The following is an excerpt from Kitagawa Ikuko’s manga review of “Nana” for the Daily Yomiuri:
Two young women, both named Nana, meet by chance on a train traveling to Tokyo through the snow. One Nana is heading to the metropolis to chase her dream of becoming a rock singer; the other is following the man of her dreams, with hopes of marriage.
With seemingly little more in common than their first names, the two strangers get along well and decide to live together, eventually becoming BFF (best friends forever). Aesthetically, they are from two different worlds–one a tough-looking punk, the other a well-dressed priss. Their personalities, too, are opposites, with one being an aggressively independent tomboy, the other being timid and cute.
To avoid confusion, the manga refers to the rocker, Nana Osaki, as Nana and calls the other, Nana Komatsu, Hachi–the name of the famously loyal dog whose bronze statue is a popular meeting spot at Tokyo’s Shibuya Station–as her attitude can be compared to that of a loyal dog, wagging its tail.
Nana, written by mangaka Ai Yazawa (Marine Blue no Kaze ni Dakarete, Tenshi Nankaja Nai), has become so popular that it was adapted into an anime series and two movies, in 2005 and 2006, each with a different cast. The manga has been translated into other languages and released in 20 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. The manga also is expected to soon be released in Australia, New Zealand, England and Ireland, according to Mitsuo Umeoka, editor of monthly magazine Cookie, which is currently carrying the latest Nana series.
It’s hard to describe the story, as it is ongoing and branching off in so many directions that Yazawa may have difficulty coming up with a satisfying ending. Twenty volumes and counting, Nana is the coming-of-age story of the two girls and their surroundings, mostly tales of their love lives and friendship.
Both Nana and Hachi have boyfriends. Nana is in a longtime relationship with Ren, the guitarist in her band. Back in their hometown, the two had played in a group called Black Stones, but Ren left Nana for Tokyo when he was asked to play for a group called Trapnest. Trapnest becomes so popular that Nana is jealous of Ren as a musician and subconsciously so with Trapnest’s cute and gifted vocalist Reira, who is one of Ren’s “close friends.”