Orange 03 – 04

tfw you realize you’re just a little too late

Sometimes life is a series of obstacles. And sometimes you don’t know that someone’s obstacle is an accident or intentional.

Dorobo Neko

Flirtyflirtflirt

I think that Naho’s caught in this weird in-between now, and the letters are the cause. She wants to be two people at the same time: the person she’s been for her 17 years, and the person that she is trying to be to change the regrets that future-Naho had. So I think that when she sees the effects of her past changes having maybe a ripple effect, she latches on to that maybe more than is warranted. Instead of her having to get Kakeru to join the soccer club, it just happens. And the other thing that seems to be happening is that she and Kakeru are spending more time together, and enjoying each other’s company. Until…

Gotta claim your guy

When you’ve got a good-looking transfer student, then he’s going to catch the eye of another transfer student. And Ueda-senpai fills that role here, as she starts sniffing around Kakeru just as Naho’s starting to get the littlest bit comfortable with his presence and herself. And she definitely moves faster than Naho, who I think might have had a little too much complacency at things changing from the letters, to grab Kakeru and confess to him. But even in this, Kakeru gives Naho a chance, and she, in her wallflower way, blows it this time. Even forewarned about the note from Kakeru in her eraser, it takes her too long to respond, and by the time she’s put her veto note in Kakeru’s shoebox, he’s already going out with Ueda.

Standing there like a specter

Fighting For Your Future

We see where Kakeru’s heart lies

I really like the way they characterize Naho’s struggle here. The reality of it is that she’s in a tough spot. Not only is she “the other woman,” she’s up against a senpai. If she even looks like she’s contesting for Kakeru against Ueda, it’s conceivable the whole school besides Azusa and Takako will turn on her. So future Naho can sit there and say “I regret not answering Kakeru” all she wants, but there’s a very real possibility of everything going to shit. And even with this possibility, Naho is trying to fight it. She’s trying to fight all the inculcation of Japanese culture and yet she continually fails. And then she ultimately succeeds. When she finally calls out to Kakeru in the hallway on the day she knows that he fights with Ueda, even if he didn’t hear her, new Naho has finally risen above old Naho to try to help Kakeru.

The obvious support

Of course, it would be easy to blame Naho for Kakeru’s troubled mindset leading up to that point. She has turned away from him, and it’s clear that he didn’t realize the repercussions of going out with Ueda. But even if Kakeru wanted her to, even if Naho wanted to, Naho couldn’t continue to call him to wake him up in the morning. She couldn’t continue to make his lunch. She had to pull back. But perhaps the small act of her finally overcoming that silence, in the instant of his falling out with Ueda, is something that will change Kakeru’s mindset. He gets angry at Ueda for knocking down Naho, but instead of breaking up with her because he’s upset at being cut off from Naho, now it has to be in his mind that maybe it’s to get Naho back in his life.

And the support you can’t see

And Naho, even running from her brief victory against her nature, is backstopped by her friends. When she runs away, Suwa is there, at the behest of Takako, to tell her not to run. When she feels like she has to fall away from Kakeru, he redirects her and supports her, and firms her resolve to reconcile with Kakeru. And she leverages that into making at least her first play for Kakeru, trying to get back to making him lunch and calling him to wake him up. And most importantly, talking to him.

木漏れ日 (komorebi) is one of my favorite Japanese words

Remembrances of the Past

These two don’t get enough attention

We also had a fairly significant future scene at the end of episode three, as the remaining friends open their time capsule and read the letters they wrote about their future selves. But Kakeru’s letter was different, writing solely about the personalities of his friends at the time, as if he’s sure he won’t be there to read it. This leads to the disquieting realization that maybe his ‘accident’ wasn’t so accidental. But their immediate hurt is soothed a bit by their visit to his grandmother’s house, and her remembrance of all of them. But is this where Naho’s desire to save Kakeru from his death starts?

Getting back to being friends

Sometimes I wonder if I was as dim as these kids in anime. When Kakeru says there’s someone else he likes after breaking up with Ueda, why doesn’t Naho immediately hope it’s her? She knows she’s been liking him since before he started with Ueda, and is she just being scatterbrained wondering if future Naho knows who he likes? But it’s almost like the thought doesn’t even cross her mind. But then I wonder if there’s an unspoken, assumed word in there when talking about such a thing: another. Because we’ve seen that someone asked “Is there a person you like?” by that very person they like will give the answer ‘no’. Of course, the more direct person in me yells at these folks to say “Yes, and it’s you!” But alas, we never get that, maybe partly because then we wouldn’t have all this story after that.

About Highway

Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!