You can’t change everything.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Orange, so far, has revolved around the soft ability to change the future. By knowing the future, via a letter, Naho can effectively make different decisions to alter history. We don’t get to physically see the regretful reality her future self once lived, but we don’t have to. We’re witnessing the present as future-Naho perceives it should have been, and that’s enough. Yet in “Letter 03,” we’re shown that sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned.
Naho’s growing closer to Kakeru. That much is evident, especially after Kakeru confided about his mother’s suicide to Naho in the previous episode. At this point, Naho obviously loves Kakeru. He shows glimmers of feeling the same but, much like Naho, is probably too shy and nervous to confess it. It’s the atypical shoujo romance drama—except for what sets Orange apart from its genre’s counterparts: actual, heartfelt tragedy, with a bit of sci-fi time traveling letters tossed in. Orange resonates as genuine in a sea of shoujo romances that, for the most part, feel the same and follow the same plot beats. While Orange doesn’t avoid these tropes, it embraces them wholeheartedly in a way that works for its narrative.
“Letter 03” once again confronts an all-too usual shoujo plot point—as last episode did with the run-of-the-mill bento-giving trope. But where most romances use familiar notions to progress a romance in an uninspired way, Orange flips these expectations to further that overarching narrative, rather than simply urge forward the romance. In “Letter 03,” we’re confronted with the cliche love triangle trope. The love triangle blossoms in a way that hurts Naho, but not for the expected reason of driving a wedge between her and Kakeru. Naho’s core sadness derives from disappointing her future-self, not her love for Kakeru.
In any other love triangle, there might be similar ambivalence towards the third, non-protagonist party. But in Orange, the romance isn’t the central driving purpose for anything. Naho wants to make Kakeru happy in order to prevent his eventual death—she wants to give him something worth living for. That doesn’t necessarily mean a romance between the two (even if that is strongly what the show is implying will eventually happen). Instead, it’s because of future Naho’s note, Naho knows that Kakeru’s impending romance with the other girl is the wrong route for his happiness. Naho’s disappointed in herself for failing her future-self’s advice to prevent Kakeru’s new relationship from coming to fruition. And most of all, Naho’s worried that she and the group are losing Kakeru. Yet after watching him gaze down regretfully at Naho’s note, that proposition seems quite unlikely.
The Verdict
Orange’s latest episode isn’t as strong as its previous episode. Yet, it’s still a worthwhile exploration of lovingly embracing common shoujo tropes, and making them a more worthwhile endeavor than usual. Naho and Kakeru still maintain the heart of the show, with the drama and sadness one would expect from two teens woefully in love with one another. Except in Orange, there’s palpable tragedy involved. Drama that’s carefully developed, and not shoehorned in for tragedy’s sake.
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