I’ll start off by saying I am a big sucker for Shoujo series.  Something about love triangles, high school drama, and first loves has become a guilty pleasure.  Summer 2016 has a few Shoujo anime series to check out, but my favorite, by far, is definitely Orange.

An adaptation of the manga series by Ichigo Tanako, Orange is a slice-of-life romance series that follows Naho Takamiya.  Naho is a kind girl who goes out of her way to make sure she doesn’t trouble others.  When she receives a letter from her future self she realizes that the way she is living will leave her will a lot of regrets in her future.  It is up to her present self to change so that she can have a future with no regrets.

I’ll start off by saying I like the art style and characters.  It’s strange to say, but anime characters having teeth makes the design stand out from other shoujo series.

The story line is your typical shoujo story. What I think separates it from other series is that even though Naho knows what the future will entail, she struggles to make the changes.  The decisions she makes and her struggles feel very real world and sometimes she fails to muster up the courage to make the change.  It fulfills the requirements for “slice-of-life”, which is another one of my guilty pleasures when it comes to any manga/anime series.

I really enjoy how the Time-Travel aspect isn’t completely lost in the series.  In fact, it’s plays an important role.  The expansion of time travel theory and how Naho contemplates it makes the letter from her future self more plausible.  It’s not just a gimmick to make her change. Even if it is, it’s some food for thought.  It inspires me to make decisions today so I don’t regret them later!

“Orange” is also a meaningful title.  Like time-travel, it’s relevant to the tone and characters of the story. Oranges aren’t always sweet; they can also be bitter.

For the Shoujo, slice-of-life manga/anime lovers, Orange is a series to check out this summer. You can find it Sundays on Crunchyroll.

Have you checked out the series? Have you read the manga? What’s your favorite Shoujo manga? Final thoughts? Let me know in the comments!