We Were There 1
Posted: April 12, 2009 Filed under: We Were There 6 Comments »It’s really, really hard not to compare this to Sand Chronicles. Both stories deal with the very real impact and effects of death, both do wonderfully subtle things with emotion and characters, and both are quiet love stories set among high school age protagonists. Neither use humor, or more specifically gags and over-the-top humor, which lend a lot of gravity to both stories.
I think its the lack of humor that separates this series more than anything else. The heroine is the type of… uncomplicated girl that you would find in a lot of other series, except in those series there’d be a sight gag when she forgot someone’s name and gave the wrong one, or she’d throw a wild fit when she got a zero on the math test. I wouldn’t like Nana in any other series, but without all those bits of humor to make her annoying, she comes off as a very normal girl with normal girl problems. It probably also helps that a big part of this volume is about her not being able to make (good) friends.
Her conversations with Yano in this volume are something of an enigma, and they are in the other volumes I’ve read, too. You can never tell what Yano is thinking, but this volume casts him as a bit more of a sinister bully than the others do. For instance, in one of their first chats, Yano makes a motion to choke her, then talks about how he would kill a girl for cheating on him. He also has a weirdly casual way of dealing with relationships. I just don’t know what to think of him.
But it is certainly a different take on the shoujo romance, and it’s refreshing to read this after something like B.O.D.Y. I’m curious to see where the relationship between Yano and Nana will go, because it just seems… somewhat doomed, honestly.
For instance, in one of their first chats, Yano makes a motion to choke her, then talks about how he would kill a girl for cheating on him. He also has a weirdly casual way of dealing with relationships. I just don’t know what to think of him.
Yes! I get a really ominous feeling from this series. I think Yano might well snap and do something crazy. Not that that wouldn’t be, y’know, completely awesome.
[...] 1 of Strawberry 100% (Comics Village) Grant Goodman on vol. 1 of Tengu-Jin (Manga Recon) Connie on vol. 1 of We Were There (Slightly Biased [...]
Actually, yes, that would be totally unexpected and awesome, especially since this really doesn’t seem the type of series. But I was thinking about what you said about Yano being a little creepy while I was reading it.
i had difficulty enjoying this series until the second volume..but since i was curious to see how it would pan out i kept on. i’m really not fond of the artwork, the eyes feel very empty and it bothers me.
Yes! You’re right about the eyes, and that part bothered me a lot, too. It’s especially creepy since so much goes unsaid, and the characters wind up looking at each other rather than saying anything. It always seems like what they’re about to say will be tremendously bad, even when they are clearly happy.
Very interesting. When i started reading this i thought of Sand Chronicles too. This manga is brilliant but it does make you feel like something bad is gonna happened or has happened.