize they all love him and want him to talk to them. Kakeru admits he wants to die everyday and feels so guilty, and Suwa tells him that the way he thought was so normal and he shouldn’t feel guilty. Then hearing Kakeru feel like he should die makes Naho realize she needs to tell him how she feels. She reciprocates her love and this seems to give Kakeru so much relief. This is only episode 7.

[HorribleSubs] Orange - 08 [720p].mkv_20160821_204342.812Episode 8 has Naho and Kakeru in an awkward position. They aren’t dating but Kakeru says it is to protect her, he doesn’t want to hurt her. In a normal shoujo this means nothing, but this is such a good representation of the way he feels. He is still thinking about killing himself and he doesn’t want to hurt Naho by being with her and then leaving. This is unspoken but I genuinely think he feels this way. It is important I say that being loved helps but sometimes it is not enough, which is why this anime did not end last episode. Being loved by Naho makes him happy but Kakeru still lives with so much pain and regret. This is probably one of the only anime where awkwardly not getting together makes perfect sense. The episode continues when Naho and Suwa mess something up because of the letter, only for all of the friends to agree to be in the relay so Kakeru can do it and have fun. This episode was moving because it showed how really great other characters were. Seriously, Nagita is hilarious. He and Azusa are OTP! Chino was really moving today as well and seeing her fight to make everyone have fun was really cool.

At the end of the episode we learn something important: Every one of the friends got a letter from their future selves. This episode of the anime officially transformed everything. Instead of simply being a shoujo about one girl saving the guy she loves, this is a story about a bunch of friends saving their irreplaceable friend. Kakeru is not just an exchange student they all forgot, he was one of their best friends they regret letting die. Now, they are all working together to change their future and help Kakeru regain the will to live. Orange is now one of the most unique and heartwarming anime I have ever seen, and I can’t recommend it enough after these two episodes.

Oki

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. kuramasensei

    by the way is it just me or do you get weird vibes whenever kakeru says “bye-bye” Whenever he says that it crosses my mind that we may have hit a death flag, which worries me. also how is naho so dense when kakeru reaches out his hand to her. i was like “take his hands, take his hand, oh my god naho, just take his hand”

  2. Anonymous

    I was thinking about Orange, and a thought occurred to me. I understand that Naho is the protagonist, and this is clearly a developing romance story between her and Kakeru, but do you think that it’s focusing a little too much on their relationship? I think it would be nice to see Kakeru interacting with the group as a whole rather than just Naho, and by that I mean, have them enjoy each other’s company and such. It seems that everything they do is focused on Naho and Kakeru, not Kakeru and the others. Seeing Naho with Kakeru is great, but I think that it would be nice as well to see Kakeru interacting more closely with the others positively.

    Right now, I’m reading the manga alongside the anime, so it’s a little hard for me to construct some thoughts regarding this episode. I’ll post my thoughts about it later when I can, but one thing that really struck out to me was how tall Suwa is when placed up against Naho. I mean, to me, the anime makes all of them strangely tall, with Naho being a good head shorter than Suwa. It’s like he’s the big gentle giant that is Makoto. It’s just interesting how he’s shown so tall.

  3. bedmonds

    Episode 8 pretty much confirmed all my hopes from episode 6. I’m glad for it, since I think it would’ve been much less moving had only Naho and Suwa received letters. This is definitely AOTS in my opinion. I also think that the reveal of the letters was quite natural and not just a gimmick. It makes sense that people would be reluctant to reveal such an improbable thing (and I admit that I’d like to get some info on how this exactly happened), but that makes Suwa all the more amazing. He had the courage to take the chance and reveal it first. Even if he suspected that Naho also got a letter he was still taking a risk.

    The worst thing is that, no matter how this show ends, I’m going to miss everyone. These are such good, caring, and believably imperfect people. I love their loyalty to one another, and there’s just 4 episodes left. It won’t be enough…

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