(L) Bokura ga Ita Manga

[youkushuno]

Thank you very much magnoliafan100, for the clear translation of the conversation between Nana and Yano..
I have to agree with equinox about the narration at the end of the series, basically, The anime series is like the past being narrated by Nanami 5 years after. And then, continues on with the series in the manga. So, presently, the story now is not being narrated anymore (sorry for the bad english, I don't know how to express what I wanted to say.. But I hope you got what I mean..)
And about the question, how do I deal with the depression?
I actually watch it over and over till it wears off.. (I'm a masochist! lol!)
I actually watched A Love to Kill, a korean series, it also got me so depressed.. but there are times when you really want to watch these kinda series.. it makes you feel..

[golthin]

Originally Posted by equinox

NANA STILL LOVES YANO.. which means that she could never be happy with some other guy, right? the same goes for yano.. that's why everyone wants them to end up together.. sure Take loves nana as well.. but their love is not mutual.. so nana could never make him happy...

Come on, because someone love somebody doesn't mean she will be happy with the guy. it takes two to make a relationship work. Yano knows he has issues and he is trying to spare Nana the pain of being with him. The way he is going about it is wrong, he should have faith on Nanami and try to work through his issues together. He has decided as his punishment to not seek help and live in his personal hell.

I think Yano has done well so far partially because of Yuri, just imagine if she was not around where the guy would be now. He might think he owes her a debt for being there for him even though he kept pushing her away. Nanami could have done the same, but Yano didn't give her the chance.

[xCrystalx]

Originally Posted by golthin

did i say he was a bad guy or abusive? read my post again. He is damaged goods. He has too many issues, like he believes that whoever he loves will die because two of the people he loved died partially because of him. Yano's way of thinking: If he had not fought with Nana1, she would have been with him during her birthday and she wouldn't have died. If he had not told his mother that he was going back to Nanami's town, she wouldn't have died. That is his way of thinking. that is why he is cold to women now.

You saying this:

Originally Posted by golthin

I am tired of the scenario of the damaged good guy or bad boy, or the abussive guy ending with the girl.

Kind of made me think so. I guess I misunderstood then.

As for the reason Yano is staying away from Nana, nothing is for sure yet. We don't know the whole story. Yano hasn't spoken about it and probably won't until pushed to the limit. Yuri herself said that he most likely will never reveal the truth. Therefore, saying that he's refraining himself from seeing Nana because he's afraid she'd die like the others did, is only an assumption. We don't know what's he really thinking until Yuki Obata decides to touch upon it.

Originally Posted by equinox

NANA STILL LOVES YANO.. which means that she could never be happy with some other guy, right? the same goes for yano.. that's why everyone wants them to end up together.. sure Take loves nana as well.. but their love is not mutual.. so nana could never make him happy...

I agree with this. The fact that Yano and Nana are both suffering is why the story is still going on. If Nana is truly capable of being happy with Take, this story would have taken a whole different direction and ended by now.

Originally Posted by golthin

Come on, because someone love somebody doesn't mean she will be happy with the guy. it takes two to make a relationship work. Yano knows he has issues and he is trying to spare Nana the pain of being with him. The way he is going about it is wrong, he should have faith on Nanami and try to work through his issues together. He has decided as his punishment to not seek help and live in his personal hell.

You make a good point. However, this a manga that revolves around Nana being the main character. Her love life is the highlight of the story. If she doesn't wish to be with the one she loves, then this manga fails as romance/shoujo. It does take two to make things work but looking at how Yano is now, he needs someone other than Yuri. Take pointing out that staying with Yuri will only leave Yano stuck in the past, says it all. Yuri will continuously remind him of Nana-san, hence, causing self-loathing. I think the fact that Yano himself admitted that his high school memories were the best is enough to show where his happiness lies. If he had those times back, he'll be able to smile sincerely once more. These are all assumptions but it might be all related to why Yano continues to reject Nana. He needs to learn that love is not about deserving or worthiness. Sometimes people are willing to be with the ones they love just because they want to the one to help them. That's what Nana has wished for and Yano has yet to realize this. Yano has always been somewhat broken inside and it was Nana who had helped him through. I don't see why she won't be able to it again

I think Yano has done well so far partially because of Yuri, just imagine if she was not around where the guy would be now. He might think he owes her a debt for being there for him even though he kept pushing her away. Nanami could have done the same, but Yano didn't give her the chance.

Yuri herself is too caught up in the past (like her friend pointed out). Yano and Yuri being together doesn't help either of them. Nana-san will continue to haunt them.

[yononaka]

With all this talk about being caught up in the past, isn't the Nana/Yano "great love" part of being caught up in the past as well? If we leave all the excuses aside, seriously? Yes, indeed, they had a good thing going at some point, but I agree with those (like golthin) who think that it's now pretty darn inconceivable for them to have a fully happy relationship. (In which case, why not have not fully happy relationships with Take and Yuri instead? ) Sure, the author can write a happy reconciliation ending for them, but it'll have to be one heck of a masterpiece to get me to take it even remotely seriously (especially from a long term perspective).

(For those who only remember me as a Yuri supporter here, let me mention again that I used be all for Nana/Yano in the early period. I still liked Yuri even then, but I wasn't cold to Nana/Yano like I am now.)

[blue skies]

Originally Posted by xCrystalx

Yuri herself is too caught up in the past (like her friend pointed out). Yano and Yuri being together doesn't help either of them. Nana-san will continue to haunt them.

But aren't Nana and Yano caught up in the past themselves? They still can't forget about each other and are -- up to this point -- unable to move past what they had. Yuri isn't the only one who can't just get on with her life. Yano's being pretty stupid about the whole situation; he shows a remarkable lack of concern for Nana's feelings by not wanting to share his pain with her and work things out. I understand that he's trying to spare her from more emotional turmoil, but in the end, he just ends up breaking her heart and hurting himself in the process. It's like some vicious cycle of suffering -- he doesn't want her to get hurt, so he pushes her away and causes both of them more pain. They may still love each other, but unfortunately, love isn't always enough. I think that's pretty obvious at this point in the manga -- they still love each other and will likely never forget one another, but that love hasn't been enough to save their relationship. Unless Yano learns to open up, have a little more faith in Nana and realizes that his actions (no matter how good the intentions) hurt her too, their love won't be enough.

If the ending winds up with a sickeningly sweet reconciliation and Yano and Nana walk away from all their troubles tralala and leave Take and Yuri in the dust, it'll leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Nana and Yano have been living in the past for a while now; I'd honestly like to see something major happen and them both try to move past it and move forward with Take and Yuri. Not that I think it'll happen; such is the nature of this beast. I think she and Yano could definitely work past some of their issues, but it's just not possible for them to have a totally happy, pain-free relationship. (Then again, find me a relationship that is totally painless.) I'll take a bittersweet ending over a cheese-fest any day, but the rest of the manga has been an emotional roller coaster, so I doubt Obata will take the chintzy way out.

The only thing I can guarantee about the ending is that we will probably all cry buckets. ;<

Also, WORD to everything golthin and yononaka said.

[magnoliafan100]

wow, good points all around

there are two visible factions in this thread, the realists vs the idealists. from a realistic point of view, like someone mentioned earlier, nana probably would've just been happy with take, and the story would go in a completely new direction aside from the one that it's currently on. from an idealistic poitn of view, nana and yano is a match made in heaven etcetcetc

i think we should take into consideration that this is not only a fictional story, it's a fictional story written with an intended audience in mind, if it goes in the realistic direction, the story will seriously fail as a shoujo, if it goes into the idealistic direction, it will probably either leave unanswered plot holes or leave a bad taste in various forum members mouths

so i think we should just agree to disagree, no matter how the story ends, there will always be a group thats disenchanted with the ending, however - i have faith in the author that she will somehow come up with an ending that is both realistic and ideal.


i spent the last 50 hours awake, i'll probably look at this tomorrow and edit it >.>

[golthin]

Originally Posted by blue skies

But aren't Nana and Yano caught up in the past themselves? They still can't forget about each other and are -- up to this point -- unable to move past what they had. Yuri isn't the only one who can't just get on with her life. Yano's being pretty stupid about the whole situation; he shows a remarkable lack of concern for Nana's feelings by not wanting to share his pain with her and work things out. I understand that he's trying to spare her from more emotional turmoil, but in the end, he just ends up breaking her heart and hurting himself in the process. It's like some vicious cycle of suffering -- he doesn't want her to get hurt, so he pushes her away and causes both of them more pain. They may still love each other, but unfortunately, love isn't always enough. I think that's pretty obvious at this point in the manga -- they still love each other and will likely never forget one another, but that love hasn't been enough to save their relationship. Unless Yano learns to open up, have a little more faith in Nana and realizes that his actions (no matter how good the intentions) hurt her too, their love won't be enough.

If the ending winds up with a sickeningly sweet reconciliation and Yano and Nana walk away from all their troubles tralala and leave Take and Yuri in the dust, it'll leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Nana and Yano have been living in the past for a while now; I'd honestly like to see something major happen and them both try to move past it and move forward with Take and Yuri. Not that I think it'll happen; such is the nature of this beast. I think she and Yano could definitely work past some of their issues, but it's just not possible for them to have a totally happy, pain-free relationship. (Then again, find me a relationship that is totally painless.) I'll take a bittersweet ending over a cheese-fest any day, but the rest of the manga has been an emotional roller coaster, so I doubt Obata will take the chintzy way out.

The only thing I can guarantee about the ending is that we will probably all cry buckets. ;<

Also, WORD to everything golthin and yononaka said.

the mangaka doesn't have enough chapters to gives us a believeable ending with a YanoxNana but it is very likely that it will happen. I will be more surprised if she doesn't have them ending together.

[xCrystalx]

Originally Posted by blue skies

But aren't Nana and Yano caught up in the past themselves? They still can't forget about each other and are -- up to this point -- unable to move past what they had. Yuri isn't the only one who can't just get on with her life. Yano's being pretty stupid about the whole situation; he shows a remarkable lack of concern for Nana's feelings by not wanting to share his pain with her and work things out. I understand that he's trying to spare her from more emotional turmoil, but in the end, he just ends up breaking her heart and hurting himself in the process. It's like some vicious cycle of suffering -- he doesn't want her to get hurt, so he pushes her away and causes both of them more pain. They may still love each other, but unfortunately, love isn't always enough. I think that's pretty obvious at this point in the manga -- they still love each other and will likely never forget one another, but that love hasn't been enough to save their relationship. Unless Yano learns to open up, have a little more faith in Nana and realizes that his actions (no matter how good the intentions) hurt her too, their love won't be enough.

What I meant was, Yuri reminds Yano of Nana-san and vice versa. The past has nothing benefitial to either of them because it only reminds them of the pain of losing someone. For Yano and Nana, their pasts are happy. Pasts can influence relationships a great deal, but the nature of the effect depends on the memories they share (am I making sense?). The rest of your comment, I agree with. Yano needs to snap out of it.

If the ending winds up with a sickeningly sweet reconciliation and Yano and Nana walk away from all their troubles tralala and leave Take and Yuri in the dust, it'll leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Nana and Yano have been living in the past for a while now; I'd honestly like to see something major happen and them both try to move past it and move forward with Take and Yuri. Not that I think it'll happen; such is the nature of this beast. I think she and Yano could definitely work past some of their issues, but it's just not possible for them to have a totally happy, pain-free relationship. (Then again, find me a relationship that is totally painless.) I'll take a bittersweet ending over a cheese-fest any day, but the rest of the manga has been an emotional roller coaster, so I doubt Obata will take the chintzy way out.

The only thing I can guarantee about the ending is that we will probably all cry buckets. ;<

Also, WORD to everything golthin and yononaka said.

I don't see how they can both move on with Take and Yuri. I just think that if it were possible, it would have happened by now. But who knows? Maybe the conversation Take wants to have with Nana will lead to something? Nothing is for sure but Yuki Obata did say something was going to happen between them.

And again, this is a shoujo manga. They're known for their typical corny endings (unless it's classified as a 'tragedy'). I agree with magnoliafan here. The manga, at this point, needs an ending that is both ideal and realistic.

If there's one thing I hate about this manga it's that it's depressing, heartbreaking and makes me cry like a baby D8

[golthin]

Originally Posted by xCrystalx

And again, this is a shoujo manga. They're known for their typical corny endings (unless it's classified as a 'tragedy'). I agree with magnoliafan here. The manga, at this point, needs an ending that is both ideal and realistic.

If there's one thing I hate about this manga it's that it's depressing, heartbreaking and makes me cry like a baby D8

That is why we have to be careful, there are many subgenre within the shoujo manga genre and this one is definitely within the tragic genre. That doesn't mean that couple doesn't end together in those type of manga, but there are very few of them.

[xCrystalx]

Originally Posted by golthin

That is why we have to be careful, there are many subgenre within the shoujo manga genre and this one is definitely within the tragic genre. That doesn't mean that couple doesn't end together in those type of manga, but there are very few of them.

That's the part that confuses me actually. Don't tragic mangas mostly end with the death of a character?

[magnoliafan100]

Originally Posted by xCrystalx

That's the part that confuses me actually. Don't tragic mangas mostly end with the death of a character?

hypothetically yes, but this one isn't necessarily in the tragedy subgenre, it could just be incredibly depressing and still be listed as shoujo/drama

i thought that in tragedies, a character will be established as a doomed character in the beginning... there are multiple incidences where yano's death could've been foreshadowed, but in the long run, it really doesn't make sense for yano to die.

[blue skies]

Originally Posted by xCrystalx

That's the part that confuses me actually. Don't tragic mangas mostly end with the death of a character?

Not necessarily. There are plenty of tragic shoujo manga in which major characters/love interests may die or other terrible things happen, but it doesn't always spell the end of the manga. I can't mention specific examples without potentially spoiling a few series, but there are lots of manga out there where the characters move on after tragic events (or maybe after getting rejected by someone they love) and the story continues. Of course, there are also a lot of tragic manga that do end with the death of a character and/or doomed love.

golthin is right about there being loads of subgenres within shoujo and that not all of them have cheesy endings -- and just because something is bittersweet or tragic or the girl doesn't end up with her first love/crush doesn't mean at all that they fail as a shoujo. Some shoujo do have depressing or painful endings, and sometimes the girl drags herself out of the past and moves on from her first love; imho, these shoujo are every bit as good as the ones with sugary-sweet endings. The genre is far too broad and varied to say, "Shoujo manga are all about girly romance and drama and have sappy endings OR ELSE." To use just a couple examples, Natsume Yuujinchou and X/1999 have very little (if any) romance, focus on the supernatural/fantasy, don't even have female protagonists, and (in X/1999's case) are quite violent -- and are still shoujo. (By the way: if you've never been here, Matt Thorn runs a great site about shoujo manga, and goes into much more detail about the subgenres and wide variety of shoujo in his essays. He also has some great classic shoujo recommendations you might like. )

And just because there are tragic elements to BGI doesn't mean that Yano's head will roll at the end or he'll never be with Nana. In this case, the couple will probably end up together, like golthin said. My problem with it is that I just don't think Obata has enough time to make a believable (at least for me) Yano/Nana ending. I would prefer to see it take a very realistic (and painful, yes) tone towards the end and have Nana and Yano move on with other people -- although it's definitely not very likely. But no matter what happens in the end, the tears will blur my vision. So much drama. ;<

[golthin]

Originally Posted by xCrystalx

That's the part that confuses me actually. Don't tragic mangas mostly end with the death of a character?

Tragedy manga can have just death of people close to the main characters and not always involved death before is considered a tragedy. You might ask why manga like Cross game or Touch that have a death don't fall under Tragedy. It depends on the mood of such death. In BGI the two deaths affect Yano in particular and create a tragedy for him that change him in a negative way and bad things keep happening to him. In cross game and Touch the deaths actually change the characters in a positive way and only good things keep happening to the main characters thus why they are not consider tragedy.

Spoiler for the Nana manga and how it was under tragedy genre before any death:

the manga Nana was also under the tragedy genre even before there was a death, so it doesn't need to be a death. The reason it was classified as tragedy was because bad things kept happening to the characters.

just remember that just when Yano and Nana had to separate during high school was a tragedy, when he distanced from her was a tragedy etc etc. just see how many people in this forum are suffering, that is what a tragedy manga do to you.

[magnoliafan100]

off topic for a sec - but does anyone know when chapter 53 comes out? cuz then i can just scour the taiwanese sites and chinese sites for chinese scanlations and turn them into spoilers for you guys

[darksoulenigma]

Originally Posted by blue skies

But aren't Nana and Yano caught up in the past themselves? They still can't forget about each other and are -- up to this point -- unable to move past what they had. Yuri isn't the only one who can't just get on with her life. Yano's being pretty stupid about the whole situation; he shows a remarkable lack of concern for Nana's feelings by not wanting to share his pain with her and work things out. I understand that he's trying to spare her from more emotional turmoil, but in the end, he just ends up breaking her heart and hurting himself in the process. It's like some vicious cycle of suffering -- he doesn't want her to get hurt, so he pushes her away and causes both of them more pain. They may still love each other, but unfortunately, love isn't always enough. I think that's pretty obvious at this point in the manga -- they still love each other and will likely never forget one another, but that love hasn't been enough to save their relationship. Unless Yano learns to open up, have a little more faith in Nana and realizes that his actions (no matter how good the intentions) hurt her too, their love won't be enough.

If the ending winds up with a sickeningly sweet reconciliation and Yano and Nana walk away from all their troubles tralala and leave Take and Yuri in the dust, it'll leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Nana and Yano have been living in the past for a while now; I'd honestly like to see something major happen and them both try to move past it and move forward with Take and Yuri. Not that I think it'll happen; such is the nature of this beast. I think she and Yano could definitely work past some of their issues, but it's just not possible for them to have a totally happy, pain-free relationship. (Then again, find me a relationship that is totally painless.) I'll take a bittersweet ending over a cheese-fest any day, but the rest of the manga has been an emotional roller coaster, so I doubt Obata will take the chintzy way out.

The only thing I can guarantee about the ending is that we will probably all cry buckets. ;<

Also, WORD to everything golthin and yononaka said.

I want a happy ending but I agree with a few of your points.
Realistically, the writer would need more time to really make a believable happy ending. And if they "tra-la-la" in any way shape or form at all after all that's happened I'll also have a bitter taste in my mouth. lol

[darksoulenigma]

What's "realism" anyway? It is defined by the person IMO. I've witnessed some "crazy" real life love stories. It depends on what you've experienced in life.

Generally IMO, realism in this story would have been that once high school ended nobody ever saw each other again. Maybe Yano and Nana meet 12 years after at the Tokyo train station, she'd probably be married to someone nobody ever met with a kid or two maybe. Yano would probably be alone still. Yuri and Yano would be purely friends and have sorted through their issues....Take would be married as well to someone else, probably from college....

But who wants to read that? lol
I know I don't. I want Nana's promise to "protect" Yano to mean something. The fact that she never married, she refused Take and Yano also hasn't moved on means the story, their world is at a stand still. Even though the characters have grown for better and worse individually, their feelings for each other in friendship and love hasn't changed. That's what matters to me. A realistic ending to me if Yano and Nana don't get together in the end, is for Nana to walk away from both of them and move on completely...but Yano needs to face his still lingering feelings in order for him to move on. But who knows. I don't think the writer will make some lazy ending. She has to have put thought into this.

[xCrystalx]

I think most of us here will agree with a believable Yano/Nana ending as long as it doesn't leave holes like many mangas seem to have. If BGI suddenly ends with preferred pairings but with no depth on how they came back together, it will seem stupid and superficial. I doubt Yuki Obata will come to that. There are still 2 more volumes to go (I think...?) and I believe there's still room to improve the relationships between the characters.


@ gothlin and blue skies: Thanks for clearing that out. After reading those, I'm pretty sure BGI falls under tragedy considering all these depressing plot twists and the fact that all the characters seem to suffer endlessly due to the love square.

[equinox]

pleaase someone tell me... has chapter 53 come yet? oO

[redCloudJ7]

I just finished watching the anime series. I have a question.

Do the main characters, you know, actually develop throughout the course of the manga?

Is it worth reading?

[youkushuno]

Originally Posted by redCloudJ7

I just finished watching the anime series. I have a question.

Do the main characters, you know, actually develop throughout the course of the manga?

Is it worth reading?

if you're a masochist, then i recommend you to read the manga.. *just joking*
but honestly, reading bokura ga ita is not good for a weak heart.. it's not yet finished though, so you'll just get irritated with the story hanging.. better wait for it to be finished before you get started reading.. (its just my advice though..)