Tickle Me Orange

Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 by Ichigo Takano

Maybe it’s impossible to live life without any regrets. Even when you know the future…you’ll still mess up.

Orange was a wonderful introduction for me to manga. Yup, I’m a manga neophyte! 😀 I’m sorry I joined the bandwagon only now. I am not really fond of reading on electronic devices, so I deigned to buy the actual, printed collections regardless of their…high prices. Now, I’m happy to say my monetary sacrifice was worth it.

After reading the first half of the manga, I can say that Orange is predominantly a heartwarming story of love and friendship. If I were to compare it to an actual novel, I think its plot could be likened to that of a YA contemporary, with an interesting element of sci-fi (i.e. time travel) on the side. It sounds like the perfect summer read, doesn’t it?

I’m deliberately being vague because I have yet to read the second collection. But so far, I am primarily invested in the characters, who are endearing both individually and collectively. Orange gives its readers six unique characters to choose from, an equal division of three boys and three girls. Furthermore, each of them has an important role to play, and if any of them is “removed,” the beauty and intricacy of the story would be diminished. It is obvious that the author values all of her characters, and I cannot help but feel the same way.

As a final note, the anime adaptation of Orange is currently ongoing, and I am having a delightful time watching it after finishing a chapter of the manga. Also, I really don’t care if Orange is classified under the Shoujo genre. I assure you that its message resonates across both sexes. Hmm. Girls are not criticized for reading Shonen, are they? 😉

P.S. Thank you JesseTheReader for inspiring me to read this manga. 🙂