Nana Review
Tuesday, August 04, 2015
Love, trust, betrayal, youth, ungratefulness, loneliness and above all, friendship. Just a few words that can describe Nana in a nutshell. As a shoujo fanatic I put Nana in the back burner for years since a 47 episode long anime turned me off and I did not want to waste my time if it wasn't worth the watch. To my surprise the first episode drew me in immediately and as I drew closer and closer to the end of Nana: I found myself being happy that it was 47 episodes long since I realized it would suck if Nana ended at 12 or 24 episodes, and disappointed that such a divine piece of work was coming to an end for me.
The story of Nana is very similar to most of your popular shoujo anime but with friendship/ companionship as the core of the story rather than love. What I found was so compelling about Nana compared to my other shoujo favourites was the anime's ability to create something so relatable, in terms of relationships and friendship, to the point that there were moments in the anime that mirrored situations I found myself in. And I applaud Ai Yazawa for creating a piece where no excessive use of shoujo gags were needed to force me to laugh or artificially make me relate to Nana - it was really authentic and organic.
One of the most strongest areas of Nana are the characters, and the beauty of the dynamic between Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu (also known as Hachi). As I said earlier Nana is an anime that's very relatable, and this is amplified not only through Nana and Hachi, but through all of the characters in the anime. It's funny how Hachi meeting Nana altered the course of both of their lives forever; and we've all been there where befriending someone had an impact on your life, whether it was meeting your best friend for the first time or meeting your significant other for the first time. If you don't relate to these two you'd defiantly relate to any of the other characters who are part of Nana and Hachi's storylines.
Animation was subpar, but the music and OST was well done. Everything about the animation was fine but the only problems I had were the animation of the whether and the character designs. Right from the beginning the snow animation wasn't done that well and I really had a problem with the character designs. Everyone was so freaking skinny! Other than that the animation was acceptable. On the flip side of the animation, music and OST were fantastic. The openings and ending choices were pleasing to listen to and the OST was homey and very classic. My favourite song from the OST was A Little Pain; every time I'd listen to it, it just reminded me how sad/ unappreciative Hachi was towards the people she formed bonds with.
By far Nana is bumped into my top 5 favourite anime of all time. So if you're a shoujo fan, Nana is a must watch - I was surprised how much I liked the anime by the time it ended. Overly impressed on how Nana was able to air an essence of friendship and love which resonated with me without using the go to pranks you would expect from a shoujo. It's a fantastic anime that depicts great life lessons about betrayal, loyalty, friendship and allows people to learn from the mistakes that Nana, Hachi and all the characters experience. Also if you're not Japanese, Nana means seven in English; so if you don't know how to count in Japanese, learn the first 10 numbers since Nana is full of jokes using the numbering system! Anyways, if you made it this far into the review, thanks for reading - comment down below your thoughts!
4 comments
Nicely said, I couldn't have said any better. Nana has always been one of my favorite anime.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Nana is the best!
DeleteI am an avid reader and an anime lover; that said, I tend to instantly connect with a character and for the rest of the story, I feel each emotion that passes through their plot line as if it were my own.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started watching Nana, my reader's eye instantly connected with the soft-hearted, sensitive, and bubbly personality of Nana Komatsu. If you've watched the anime through to the end, you'll understand why watching this anime was so hard for me to continue. While I agree with you (the anime Nana is a brilliant anime filled with detailed character developements and awesome music), I also found the anime extremely depressing and hard to watch towards the end.
Now that I've got all that out of the way, I fully ship (and always will) Hatchi and Nobu. They are by far my favorite couple in the show, so I cried at the end.
I totally understand from your perspective! It was hard to watch the final episodes, with the whole Hachi and Nana dynamic.
DeleteYes to Hachi and Nobu!