Little House with an Orange Roof (a.k.a. Orange Yane no Chiisana Ie)

**dizzcity** · 08-11-2009, 04:54 AM

Is anyone else reading this? Seinen romance, shoujo artwork, and one of the purest and sweetest love stories I've seen. By the mangaka of Yume de Aetara, but he's definitely improved his storytelling since then. Scanlations are being done by SCX-Scans and Foolzrules, and they've just finished Volume 3 of 8. You can download it here.

Summary: A man with two sons comes back home to find one day that his wife is divorcing him, because he's too much of a workaholic and a square. At the same time, a woman with two daughters finds out that her husband has been cheating on her, and leaves him in a huff. They each go house-hunting to get a change of environment and cheer themselves up after their respective breakups. Thanks to a crooked real estate agent, they end up buying the same house. With no money to move elsewhere, or to buy out each other's share, these two odd families have to move in and start living together. Thus begins a tale of shared joys, sorrows, laughter and affection as they learn to adjust, accept each other, and slowly fall in love.

~ OMG, this series is so good! ~

There's like squee-iffic moments almost every chapter, as you see the romance slowly blossom between the two main characters. And it's interesting, because it's not your typical manga story set-up - the children, neighbours and family also play a very big factor in the protagonists' lives and romance. If you liked Aishiteruze Baby, or Open Sesame, or most of Adachi's stuff, you'll definitely like this one as well. And better yet, if you've read Yume de Aetara, you can clearly see how much the mangaka has grown and evolved, both in his artwork and storytelling style, which are much more polished here. A slow-developing romance also means that it's okay to read it one chapter at a time, instead of blazing through it in one reading. In fact, I think it even adds to the feel of the story, when you slowly wait for the next chapters to come.

It's shaping up to be my favourite romance manga of all time, even starting to edge out Maison Ikkoku off the number one spot. Anyone else reading it?

-Dizzy-

**pseudorandom** · 08-11-2009, 05:04 PM

I read the first chapter but never followed up on it, and have been failing to download chapters since. Must rectify.

**98abaile** · 08-13-2009, 09:47 AM

I just read through the first 3 volumes and I love this series.
Although at some points it feels a bit like some cheesy sit com, the story is endearing and the art is fucking beautiful.

Well worth following.

**_Vincent_** · 08-13-2009, 10:59 AM

I like this series as well. I've been following it since I saw the first chapter ^^

What I like the most in this series is that it doesn't get too dramatic and the story moves on a very comfortable pace. Though it felt like there was a sudden time jump in between two chapters (not sure where) but it didn't feel like a bad thing. Definitely going to keep following this one

**mystic_guard_sinoel** · 08-13-2009, 12:05 PM

tsun-tsun

dere-dere

**dizzcity** · 08-13-2009, 09:44 PM

Great, isn't it? I've been following it since the first chapter too. Honestly, when I first read the description, I was expecting a sitcom like the Brady Bunch or Living Game. But it's almost solely dedicated to romance and family with only light hints of humor. What I really like about this series is that the man ISN'T a loser (unlike Yume de Aetara). He's a workaholic and a square, but he's dependable, open with his feelings, and even heroic at times. He may not always be good at certain things at first (like cooking), but he actually works hard at it and improves. And he's not an indecisive waffler. Once he admits he's fallen in love, he makes his move quite quickly.

And the art is incredibly beautiful, yes. Nagisa is always lovely, and Luna is unbelievably cute (especially once she lets her hair down... that birthday ~chu scene was fantastic... as was the vision of all of them when they grow up). Nagisa's sister (Harumi) reminds me of NANA, for some reason. But all of the characters are endearing. I just wish a little more time could be spent getting to know the older two kids... but at the same time, I don't want anything distracting from the romance. (First kiss, finally! After so many aborted tries in the previous chapter... and I'm amazed at how the mangaka actually wrote the children into setting it up!)

-Dizzy-

EDIT: Vincent, there's a 9-month timeskip between ch. 20 and 21 of Volume 3. That's when Shoutarou revamped the Kawasaki store and got headhunted to join the new company, and Natchi got photographed as a model with her daughters.

**Ferozban** · 08-14-2009, 01:10 AM

Some time ago i've read the first 2 or 3 chapters and instantly put it on my reading list.
I dont know why i didnt have the time to continue but reading this posts i'm getting in the mood of reading further.

**dizzcity** · 08-21-2009, 10:38 PM

So, a couple of new chapters came out... (v4, ch. 25-26)

Whoa. Tough dilemma. Get divorced, lose the kids. Keep the kids, stay in a dead marriage and never be with the one you love. What I really appreciate about this series is that, for once, the relationship between the romantic leads isn't plagued by the typical adolescent love problems. These issues are much more serious and "adult", in a sense. And even the relationship with the temptress figure is different from the norm - she's seductive, but not sweet... and he's well-aware of her strategy and can resist.

Any thoughts on how the situation will be resolved, with such an ogre of a mother-in-law? And why do you think the mother-in-law is acting this way? Is she really so blind to the faults of her son? Or is she just using this as a way to gain custody of (presumably) her only grandchildren?

-Dizzy-