We Were There, Volume 5

We Were There, Volume 5

Yuki Obata

Viz Media, 2009

$8.99, Paperback

978-1421520223

March 14^th, 2012

Genre: Realistic, Romance

Age: 14+

Description: After Nana and Yano break up, tension seems to leave Yano and Yamamoto as they try to actually get along and Yano has to face the fact that Tak, his best friend, actually has feelings for Nana. Tak tries to convince Yano to reveal his feelings to Nana and get her to take him back and Yano finally gives him and says he’ll be the judge of whether Nana is just a stand-in for Nana-san and he’ll wait for her to change her mind about being with him. Meanwhile, Tak and Yano prepare to duke it our for Nana’s heart. Also included in this volume is a short story called “Run Baby Run” in which we learn of Tak’s first love when he was 14 with a girl who, like them all, really likes Yano more but in the end Yano doesn’t pursue her—a foreshadowing of what is to come in Tak and Yano’s battle for Nana.

Opinion: This story is getting better and better as it heats up with the introduction of a (not like we didn’t see it coming) love triangle. It was nice to get a story about Tak’s history but at the same time I think I would have liked to have had 100 pages devoted to the main story. Probably my least favorite volume of them all so far.