Orange 🍊 Chapter 9

Letter 9


Orange :tangerine: Home Thread

Previous Part: Chapter 8 (volume 2)
Next Part: Chapter 10

Reading

Start Date Chapter Page Numbers Page Count
Sep 17th Letter 9 5 - 50 46

Vocabulary List

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4 Likes

I only wish Suwa all the best. I hope he finds a great person to share his overflowing love with if Naho and Kakeru get together in this timeline. He deserves someone who can show him the same kind of love.

5 Likes
Thoughts on Chapter 9
Teasing an alternate future? (don't know if this is here in the physical release)

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I just enjoyed this panel.

Would you believe they’ve never taken an acting lesson in their lives?

This panel had me stuck in a state of confusion on whether I was understanding it correctly (regarding the 「お(かあ)さんと()ってね」 line). After a bit, I decided to keep going.

I wondered why Hagita wasn’t wearing his glasses, and then I found myself trying to figure out what he was sitting in front of in the next panel.

Feeling I somehow got completely lost with no idea what I was missing, I noticed something important I was missing:

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Oh, and Takako has short hair here.

Right. The future. That explains the setup where Hagita is sitting.

I tend to focus on the text as I go through a page, then go back and admire the artwork as I let the scene set in, so it’s easy for me to miss little things like a baby that didn’t exist during the high school era.

Then we get to these two panels:

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Hm…

6 Likes
Finally finished this chapter!

First of all, at the end of the previous chapter I totally got goosebumps… So much relief!

This was a great chapter … All the present-time birthday shenanigans were really fun, and the future-timeline scenes were so interesting … We got to see Naho (!) and her friends stand up to whats-her-face Tokyo-senpai. (When that happened at first I was like "WHO TOLD HER??? TRAITOR! but then I realized she might have found out when his birthday was while they were dating.) But then also some old-school pure Naho-style denseness ("flowers … for … me? … but … why…??? WHY???). :joy:

I really loved that we finally learn what’s in Suwa’s letter and why he’s such a saint haha. He’s just too good. Maybe he will become a famous pro-footballer in this timeline. :wink:

One of my fave panels as well. :joy:

6 Likes
This chapter!

Interestingly, last chapter, I didn’t get all teary, despite the talk in the park between Kakeru and Naho. Maybe I expected some of it, maybe I just happened to not get hit then. But this chapter?

Like it was partly some of the funniest of the series so far, with the birthday presents thing (the asking and such), and Suwa’s face when giving Kakeru a bouquet in present day. :joy: And then some of the saddest, both the celebrating of Kakeru’s 18th birthday many many years too late, and Suwa’s sacrifice.

It is the kind of sacrifice we can’t do in real life. We can’t know later that we’ll regret something like not letting our best friend have the girl we love and instead getting together with her ourselves. We just can’t know we’d regret that having her more, because we suspect that is part of the reason we lost our best friend.

The friendship between Suwa and Kakeru, I know I keep saying it, but it is beautiful. And clearly so deep.

I also love getting to see more of Hagita & Kakeru, because it clearly is a close relationship too, just not on screen very much.

I started this series thinking Azu was kinda dumb, silly chick stereotype. And maybe that is what I was supposed to think, but through volume 2 and now this first chapter of volume 3, she’s honestly climbing the character rankings for me.

Suwa is the saint none of us deserves. Kakeru, the tragic hero that when he gets over his grief will probably be best boyfriend ever. Naho is the heroine that is so realistic it has been painful at times, but now as she’s growing and daring to express herself instead of hiding it all inside, she’s becoming a really good heroine too.

Azu though. She’s funny, her expressions are the best, she’s heartfelt and seems wholly confident in who she is and where she fits. That is so admirable. And hey, maybe some of that comes from this not being her story, but she seems very clear on her perspective. So I’m honestly starting to think she might be my favorite?!?!

I think the only confusing thing for me this chapter was: did Takako hit Ueda-senpai or not? There is a sound effect that might suggest it, but why would she keep having her hand in the air afterwards for so long? (I don’t buy the “to slap again”.) So I think she just raised her hand in preparation to strike and then dared Ueda to keep being a nasty person and get the slap. But at the same time, Ueda looks a bit like she got hit, no?

Please help me clear this up.

On a more hilarious note, how many times was べつに used? Because it was used A LOT, especially in the first half. And also used with slightly different shades of meaning. I’m almost tempted to go back through the chapter and count, but I’d much rather start the next chapter instead. :joy:

5 Likes

If we were looking at per volume usage rather than just this one chapter, we get:

  • Volume 1: 3 times
  • Volume 2: 1 time
  • Volume 3: 13 times
  • Volume 4: 6 times
  • Volume 5: 9 times
  • Volume 6: 6 times
I think this set covers just chapter 9

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That one had me confused, too. Maybe she hit her with the back of her hand?

3 Likes

Can always count on @ChristopherFritz to have the stats. :smiley: :joy:

To hit or not to hit

Well, if she hit, it was with her backhand for sure. But the next couple of panels, Ueda doesn’t have any mark from a hit on her face, and I don’t think Takako backhanded her stomach or anything like that. Maybe the sound effect was more for a dramatic touch for Takako raising her hand? Also with the hand staying up, it felt more like a threat to slap.

Plus, I feel like Azu and/or Naho would have commented if Takako had actually hit Ueda. Like Naho would be embarrassed, while Azu might be like “Score! You finally got to hit her. Haha!”

Glad to know I wasn’t the only one confused. :pensive:

4 Likes

Maybe if I’d get back to reading the novelization, I’d eventually get to the second book where this scene would take place, and maybe that would help with the details of the scene.

But I’m really bad at reading Japanese books without pictures, so I’ve been not getting around to reading it much =(

3 Likes

Hey, no worries. :slight_smile: I’m fairly sure of her not doing the hit, because I feel like there would be some comment about it after Ueda left and there isn’t.

4 Likes

Slowly trying to catch up with this. :laughing:

To hit or not to hit

I also got the feeling that there was no real hit. I think it was just threatened.
Wondering if this scene is in the anime, maybe checking it out could clear up some confusion.

Suwa

As many already said. Suwa is such a saint! Also I think it’s amazing he actually can believe in the letter and do as he does. I mean there could still be a possibility of Kakeru surviving AND Naho and Suwa ending up together. Right? Well maybe :frowning: Let’s see what will happen next!

Best panel

naho
This scene hit so hard. And the art is so pretty !!!

6 Likes