Bokura Ga Ita finale – “Once, we were there and we have been there…”

“We once loved when we were 15. Even though that time seemed to be so faraway now, we used to exist in that time. Then, we were there. We spent our time together. Do you still remember?”

It ended, just as it was at the start. Did you enjoy the journey of Nana, Yano, Takeuchi and Yuri?

I know I did. Let me bring you through the last journey of “We were there”. They were there. For sure.

Episode overview 25-26 in bite-size

Nana realized that Yano did have intentions to move to Tokyo. She then said that he could do anything he wanted, and she would be happy with it. However, she realized eventually that it was not what she wanted and she found that one year of waiting was way too long. Yano was in fact waiting for her to regret the decision and asked her if she was regretting anything, but she still told him that it was all right. As Yano told her to meet up one night, he said he had thought of the Christmas celebration but it was pushed forward a week on December 18th. He was going to join his mother to Tokyo.

Yano actually wanted to bring her to a hot spring and the zoo for their last meeting, but Nana did not want Yano to spend so much considering that his family finanical status was not that good in the first place. Nana then said she did not want anything too special, because she did not want to feel that he was going away. Still, she dressed up very well and cutely, as they spent their time doing the things they usually do, with flashbacks appearing. It seemed that Yano had kept the neo-prints that they took during their first time there, and it was clear that the decision made by Yano to leave Tokyo was an extremely painful one for him. As the day finally arrived, Nana was in tears as Yano simply told her that when negative feelings and positive feelings conflict with each other, it is not zero but positive. That was what Nana brought for her, as he left, leaving Nana chasing for the train…The story ends but they were there.

Resolution, thoughts and review

That is the premise of Bokura Ga Ita, of two people who used to be in love at the age of 15, with the delicate relationship of two young people who simply wished to be with each other, yet with their very own insecurities, confusion and pains of growing up. This depicts well of the romance of the teenagers, their relationships with their friends as well as the many questions that

It is perhaps a very bittersweet ending to this wonderful shoujo series that I consider to be the top shoujo series of 2006. I remember at the start of the series, I totally hated Yano for all his silly antics with Nanashi, only to see his journey as he escaped from the cage that he jailed himself in and finally releasing himself from the pain that he had. He became more and more likable in my opinion, and that was when my impression of Nana went totally downhill.

Prone to crying, insecurity and her jealousy of someone who was already dead made me annoyed at her, as well as the fact that she was definitely not ready for a relationship after the incident with Yuri in the hospital. Still, Nana ends the situation well, even though I wish she was a bit stronger mentally. However, that might also take away some of the charm of the show, because it capitalizes on the flaws of the characters. These characters are not perfect beings. They are like us, weak and making stupid mistakes even though they know jolly well they should not do it. That is why we get angry, we get sad, we get happy and we get annoyed with what they do.

The ending to me really symbolized the whole feeling of “We were there”. Perhaps, some other viewers wanted a more close-ended resolution but I personally feel that by leaving it this way, it ends the romance at a point where they both know that they have found love somewhat. To make a fake “happy ending” to me will be a tad disappointing since it is clear that the love that they have is strong enough. That, to me, is more important than having a “1 year later” resolution because it will defeat the purpose of the title. However, I can see why Hinano disliked the ending, which probably does seem to scream “Read the manga for the continuation”.

Talking about the graphics of the show, which is really nothing, it is perhaps a nice soft style of art that is very basic, yet fitting to the whole shoujo genre. I know of many people who are turned off by the pretty medicore graphics presented in Bokura Ga Ita, but this is a shoujo series that screams out loud at you with the style of graphical design. In that aspect, I like the series simply because I am a great fan of shoujo-styled art. However, this is a double-edged sword because it will veer some neutrals out of this series. As it is, Bokura Ga Ita will only appeal to shoujo fans, and not the normal anime fan.

The greatest strength of the series is its use of appropriate music sang by the wonderful Mi. Some of the insert songs in this series are just about the best songs that I have heard from an anime series, and I even got a few friends interested in Bokura Ga Ita after sending them some of the EDs. I think it is a great thing to have different EDs for this show, because most of the songs that are inside are really wonderful. Music, in this series, is one of the biggest plus in the series.

The characters, as I have stated earlier, were given enough character development throughout the series and you learn to hate or like them. It is perhaps one of its redeeming points too, even though the story can get a bit too emotional at times that might turn off some people too. The drama, however, is painfully realistic and I think that some of the scenarios are very possible in real life, except about Yano’s history that is seriously screwed up. Still, to add, the realism of the relationship, where the couple quarrels over small incidents is something that I feel is an interesting thing to debate about.

All in all, I think Bokura Ga Ita is an excellent addition to the shoujo anime genre. With that, I toast this wonderful series and I am a little sad that it has to end so fast.