We Were There 6

Yuki Obata – Viz – 2009 – 13+ volumes

What’s this?  A volume of We Were There that’s actually… positive?  I was totally shocked by the turn the story took in this volume.  The beginning of it was pretty nerve-wracking, with Motoharu and Masafumi fighting with one another for the opportunity to confess their feelings to Nanami first.  This was also touching in its way, because the volume started with Motoharu admitting that there wasn’t anyone who meant more to him than Masafumi, and he would never do anything again that would jeopardize their friendship.  Then he amends that to anything short of winning back Nanami.  But it was still pretty clear that he meant absolutely everything he said.

The reunion between Nanami and Motoharu nearly made me tear up.  As with most such moments in this series, the characters quietly sit and gauge each other’s emotions, and then minimal words pass between them.  Things aren’t better immediately, but it was still so wonderful to see the moment between them.  This scene is actually informed even more later in the volume, when Nanami comes to the realization that the only thing that Motoharu is actually bad at is loving someone, but it’s clear to her that he really and truly does love Nanami.  He tries so very hard to win her over, again and again and again.  It really is very touching, and 100% true-to-life in a way that shoujo manga almost never is.

The quote on the back of the book is well-selected, too.  As cheesy as it sounds, it broke my heart/made me very happy in the context of the story.

Nanami does the smart thing and doesn’t take him back immediately.  She doesn’t trust him when it comes to his deceased girlfriend Nana, and won’t get back together with him until he’s explained just what Nana means to him.  Motoharu doesn’t quite understand what she means, and this part is actually the only part of the series I’ve disliked so far, because I’m not entirely sure what Nanami wants here, either.  Motoharu tries telling her a lot about Nana, but none of it is what she wants, and… it’s not clear what she wants, but I think it’s mostly just a product of her feeling like she can never match the love that Nana and Motoharu shared.  That’s actually pretty clear almost right away, even though Nanami doesn’t realize it until she’s nearly let Motoharu go again.  Her insistence that he share his experiences, and being dissatisfied with what he has to tell her, is frustrating, but also just a natural part of what Nanami and any number of other people in her situation could want.

It could also just be an issue of a girl wanting the boy to share his feelings and the boy not knowing how.  It’s actually a pretty classic version of that, I think, except it’s portrayed in a very sincere way here, and not in the comical way it usually is.

But the volume ends on a very, very positive note.  I’m looking forward to seeing if the mood changes, but even if it doesn’t… you know, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this series is better at portraying relationships and emotion than any other shoujo series I’m reading right now.  Even Nana.  That’s just what it does.  It’s fantastic, and not something any shoujo fan should be missing out on.

This was a review copy provided by Viz.