Laranja (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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