Bokura ga Ita

Bokura ga Ita is an anime for romance and drama lovers. I, personally love the genre so I enjoyed BgI to its fullest (mind you, not as much as something like Kanon), however, BgI really leaves you with overwhelming emotions. The story revolves around Takahashi Nanami and Motoharu Yano, two high schoolers who unexpectedly fall in love. As the series moves on, we get to see the ups and downs of their relationship that eventually climaxes when both of them must truly mature or move on - the choice being particularly difficult for Takahashi. Throughout the story, the viewer is introduced to various problems everycouple faces from past influences to jealousy -in the end it's quite a simple plot outline with very gripping dialog (for a drama, that is). Animation is taken care of very well - there's a water color-esque feel akin to Honey & Clove mixed with standard inked anime. The animation won't wow you but it's still nice to for the eyes. Insert songs create a perfect scene where emotion must strike a chord. Music can make or break a scene and although the songs are prevalent during climaxes, they always seem to get the job done. There's about 4-5 main characters that truly effect the plot - a couple of them are boring and static however the three main ones are the ones you'll come to love or hate. BgI is the type of anime that makes you feel for the character and sympathize with them; although you may not be in Takahahi's shoes, she'll often narrate her thoughts and feelings to you. Overall, I'd suggest this for romance/drama lovers - I truly enjoyed every second of this anime and I'm searching for the manga right now. The plot, while simple provides a lot of entertainment for the viewer - whether you cry or laugh, Bokura ga Ita delivers what it's good at.

Let me try my best to make this review short and to the point. First, Bokura ga Ita is drama. Drama, drama, drama. If you don't want to watch a couple go over countless drama scenarios over and over and over, then don't bother with this show. Second, and this might be a slight spoiler, but if you like one of the male leads more than the other, this will make or break the series for you. The male lead that I liked a lot didn't win out in the end, so naturally, I'm a little bitter (okay, more than a little). Third, don't expect reallife situations or problems. I don't believe Nanami or Yano handled a lot of their situations like a normal couple would. I'm definitely no expert on relationships, but sometimes you know how things would have happen. It's TV folks, expect some "Ooooookay" scenes. And as for my last point. The series was good enough to watch, but not good enough to warrant a "go see it now" from me. As I said, I was dissatisfied with the Anime ending, so I will most likely pick up the manga to see where it leads. Judging by my desire to read the manga after watching of the Anime, I should think that says it did well enough to see. á

Story: A girl falls in love with a popular guy through which the guy falls in love with her as well and then they started going out. Then things start to take a turn for the worse as the girl begins to question the guy's past which shakes their relationship. A story of love, heartaches, sercrets, dreams, etc. This is a show which couples can relate..or even those who still couldn't find love...you'll know the hardships of being in a relationship as well as the things that make it so wonderful. The series also has a bit of slapstick comedy to lighten up the mood.Quite a nice touch in my opinion. Art: Well, I couldn't say much about the art..it's simple. The characters don't look that cool or awesome as other animes, but they are characters which will be remembered. The bakcgrounds are simple, almost like they were just watercolored. But despite the simplicity of the art, it's realistic. The characters clothing is a big example. They change clothes every episode or even during an episode. and the designs for the clothes are nice too. Sound: Since this is a romance series, expect that there'll be a lot of drama and sad moments just as much as happy ones. The background music really goes well with the mood of each situation and just at the right time. I almost shed a tear at one point in the series coz of the situation and the music was just sad...I give the music team a thubs up! no two! XD Character: The reason why this anime is great. The plot alone isn't enough to make you interested in watching a series, the characters do. And here the characters make you hate them at some point, or feel sorry for them at other times. There is no real antagonist in this story coz all of the characters are acting out of their feelings, and when you're in love, sometimes it's hard to see if what you did or said is wrong until you see the result..and there's also character development especially in the two main characters (Yano and Nanami). Overall: If you love romance, or romance anime to be particular, this is a definite must watch!

Quick Review: Story: 9 (Manages to suck me in to this story from the very beginning and somehow forces me to find out whats next) Art: 4 (its just damn awkward staring at characters for long periods of time without eyes.) Sound: 5 (Not every scene when the on screen characters, gasp, gulp, groan, or preforming an act of moe, needs to buzzed in.) Character: 6 (The fantasy slowly and effortlessly turned into reality.) Enjoyment: 6 (No matter if you're a drama buff or feeling nostalgic of that love lost, this is indeed a drama roller coaster.)Overall: 30/50 = 6.0 (...What is happiness to YOU?) Full Review: ___Story___ This review is coming from a person who is not entirely into the Romantic Drama genre (prefer romantic comedies). So lets get to the brass tacks of this heart wrenching tale of an 'ordinary' girl and her boyfriend. Clearly the most important part of any deep seeded, plot twist driven, emotional roller coaster is the story. If you have watched any soap opera, telenovela, or romance anime/manga, you know how they normally go, Point A, plot twist, point b, repeat. This works perfectly fine in this show. And it even manages to suck me in to this story from the very beginning. They perfectly sugar coat a taste of things to come, when you realize that such an important thing happens very early in the anime. I laughed a lot and cried a lot and even got pissed alot, but the story story still kept me wanting to know, 'whats going to happen next?' Behold, the power of the 'next episode' previews and skillfully placed teasers throughout the ending credits. Never have I experienced such a perfect mix of ending credits, cliffhangers, and music mold into such a unique experience, that I realized that i had spent over 10 hours watching this show. ___Art___ Aside the standard 'shoujo style' of drawing, the art direction is actually very 'unique' to say the least. It's sort of hard to describe the awkwardness I kept feeling when ever I tried to determine the feelings of the characters on screen. The first thing that will stick out the most is that 90% of the time, you will see all the characters with either one eye or no eyes. Now I don't know if this is to avoid "watching" their emotions like we normally do and instead, watch their emotions through sounds via the voice acting and chance flags. Whatever the reason, its just damn awkward staring at characters for long periods of time without eyes. Sometimes its just downright scary. And a large amount of the time, its not even necessary. Sometimes I thought this was just a move to save time and money since you will also realize that they do A LOT of flashback inserts, especially during the later episodes. If you take a technical standpoint to that issue, from episodes 15 through 26, a full 8 minutes is wasted to the last episode recap, opening theme, and flashbacks to previous episodes. That is disappointing to say the least. But in their defense, each episode is riddled with so many plot and emotional twists that most viewers would easily forget why they are acting 'that way.' Another useful 'cost cutting' technique that they seem to over use would be the pan and scan shots. Which means they draw an 'elaborate' drawing, then they pan and/or zoom the camera up, down, left, right, in and/or out to get the most effect of the drawing. In small doses, this is perfectly fine like in very important (emotional) scenes. But they do take this technique to the Nth degree. Do we really need to see a pan-shot of Nanami's face with no eyes for a full 8 seconds? There are many artistic flaws like that. A little bit off topic but, this series does lend itself to very beautiful still shots worthy of any picture frame. Just google search the images for this show and you will understand what I am saying. Ironically, that is the reason why I started watching this show is because of all the artwork depicting this show. ___Sound___ As with any drama, there is a wide range of emotions being displayed through all the characters. Some of them play it out very well, some of them not so much. But any show that manages to get the audience to relate or feel the same way as the characters on screen, should be commended. They did a great job in creating such a wide range of emotions by not only voice acting, but the music and sound effects played a large part into pushing that emotional envelope. The various songs portrayed in this show all came in at perfect times and never felt like it was awkward or forced. The lyrics to all 9+ songs are sure to bring tears to any drama lovers eyes. As it did with me numerous times. There is nothing really wrong I can say about the music in this show. Its all very appropriate and at times, too appropriate. Again, with such a great execution of song usage, they manage to screw things up with using the same sound effects over way, way, WAY too much. As seasoned, anime fans would know, when a chance time (or flag) occurs, a 'pleasant' beep would go off. It sounds harmless at first, until you realize they are going to use the same sound effect 10-15 times in every episode. Not every scene when the on screen characters, gasp, gulp, groan, or preform an act of moe, needs to buzzed in. Granted, half of the time the characters don't have eyes (the most predominant way to read their emotions), but at least let the audience realize these flags on their own instead of literally chiming in for us. ___Characters____ Love them, hate them, or both, they do pull off their lines with ease. They can pull of their personalities with perfection, but for some reason, I had no connection to the characters after watching for a while. I grew to love Nanami and the other cast of characters early on (remember sugar coating), but the plot twists weren't living up to my expectations later in the series that I just gave up cheering for them. The fantasy slowly and effortlessly turned into reality. That's when I started to become disappointed with it as it started feeling like high school all over again. Take that however you may (good or bad) I'm sure you're like me and just end up wanting to watch what happens next 'just because' It's also a little hard for me to feel an attachment to the characters when they appear not to have any eyes for no apparent reason. I feel like this show would feel much more complete if they completed drawing their eyes, no matter how ugly they are. Kudos to the main cast though as they did manage to just keep it somewhat interesting from beginning to end. Hell, I even caught myself yelling at the screen from time to time at how irrational this drama can be. But hey, that's life right? ___Enjoyment___ No matter if you're a drama buff or feeling nostalgic of that love lost in your past, this is indeed an emotional roller coaster for the soul. Be prepared to cry tears of joy and sadness, and reflect on things that could have been that never were. You will most likely experience all of those things. But sadly the production value and direction they took this show is what ultimately gave me this score. I really wanted to give this show a 9 or even a 10, but the excessive nuances are just too much bear for this poor soul. Maybe they might do a re-release down the line. I'm sure that's just wishful thinking on my part. And on that note... ...What is happiness to you?

Merchandise

Links may contain affiliate references

Studio

Producers

Themes