This is rare

I can't choose sides, for once. I can't dislike any of them for the actions, choices, and decisions they made. I can sympathize with all of them without hating the other side of the argument.

I'm talking about the characters of the anime series Bokura ga Ita (We Were There).

*sigh*

From the onset, the story gave me this feeling of things being surreal. Hazy backgrounds, soft piano music, characters' faces drawn in shadows or lacking eyes, and the way Nanami narrated things in the past tense. It's like a warning that everything is just a dream, that it would not last. Twenty-six episodes later, it still felt the same with the way the animators chose to end the anime's story. Bittersweet. Open-ended. They live on.

What's rare is that I can't help but root for all of them. Yes. Even Yamamoto Yuri because she's just going after what she wants, after all. I seesawed between liking Takeuchi and Yano because both guys were essentially good for Nanami in their own ways, and disliking them both for her because of their weaknesses. I alternately cheered and got exasperated with Nanami for her reactions to Yano's actions. The characters are just well-roundedly written.

All the major characters, heck even minor ones like Mizu-chin (I can't remember her full name, sorry) went through some sort of change throughout the whole series. I liked that Yuri tried to step out of her walls, signified by her getting contact lenses. I liked that Takeuchi found confidence in himself. I liked that Yano finally opened up and became honest. And I liked how Nanami started to believe and trust in Yano and herself.

I understand that the manga continues several years later where the anime left off, and that the story in the manga is a lot more painful for all the characters. I guess the animators sugar-coated the anime quite a bit, but I'm satisfied with it as it is. I'm still debating whether to find and read the manga though.

Taking a page out of Ems and Ana... A to Z survey

[A] - AVAILABLE
* just schedule things ahead with me so I don't forget

[B] - BIRTHDAY:
* November 26

[C] - CONFUSED ABOUT:
* feelings for a particular person

[D] - DRINK YOU LAST HAD:
* water

[E] - EASIEST PERSON TO TALK TO:
* mom

[F] - FAVORITE MUSIC GROUP/BAND:
* i like a lot of genre except for rap; i often listen to Angela Aki, Vienna Teng, Maaya Sakamoto, Loveholic, Yoko Kanno compositions, Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky

[G] - GUMMY BEARS OR GUMMY WORMS:
* they both taste a bit like medicine to me so... neither, i guess

[H] - HOMETOWN:
* Apalit, Pampanga

[I] - INSTRUMENT:
* love listening to the piano, used to play it a bit

[J] - JUICE:
* orange

[K] - KILLED SOMEONE:
* lotsa ants and cockroaches

[L] - LONGEST CAR RIDE:
* jeepney ride to JBL (regional hospital located at the city of san fernando) around 3am of November 25, 2006. This was right after we learned that my cousins got into a car accident. Tita Pes told me on the phone, "ala nala reng pinsan mu." (Wala na mga pinsan mo / Your cousins are no longer alive.) Was praying I heard wrong, that they're just maimed or unconscious and that not all three of them were in the accident. Turns out Camille wasn't involved, but we lost the twins.

[M] - SHAKE FLAVOR:
* anything coffee or mocha flavored or ripe mango shake.


[N] - NUMBER OF PETS:
* dog. mutt.

[O] - ONE WISH?
* turn back time and make one phone call

[P] - PERSON WHO YOU CALLED LAST:
* Tita Pes

[Q] - QUIET OR LOUD:
* quiet

[R] - REASONS TO SMILE:
* life

[S] - SINGLE AND READY TO MINGLE?
* guess so

[T] - TIME YOU WOKE UP:
* 6:30am

[U] - UNDER THE SEA:
* dunno how to swim, so no

[V] - VIOLENT:
* not too much, just during that time of the month

[W] - WORST HABIT
* procrastination

[X] - X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD:
* yearly CXRs required for nursing school enrollment

[Y] - YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL(S):
* dogs

[Z] - ZODIAC SIGN:
* Sagittarius

Errrr... what?

Okaaaaaaay... mom just casually mentioned that during the early years of their marriage, dad went astray. And that they almost separated.

Wow.

I never even had a clue.

That’s coz they never really talk about their relationship, like how they met, courted, got engaged, and stuff like that. I do ask, but they always brush off my questions. Or joke about the topic.

Isn’t it disconcerting when parents just drop a bomb like that on you?

I had this same queasy feeling when dad talked about going out with his coworkers to some pub and had a girl sitting with him. Of course my mom wasn’t listening to our conversation that time, but gawds I really felt like hiding under the bed and cringing my eyes shut. I really do not want to even think about my parent’s, specifically my dad’s, sexual relationship.

I mean, I KNOW they’ve done it, coz my sister and I were born after all, but... eeeeeewwwwwwwwww?! I’d really rather not think about it, thank you very much.