- For extended overview on this topic, see the Nana Wiki.
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Nana (ナナ) is a japanese manga and anime series created by Ai Yazawa. The title comes from the two main characters, Nana Osaki, and Nana Komatsu.
The manga was serialized in Cookie, a manga magazine related to Ribon, who published many of Yazawa's earlier works. It was published by Shueisha in Japan in book form, and published by Viz Media in North America, who serialized it in their magazine, Shojo Beat.
Later, the manga was adapted into a live-action film with a sequel. Also, an anime was adapted from the manga, and ran for forty-seven episodes from 2006, until 2007.
Synopsis
Nana Osaki is a punk singer who wants to debut with her band, Black Stones, where she is the lead vocalist and her boyfriend, Ren, is the bassist. Nana and Ren have lived together as lovers since she was sixteen. When Ren is offered a chance to debut in Tokyo as a replacement member of the popular band, Trapnest, Nana chooses to continue on with BLAST and to cultivate her own career instead of following Ren, as she has too much ambition to simply be a rockstar's girlfriend. She eventually leaves for Tokyo at the age of twenty to start her musical career.
Nana Komatsu, the other Nana, has a habit of falling in love at first sight all the time, and depending on other people to help her. When her friends, and then her boyfriend, leave for Tokyo, she decides to join them a year later after having saved enough money at the age of twenty.
The two Nanas meet on a train by chance, both on their way to Tokyo. After a string of coincidences, they come to live together in an apartment numbered 707. Despite having contrasting personalities and ideals, the Nanas respect each other and become close friends.
Nana Osaki gives Nana Komatsu the nickname Hachi, and later Hachiko, because she is weak-willed and has characteristics that resemble a puppy, and also as a joke since hachi means "eight" and nana means "seven" in Japanese.
While BLAST begins to gain popularity at live gigs, the two Nanas face many other issues together, especially in the areas of friendship and romance. The story of Nana revolves heavily around the romance and relationships of the two characters as one seeks fame and recognition while the other seeks love and happiness.
Media
Manga
- Main article: List of Nana chapters
The manga was serialized in Cookie first in 2000, and is currently on hiatus due to the Ai Yazawa's sudden illness. Shueisha published the chapters into twenty-one volumes.
Viz Media holds the license to the North American rights of Nana, and have published all tweny-one volumes. Nana was serialized in their magazine, Shojo Beat, until August 2007.
Anime
- Main article: Nana (anime)
A forty-seven episode anime adaption of Nana aired from April 5, 2006 to March 27, 2007. Morio Asaka directed the anime, and Madhouse Studios animated it.
A second season of the series is rumored to be aired eventually. Junko Koseki (editor of Nana at Shueisha), and Masao Maruyama (president of Madhouse) seem to confirm this by stating that a second season would be aired, when the manga is finished.[1]
Live-action films
- See: Nana (film) and Nana 2
The first live-action film was released on September 3, 2005. Mika Nakashima, and Aoi Miyazaki star as Nana Osaki, and Nana Komatsu. The other cast members include, Hiroki Narimiya as Nobuo Terashima, Kenichi Matsuyama as Shinichi Okazaki, and Ryuhei Matsuda as Ren Honjo.
The second live-action film was released on December 9, 2006. Production of the film started in September of 2006, and filming took one and a half months to finish. Three actors were recasted, which include, Yui Ichikawa as Nana Komatsu, Nobuo Kyo as Ren Honjo, and Kanata Hongo as Shinichi Okazaki.
Video games
- See: Nana (video game), Nana: Everything is Controlled by the Great Demon King!?, and Nana: Live Staff Mass Recruiting! Beginners Welcome
The first Nana video game was released on March 17, 2005. It was released by Konami for the PlayStation 2. The second was released for the PlayStation Portable on July 6, 2006. Konami released the third for the Nintendo DS on June 2007.
References
See also
| Ai Yazawa's works | |||
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