Be it because of cultural differences, the filter of Internet culture or because there are few casual female anime fans here, it's generally true that in the West, far more girls watch more shounen than shoujo, proportionally to their Japanese counterparts. Shounen is aimed at boys, shoujo at girls. Of course, plenty of girls watch shounen, and Shounen Jump are always being accused by Japanese detractors of purposefully including homosexual subtexts and lots of pretty boys in order to entice the sort of fangirls personified by Ogiue in Genshiken. But the shoujo market, of manga made by women for consumption by girls, is largely sidelined over here, and thus while a series like Bokura Ga Ita can be massive in Japan, it can be all but ignored on occidental shores.
And Bokura Ga Ita is true shoujo. Most shoujo series need something more than just romance to hook in the audience - the art-school dynamic and humour of Hachimitsu to Kuroova, or the rock music elements to Nana. In fact, the most direct romance stories I see tend to be aimed at young men, based on erogames and centred on male leads (like Kimi ga Nozomu Eien or Kanon, though there are some supernatural elements there). But Bokura Ga Ita is just a high-school romance story, and it's that simplicity, that purity, that makes it so good.
When she comes to her new school, sweet young Takahashi is just one of several girls with their eyes on Yano, the most popular boy in her year, and no-one is more surprised than she is when he almost indifferently agrees to go out with her. But Yano of course has a complicated past, and issues about his ex that need to be sorted out in his mind, and while Takahashi wavers, unsure whether or not the relationship can work, Yano's best friend Takeuchi begins to show an interest in Takahashi, too.
I know it's not in my assigned gender role to like slushy romance stories, but despite my dislike of Jane Austen books, I've never given much of a damn about gender roles - and I like Charlotte Bronte. Sometimes I don't want to watch anime about things blowing up, or girls showing their knickers, and want something level-headed, sweet and emotional. I began to watch Bokura Ga Ita because it looked quite similar to Hachimitsu to Kuroova, and while I am very fond of that series, I found myself liking this rather more. Where Hachikuro sometimes went over the top, and juggled several storylines which made you sometimes wish you were watching one of the others, BgI has some melodramatic elements but never pushes credibility, and always focuses on the love triangle between its three central characters, plus Yano's relationship with the sister of his deceased ex.
The series wins points for realism. Takahashi is amongst the most adorable anime characters ever created, but she isn't perfect. She is sometimes selfish, sometimes petulant, often a pushover, but that only makes her easier to identify with. Yano, meanwhile, is damaged goods in a very romantic way - handsome but with issues, being popular and confident but always hiding his true feelings. Takeuchi seems a far better match for Takahashi, but that's not how love works, after all, and we must question him for even entertaining thoughts of stealing his best friend's lover away. In 26 extremely slow-paced episodes, these adolescents explore their feelings, all experiencing happiness and heartbreak and a whole lot of uncertainty, until the open ending that only promises more to come - and there's plenty of manga to adapt, after all. All events are really minor - break-ups and make-ups, drama about graduation, competition between the boys – but it's the emotions that drive everything. Anyone can understand these three characters, and form their own opinions. Me, I adored Takahashi, identified with yet disliked Yano and rooted for and admired Takeuchi, though of course all of them behaved in ways that made me like them more and less over the course of the series. There may be a cultural gap between us and the Japanese, but as characters in a story, they are totally understandable, and nothing seems unfamiliar to me in the idea of going for dates to movies and zoos, going to take purikura sticker-photos, wanting to have sex but hesitating because of the moral questions raised. These kids seemed very real to me, and there are few better things I can say for characters.
The presentation of the series was strange. An interesting choice was made to cast dilettante voice actors in the leading roles. Takahashi was making her debut, and Yano had barely done anything except appear in the Prince of Tennis musicals. The result is excellent - a really understated, heartfelt performance that seems so unpolished that it somehow gains verisimilitude. It seems realer than smooth, well-enunciated voice-acting. The art style is odd, with nice, pretty but very simple character art, lots of soft-focus and light spots, but also a weird inclination to draw faces with only one eye to make an expression more enigmatic, and some very ugly facial profiles.
It mostly worked, and was presumably an adaptation of the manga's style, but a slightly nicer look would have suited the show, particularly since the animation must have been so low-budget, given how little happens.
I found myself really wanting to know what was going to happen to Takahashi, whether Yano could really prove himself, or whether Takeuchi would get a chance to prove himself a better match. I feared I was more like Yano than I wanted to be, and wondered what I would do were I him, were I Takeuchi, even were I Takahashi. It made me smile with the characters, worry when they were upset, and I soon stopped doubting them as characters and accepted them as people.
The best that proper shoujo has to offer. I doubt many people will give this slow, uneventful series the time it needs, but it's their loss, and I hope I get to find out what happens next to these adorable young teenagers in love.
(Originally written 18.3.07)
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