Orange Days (2004)

Entertaining and good pace generally but frustrating FL and I wish for more growth

Overall it's an entertaining drama and acting is good.
Watching it now (2024) was certainly a nostalgia trip for me, I was shocked how similar their university campus was to mine. The cafeteria, the corridors, the classes, the material of the walls, pillars, railings... wow! It was bringing back so many memories.
The story was interesting in the beginning and I enjoyed the slice of life presented here, the relationships between the characters and the development of their friendship. It's not a very different or unique plot, it's very average but it doesn't make it less enjoyable.
One thing of the plot that was a bit more unrealistic was the coincidences when it comes to the ML knowing sign language and how many people around Sae seems to know it, learn it or pick it quite quickly, but could be worse.

When it comes to the characters I liked all of them in the beginning but I wish we got equal development of Keita as the others in the group, he was left more as a secondary character than anything and not much it's done with him sadly.
On the other hand, while I enjoyed the premise and start of Sae as a character, as the show progressed I grew more and more frustrated with her as well as her dynamic with Kai. Sae was very selfish and although she's called out on it multiple times by Kai (I applauded this) she really doesn't change. There is very little progression of her character in terms of personality and maturity. Kai is the naive nice guy that keeps chasing a girl that has too many issues that in my opinion should tackle before dragging him in and out of her life every time she has an outburst. Towards the later episodes it became annoying to watch and I was really hoping they wouldn't end up together, I thought it was the healthiest for both of them.
In my opinion they didn't work well as a couple nor they had that much chemistry to begin with, at points Kai seemed more her therapist than her love interest. Kai kept showing interest continuously for her, but she kept changing her thoughts for him constantly and many times she was just very stiff standing there doing nothing.
I liked more the secondary couple even though their story is not as deeply explored, but it was cute.

Sae's mother was also quite annoying to watch at times. In earlier episodes she was almost treating Sae as she was a guest in her house, saying things like that she could stay X amount of time longer in the house before becoming independent and so on. She came across as the detached mother that wants her kid out of the house as soon as they turn 18 (or university in this case). But then later on she's super clingy, wanting her to go to Germany with her, meddling between her and Kai and trying to marry her off to the guy she likes... It was weird and inconsistent and considering how selfish Sae was, the mother barely receives any of her rude answers or tantrums.

I enjoyed it for the most part because of the nostalgia, the friendships and most of the characters. It's an easy watch and I would recommend if you like slice of life.
The romance here it's not the fireworks/sparkles type if you're looking for that, it's a slower progression generally speaking.

Leia Mais

Ultimos capitulos no existen

Hermoso, personajes buenos, desarrollo casi perfecto
Kai es que yo lo amo mucho, tremendo personaje y sae tambien me agradaba hasta que llego lo ultimo y explote
es que vaya forma de arruinar una relacion tan linda, soy hater de sae, adios. No se merecia quedarse con Kai pero ni modo, el muchacho es un pan de azucar, ni modo.

Pareja secundadia preciosa tambien <3
es un 8 sin los ultimos capitulos, con los ultimos capitulos es un 1 y adios.
Porque a sae no le voy a perdonar toda las estupideces que dijo e hizo los ultimos capitulos, ademas todos ya tenian una edad, que si que esta sorda pero no es razon para actuar asi, menos cuando Kai siempre SIEMPRE se comunico con ella, en fin adios
hater #1 de sae.

Leia Mais

Serie meravigliosa, consigliatissima!

Mi è piaciuto tutto. L'ambientazione, le atmosfere delicate, l'intreccio narrativo. Si finisce con il provare grande empatia per i personaggi, parteggiando per l'uno e per l'altro e finendo emotivamente coinvolti nelle loro vicissitudini. E' stata buona l'interpretazione di tutti gli attori (ma una menzione a Kou Shibasaki va assolutamente fatta per la sua convincente interpretazione della silenziosa protagonista), la qualità visiva della fotografia, la ricercatezza delle inquadrature della regia, la delicatezza della colonna sonora, dolce ed avvolgente, a tratti toccante. Mi limito a consigliare a tutti coloro che leggeranno queste righe di provare a dare un'occhiata a questa serie, semplice e riuscita alchimia di personaggi, storia, ambientazioni, in grado di restituire un drama giovanile vivo, vibrante e coinvolgente ... a cui è davvero facile lasciarsi abbandonare ...

Leia Mais