Nana

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I remember. God, do I remember: Not knowing what the hell you’re doing. Being lost in the emotions, the dreams, the coldly shattered preconceptions. Uncovering connection and a sort of camaraderie in the unlikeliest, even loneliest of places. Being struck by this one person; magnetic, bold, talented; more broken than you could know. Creating your own dumb fun. Drowning in stupid, lustful, beautiful love and risking everything for your dream.

Laughing, drinking, being without a care with the coolest people you’re sure you’ll ever meet. Enraptured by freedom, expression, possibility. Licking your wounds when you fall, and picking yourself back up because you know no ... one else will, nor should they. Seizing the goddamn day.

I remember my twenties. God, do I. Ai Yazawa’s sprawling, gritty shojo manga, Nana, grew with me, really. With the series on indefinite hiatus, I’m tempted to say a part of me is… frozen. We may never learn the characters’ fates, the resolution of this saga of young adult trials and dreams.

But that’s life, man. You don’t get all the answers, you don’t get to know how everyone turned out.

Still, I like to think Nana O. is okay. Girl’s got grit. If I can figure out my shit—and I believe I am—maybe she can too, with a little help from her friends. And maybe with a little dash of dreams.

Nana is a manga which has a premise which doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest, but I chose to read it because it’s praised extremely highly. As it turns out, the reason for this praise is that it’s one of the most all-round transcendently brilliantly created manga out there. I wish something with an insane premise was written this well, but more than that I wish this manga was actually finished. It must be some curse on me that all of my favourite stories seem to be doomed to eternal incompletion via hiatus, and Nana is another of its kind; it’s author, Ai Yazawa, ... got ill with some undisclosed illness way back when, and hence this masterpiece remains unfinished to this day (though she claims she may continue it at some point it wouldn’t be wise to stake your hopes on it). The fact that an incomplete work such as this gets the acclaim it does speaks more of its quality than I ever could, but I adore this manga so I’m more than happy to rise to the task

Most will tell you the story is the best quality of this manga, and I’m somewhat inclined to agree, but there’s so much more to it than that statement would imply. What makes it so incredible is that it’s meticulously and intrinsically sewn together by all of its aspects; the characters, the symbolism and theming, and the art. The way its characters are written is through a method I like to call “Hunter x Hunter cast”, wherein every character is a foil for one another and you can’t go 2 panels without noticing a parallel between this dynamic or the other. It knits the cast together through the controlled use of themes and motifs, and strengthens said themes tenfold every time it does it. This isn’t the end of the connective flow either; it does that great thing where it interweaves conversations and monologues with completely separate scenes, both as they’re occurring and as we transition to the next, and it gives the whole thing such a beautiful flow.

Dramaturgically, I must say, it threw me for a loop. For the first few volumes it plays a slow buildup and introductory tone and pace, before kicking quickly into high gear and dropping the reader into the deep end with some of the best handled drama I’ve seen in a while. Now this plays out intensely and masterfully, but where you might expect the ‘arc’ to end it hits a mildly conclusive wrap up before flowing straight on into the next section of the story. The tension never relieves, it just ebbs and flows carefully yet unpredictably, and that threw me off at first, but it becomes clear quite quickly that this method perfectly encapsulates the ‘real life’ type of story flow it’s trying to accomplish. Rather than having a collection of synchronised arcs collected together that open and close simultaneously, there’ll be varied lengths of arcs for any character or group of characters, and they’ll weave about one another; rising and falling at different times, never a point where everyone’s at a plateau. It works beautifully, and makes it feel like you’re truly living the life of these characters.

The comedy is an interesting topic because I can definitely see someone finding it obtrusive, finding it to take away the sense of drama and break immersion, but oddly enough I feel it not only meshes well with the work as a whole but somehow enhances the realistic tone. Humans aren’t good with tension, and in real life we don’t all seriously brood about with each other like in a BBC drama, even when going through serious situations. Not only is the banter funny, but it’s always in character, and characters who might in other series’ be reserved purely for dramatic moments get an impressive dose of humanisation through the comedy.

The themes of Nana are thoroughly intertwined with one another, and make for one of the strongest cores of any story I’ve read. The concept of determinism not being dictated by a merciless fate but in fact by our own uncontrollable desires and urges from past and present is thoroughly explored; including the idea that said desires are borne of past lapses in nurture, of traumas or neglect or anything from our past that left us dissatisfied then or dissatisfied now, and that such dysfunctional catalysts are born again by the ‘fate’ controlled by our uncontrollable egos. It also explores the nuance of responsibility and self-care; the struggle to find a balance between keeping yourself in check so as to keep yourself safe and keeping yourself happy. More than anything, Nana is a story about trying to learn how to care for yourself through caring for others, and so there’s constantly a mess of projection and self-deceptive conflict ever present, as the characters try to navigate their complex interpersonal relationships in order to find some semblance of satisfaction in their lives.

The art is stunning and beautiful throughout. The style is a simple fine-lined one, with big eyes and skinny bodies, but normal enough proportions for them not to feel like cartoons. The use of black and white is extraordinary, always perfectly evokes the emotions of scenes, or the thoughts and feelings of characters which just don’t come across otherwise. It employs a vast bank of symbolism making it rich for analysis, but it’s never mandatory to stop and analyse; Nana exists on the surface level as well as many layers below.

The dialogue is excellent, realistic when it must be, comedic as it will, and constantly evocative of subtle parts of the characters’ psyche, be that the one who’s talking or someone else through clever paralleling. Some may consider the manga to be too dialogue heavy by preference, but it never feels arduous to read while still having enough density and depth to prove engaging. Both protagonists take turns monologising, and these soliloquy’s contain some of the most beautiful and poetic quotes I’ve heard in manga. Out of context some of them sound quite cheesy, but they always work brilliantly in context and more often than not have double or more meanings, as they overlap with seemingly unrelated scenes.

The only reason I can think of to not recommend this manga is its incompletion, however there’s so much utterly excellent fiction here that I think it would be a crime not to check it out. Besides, Volume 21 is actually a good conclusion (relative to not actually being the end), though there are a few extra chapters afterwards of the next part of the conflict

In conclusion; Nana is a masterpiece and you should read it NOW

Do you think including sex in a story makes the story mature and for mature audience? Then might enjoy this manga, as that is exactly the target audience of this smut.

The only reason why I kept reading this manga is to try to discover why everyone seems to like this series. I regret to inform you I have failed in this task. For a manga that claims to be about romance and friendship, it surely doesn't have much of either of those. Sure, there are relationships, but actual displays of romance or friendships are scarce. Mostly it's just conflicts, harlotry and playboys - who slept ... with who, who got cheated on, break ups, new relationships... honestly if that's enough content for you, just ask the nearest teenage girl in your vicinity to tell you the latest gossip and you'll get exactly that. The problem with Nana is that all of it feels empty. We're supposed to feel like there are some feelings between those characters, but it lacks displays of actual affections, like it’s something that only happens off-screen and we only get to see the aftermath of unhealthy relationship. The reader constantly gets spammed by this youthful imprudence that only makes me want to shout "Just grow the fuck up already" at the pages.

The characters are unsympathetic and uninteresting. Trendy designs are the only thing they can offer, and even that is already outdated. Same as I don't need a manga to tell me that water is drinkable, I also don't need a manga to tell me that teenagers tend to not be exactly the best at making life decisions. Especially one that doesn't look like it has any conclusion or interesting overall meaning in mind and yet takes up so much volumes. Sure, some of the characters get their sob story and background info, but that still doesn't change that their present version is just not interesting. Reading Nana just feels like reading a generic chick lit. Well, now that I think about it, it is actually a chick lit, so it's nothing not something that should have surprised me.

There is one good thing about this manga though, and that is the art. Even as someone who generally doesn't enjoy the shoujo style of illustrations I liked it, and while it didn't make the manga good as a whole, it certainly made reading it slightly better.

I feel like the target audience of Nana is mainly those at the age of protagonists and similar still with the mindset that spending their teen years indulging in sex and relationship drama while smoking cigarettes is so much cool and oh would it be so interesting if it were me. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that wants something beyond a telenovela-tier content.