Nana (manga)

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Nana
Cover of the Japanese volume 1, featuring Nana Osaki
ナナ
(Nana)
Demographic Shōjo
Genre Drama, Romance, Music
Manga: Nana
Author Ai Yazawa
Publisher Flag of Japan Shueisha
Serialized in Flag of Japan Cookie
Flag of the United States Flag of Canada Shojo Beat
Original run 2000 – Still running
Volumes 18 (ongoing)
Movie: Nana
Director Kentaro Otani
Studio TBS
Released Flag of Japan September 3, 2005
Runtime 113 minutes
Movie: Nana 2
Director Kentaro Otani
Studio Toho Company
Released Flag of Japan December 9, 2006
Runtime 130 minutes
TV anime
Director Morio Asaka
Studio Madhouse Studios
Network Flag of Japan NTV
Original run April 5, 2006 – March 27, 2007
Episodes 47

Nana (ナナ?) is a shōjo manga series by mangaka Ai Yazawa, serialised in Cookie published by Shueisha. There is an anime adaptation, as well as two live-action movies. The first twelve volumes of the manga series have cumulatively sold over 22 million copies.[1] The manga derives its title from the name of the two main characters, both of whom are called Nana. What sets them apart, however, is the stark difference between their lives. One Nana comes from a small town, following along with her friends and boyfriend, looking for a goal to obtain, while the other Nana's goal is set on making her dream and band, Black Stones, among the best. The two Nanas are brought together in what has become a major success for Ai Yazawa and the shōjo genre.[citation needed]

Nana is presently being released in North America by Viz Media. It ended its serialization in the August 2007 issue of Shojo Beat and was replaced by Honey and Clover. It will continue, however, to be released in tankobon (graphic novel format).[2] The manga has also been adapted into a highly successful live-action movie with a sequel released on December 9, 2006, and an anime adaptation that premiered on April 5, 2006. The anime adaptation has subsequently been announced as licensed for release in North America by Viz Media[3] In 2003, the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo.

There are currently seven volumes available in the United States. The eighth volume has a January 1, 2008 release date scheduled.

Contents

Nana Osaki is a punk singer who wants to debut with her band as soon as possible to leave her ex-boyfriend, Ren Honjo, behind. Nana was the lead vocalist in their old band with Ren, and they lived together as lovers. When Ren is offered a chance to debut in Tokyo as a replacement member of the popular band Trapnest (TraNes for short), Nana chooses to cultivate her own band, Black Stones (BlaSt for short) instead.

Nana Komatsu, the other Nana, is called Hachi as she has weak mental characteristics that resemble a puppy. With a habit of falling in love at first sight, Hachi has always depended on other people to help her. When her friends and then boyfriend leave for Tokyo, she decides to join them a year later after having saved enough money.

Nana and Hachi meet in 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 characters and ideals, the Nanas like and respect each other.

While the Black Stones begin to gain popularity at live gigs, other issues need resolving, especially in the areas of romance. The story of Nana revolves heavily on the romance and relationships of the two characters as one seeks fame and recognition while the other seeks love and happiness.

Main article: Characters of Nana (manga)

Nana Osaki is a punk-rock singer with a style to match, and Nana Komatsu, also known as Hachi, a small-town girl who moves to Tokyo to start a new life. They meet on a train, and their destinies are sealed. Viz Media, the English translator of the manga, often refers to the girls as "Nana O." and "Nana K." because in the Japanese manga the girls' names were spelled using different characters, making it easier to determine which Nana people were talking about.

The characters in Nana have complex personalities and their own histories, which sometimes intertwine with one another. The importance of each character grows in the manga as the story progresses to many dramatic heights and falls. The two main characters in particular, Nana O. and Nana K., support each other greatly, as evidenced both in the story and in the narration, which is done by either Nana at the beginning and end of each volume.

Other important characters include Hachi's friends and ex-boyfriend, who she followed from her hometown to Tokyo, the members of Nana O.'s band (Black Stones), and the members of the band Trapnest.

Nana the movie
Nana the movie

Nana has been made into a movie which was released on September 3rd, 2005. The movie stars Mika Nakashima as the punk star Osaki Nana, and Aoi Miyazaki as Hachi (Komatsu Nana). The DVD edition was released on March 3rd, 2006. The film did quite well at the Japanese box office, grossing more than 4 billion yen, staying in the top 10 for several weeks.

In addition to creating a Nana craze throughout Asia, the movie also helped launch Mika Nakashima to the peak of her career as she released the single "Glamorous Sky" under the name Nana starring Mika Nakashima. The single created topicality with its special collaboration between Nakashima, Hyde (who wrote the song), and Nana author Yazawa Ai (who wrote the lyrics). The single became Nakashima's first number one single on the Oricon Charts.

The movie also helped promote another artist, Yuna Ito, who starred in the movie as Trapnest vocal Reira, released her debut single "Endless Story," the insert song of the movie, under the name Reira starring Yuna Ito. The single ranked second on the Oricon charts, next to Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky," and made Yuna Ito one of the most successful debuting artists of 2005.

Nana 2
Nana 2

Nana 2, the sequel to the first movie, was announced right after the first debuted. However, on August 4, 2006, Toho stated that shooting would begin mid-September and that the movie was to be released on December 9, 2006. Aoi Miyazaki and Ryuhei Matsuda were not be reprising their respective roles as Nana Komatsu and Ren Honjo; as such, their roles have been assigned to Yui Ichikawa and Nobuo Kyou, respectively [1].

Two new singles were released under Nana starring Mika Nakashima and Reira starring Yuna Ito.

However, the sequel was a let-down for fans and company, it only peaked #4 at the Japanese Movie Rankings, and had much more bad press than any good.

The movie had its international premiere in New York City on December 15, 2006. It opened for a single showing at the IFC in Soho. Both Mika Nakashima and Yui Ichikawa were present.

Nana 2 once again featured the two artists Mika Nakashima and Yuna Ito, releasing songs under the names Nana starring Mika Nakashima and Reira starring Yuna Ito, respectively.

Nana, starring Mika Nakashima's new single "Hitoiro" featured Takuro of Glay as composer and Nana author Yazawa Ai as the lyricist again. It did not do as well as its predecessor "Glamorous Sky," peaking at only #5 on the Oricon charts. Two weeks after the release of the single, however, Nana starring Mika Nakashima released her first and last album, The End, which managed to rank at #2 on the Oricon charts.

Reira, starring Yuna Ito's "Truth" had no more luck than Nakashima's new single, ranking in only at the tenth place on the Oricon charts. The music video of the single was filmed in Scotland and used as scenes of the movie. Neither singles were as record-setting as their predecessors.

Nana anime
Nana anime
See also: List of Nana episodes

Nana has been adapted into an anime series, directed by Morio Asaka and animated by the studio Madhouse. The first opening and third ending songs are sung by Anna Tsuchiya for the band Black Stones as Nana Osaki, and Olivia sings the second opening and first and second endings for the band Trapnest as Reira Serizawa. The first DVD release was on 2006-07-07.

  • Openings
  1. "Rose" by Anna inspired by Nana (Black Stones)
  2. "Wish" by Olivia inspired by Reira (Trapnest)
  3. "Lucy" by Anna Tsuchiya inspired by Nana (Black Stones)
  • Endings
  1. "a little pain" by Olivia inspired by Reira (Trapnest)
  2. "Starless Night" by Olivia inspi' Reira (Trapnest)
  3. "Kuroi Namida" (黒い涙) by Anna Tsuchiya inspired by Nana (Black Stones)
  4. "Winter sleep" by Olivia inspired by Reira (Trapnest)
  5. "stand by me" by Anna Tsuchiya inspired by Nana (Black Stones)
  • Inserts
  1. "Zero" by Anna Tsuchiya inspired by Nana (Black Stones) (First played in Episode 4, also played in episodes 5, 10, and 30).

As with the movie Nana, the anime helped promote two artists, Olivia and Anna Tsuchiya. In addition to their respective singles, there have also been several albums released for the anime. These releases did not fare as well as the movie-related releases.

  • Olivia inspired by Reira (Trapnest) - "Olivia inspired by Reira (Trapnest) album|Olivia inspired by Reira (Trapnest)" (February 28, 2007) (#22)
  • Anna Tsuchiya inspired by Nana (Black Stones) - "Anna Tsuchiya inspired by Nana (Black Stones)" (February 28, 2007) (#16)
  • Anna Tsuchiya inspired by Nana (Black Stones) / Olivia inspired by Reira (Trapnest) - "Nana Best" (March 21, 2007)

There are currently two soundtracks for the anime series - Nana 707 soundtracks and Nana 7to8 soundtrack. Nana 707 is literally a soundtrack. It consists of 44 tracks, 43 of which are background music heard in the series. Track 44 is a song.

Two versions of Nana 707 were released - a limited edition which comes in the form of a hardcover book containing stills from the series plus 7 postcards, and a regular version.

The official soundtrack for the anime series, Nana Best, was released March 21, 2007. This soundtrack consists of 14 tracks that are the songs featured in the anime. The first press limited edition version comes in deluxe packaging with a DVD featuring special Nana anime video material.

There is a "Nana" game released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) platform. The PS2 game was produced by Konami and released on 17 March 2005. A PlayStationPortable (PSP) game, Nana: Subete wa Daimaou no Omichibiki!? (Nana: すべては大魔王のお導き!?) was released on 6 July 2006.

A Nintendo DS game, "Nana: Live Staff Daiboshuu! Shoshinsha Kangei" was released by Konami in June 2007.

The seiyuu cast for the PS2 game is entirely different from the anime cast. Additionally for the PSP game, the seiyuu cast of the anime is used.

There has also been an album, "Love for Nana ~Only 1 Tribute~" with 3 versions (Black Stone limited version, Black Stone standard version and Trapnest standard version) released in tribute of the series, including songs by Tetsu, Do As Infinity, Ai Otsuka, Tommy heavenly6, Skye Sweetnam and Sex Machineguns.

  1. Beat 7 -The Theme of Love for Nana- / Toshihiko Takamizawa (The Alfee)
  2. Gimme All Of Your Love!! / Tommy heavenly6 for Black Stones
  3. Twinkle / Kaela for Black Stones
  4. Reverse / Tetsu69 for Trapnest
  5. Stay away / abingdon boys school for Black Stones
  6. I miss you? / Do As Infinity for Black Stones
  7. Bambino / Tomoyasu Hotei featuring Miho Moribayashi for Trapnest
  8. Sleepwalking / Glen Matlock and The Philistines featuring Holly Cook (from Sex Pistols) for Black Stones
  9. Sugar Guitar / Skye Sweetnam for Trapnest
  10. Reimei Jidai / Japaharinet for Black Stones
  11. Black Crow / Sex Machineguns for Black Stones
  12. Two Hearts / Zone for Trapnest produced by Toshihiko Takamizawa
  13. Cherish / Ai Otsuka for Trapnest
  1. Marble/Battle Bomb Rounge
  2. Kimi no namae/Savage genius
  3. Rakuen no tobira/Bulukapu
  4. Shin-ai/Chihiro Izu
  5. Lotus Blues/Olive
  6. Thanks/Barna☆Sister
  7. Toi/Blue Frog
  8. Not be mine/Green Bear
  9. Kanaderu Kami/RK Rosebud
  10. No Title/Yamaoka Chiharu
  11. Mayonaka no Asahi/Kakimoto Nanae
  12. My Way/Realize Power Wave
  13. Ashita no Hana/Ann

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • "Hachikō" is the name of a famous dog in Japan. Additionally, "hachi" is the word for "eight" in Japanese, while "nana" is the word for "seven".
  • The surnames of the 2 Nanas may have been chosen to give their "seniority"; the Ō (大) in Ōsaki's surname means "big", while Ko (小) in Komatsu's means "small".
  • The seiyū who voiced Hachi in the PS2 game (Rumi Shishido) also had a cameo role as Hachi's bad tempered superior at the publisher's in the first live-action movie. She also was the seiyū of Gokinjo Monogatari's Kouda Mikako, another Yazawa Ai title.
  • The Black Stones name is derived from the Swisher Sweets cigarettes smoked habitually by Yasu and Shin.
  • Happy Berry, the clothing line of Gokinjo Monogatari's protagonist Kouda Mikako, can be seen in various scenes in Nana (as well as sudosaurus for Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai, Paradise Kiss and Gokinjo Monogatari).

  1. ^ TBS Nana Movie Website
  2. ^ Anime News Network Article on the end of Nana's English serialization.
  3. ^ .Viz Media - Comic-Con International 2007.

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