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I am a 17 year old, metal-loving, video-game-nerd dude. I am seemingly way off to the wrong side of 'Nana''s demographic spectrum. It seemed necessary to state all of this before throwing my opinion at you all as your mileage may vary drastically depending on your age, gender, and so forth. While I do aim to be as objective as possible, take what I say with a pinch of salt and follow my recommendation in the final paragraph if you are curious about this anime.

So why on Earth did I pick up 'Nana'? The idea of a almost-50 episode romance did seem rather intriguing, ... and intriguing it was. However, what some may perceptive to be it's greatest strength, seems to be it's greatest weakness.

Story~
'Nana' follows two young women in their pursuits of laughter, fun, love, and rock 'n' roll. The story is nothing particularly special, but it is enjoyable nonetheless. There are plenty of twists and turns, and the majority of the story arcs link together well and provide plenty of meat to the over-arching plot. One thing that bogs this down slightly is re-caps. 'Nana' will take no prisoners and can and will repeat segments from previous episodes almost in their entirety, but will throw something important in the mix that leaves you with no choice but to trek through previously discovered waters. It is frustrating at times and flashbacks are generally frame-by-frame pastes so you won't be discovering anything new. But on the whole, the story is enjoyable, filled to the brim with heart-warming (and potentially heart-wrenching) scenarios that should please most anime fans.

Characters~
If there was a more divisive aspect to this show than the characters, i'd ask the court say 'I'. The characters themselves are interesting enough as individuals, even if a little unoriginal. You have your leading-role klutz, Nana. You have your lead-role unimpressed hero, Nana (yes, they share the same name. See what they did with the title? Ayyyyy). Secondary characters are fairly straightforward and don't have much going for them in terms of differentiating. Most are fairly jaded, with a couple showing a more idiotic side at times. The problem with the characters is character relationships. The relationships in 'Nana' are a level of realism that doesn't suit the medium of anime as well as one might hope. When you strip it down, 'Nana' is a B-grade romance movie presented in episodic anime format. While some may cry that the relationships are deep and allow for strong character building (which they most definitely do), the contrast with anime tropes and dramatic elongations of simple or even trivial scenarios causes an awkward fatigue. The series seems to drag on more than it should when you realise just how little has happened over the course of the first 20 episodes. The pacing of the show is brought down significantly by character relationships as the anime forces you to watch every reaction, every individual flashback. There is no room for intrigue. You know what is going to happen from a mile away, even if it isn't always the best (or most efficient) way to progress the storyline.

Art and sound~
The art deserves some praise as the character animations are brilliant. They took some getting used to (different facial proportions to typical anime, extremely skinny and tall characters), but watching individuals during conversations is one of the highlights of the show. Whenever two or more people are on the screen, you are in for a treat as conversations are as energetic in a visual sense as they are in audio. Characters are detailed and environments look good when they need to. Some backgrounds are a little too simple when compared to scenes involving concerts or restaurants, but you will likely be too glued on the wonderful voice acting and facial animations to notice. Speaking of which (segway pun intended), the voice acting is a marvel for the most part. Nana and Nana are brilliantly portrayed, and the majority of secondary characters are fun to behold; even if the general attitude of the secondary characters 70% of the time is some form of diluted cynicism. The music is enjoyable, and some of the punk tracks are quite a fun time if you don't mind the absurd lyrics Japan love to spew out.

Overall~
This show is not and never was intended for a person such as myself, yet I still found plenty to enjoy about it. Constant backtracking, realistic relationship approaches, and borderline-monotonous cynicism did bring down the overall 'enjoyment' of the show, but the emotional forces and main leading ladies did provide a fun time. The story is a tad too predictable for the most part and could easily be ripped off of a multitude of live-action films. But that doesn't stop this anime from being worth a look. The first 3 episodes should be more than enough for you to make your own judgement as to whether or not it is your cup of tea, but I would recommend you watch at least that much (do it!). This show aims for the feels, but leaves enough breathing space for enticing dialogue and some good laughs.

6.8/10