Orange (2015)

Orange was one of those movies I went into with huge expectations after months and months of anticipation. Not only had I read the manga all the way through in English, but I also have the first volume in Japanese as well as the light novel in Japanese. This movie has been marketed very strongly for the past few months in Tokyo which made me only more excited - not to mention the music videos that Warner dropped the week the movie hit theatres. Let me tell you that my expectations were beyond met and I couldn't be more happy. As an adaptation it is almost flawless. Only the next day am I remembering that the opening seen was different than that of the manga, which was definitely done for purely aesthetic purposes. The way it was altered in no way shape or form changes the understanding of the story at all because they follow this change through in the only other instance that it is relevant. That being said, I suppose it does SLIGHTLY alter how one many understand Naho as a character, but I think this is inconsequential.

First, the story.This is not the typical shoujo romance that you see hitting theatres. It's psychological and it's serious. The story isn't sugarcoated for something it is not in the manga and it is not that way in the movie either. It's about friendship and emotional struggle and love with a little bit of fantasy, yes, but it is also about something much darker and much scarier. (Not sure if I can write anything more than that without spoiling.)

The cast for the film was actually flawless; I have never been more impressed with a shoujo adaptation cast in my life. Every member of the cast fit into their role perfectly, whether you are a reader of the original manga or not. Not only are their appearances on point, but their actually acting is excellent. This film has very emotional content and there is never a moment where you are cringing because they are not able to properly convey the strong feelings of the characters. I was especially impressed with Yamazaki Kento, who plays Kakeru. Though he has been acting for several years, he is still a young and coming actor. Yet he was able to portray the complex and serious feelings that Kakeru goes through throughout the movie. Yet again I will repeat though that the whole cast was actually flawless.

I already mentioned the music videos by Sony and that is the only song that has left an impression on me from this movie. It is called 'MIrai' which means futurein Japanese, but is more of a distant future. Musically the song is beautiful as well as symbolically. The first time I heard it I cried.

With my raging reviews, why the 9.5/10 for rewatch value? I'm terrified that the movie will lose the magic. It's happened to me with other movies before. None the less this movie is actually the best movie I have seen this year easily. As soon as everyone can watch it from their countries, please do so! :)

**Edit: Now that I am rereading the manga I am noticing the things that the movie lacked. That being said, since the movie is an adaptation it should be expected that they cannot fit everything into the time limit. However...I am starting to wonder if the scene that basically says why the story is called Orange was in the movie...This does not matter for emotional value but it would be nice for people that only watch the movie to understand the title right?? XD

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Another one of the manga adaptions movie, this one I didn't know what to expect when I deiced to watch it, although I did expect something seeing the strong casts they have assembled for this.

I have not expect to be able to see this soon, so I was quite surprised when I found this movie among the flight entertainment during my journey back from Tokyo. There was where I watched it, on the flight, and seriously, in public is possible the worst time for one to watch this movie. I was so close to tears, I actually have some leaking out the corner of my eyes and I tried so hard to hide it, OMG.

STORY 10/10
Let's move into break down before I went on rambling, seeing how I was saying that I was close to tears above, it is hard not to rate this story 10/10. I have not read the manga, so I do not know how close is it to the original storyline. But if a lot are cut out from the original itself, well you should know this movie only last an hour and 45 mins (about there), and you really have to give credit to the screen writer to still manage to create an impact within this short time.

I do not want to touch too much on the story, I am just very glad to see there are gems like these among the shoujo manga too, something that isn't just all bright and bubbly love story where the dump girl going after the guy and getting the guy at the end, if you think Orange would be light and easy to watch, I think you need to read the synopsis again.

CASTS 10/10
As I said I have high expectations from the cast, I've seen Tsuchiya Tao and Yamazaki Kento acts in other shows before, I certainly know they can act if given the right role, and I was not disappointed. Kento stolen the show with his acting there, those time when you look at his character and you just feel like wrapping an arm around Kakeru, to tell him everything are alright, that he has friends now and things don't have to be as hard as he thinks it should be. I am glad the other character did those in my place.

The emotions these actors and actresses managed to deliver on screen, making it an amazing movie. You can tell the struggles they going through are very real, and every bit of tears shed makes you wants to cry along. T_T

MUSIC 9.5/10
Good, the songs are good, the theme song is very fitting to the storyline, the tune and everything. I think I do need to rewatch this to judge the rest of the songs. I do not really remembering them throughout the movie, so I will be updating about this.

The theme song though, is very very beautiful.

REWATCH VALUE 9.5/10
I will definitely rewatch this again, with a box of tissue readied at my side. XD This beautiful movie, even though it hurts you on the inside. It is not entirely sad, more like a bittersweet, and with that slice of harsh reality making me wants to go back to it.

OVERALL 9.5/10
Perhaps it is just me who like those storyline that packed with a bunch of feels, I have to be honest and say this, I love any movie that makes me cry (though nothing too dark and too heavy, something like Orange packed with just the right amount of sadness and seriousness) so I am most possibly bias with my rating. This is not an easy movie to spend your afternoon, so be warned. Get readied with a pack of tissue when you start this. :)

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Sometimes I do stumble on movies starring actors or actresses that I bloody can't stand.
Unfortunately, Orange is that case.
I'm not a fan of Tao Tsuchiya but I decided to give this movie a try because my cupcake baby boy Kento was in here.
Let's say it straight: This movie can be barely watch because of Tao Tsuchiya terrible acting.
I'm not saying it's her fault, I think that she was directed really bad.
It was like watching an anime character, I really bad female character with that unpleasant and annoying voice that makes you want to slam your head over your keyboard.
She portrayed that typical Japanese female character with a pure soul and and an high pitched voice.
At some points she really pissed me off with this bloody annoying voice of her and those ridiculous gestures that made her character looked dumb and...... dumber.
Can't get why she was so praised for this movie because she was really that only thing that spoiled it.
Although the movie was way too long and sometimes there were some boring scenes to handle with, I think that the half part of it was really directed well.
As I always say when I talk about Kento, he's only know for his beautiful face and most of the time his fans are just too biased when it comes to give a review or a score to his movies.
In this case, I think he really deserved all the good things people said about his acting skills.
Some crying scenes were really heartbreaking and his intonation ( I let's face the truth, most of the time his voice really lacks intonation) was so on point that I almost felt down off my chair.
I still think that Kento really needs to improve his acting skills but damn, he really showed a glimpse of his real talent here.
He really deserves better roles, dramatic ones I might say.
The cinematography was brilliant, those pastel colours were on point with the sweetness of the plot. Talking about the plot.
If you have read the manga or at least heard about it, you know that the main plot talks about depression.
Kakeru is depressed, He's a teenage boy suffering from a depression caused by a really tragic happening.
What I didn't like about the main plot was that thgey didn't actually showed this side of it.
Although Kento has portrayed it perfectly ( his sad gaze, his low voice, how he changed from hype moments to really depressed ones) I do think that the mangaka didn't really understand how depression works.
Kakeru is depressed and saving him with the power of friendship and with some positiveness looked I little bit odd to me. They cured it too fast and this has left me a little bit confused.
But in the end I think that the mangaka wanted to make us think that even in those kinds of moments there's still hope to relay on.
Talking about the cast, a really good one.
I won't give this movie an high score just because of Tao, I'm so sorry to say it.
I don't think I'm going to re-watch it but at least I was so happy to see that Kento is trying to kick his haters on their feet showing that he can actually be a good actor and not just an hot ikemen.
Kento, my dear, now it's time to move on and pick some really good roles.

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オレンジ

I have read the manga and when I saw there was a movie, it instantly became my favourite to watch.
Orange is about a sweet love story, one day Naho receives a letter from her future self, the same day a new student transfers into her school. His name is kakeru and he is so handsome. Naho reads the letter and gets very supriced, but things go slow and exactly how the letter is written for Naho and kakeru.
Tao tsuchiya is so pretty and is an amazing character for this movie, kento is also very handsome and makes a great couple with Naho-chan. I like how their romance is going slow and humble.
The movie is sad but also it makes you realise how much you can love a person.
I higly recommend this movie ♡

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Other people may hastily brush off this movie as another rom-com but to me it's not. Barring some plot-holes from the source material, this movie is perfect to me. The locations, cinematography, scene transitions, music were all beautiful! The acting, story, music and everything made my snot running down in buckets crying. I like it better than the manga where I found the characters a little jarring sometimes. So obviously a 10/10 from me.

Special mention should go to Kento Yamazaki who surprised me a bit with his acting. Kakeru was constantly on edge with his internal struggles between wanting to be happy and redeeming himself. And Kento gave exciting substance to the character's inner-conflicts. Lesser actors could wreck the emotional close-ups by exposing theatricality and cant. But Kento did them so convincingly and effortlessly that it felt very realistic. This is definitely an acting milestone for him.

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I was watching this on a delta airplane flight and let me tell you, TEARS... So many feels and emotions depicted in a movie unlike anything I've ever seen before. This definitely will be a favorite of mine for life, and although many are saying that Naho's character was boring and the actress did not do a good job, I disagree. I was so immersed in that movie (despite the occasional pauses due to the announcements on the airplane). I literally gave zero cares in the world about the people walking by that saw me bawling my eyes out. It was worth it.

This movie as well as the manga (and probably the anime too) has changed my life forever. It's showed me the value that I have as a person and that if I were to give up and lose faith in everything, it will destroy my family, friends, and more.

I highly recommend this movie. It's a great one!

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This movie was flawless.
Love the message. Love the friendship built between these students. I was so jealous of their friendship and made me miss my childhood time. But the main message that I love about this movie is : do everything your heart tell and never have regrets because if those regrets were avoided it could save somebody else life who is close or not to you.

Life is full of mysteries so don't miss your change in uncovering then with no regret.
I learned a lot from this movie.

Ok, so the casting was really good. Good acting all of them.

If you're looking for a movie that involves love,friendship, follow your heart no matter what, time traveling, emotional, inspiring, motivation, you should give this movie a try. {^_^}

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Orange follows the story of Naho, a 16 year old girl whose life takes a turn when she finds a letter given to her by herself from ten years into the future. That same day, a new kid turns up in her class named Kakeru. The letter then says to save Kakeru and to prevent her future self's regrets. (Not incredibly detailed, but I think it's best going into Orange knowing as little as possible!)

Orange... is not what I expected it to be. Instead of the typical romantic comedy, it was much more heartfelt and more friendship orientated. It hooks you automatically, and keeps you hooked until the end. It gives off a very homey feel, and while there are many Japanese live action cliches, it was extremely refreshing, specifically our main male lead (ahh Kentoooooo). The concept revolving time travel is only touched on slightly, leaving a more open-ended ending, but I think it works in this case. The filmography was well done and the slightest camera angles made a huge difference in certain scenes.

For the most part, asides from our main male lead, the other characters were alright. They didn't really go into their story in depth (not even the female lead), but they were given enough character to not be bland. The dynamic between the group of friends was great and believable enough, but there were times (and I see this was a concern for a few other people as well) when I thought the main female lead just didn't fit in with the group. She felt more of an individual hanging around the group instead of someone who's part of the group. Her voice was quite timid and she frustrated me at times (what female leads don't though?).

I'm going to admit: I didn't cry, not even close, while watching Orange. Sure, I had a few goosebumps here and there, but it wasn't enough to make me cry. It was definitely touching, but I saw the ending coming ten minutes before it actually happened so it didn't hit me in the heart as hard as it should've. Despite that, Orange was a great watch that's got me excited to try more live action adaptations!

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