We Were There: Vol. 1

Rating T+ Genre manga Author Yuki Obata Publisher Viz Media

Take a walk with me back to your freshman year of high school. Or, if you’re in it right now—which is a scary thought for me—prepare to learn about how stupid and traumatic it will be on several levels.

Remember that first big crush in your first big year at that big new school? Scary as crap. Often shameful upon reflection. I know mine was. My first big high school crush was a great football player, a mediocre student and a complete tool. But nothing could keep my eyes from following him whenever he passed. I would say horrifyingly dumb things around him and flirt with him in the most obnoxious “I-don’t-really-know-how-to-flirt-in-a-subdued-way-yet” way. Awful. Just awful. But, if you would for some reason like to revisit these mortifyingly awkward times, then We Were There is the manga for you!!

We Were There revolves around a young girl named Nanami Takahashi who quickly falls for Motoharu Yano, the “most popular, carefree boy in class” who happens to have some pretty scandalous elements in his romantic past, mostly consisting of a dead ex-girlfriend who cheated on him repeatedly.

How fun! Yes, how fun until we encounter Takahashi’s complete and utter social ineptitude. It would almost be kind of cute if it didn’t hit so close to home. As soon as she realizes she likes this boy, she blurts out literally any reaction she has to whatever he says. She just does whatever her little heart tells her, including confessing her feelings and taking them back maybe twelve hours later. Her complete obsession with him is made all the more abundantly clear by her inner monologue being put aside all of her outside dialogue. The overload of pre-teen girl talk both within and outside of this girl’s head has a bit of a vertigo effect that gets to be a little bit too much to handle, especially considering the magnitude of her passionate attention deficit disorder toward her own feelings.

And Yano is us, more or less. In other words, he’s kind of wondering what in the world is wrong with this girl, too. He’s a source of consistency in the story that calms the dizziness of Takahashi’s grins and bumbling speeches. He’s a great representation of what a first crush is to a girl: He’s cool and collected, and often gives “I don’t know” as a perfectly natural response. He calls Takahashi out on her constant giddiness and hormonally-charged interrogations, which in turn makes her even more nervous and more insecure.

So, here we see the blossoming of self-doubt! How wonderful it is to revisit the times when we learned that, in order to be loved by the one we want, we must hide our true feelings and instantaneous reactions to everything they say in order to be worthy enough of their magnanimous love. This manga shows us what it was like before we thought before we spoke; before we questioned ourselves and our self-worth; and what it was like to, for the first time, meet that person who already knew the status quo of self-repression and taught us to shut up.

So yes, obviously I do resent it a little that people have to hide their emotions so often. But when I revisit Takahashi’s foolish, young speech, I shudder a little at the memory of having ever resembled that in some way. I guess it worked out for the best, because I don’t say things like, “I don’t like you at ALL anymore!” just to get attention. So, let’s see what our tiny little pistol of a heroine will learn in the volumes to follow…