Nanami has a hard time letting the past go, and she’s not the only one.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yuuki Obata
Translation/Adaptation: Nancy Thistlethwaite
What They Say
I’m 24 years old…
…but I still feel the same as I did at 17.
I can feel the waves rushing toward me. This time I’m going to let the current take me. I’m going to chase after you like a child.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
What do you do with a problem like Yano? The boy disappeared from his friend’s lives and hasn’t communicated with them in years. Nanami clings to her memories of him, and their relationship in high school, while continuing her long current relationship with Takeuchi. Sengenji can’t keep her nose out of the situation and presses everyone on the issue. You just know that whatever happens, someone is going to get hurt.
Would it have been better for Sengenji to have kept the knowledge of where Yano was to herself? Probably. She may have been correct in knowing the feelings of her friends and her heart was probably in the right place, but she had to have known the havoc that it would cause. She keeps pressing Nanami to meet with Yano, and even warns Takeuchi about her actions. Takeuchi is trapped knowing that Nanami still loves some part of Yano, but wants to propose to her all the same. Nanami clearly loves Takeuchi, and she knows she should do right by him because he’s a good guy… but as they say, she loves him but isn’t in love with him. Everyone’s trapped in this past called Yano.
Yano himself doesn’t want to meet with Nanami. He tells everyone that he has changed and his feelings have changed, all while lying to everyone and himself. Nanami lives in his memories just as strongly. His reluctance to shatter the twisted relationship he has with Yamamoto and Takeuchi’s relationship with Nanami keeps him isolated. Logic aside, it’s all Yano’s fault for breaking off all contact! When Takeuchi finds and confronts Yano at the end of the volume, it feels both bitter and satisfying, but the future for everyone is now more uncertain than ever.
The art still seems a bit too round and cherubic when portraying the characters as their older selves, even if people don’t change too much between high school at their early twenties. I noticed one typo in the text, which is a minor quibble but noteable since the story is light on text to begin with.
In Summary
There seems to be far more heartbreak than love in We Were There. No one can let go of the past, and it’s slowly taking it’s toll on everyone’s lives. Nanami tries to remain strong and true to her emotions, in contrast to Yano’s denial of his. The friendships everyone once shared threaten to collapse permanently under all this weight of regret. It’s painful to watch play out, and it’s difficult to say where the relationships of any of these characters could possibly go now.
Content Grade: B +
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B +
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: November 1st, 2011
MSRP: $9.99
