NANA
| NANA | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original Manga | Ai Yazawa |
| Director/Artist | Morio Asaka |
| Format | Anime (TV), Manga |
| Made By | Madhouse |
| Episode Length | 25 minutes |
| # of Eps/Volumes | 47 + 5 recap episodes |
Contents
Genre
Sum it up in a Sentence
A boy-crazy country girl moves in with a punk rock singer with the same name and much smoking and crying ensues.
Main Description
Nana Komatsu, a cheerful but naive girl with a long string of disastrous relationships, meets Nana Osaki, a punk vocalist trying to make it big. Both are moving to Tokyo to try and achieve their dreams. The two Nanas end up moving in together and Komatsu becomes fascinated with the mysterious and confident Osaki and her glamorous world. The series follows their struggles with men, their careers (or in Nana Komatsu's case the lack thereof) and each other.
The anime series covers the first 12 volumes of the manga and does not diverge from it or have any filler episodes. There will probably be a second season after the manga finishes.
If You Liked This, You Might Like...
From the same creator:
Personal Opinions
Food Court Druid
I've always sort of ignored shoujo, but I really enjoyed NANA. It's very well-written and the story is both unpredictable and has at least some thematic depth. It's also one of the few series that portrays a (mostly) realistic image of modern Japan after high school. The characters are quite well-developed, both from a writing and art standpoint (every character has their own distinct fashion sense and physical characteristics) and never feel as though they're overstaying their welcome. I've seen some criticism that most of the drama in the series stems from the characters' bad decisions, and while there's definitely something to that, I don't think it's a fault. The decisions the characters make are reflections of their already developed personalities and flaws. If there's one thing this show does wrong, it's that it engages too much in melodramatic reveals and super-deformed comedy. You just kind of have to roll with that.
All in all, I would recommend giving NANA a shot.
