You have not turned pretty, Nana. YOU ARE ALWAYS PRETTY! *fanboy screams!*

Bokura really makes me squeal like a crazy fanboy now. In fact, for episode 5, due to the overly sugarly sweet nature of the show (until the ending part), I think I had squealed a mouthwatering 18 times in a 23 minute episode. If that is no indication of how sweet this episode is, then nothing else matters! Anyway, objectively, this episode left off where episode 4 stopped. They had the declaration of Yano to Nana about how he loved her and gave her a kiss.

A good episode, though there are definitely hints of a darker plot later in this story. I am sure that there will be tons of emo soon. However, i will enjoy the sweetness when I can.

Upwards to the cute and sweet episode summary + thoughts!

Nana was on the bed, thinking about the kiss that they had in the festival. She was still in a moment of shock, not knowing what had just happened. She felt that the world was no longer the same as it had changed after the kiss. It was probably so, since she had just kissed the boy that she had loved ever since spring and she even confessed to him once. Still, that feeling persisted and no matter how much she tried, her mind kept refreshing the images of the festival.

The next day, she arrived in school, having not even a moment of sleep because she was way too tense and nervous. She met Yano at the locker and Yano simply gave her a cold hi and moved off. Nana felt totally horrible, as she did not know how she could face Yano and talk to him anymore. She thought that the kiss was just that and there was nothing at all.

As she entered the classroom, she was immediately interrogated by Mizu and her other friend, as they had seen her kiss Yano in the festival. They were of course jealous and angry, since Yano was one of the most popular guys in the school. However, she was unsure as Yano had not given her any text messages or greeted her. When they asked her whether they were dating now, she did not know. Yano then came over, asking her whether if everything was all right, because she seemed to be out of sorts.

He then forced her to repeat the schedule of things to come and as he got her to repeat, he suddenly got her to repeat “Movie at four”. She repeated blindly and then realised that all her silly worries were for nothing. Yano had asked her out for a date. Suddenly, she felt all the tension that she had from yesterday up to now disappear in a flash and she fell asleep.

As she woke up, she realised that it was already 4.20 pm and she had missed the meeting completely. However, she panicked when she realised that the time had past for her to go for the movie with Yano. She looked around and it seemed that Yano had left. In fact, Yano went for the council meeting that was supposed to be three (she overslept) and told her about the things that she needed to do. Nana was shocked as the often irresponsible Yano had did all that for her. He then asked her whether she was still all right to go for the movie, their first date.

As they walked out of the school, Nana was checking her purse to make sure that she had enough money for the date, as it might consist of dinner as well as the bus fare. Seeing Nana worried about the money, Yano offered to treat her but she rejected, saying that she would definitely return the money to him tomorrow. They went on the bus and Yano moved forward, giving her a seat. He was being the complete gentleman but Nana was way too nervous for a first date and she got up, saying that it was better for her to stand. She kept drilling thoughts in her head to “act natural”.

They then reached the movie theatre and Yano asked her what drink she wanted.

“Hot chocolate.” She said when she wanted tea. She then reminded herself to act natural and not be so tense as they went in. As they went in, Yano mentioned that he likes the theatre because it was dark and Nana of course, with her innocent mind, did not know what Yano was insinulating. He then mentioned that he would put his hand on the armrest, while always leaving half the armrest for Nana to put her hand. He had deliberately left the space for her for the whole movie and we then see a close up of the couple holding hands. Nana felt for the first time how good it was to have mutual feelings with someone.

As they went to the fastfood, Nana asked what Yano’s favorite part of the movie was. He said that it was the time when they held hands. Nana, totally puzzled why Yano was so nice to her, asked him why he was so kind when he was always so mean. He said that she was his girlfriend and that meant that she was part of his inner circle since she was no longer just a friend. She was her girlfriend.

The next day, she was thinking about the event on Saturday as Yano suddenly sneaked up on her. She asked him whether present he wanted for Christmas and he replied cheekily in a half-serious tone.

“Nana-chan.” Yano said with a smile.

“Hahaha.” the silly laughter of Nana sounded.

We then changed scenes to Nana and Yano arguing about what sauce would be better for sunny-side up eggs, just like a couple squabbling for fun. It was then that they met Takeushi and another friend, as Yano said that he was going to the restroom. Yano then grabbed Nana as he continued to argue, leaving Takeushi away. Takeushi then said that it felt like a case of deja vu. As Nana and Yano continued to walk, Nana said that he was great to always have money but Yano said that his parents gave him money because of the act of filial piety. He then asked to hold her hands and Nana felt his warm hands warming her up. Nana once again asked what Yano wanted, and he said that as long as she was there, he did not need any present.

We changed scenes once again and Nana was in the bathroom and the other gals were mentioning how ugly she was and that Nana was not fitted for Yano. Nana’s friend told her that they were only jealous. Nana then met up with Yano, and asked whether she was ugly or not. Yano hinted that she was and she said “honest bastard”. Heh, it was a good response and Nana asked her what was so attractive about her. Yano then said that he found her cute, which was her attractive point.

He then suddenly remarked that he had finally realised what he wanted for a present and he wanted her to promise that she would never leave his side and never even betrayed him. They hugged happily and Nana thought that at the age of fifteen, it was the first time that she realised the meaning of having someone beloved to her.

They continued to embrace, with the snow slowly falling…

———————————————————-

Episode thoughts

A very sweet episode. The amount of swooning that I have devoted into the first introductory section should clearly show it. I really liked the date a lot, as Nana really saw the uncertainty that she always have. Her character is definitely a rather flawed one and it was clear that she was in love for the first time of her life and the anime portrayed her very nicely, to show her delight and stress after being kissed in the festival.

To some who were not in the shoujo genre, she might seem slightly naive in her actions, but I think any girl who had just fell in love and dating the guy that she likes for a long time would react the same way. At the same part, I think Yano was less irritating in this episode. He was clearly trying to protect himself from being hurt and even he was thinking that he was no longer able to love anyone, until Nana appeared in his life.

However, various things disturbed me. In the end where Yano was waiting for Nana at the locker place, the look on Yamamoto’s face was one strange look and it seemed to me that there was definitely something going on between the two of them in the past. In fact, the preview gave even more hints that Yamamoto might have been together with Yano after the older sister died. That would then make absolute sense on why Yamamoto was always so cold and being so cynical against Yano. I still held on to the notion that Yano had used Yamamoto as a rebound in the past.

The whole theme of betrayal in Bokura was very evident and it seemed to me that the promise set by Yano would one day be broken somehow, either by Yano or Nana. Seriously, the anime had a rather predictable plot (not that predictable that you know what’s going to happen completely) but you know that the promise and betraying thoughts would soon take precedent in the future episodes. I am sure that this trust between the two of them would be stretched to the limits for some serious drama.

Lastly, to be more skeptical, I do not really find that there was a strong romance between the two of them just yet. It seemed to me that Yano was still rather defensive, even though his attitude had clearly changed with Nana. Still, I am a skeptic and I felt that Yano would soon do something to hurt Nana somehow. I hoped that day would not come though, because i will be swearing and hoping that Yano would just die somehow.

Oh, now to think of it, When Takeushi said deja vu, it struck a chord with me. What did he mean by that? If we are using the Yamamoto reasoning, that might mean that Yano was probably using the current Nana to replace the old Nana that had died. If that is truly the case, i will make sure that i will send Yano to the fast track of Shion’s path. Trust me on that. However, that deju vu disturbed me quite badly. It seemed that something like that happened before.

Yep, with the preview next week (I just got episode 6!), we will see a possible backstory of Yamamoto and Yano. I can’t wait!

Browse Timeline

• « Saiunkoku Monogatari Episode 12
• » Kanon Prelude DVD Torrent

Comments (3)

Add a Comment