We Were There: Part 1 (2012)

Story - Since I was a fan of Bokura ga Ita anime, I expected so much in the movie... and they didn't disappoint me at all. I love the story! It really compromised the story in the anime...
Cast - I gave perfect score, 'cos they really deserved it! for Yano and Takahashi's role, they did a great acting, they gave life to the role... I mean it's really like in the anime.
Music - I love the OST. Great choice of songs. :)
Rewatch Value - Definitely, I will watch it all over again.
Overall - since it has 2 parts as of now this is the first part so I'm still looking forward to the second part. Totally inlove with the movie! Watch it and you'll see! :)

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1) The reason I watched this :

I’ve seen the anime so I was excited to see the film adaptation.

2) Storyline/Plot:

*I already saw the anime so the story was known to me; I would say it was a fast forward script from the one in the anime. Writers cut the 26 episodes in a two hours film which made it lose so many cores compared to the original one.

*Now the review for those who haven’t watched the anime or read the manga:

Positive points:

*The film was a light school romantic story wrapped up with some melodramatic feelings without falling into the tragedy level. It actually belongs to the “Slice of life” category.

*Main genres:

--->Romance: Like any slice of life melodramatic story, the romantic concept was sad while being innocent; it was interesting because the plot was divided between the past and the present.
However, the romantic development was way too fast to contain a lot of depth yet the important feelings were there.

--->Life: There were those moments where you feel that this story touches real life; it makes you think about your first love, your first relationship and the tragedies that can happen anytime when you least expect it. Although it was important to have those elements that touches life but the existence of hope is what made it more appealing.

--->School: It’s your usual Japanese school drama, it was an important concept to make plot changes happen.

Negative Points:

*It was very fast, it doesn’t leave you time to think about the story’s core. I did rather that they made it into a drama instead of a film.

Story: 7.5/10.

3) Acting/Cast:

*It was really good to see Ikuta Toma in this film since it has been a long time that I saw him in something; his Yano portrayal was actually quite well.
On the other hand, Yoshitaka Yuriko was good enough to keep me interested but I can’t say the same about the rest of the cast because many actors didn’t deliver enough feelings to make it sound real.

*As for characters, they were brought to life but I have to admit that they lacked depth in many aspects and it all goes back to the fast forward storyline.
Yano was a good character but it didn’t have many sadness moments like it’s supposed to.
Takahashi was less annoying than the anime (which is a good point).
I hated the way Takeuchi character appeared here, it was uninteresting when it’s supposed to be one of the most captivating characters in the story but again it’s all due to the fast script.

*Other characters were simply neuter to watch, no special feelings about them.

*Appreciated Character: Yamamoto Yuri was an impressive character here because many plot changes depended on her existence.

*Relationships:

--->Romance: The romantic concept was good enough but it lacked depth so the chemistry wasn’t that great.

--->Friendship: This is a school drama so it’s supposed to have many friendships yet there weren’t many moments to talk about.

--->The triangle: The one that had Yamamoto Yuri was interesting but the one with Takeuchi was simply ridiculous to watch.

Cast: 7/10.
Acting: 8/10.

4) The ending

*There’s Bokura Ga Ita Kouhen so this can’t be considered as an ending that’s why I won’t rate it for now.


5) My impression (how did it affect me):

*To start with I was impatiently waiting for this film to come out, I wasn’t fully satisfied but I wasn’t disappointed either because it was fair enough compared to the anime.
*It felt good to see some characters come to life while others seemed really annoying plus I was bothered by the quick script; the fast events didn’t allow me to feel the depth of tragedies presented in this storyline.

*Is this film memorable: Maybe, I am not sure if I should remember this because I rather remembering the anime instead. However, I may change my mind after watching Part two.

My impression: 7/10.

6) Overall:

*If you like innocent romantic school dramas then you would like this.
*If you watched the anime then you may want to give this a go.

*Bokura Ga Ita Zenpen was a good film on the emotional scale, it had many interesting turns but it was rushed in many plot changes. Overall, it was faithful enough as a live action adaptation.

Overall: 8/10.

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