Orange tells the story of a high school girl named Naho who receives a letter from her past self telling her about all the regrets she wishes she could erase. Most of these are centered on a recent transfer student named Kakeru who is immediately ingrained into her group of friends. The letter tells Naho that she falls in love with him but that he was taken away from them by a death that could have been prevented. Its revealed early on that his death was not an accident but a suicide. With so much on the line Naho is forced to try to overcome her timid selfsacrificing nature in order to save Kakeru from the depression that will kill him. The question the story posits then is this: if you had the opportunity to prevent something from happening how much would you be able to change? Could you change the future? And could you change your own nature to accomplish it? Orange is an anime that has major glaring flaws that it makes up for with incredibly powerful strengths. Lets start with the good though shall we? One of Oranges strongest aspects is its characters. You have Naho struggling with her timidity and Kakeru struggling with his depression of course but the core cast is rounded out by Nahos four other friends. Theres Suwa the kindhearted dependable jock. Theres Hagita the sharptongued selfdeprecating nerd. Theres Azusa the cheerful and energetic girl and Takako the quicktempered tomboy. Theyre all wellwritten as individuals but the real strength of the cast is the casts dynamics with each other. As a group they all feel very much like a group of friends and you can see varying different friendship dynamics between them clearly. In addition the sound design is fantastic. The music hits the emotional beats it needs to wonderfully and the world itself is filled with all sorts of conversation and background chatter that add to the realism of the world and the sense of place. The visuals also work well for the series with colors that pop vibrantly but are also washed out and muted emphasizing the bittersweet tone of the show. This is not to say that the show is not without flaws. As strong as the characters are they sometimes behave infuriatingly. Nahos constant hesitance in particular can be frustrating because shes so afraid to take certain steps even when she knows whats on the line. In addition she can be dense. At one point Kakeru offers his hand for her to take and shes completely unable to read the cues hes sending her. The show can also be heavyhanded with its metaphors. Theyre emotionally powerful but theres not always a lot of nuance to them. The art also falls apart at times. Episodes in the midlate range take a noticeable dip in quality. Perhaps the biggest problem of the show however is an unfortunate result of the premise. The entire show relies on the letter that Naho receives and leaving how exactly she received a letter from the future unanswered would likely feel unsatisfactory to many. However its instead explained through some bad science fiction in what is otherwise a very realistic story. When the entire premise of the story hangs on something as hackneyed as what we got its hard to look past. That said I think Orange is a series I would recommend everyone not just anime fans watch because it covers such an important subject matter so well. Yes from an objective detached standpoint its a flawed series but when it hits it hits well and hard enough that these flaws dont matter. At its core Orange is an emotional cathartic story and its that catharsis not the story details that will carry the show. In this sense Orange succeeds fantastically. Orange is ultimately a story about people stepping in to save a friends life which is an incredibly relevant story for almost everyone. There are so many people in this world who have been touched by depression and/or suicide and unfortunately we dont have the option of getting letters instructing us how to prevent it. Orange attempts to offer up at least some perspective and understanding though. What sort of signs someone whos depressed and/or suicidal will display. What sort of phrases might send the wrong impression. What theyre wanting needing someone else to tell them. Orange might not be the best anime in existence but its easily one of the most important. I honestly think it has a huge potential to impact lives. Maybe itll even be able to save a few. Five stars.