Ok so for all of you who don't know what Nana is yet (shame on you!!) here's a BIG introduction on one of my favourite mangas ^^
Nana (ナナ) is a japanese manga made by Ai Yazawa (whose also made Paradise Kiss, Gokinjo Monogatari). It was created in 2000 and is hasn't been finished yet, with 21 volumes in Japan so far.It's mainly for girls but it isn't girlish, it's a very mature shojô.
The Story:
The name of the manga is due to the two main characters, two young girls named Nana. They both have very different personalities and lives.They meet on a train going to Tokyo; One of the girls is moving there following her friends and boyfriend hoping to find herself; the other one is trying to make her dream come true :make her rock band "Black Stones" famous! When they're on the train they sit next to each other, and they find out they have the same name while one of the girls is on the phone. They later meet again while looking for an appartment.They both visit it at the same time, and since they both don't have much money they decide to rent it together! Many adventures, heart aches, surprises and rock n'roll await!
The Characters:
Nana Oosaki
She is a punk singer who wants to debut with her band, Black Stones (BLAST for short), where she is the lead vocalist and her boyfriend, Ren, is the bassist. Nana and Ren have lived together as lovers since she was 16. 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 "Hachi"
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.
Nana Komatsu's nickname Hachi was given to her by Nana Oosaki after Hachikô, a famous dog in japan (who's statue is in Shibuya) .In the manga they also play alot on the fact that Nana Oosaki has more of a cat personality (and often draw her with black cat ears and tail) and Hachi a dog's personality (dependent, more affective and ready to fetch things for you :P)
Members of Black Stones a.k.a Blast
Before even having a name, Blast was only coposed by Yasushi Takagi (Yasu) who is the leader of the band and plays drums,Ren Honjo,who plays the bass, and Nobuo Terashima that plays the guitar.
They all met in school,and were very close friends.When Ren started dating Nana Oosaki, he took her to one of the band's meetings, where she met the rest of the crew. That day the band was trying to decide the name of the group, and Yasu was smoking a brand of tabacco that caught Nana's eye : Black Stones.Thinking the name sounds cool she proposes it to the band, and they accept! Liking the looks and attitude of Nana they ask her to join the band, and that's how the first Blast band is made.They become very famous in their small town.
When Ren leaves,the band gets disolved,but after a while Nana Oosaki decided to give it a try and persue her dream of being a famous singer,going to Tokyo herlself. Yasu and Nobu decide to go after her and form the group again to try to beat Trapnest and become famous.That's when they meet Shinichi Okazaki (Shin) ,who happens to be a huge fan of Ren and plays just like him!At first that fact turns them off a bit, because they are still resented towards Ren, but after proving what he can do and saying he wants to become better than Ren, Nobu finally makes the band!
Members of Trapnest
When Black Stones start getting famous , Ren Honjo starts getting ambitious and wants to go to Tokyo give stardom a try.He gets an invitation from an already famous band called Trapnest to be their guitarist. Ren and most of the other members of Black Stones already know some of the members of Trapnest, from way back in school. Ren finally accepts to be their guitarist and leaves Blast, breaking Nana's heart. The leader of the band is Takumi Ichinose,the bassist, who later has a romance is Nana Komatsu.He is very protective of Layla Serizawa a.k.a Reira, the lead singer, but only because he is obsessed with the well being and succes of his group. Naoko Fujieda, the drummer, is kinda like the clown of the group, the only one that seems not to take it all too seriously.
BlackStones
From Left to Right:
Nobu, Nana, Yasu and Shin
Trapnest
From Left to Right:
Ren (smoking), Takumi, Naoki and Reira
Curiosities about Nana
*Nana means seven in Japanese.
*Both Nanas live in appartment 707 (¿destiny?)
*Hachi means eight in Japanese.
*Many of the clothes worn by Nana Oosaki (the punk one) are real clothes designed by Vivianne Westwood, a very famous fashion designer that also design the Sex Pistols's clothes!
*Ren Honjo is a Sex Pistols Fan!
*Nana Oosaki has a lotus flower tattoo on her left arm because lotus in japanese is "Ren" .gif)
After the Manga...
The manga has had loads of success, and so they have made:
*The Anime - The first opening and third ending songs are sung by Anna Tsuchiya for the band Black Stones, and Olivia sings the second opening and first and second endings for the band Trapnest as Reira Serizawa.
*The Movies - 2 movies, wich are actually the story devided in two, with Mika Nakashima (a famous singer) as the punk star Nana Osaki, and Aoi Miyazaki as Hachi (Nana Komatsu).
*The Game - There is a Nana game released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) platform, a PlayStation Portable (PSP) game, Nana: Everything Is Controlled By The Great De....mon King!? and a Nintendo DS game, Nana: Live Staff Mass Recruiting! Beginners Welcome ,all are role games I believe. They are only available in japanese sadly.
About Me
I am a HUGE fan of Nana! My favorite character is Nana Oosaki, the punk one. I was so happy when they chose Mika Nakashima to play her part, she did the part so well! Her music style isn't very punk but she has a wonderful voice and she's so beautiful! I really recomend you guys to check out the songs from the movie!
I chose to share with you this manga because it has meant a lot to me since I read it, it's a very moving story and you get hoocked up right away.I hope you guys will want to read it after this short introduction I've made ^^
I still want to add pictures and other things so this thread is still under construction!
But please fill free to comment, and if you are also a Nana fan you are VERY welcome ^^
I also found this quiz I though Nana fans might want to take!:
Wich Nana character are you?
I got Nana Oosaki!^^
Which Nana Character Are You? - Quiz | Get More Quizzes at Quizilla
