Comics / Manga

Orange Planet Volume 3/4/5

By Leroy Douresseaux
October 10, 2010 - 12:07

Orange Plaent Volume 3/4/5 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T Ages 13+”

In the shojo manga, Orange Planet, Rui Nagasaki is a young woman who has mostly been on her own since her parents died when she was a child.  The day of her parents’ funeral, a boy helped cheer her up, and she has never forgotten him.  She even has a stuffed bear named Haru-san that represents the mystery boy from her past.  For awhile, Rui lived with Eisuke Tachibana, a college student and science teaching intern at her school.  After the school learned of their relationship, Eisuke disappeared.  Taro Amanatsu became the love of Rui’s life, but he can’t quite tell her how he truly feels about her.

Orange Planet, Vol. 3/4/5 is a trade paperback that collects the final three volumes of the series.  In these final volumes, the story heads for its conclusion.  Rui decides to date Taro.  However, Chiaki Yuzuhara, a boy who looks exactly like the mystery boy from her parents’ funeral, suddenly appears and begins to torment Rui.  The real torment begins when Eisuke suddenly reappears.  Which boy will Rui choose, Rui or Eisuke, and will that choice bring her happiness or distress?

THE LOWDOWN:  After reading the first volume of Orange Planet a few years ago, I thought it was standard shojo manga fare.  It is, but in a way that should not suggest that Orange Planet is predictably dull.  Certainly, it is one of those shojo manga (comics for teen girls) in which the protagonist must choose between several cute suitors.  What makes Orange Planet a little better than most an-embarrassment-of-boy-riches shojo is that creator Haruka Fukushima gives Rui Nagasaki a depth of feeling for each boy she likes.  Rui is not a tease because love is a real thing to her.  Her joy and happiness and turmoil and torment over choosing love will feel very real to the readers.

The art has a cinematic quality to it, which gives the graphic storytelling a larger than life feel.  The heartfelt emotions and romantic melodrama in Orange Planet are big, and big is good in romantic fiction.  Fukushima sprinkles large panels, splash pages, and double spreads throughout this narrative the way she does the sparkles and flowery effects common in shojo and other romance manga.  In the case of Orange Planet, the familiar is a good thing.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Shojo fans will like Orange Planet.

B+

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12