We Were There Volume 10 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Adjusting to her new school, teen Nanami Takahashi meets someone who captures her imagination and eventually her heart.  Motoharu Yano is a sly boy with carefree ways, and he is also the most popular boy in class (if not the entire school).  Although she is determined not to, Takahashi falls in love with Yano.  Then, she discovers that Yano is grieving the death of another girl named Nanami, and suddenly Takahashi finds herself competing with the memory of a first love.

As We Were There, Vol. 10 begins, Yano is continuing his life in Tokyo, but he’s working hard to earn money, money he believes that he needs when he returns to Takahashi.  Meanwhile, Akiko Sengenji, an old classmate of Yano’s, now reunited with him in high school, harbors romantic feelings for Yano.  However, another former paramour of Yano’s reenters the picture, and she is just as in love with Yano as Sengenji is.  Meanwhile, yet another girl in Yano’s life, his dog, Lalami, is reunited with her owner, but things don’t seem the same.

THE LOWDOWN:  One can certainly be impressed with how We Were There creator Yuki Obata utilizes her characters.  Although this series is about Takahashi and Yano, Obata focuses in on Sengenji, fleshing her out with such depth of character that the reader might think We Were There is Sengenji’s book.  Another good character is certainly another good reason to read this engaging teen drama that is by turns tart and sweet and now quite captivating.  In the beginning, I found this series to be uneven and awkward, but now, I can’t wait for the next volume.  Plus, the cute dog is a nice extra.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Shojo readers looking for romance and life drama will find it in We Were There.

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