Bokura Ga Ita - Review

[MANGA REVIEW] 僕等がいた -Bokura ga Ita(We were there ) 

Written by - Yuki Obata 

Status :Completed 

Chapters - 70

Genere - Drama , Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life 

This is definitely one of my all time favorite especially when I want to sit down for a good cry ( no I am not a sadist :P ). I feel that this was pretty much under-rated *nom-nom*. NOTE : Guaranteed to make you cry and a little longish. 

Summary (from Mangareader)

The start of high school life. To the girls, that also meant the start of their love lives. For brand new first year student, Takahashi Nanami (Nana for short), it was no different... She happens to end up in the same class as the incredibly popular Yano Motoharu, who rumors say that two thirds of all the girls are guaranteed to fall in love with. But will that hold true for Nana, who says that if she had to choose between like or dislike, she'd say she dislikes him!?

Review: 

"If you were on a boat with two people and that boat were about to sink, who would you save? The one you like more? The one who's prettier? Or the one who's nicer?” 

 someone ask you that question, who are you going to choose between the one you love or the one who needed you so badly?

This question lies within the shoujo manga entitled Bokura Ga Ita which literally means ‘We were there’ in English.

Bokura Ga Ita tells the bitter-sweet love story between a highschool student girl named Nanami Takahashi and the most popular guy in their school, Yano Motoharu. Their sorta budding relationship turns into a serious type one though it’s not easily maintainable. Yano’s past and the complex emotion they bring up makes it difficult for the two to be completely honest about how their feelings for each other. Nanami and Yano must face challenges including jealousy, distance, secrets, third parties, insecurities and many more obstacles before they lead in to supposedly happy ending…

… Or maybe not.

I love bokura ga ita because the flow of the story is oh so true. The story can be really happened in a person's love life and i can relate into it.

The artwork is not really outstanding and fantastic though it can still be considered as adorable and cute. However, the manga covers are definitely captivating, creating a refreshing and seemingly simple feel akin to it.

Yano initially comes off as your typical cool, friendly, class clown who has a nice head on his shoulders and who everyone loves, causing him to be the the heart throb of his class. Nana-chan may as well be the exact opposite of who one would initially think a guy like Yano would be interested in. She isn’t very smart ( well to make it easier - she is stupid), and she starts out disliking Yano because she thinks he’s a haughty jerk. However, she slowly finds herself falling for him and wanting to help him as she gets a little taste of the emotional turmoil he is still in after the passing of his first love, Nana, who died before the start of the story in a car accident with her ex-boyfriend, who was strongly hinted at being less than friendly with her.

Yano’s conflicting feelings cause a lot of trouble for Nana-chan since he always seems to be getting caught up in some drama or another with Nana’s family and their affairs, leaving behind Nana-chan which causes a lot of frustration on her part.However, Yano isn’t the only one with problems. Nana-chan does have issues of her own. Because of all the crap with Yano, she was often indecisive and, especially near the end of the series, unconfident in her abilities as Yano’s girlfriend, leading her to let their fights drag on because she is a really stubborn person, only causing more pain to both parties.

It is the epitome of a shoujo manga. Love rivals - check. heart wrenching moments - Check. Unending drama- Double check.

Looking at Nana-chan and Yano as a couple, though, I have to say, sometimes, I was wondering what was even holding them together. Yano’s problems with the past in the first half and Nana’s lack of confidence in the second half caused a lot of rocky moments where I was, honestly, curious as to why they were even together if they were just going to cause each other pain and suffering and tears. Take, Yano’s best friend, told Nana somewhere near the start of the series that a relationship full of pain and tears is not one they should maintain and continue, and I agree with him….to a point.

Overall, I enjoyed Bokura ga Ita a great deal. and the many moments when I cried like there was no tomorrow. I did like the ending because it ended in a spot where their future looked hopeful which was nice because I know how terrible it gets latter on. I think the ending is perfect in the sense that everything comes together and everyone can go home with a sense of relief and happiness because, in the end, everything worked out. However, I’m not necessarily clamoring for an animated end because I don’t really want to sit and watch the characters I’ve grown to like and support go through all the crap they do latter on, so, in many ways, I am content with how things ended. 

Overall Score: 10/10 - a winner *wink wink*