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Story, 9:
Orange is a shoujo manga covering a more mature topic, making it border the josei and seinen genres. It tells the story of Naho and her daily struggles to save one of her friends from committing suicide. If this wasn't enough of a deviation from the usual shoujo genre, this story also introduces the theory of parallel worlds and how one can influence one another. The twist that, in my point of view, Orange gets is what makes the story great. In fact, instead of falling in love and discovering one another as they live their daily lives, this main character already has a ... full deck! She knows what will happen, when it will happen and how it'll happen! Although this would seem easier to the point of going “thats hella easy!” it isn't, in fact, what would happen if she were to try to change the future? Would the letters still be useful, considering that by changing it you will drift further apart from what it says? Would she still be able to save him? Would just rescuing him in his moment of crisis be enough or will it take her everything to try to change someone who gave up is life since the beginning? When the realization hits, it hits hard and she is often left in a complete “I don't know what to do” state. In short, Orange is a story that works the other way around. Instead of discovering the future as the story develops, you already know it, but as you keep changing it, you'll walk towards something you can't control. Nicely and beautifully intertwined with the blooming of a romance, Orange will make you flutter towards and end where your only wish is that the guy receives a realityslap.

Art, 8:
Really good! Very individualized facial and body constructions. One thing that is easily noticeable is that the mangaka isn't bound to one model construction type. All characters have different heights, hairs, and faces, making several little variations like the eyes or even the chins. This not to speak of the backgrounds, which the mangaka manages to reinterpret to an incredible degree of real places! She later gives photographic evidence allowing the reader to immerse immensely deeper in the characters hometown if one is willing to. That being said, I don't see any particular flaws, instead its the overall that isn't perfect, leaving me wishing that if she improved the art a bit it would almost be godlike!

Characters, 10:
Considering the size of the manga and the amount of characters it receives, I think they are really well made. The mangaka works on personality models, shaping each character according to one, the sports guy, the shy and kind girl, the loud cheerful girl and others. All of them have a foundation in which she works to make a joyful group of high school students. Furthermore, they are also highly individualized in appearance, making it impossible for the reader to mistake them up. However its the psychological warfare of Kakeru that shines the most here, to the point you don't know when he is truly smiling or just faking it. Being in deep emotional conflict he is hard to predict and a single action can have immense repercussions on him. This, in turn, doesn't make things easier for the main character, who is mostly a reserved person and is already torn between letting things go its natural course or changing the future, all the while hoping it doesn't turn for the worst.

Enjoyment, 10:
Well, it was really easy to read! With a well paced story, Orange presents itself as a very good combination of light humor, romance and slight touch of josei that will make you anxious every time the main character must make a decision. All the while showing the psychological struggles the characters make to overcome their flaws.

Overall, 10:
A really entertaining manga, making you laugh and cry by seemingly simple actions. With very good art and a compelling protagonist and deuteragonist it won't be easy to stop the curiosity from making you read the next chapter!

Story, 10:
Where to start... Well, for those who read the synopse and are accustomed to bl manga might say “there we go! Another main character being sexually harassed by his superior... Its cliché time!!” like sekaichi hatsukoi, mankai darling and a few others. In fact, it broke from the genre right there since its far more complex than that.
Acid Town introduces several characters that, while being seemingly non-related, are all connected through a complex web of present and past relationships. The usage of time in this manga is heavy talking about events even before the main character was born. Those who like linear storylines with ... simple time flow may not like this one. The presence of bl is light but makes you truly cherish it when it happens, it doesn't focus on it, instead it makes use of it to make the story go forward. The enormous amount of relationships between all the characters will be the most interesting point of the story, with heavy presence of people living in a seemingly world filled with poverty and crime. It isn't a bl to cry out “OMG! Cuteness overload!” it will be more like “I'm drowning in my own tears!”.

Art, 9:
Holy Sh*t!! Brilliant! As a former visual arts student who gives an immense importance to anatomy, I simply can't stop to just stop reading and appreciate the quality of the work. Good backgrounds with a touch of poverty. xD The anatomy construction is really good, with very good proportions and a high level of attention given to create individual characters. From the hairstyle, to the jackets to the shoes. I ended up to a point that by just showing a single shoe I would know who he was. The mangaka draws manga with more human-like proportions making it seem more serious, he also gives attention to small details that gave me a really good impression of him. He makes heavy use of ground perspectives where the shoes or feet comes into the first plane and where he proceeds to work to a huge level of detail. A very good trait of a mangaka. For most who draw, feet are usually intimidating and its anatomy is hard to represent without flaws, even more when trying to represent movement. However that's not a problem to him, making small details or close-ups where we can see his expertise in drawing the human body. In overall, his art is really good, making good representations of scars or burn marks, his facial construction is appealing and, on a more personal level, is fashion sense to make the characters seem like people living on the border of society is good.

Characters, 9:
The characters are compelling and some are really well made. Even dead ones. xD Coming to play later on to give depth to other characters and to make the complex connections between all of them. As its still ongoing the plot may very well deepen and give more background to all those who have already appeared. Their relations, at first glance, will even seem confusing, since a lot will happen at the same time, but as the story unfolds things will become clearer and seemingly plain characters will end up being some of the more complex ones. Coming from “boooring guy” to “Whadahell?! I love this guy!”. Yukio is also not your typical main character as he isn't the usual fearless, honest, kind and cocky from most action related genres. His life was full of misery and so his traits are very human like, having fears, traumas, grudges, hate and more.

Enjoyment, 10:
Well, it was great. Well paced story, intriguing characters, really good art and with something new happening every chapter I just couldn't stop and ended up reading all of the chapters in two days.

Overall, 10:
One of the best bl mangas I ever read, definitely not your ordinary bl manga, with a few twists, plenty of death, dark pasts and always living on the borderline of danger. To the point where going to a bookstore can end up with you paralyzed by fear for encountering someone who gave you some of your worst life moments.

If somehow the review ended up being confusing I apolosige. Its my first time doing it and English isn't my first language.