We Were There (manga)

We Were There
The first volume of We Were There, published in Japan by Shogakukan on October 26, 2002
僕等がいた (Bokura ga Ita)
Genre	Drama, Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life
Manga
Written by	Yuki Obata
Published by	Shogakukan
English publisher	NA Viz Media
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Betsucomi
Original run	October 2002 – February 2012
Volumes	16
Anime television series
Directed by	Akitaro Daichi
Studio	Artland
Original network	Chiba TV, KBS, Tokyo MX, TV Saitama, GBS, Kids Station, TrueVisions
Original run	July 3, 2006 – December 25, 2006
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Live-action film
Directed by	Takahiro Miki
Released	17 March 2012 (Part 1) 21 April 2012 (Part 2)
Runtime	100 minutes

We Were There (僕等がいた, Bokura ga Ita^?) is a Japanese romance manga by Yuki Obata, which chronicles the relationship between Motoharu Yano and Nanami Takahashi, starting from their teenage years and continuing during their early twenties. It has been serialized in Betsucomi from 2002 to 2012. The series went on hiatus in early 2008, but resumed publication in June 2009. It is licensed for an English language release in North America by Viz Media. It was adapted into a 26-episode anime television series which aired from July 3 to December 25, 2006. A 2-part live action film adaptation was released in Japanese cinemas in 17 March 2012(Part 1) and 21 April 2012(Part 2), starring Toma Ikuta and Yuriko Yoshitaka.

Nanami Takahashi, a teenage girl in her first year of high school, hopes to make new friends quickly. The center of attention at her school is Motoharu Yano, a very popular boy, whom Nanami dislikes at the beginning, due to his apparent superficiality. However, she soon falls in love with him, but Yano is still affected by the loss of his girlfriend, Nana Yamamoto. Nana was killed in a car crash a year before the beginning of the story. Because she was with her ex-boyfriend at the time of her death, Yano suspects she was cheating on him. Due to this, he is unable to trust people or to talk about his relationship with her; instead, he chooses to pretend he does not care very much about the situation.

Nanami confesses her love to Yano, but is rejected when he is unable to tell her if he loves her back. Despite that, she is still willing to support him and reassures him she will always be by his side. Soon, Yano realizes he has fallen in love with her as well, so they start going out. However, Yano's secrets (including the fact that he slept with Nana's little sister, Yuri, after the accident and his unwillingness to talk about his feelings for his dead girlfriend) make Nanami unsure to the point that she decides to end the relationship, believing she is unable to make him happy. The story becomes even more complicated when Masafumi Takeuchi, Yano's best friend, also falls in love with Nanami and becomes Yano's rival.