Nana (manga)

AUTHOR: Yazawa, Ai

ARTIST: Ai Yazawa (illustrator)

PUBLISHER: Shueisha (Japanese); VIZ Media (English)

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION: 2000- (English translation, 2005-2007)

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2000-2009 (English translation, 2005-2010)

Publication History

Ai Yazawa had published a number of well-received shojo series since her debut in 1985, most of them in the magazine Ribon, marketed toward nine- to thirteen-year-old girls. Nana began in Ribon’s sister magazine Cookie in 2000; Cookie is aimed at an older female audience.

The first two chapters of the series are not directly connected and instead give the backstories of the two main characters. According to Yazawa, this was to provide a satisfying stand-alone book if the series was not picked up for serialization. However, Nana proved to be one of Cookie’s most popular series and continued for nearly a decade. In June of 2009, Yazawa developed a sudden illness and put Nana on hiatus. She returned from the hospital in April of 2010 but had not restarted the series as of 2012 or given any indication of her future plans for it.

VIZ Media began publishing Nana in English in July of 2005, serializing the chapters in the American manga magazine Shojo Beat, and released the collected volumes beginning in December of that year. Nana has been collected in a total of twenty-one volumes and released in both Japan and the United States.

Plot

The story revolves around two women, Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu, who meet accidentally on a train heading to Tokyo and again when apartment hunting. Despite their differences, they decide to move in together and quickly become friends. (Nana is the Japanese word for “seven,” and the characters end up renting apartment 707, one of many references to the number.) Nana O. is an aspiring punk-rock musician in the band Black Stones (“Blast” for short) who has come to Tokyo to pursue her musical goals. Nana K., nicknamed “Hachi,” has followed her boyfriend to Tokyo. (From this point on, Nana K. will be referred to as Hachi and Nana O. as Nana.) The other members of Blast, Yasu and Nobu, join Nana in Tokyo and re-form Blast, along with new bassist Shin.

After being dumped by her boyfriend, Hachi takes an interest in Nana’s love life. Hachi receives tickets to a Trapnest concert and goes with Nana, only to discover that Nana’s boyfriend is Ren Honjo, the former bassist for Blast and current guitarist for Trapnest. Nana and Ren are reunited, and he and the other members of Trapnest (singer Reira, bassist Takumi, and drummer Naoki) join the cast.

Nana and Ren still love and need each other but cannot be seen together in public because of the paparazzi. Hachi is torn between suave Takumi and passionate Nobu. Tired of Takumi’s coldness, Hachi breaks up with him and begins dating Nobu, but she discovers she is pregnant. Takumi forces out Nobu and declares his intention to raise Hachi’s child as his own. Takumi and Hachi move into an expensive apartment with heavy security.

Blast is signed by Gaia Music. Paparazzi who have staked out Ren’s apartment publish photographs of Nana and Ren together and set off a media frenzy. Gaia capitalizes on the buzz to sell Blast’s debut single but moves the band to a private dormitory owned by the company. Ren and Nana can see each other only infrequently, and Hachi and Nana can hardly see each other at all.

The manga then jumps forward to a point several years later. Hachi is married to Takumi but is clearly unhappy and attracted to Nobu; she has two children, Satsuki, who resembles Takumi, and the older Ren, who looks more like Nobu. Trapnest and Blast have broken up, and Nana has disappeared.

Back in the present, both bands’ singles are released on the same day, and Ren and Nana announce in a press conference that they are engaged. Takumi delays his marriage to Hachi in order to simplify the media situation. Hachi is depressed and unable to see Nana; conversely, Nana is suffering panic attacks. When a magazine takes apparently compromising pictures of Ren and Reira, Takumi decides to “sacrifice” himself in exchange for the magazine dropping the story, allowing it to write about him and Hachi instead. They are quickly married. The same magazine later releases a story revealing that Nana’s mother, who abandoned her, is not only still alive but also remarried and has a daughter. Nana dismisses the story as a hoax but is secretly curious and worried about her mother.

On the eve of Blast’s first concert tour, Shin is arrested for marijuana possession. The tour is canceled, and Gaia’s president asks Nana to become a solo act. Ren attempts to quit drugs but suffers from withdrawal. Takumi begins sleeping with Reira in an attempt to keep her happy. However, Reira runs away, and when Ren drives after her, he is killed in a car accident.

The members of Trapnest and Blast are all devastated, Nana especially. At the funeral, it becomes obvious that virtually everyone’s hopes and dreams have been shattered by Ren’s death. In the last flash-forward sequence, the group has finally found Nana’s trail after years of searching and are planning to find her.

Volumes

• Nana, Volume 1 (2005). Collects the chapters “Nana Komatsu” and “Nana Osaki.” The lives of Nana and Hachi prior to their first meeting are explored.

• Nana, Volume 2 (2006). Collects chapters 1-4. The two Nanas meet and decide to share an apartment.

• Nana, Volume 3 (2006). Collects chapters 5-8. Nana begins to put Blast together in Tokyo.

• Nana, Volume 4 (2006). Collects chapters 9-12. Black Stones perform their first concert. Nana and Hachi go to a Trapnest concert.

• Nana, Volume 5 (2007). Collects chapters 13-16. Nana and Ren are reunited. Hachi and Takumi have a one-night stand.

• Nana, Volume 6 (2007). Collects chapters 17-20. Nobu and Takumi compete for Hachi’s affection.

• Nana, Volume 7 (2007). Collects chapters 21-24. Hachi breaks up with Takumi and begins seeing Nobu. Blast is scouted by Gaia Music.

• Nana, Volume 8 (2008). Collects chapters 25-28. Hachi discovers she is pregnant, prompting Takumi to return and force out Nobu.

• Nana, Volume 9 (2008). Collects chapters 29-32 and the bonus story “Naoki.” Blast begins recording. Nana begins to have blackouts. Hachi moves in with Takumi.

• Nana, Volume 10 (2008). Collects chapters 33-36. Paparazzi publish photos of Nana and Ren together.

• Nana, Volume 11 (2008). Collects chapters 37-41. Blast is moved into a private dorm. Blast and Trapnest appear on a television show together. Ren proposes to Nana.

• Nana, Volume 12 (2008). Collects chapters 42-45. The first of the flash-forward sequences occurs. Ren and Nana announce their engagement.

• Nana, Volume 13 (2008). Collects chapters 46-49. Hachi, Blast, and Trapnest all meet at a party.

• Nana, Volume 14 (2009). Collects chapters 50-53. Seemingly incriminating photos of Ren and Reira are sent to Nana and Takumi.

• Nana, Volume 15 (2009). Collects chapters 54-57. Hachi and Takumi are married; Hachi remains uncertain about her future but is committed to Takumi.

• Nana, Volume 16 (2009). Collects chapters 58-61 and the bonus story “Nobu.” A magazine investigates Nana’s mother.

• Nana, Volume 17 (2009). Collects chapters 62-65. The magazine story is published, sending Nana’s mother into hiding.

• Nana, Volume 18 (2009). Collects chapters 66-69 and the bonus story “Takumi.” Blast’s tour is canceled. Nana agrees to become a solo act.

• Nana, Volume 19 (2009). Collects chapters 70-73. The article about Nana’s mother continues to have far-reaching effects. Shin is released from jail.

• Nana, Volume 20 (2010). Collects chapters 74-77. Ren dies in a car accident.

• Nana, Volume 21 (2010). Collects chapters 78 and 79. The band members and others attend Ren’s funeral.

Characters

• Nana Osaki, a protagonist, is a willowy young woman with black hair and mischievous eyes. She is a talented singer and guitarist who wants to make it as a musician. When she was four, her mother left her with her grandmother, who died when Nana was fifteen. Her relationship with Ren is stormy and passionate; they are clearly in love, but their self-destructive behaviors feed each other. She wants nothing more than to sing and become famous for her music.

• Nana Komatsu, a.k.a. Hachi, a protagonist, is a bubbly, light-haired girl who falls in love easily. Though she is Nana’s opposite in many ways, the two become close friends, and their relationship is the focal point of the series. Nana gives her the nickname “Hachi,” which is a double pun: In Japanese, the number seven, nana, is followed by eight, hachi, and “Hachi” is also the nickname of a famously loyal dog in Japanese history, referring to Nana K.’s loyalty and devotion.

• Ren Honjo is a tall, thin man with short black hair. He is Nana’s boyfriend and former bandmate in Blast. Shortly before the story begins, he is scouted by the group Trapnest. He is in love with Nana but is often unable to be with her. Other characters compare him to Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, both for his punk style and his drug habit. In chapter 77, he dies in a car accident.

• Nobuo “Nobu” Terashima is Blast’s guitarist. He has blond spiky hair and large, expressive eyes. He quickly develops a crush on Hachi and vies with Takumi for her affection. When Hachi becomes pregnant, Takumi gives Nobu an ultimatum, and Nobu breaks up with her. However, he and Hachi remain attracted to one another.

• Takumi Ichinose is a tall, severe-looking man with long black hair. He is Trapnest’s guitarist, composer, and producer and a domineering musician who writes virtually all of the band’s music and tightly controls all aspects of production. He is a womanizer and initially only meets with Hachi for casual sex. However, once she becomes pregnant, he treats their relationship much more seriously. He is cold and calculating, putting Trapnest before all other concerns, and is sometimes cruel to Hachi, even forcing himself on her more than once.

• Yasushi “Yasu” Takagi is Blast’s drummer. He is a tall, bald man who usually wears sunglasses and has an aura of seriousness. He is the most mature and careful member of Blast and the most involved in their long-term planning. He takes special care of Nana, and it is implied they have a mutual attraction, but nothing comes of it.

Artistic Style

Nana skirts the line between shojo manga, which is usually about romance and aimed at young girls, and josei manga, which features more complex plots for teenage and adult women. This dichotomy is seen in the art as well. Yazawa makes use of elaborate patterns and prints as backgrounds for some sequences to represent characters’ emotions in a visual manner, a technique that is a hallmark of shojo manga, as it simplifies and speeds up the process of drawing pages. However, she also regularly draws complex backgrounds or large crowd scenes and generally draws with more detail than most shojo artists.

Yazawa’s layouts tend to be more varied than those in many shojo manga. Conversation sequences have many small panels that emphasize characters’ expressions and movements, but Yazawa also uses long, wordless sequences to convey emotion. Storytelling is more multilayered and mature than in most shojo series.

Yazawa’s characters tend to be thin and lanky, with long arms and legs. Movement and position is realistically depicted, with carefully observed posture and gesture. Characters’ eyes tend to be large and expressive, though smaller than the cartoonishly enormous eyes of most shojo characters. Yazawa puts great detail into characters’ clothes, assembling outfits that are stylish yet plausible and reflect the wearer’s personality. Many of the outfits worn by members of Blast are punk-inspired and feature spiked collars, leather, metal studs, and similar accessories. Nana also has a love for fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and is seen carrying a Westwood handbag.

Themes

As previously noted, Nana treads a fine line between age groups: Although it is about romance and relationships, as most shojo is, it is dense, deep, and complex enough to fall into the category of josei manga. The characters are more mature (or, at least, older), their relationships more explicit, and their problems more difficult to solve. Hachi’s journey reflects this complexity: She comes to Tokyo with the naïve wish of finding love and getting married, only to find herself enmeshed in a tangled web of desire and jealousy. Her naïveté and immaturity cause her to become pregnant and force her to make tough decisions about her future.

Nana is largely about the intersection of love, desire, dreams, and ambitions and what happens when these impulses conflict. Nana is in love with Ren, but she has too much pride to be simply the girlfriend of a rock star. She wants to prove herself as a musician and star in her own right first. This separation, however, hurts them both deeply, leading to Ren’s self-destructive behavior. Conversely, Hachi comes to Tokyo to follow her boyfriend; when he leaves her, she tries to find another boyfriend. She idolizes the suave Takumi from afar, but her dreams of him cannot match reality. Only after spending time with Nana, who is driven by her dreams of success, does Hachi begin to question what, exactly, she wants in life.

The theme of female friendship may be the most important in the series. At the core of Nana is the friendship between the two Nanas. Despite, or perhaps because of, their differences, the two characters are incredibly close. When they are separated for long periods of time, neither can think of anything but the other. Their relationship is nonsexual: Characters joke about them sleeping together, but they both express disgust at the idea, and both are clearly more sexually interested in men. Hachi describes her feelings for Nana as more passionate than love. While their relationships with other characters change as the series progresses, the bond between the two Nanas stays strong.

Impact

Nana is part of a modern shojo boom within the expanding and diversifying manga market that began in the 1990’s. It has been popular among both teenage and adult female readers and has had enormous success in Japan and worldwide. Volumes have regularly appeared on manga best-seller lists and critics’ lists. It has been popular enough to spawn an anime adaptation and two live-action film adaptations, all of which have been released in the United States as well.

In addition, the music from the various adaptations has proven popular. Several anime soundtracks were released, and the actors who portray Nana and Reira in the films both released singles related to the first movie; the songs debuted first and second, respectively, on the Japanese Oricon music chart. The sequel and the accompanying music releases were successful as well.

Films

Nana. Directed by Kentaro Otani. IMJ Entertainment, 2005. This film adaptation stars Mika Nakashima as Nana, Aoi Miyazaki as Hachi, and Ryuhei Matsuda as Ren. The film is largely faithful to the manga, particularly in its costuming and set design, though it compresses some scenes and removes some subplots. It ends shortly after Nana and Hachi attend the first Trapnest concert and Hachi meets Takumi, corresponding to the end of chapter 14 (volume 5).

Nana 2. Directed by Kentaro Otani. IMJ Entertainment, 2006. This film adaptation stars Nakashima as Nana, Yui Ichikawa as Hachi, and Nobuo Kyou as Ren. The sequel starts almost immediately after the first movie ends and continues through approximately volume 11 of the manga. The film focuses on Hachi and Takumi’s relationship and the beginning of Blast’s debut. Overall, the sequel was not as well received as the first film.

Television Series

Nana. Directed by Morio Asaka. Madhouse Studios, 2006-2007. This animated series stars Romi Park as the voice of Nana and KAORI (real name Midori Kawana) as the voice of Hachi. The television series is a faithful adaptation of the manga; there are no major changes to the story and only minor changes to dialogue. Forty-seven episodes were made, covering up to the end of chapter 42 of the manga.

Further Reading

Hernandez, Gilbert, Jaime Hernandez, and Mario Hernandez. Love and Rockets (1985- ).

Ogawa, Yayoi. Tramps Like Us (2000-2005).

Umino, Chica. Honey and Clover (2000-2006).

Bibliography

Fujie, Kazuhisa, and Onno van’t Hot. Nana Essentials: The Ultimate Fanbook. Tokyo: DH, 2008.

Macias, Patric. “Manga and the NANA Phenomenon.” Kateigaho: Japan’s Arts and Culture, 2006. http://nana-nana.net/news69.html.

Toku, Masami. “Shojo Manga! Girls’ Comics! A Mirror of Girls’ Dreams.” Mechademia 2 (2007): 19-33.