This is the story of two 20-year old women who share the same name. Even though they come from completely different backgrounds, they somehow meet and become best friends. The world of NANA is a world exploding with sex, music, fashion, gossip, and all-night parties.
Ai YAZAWA (矢沢あい) is a Japanese manga author. Her pen name comes from Japanese singer Eikichi Yazawa, of whom she is a fan.
Yazawa started her manga publishing life in 1985; throughout 15 years of publishing, she wrote over ten series on Ribon magazine. While most of her manga continues to be published in Japan by Shueisha, publishers of Ribon and Cookie (in which Nana is serialized), series like Paradise Kiss now appear in other magazines such as Zipper, published by Shodensha.
Yazawa's most famous manga include Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (I'm Not an Angel), Gokinjo Monogatari (Neighborhood Story), Paradise Kiss, and Nana. In 2003, she was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award for Nana. Some of her manga works were made into anime, and live action moves too.
Yazawa's works are most popular among women and young girls. The storylines generally are centered on young women and their relationships, something with which her young fanbase identifies. The characters are always very stylish, and she is known especially for her hip sense of fashion. Yazawa herself attended a fashion school after high school but did not complete her studies there. Another key point is her strikingly unique, often rebellious characters, who tend to be juxtaposed against the more traditional ones.
She has also published three artbooks.
Works (in chronological order)
15-nenme (1986) Love Letter (1987) Kaze ni Nare! (1988) Escape (1988) Ballad Made Soba ni Ite (1989, 2 volumes) Marine Blue no Kaze ni Dakarete (1990–1991, 4 volumes) Usubeni no Arashi (1992) Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (1992–1995, 8 volumes) Gokinjo Monogatari (1995–1998, 7 volumes) Kagen no Tsuki (1998–1999, 3 volumes) Paradise Kiss (2000–2004, 5 volumes, published by Shodensha) Nana (2000–ongoing, 21 volumes - on hiatus) Princess Ai (2004–2006, 3 volumes) (character designs only)
I retract what I've just said; this is excellent. This manga is incredibly heartfelt and good-hearted. I apologise for labelling Nana 1 as childish; she is simply adorable and adds a special touch to this tale. Her love for Nana 2 also deeply moved me. Why didn't I grab it sooner? This manga follows both the Nana settling in Tokyo and doing roomates stuff.
Another cute volume!!! If was so good to see how the two were able two interact with each other. This is probably going to turn out to be one of my favorite manga series.
Now I'm asking myself why didn't I start reading manga before now!? I never thought it would be this much fun. This volume included the two Nanas departure to Tokyo and how they're trying to settle down after they've found a house together.
“Sai, Nana... A quei tempi eri un po' come un gatto randagio, scapestrata, libera e orgogliosa... Ma nel tuo cuore c'era una ferita insanabile. Ottusa come sono, pensavo che anche questo particolare aggiungesse qualcosa al tuo fascino... Senza rendermi conto di quanto dolore tu provassi.”
Al fin Nana y Hachi se mudan juntas. No puedo esperar a que Hachi madure un poco y deje de ser tan insoportablemente insegura, pero la quiero igual, como a un perro (jajaja)
The story of the two of them rooming in Tokyo is okay. Nana #1 is still annoying. Nana #2 is still super cool but sad inside. They're both looking for love. . . .
There were so many pages ripped out of this manga! Actually, there wasn't much lost as far as story continuity which is good.
I plan to watch the Japanese movie when I get it from the library. It will be subtitled in English. It's ages since I've seen a Japanese movie. Looking forward to it. Not sure if my husband will be all that excited, but he'll give it a go. (No robots or monsters in this one.)
"Hey, Nana, do you remember the first time we met? Because I believe it was fated for us to become good friends. I figured that it's part of our destinies, so smile about it."
"With a dining table for a stage and a cell phone for a microphone, the March moon as a spotlight, even now I believe the only person who could have casted such magic, is... Nana."
two nanas meet and move in, and then they were roommates.
love the offbeat pairing. unlikely friendships can occur. patience is required.
i want to be happy-go-lucky sooo bad but i overthink too much. i think too much.
do i want roommates, again? could i do it i feel like it's a thing i would HAVE TO do if i ever moved to new york but i'm someone who thrives when they're alone i love being alone so much sometimes it hurts and then i think what will become of me will i ever get down with someone who will marry me will i ever be loved why is life never so simple do goals align do they even need to align what the hell am i looking for what is my type do i even have a type none of my exes are alike all different and all this, these everflowing thoughts, concretely amount to a void i fall into.
And you're telling me this isn't a lesbian romance?? These two girls have only just met and their chemistry has already reached the cosmos! Seriously, I loved this read. If the first volume didn't make as much of an impression on me, this one did the job 100%, and I can't wait to discover the rest of their story! 🍓
this volume was good, i didn’t write a review on the first volume but i actually liked it only has the two chapters for the prologue (one for each nana). anyway this volume was a good start to the character’s story, however i do not like shouji ;-; he’s bothering me… nana osaki tho <3
also i gotta add i literally was tearing up at the end of chapter 4 ;-; scared for myself to read the rest of this series
NANA K. is still with the "Demon Lord" thing and with the "unlucky" no.7 (which is everywhere, the author made sure of that) 😅... Good for her!
And about "Hachi", went to goooogle translate, "hachi" translates to eight. But I wasn't satisfied with that bcause I still felt was missing smth. Then I generally searched for it and it's that movie where a dog and a man forge this incredible bond where the dog follows him everywhere and whatnot (the white-washed or the "western" version is with R. Gere) - very touching story. So the joke where Nana O. makes with Nana K. personality being "dog like" thus calling her "Hachi", made more sense after my search and they're just freaking hilarious together.
Stylisme des personnages très poussé ce qui rend le visuel artistique très agréable. Des personnages charmant mais l'histoire met un peu trop de temps à commencer...
Lo dejo. Me pilla en un momento en que no me apetece leer el estereotipo de "niña buena medio tonta" + "chica aspecto salvaje super inteligente, sensata y molona"
Decided to re-read this volume as well now that I have little to nothing to read (my TBR is all for my vacation and I am through most of my library books of which I want to keep a few for after my vacation). This was fun! The Nana's meet, they get to live together, Nana (the oblivious one) tries to get used to live in Tokyo and how things work with her boyfriend along with finding a job. I really like Nana (oblivious) but at times I am just shaking my head, she acts way more like 15 years instead of 20. Nana (the cool one) was just awesome, though I wanted to give her a hug. I love that she is pro at carpentry. The last scene was just wonderful. *cries*