Bokura ga Ita Kohen (2012)

Months after I watched the first movie, I finally got to download the second part, thanks to the free leech days of Asiatorrents for the Songkran holiday! Good thing I liked the first movie that I didn't forget anything important to confuse me while watching this one. Though I can say that I generally enjoy it, Bokura ga Ita Kohen confuses me. It's so beautifully-shot, and Yano and Nana-chan, played by Ikuta Toma and Yoshitaka Yuriko respectively, have so much chemistry. But it confuses me, and I still don't know whether I liked it or not.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first movie. It covers the parts of the manga that I read, and I thought it was a pretty good adaptation. But I haven't read the manga or watched the anime that the last part covered so I cannot talk about its adaptation.

Bokura ga Ita Kohen covers Yano and Nana's story after they parted ways. It has been years since they last saw each other, since they bid farewell in that train platform. So how's the long distance relationship working for our love birds? Well, they're as love struck as ever. But you know how it doesn't always work as well as they hope, and distance has a way of separating two couples and not just by distance.

I always feel like Yano didn't fully express his love for Nana in Bokura ga Ita Zenpen, but for the second movie, we get a closer look at who he is as Yano and as the Yano who loves Nana. I pretty much feel like he goes through way too many hardships for someone his age, and I understand why he does what he does. But that doesn't stop me from feeling sorry for Nana.

Honestly, I somehow felt like it got a tad too dragging in the middle. Or maybe too depressing stories don't sit well with me. However, this little slip doesn't stop me from enjoying it still. There's something about the chemistry between Ikuta Toma and Yoshitaka Yuriko that makes me love them. Obviously, I love screencapping all their scenes together!

It's weird because there's really nothing that different about this story. But it's really the character of the bubbly and strong Nana and the troubled Yano that make this story work. I guess the two just fit like a puzzle. Nana's bubbliness isn't annoying or overly done. She's optimistic but she also knows how to complain and she definitely knows how to make a stand. Yano seems like any other manga character out there. He's smart, good-looking, popular and has a good personality. He also has problems that he learned to hide behind a smile. But these two go out of their usual mold and become two characters who become different once they're together!

And obviously, I ship them.

But you see, there's something that makes me uncomfortable here. Whenever Yano leaves or plans to leave, he asks Takeuchi, his best friend who has a one-side love for Nana-chan, to take care of Nana. And Takeuchi takes on the task as if Nana wants him to take care of her. These two guys are foolish enough to think that Nana can't take care of herself! From what we see in both movies, she's a strong person who may get sidetracked by love, but of all the characters in this movie, she's probably the one who knows herself the most. She's probably the strongest, too. That's why I was happy that she moved on. That's why I was happy that she had the heart to reject Take and stopped waiting around for Yano.

That's why I don't really understand why I love these two very, very much. Usually when the guy gives no credit for the girl's own strength, it's enough to turn me off. But argh, they're just so adorable, I cannot not love them.

And that ends my rather bipolar rant about this movie. I was bored, I was entertained, I got annoyed, but I loved it anyway.

Bokura Ga Ita (2012)

Bokura Ga Ita was one of the 2012 movies I looked forward to. Thought I haven't watched the anime, I read a fourth of the manga. I know, I know. I practically read nothing but hey, that one-fourth was enough to make me like it. Though I'm not always the best judge of live-action adaptation of mangas, just let me go ahead and say that I enjoyed this movie. But before commenting on its adaptation, let me rave about the film itself.

It's the first year of high for Nanami (Yoshitaka Yuriko). While everyone's busy obsessing over Motoharu (Ikuta Toma), the popular boy in class, Nanami is busy crying over her bad exam results. But just like every other girl in class, she gets drawn towards Motoharu. But it's not just his looks or personality that draw her to him. She sees sadness in Motohari's nonchalant approach to life.

There's an underlying melancholia on the the cheery personas of our two main leads. It may be because the conflict has always been present, even before love blossoms between the two. But it's this conflict that serves as a challenge for Nana and Moto. It takes them quite some time before they can get over the past and focus on what they have at the present.

What I like about Bokura Ga Ita is how the characters seem to defy stereotypes. Nanami is the seemingly manic-pixie character in every romantic comedy, but she has a side to her that proves that she's not one-dimensional. She has a way of understanding people. And unlike most heroines, she's not a noble idiot. Yes, she takes the plunge and fall for Motoharu despite knowing that he still hasn't moved on. But she knows her limits and when she sees that she's being taken for granted. She knows how to let go. Over and over in the movie, they say that Nana is strong, and I agree. She's definitely a heroine I can root for.

Motoharu is not like any other protagonist in a RomCom in a way that he's straight-forward, something that you rarely see in male leads. Honesty may be an issue in their relationship, but Motoharu has always been clear on how she feels for Nana. I guess one of the reasons why I adore Bokura Ga Ita so much is that it has a gradual take on the relationship. It no was does it feel rushed or forced.