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Nana is perhaps an anime I won't ever forget and will continue watching once or maybe twice every year. I first watched Nana when I was thirteen and loving it but I never really connected with some of the material that was brought up. I'm now Twenty and boi ... all that material started to HIT.

Story: Two girls with the same name that happen to meet each other by accident on a train to Tokyo. They're total opposites but for some reason they're drawn to one another. Nana is an anime with a plot that revolves around music. The music is used as a means ... to express the emotions and thoughts of its characters and the viewer.
Even the characters who are not part of these bands are also showed as being influenced by the music. But most importantly .. the story revolves around the difficulties of being young and choosing between true love and a passionate career.

What I Loved About Nana:
1. The Characters! - Ai Yazawa has this incredible ability to write characters so that you truly care about them. You become so invested in their well being. There is a very clear difference between anime that is made to be sad and anime that is made to depict life in its truest form. You either feel like you know the characters or feel like them (I found both Nanas very relatable). There are no good guys or bad guys ... just human beings. That being said, there are characters who you won't like and characters who you will ADORE! No one fits into a single box. All the characters are complex.
2. NANA OSAKI! - I know i already mentioned characters but Nana Osaki deserves a bullet point for herself. Lets be real, who doesn't love a tough punk rocker with a heart of gold? I would honestly die for Nana Osaki. She has my whole heart!
3. The Plot! – A believable depiction of what it’s like to be 20, confused, newly independent and in love. Speaking of love, Nana explores it’s many faces. The relationships range from deeply lustful to deeply romantic and everything in between. But while this anime is often classed in the romance genre, I think putting such a flimflam word om it does it a disservice. The relationships are definitely the thing that drives the anime forward but not all of them are romantic. I found the bond between Nana and Hachi to be the most beautiful to watch. And a special mention to the scenes between Nana Osaki and Yasu.
4. The Music! – In the world of Nana we meet two bands: Trapnest and BLAST (shortened from Black Stones). Both bands have a female lead but produce radically different sounding music. But let me tell you … the music is just … BEAUTIFUL! It’s been six years and I am still not fed up listening to the music from Nana daily. My personal favourite is probably ‘Shadow of Love’ performed by Olivia Lufkin. The scene that led to that power ballad really stood out to me and always manages to make me cry. Other stand out songs are the opening themes ‘Rose’ and ‘Lucy’ by BLAST and the rarely used ‘Winter Sleep’ by Trapnest.
5. Fashion! – The fashion in Nana was literally a love letter to Punk and Vivienne Westwood. Ai Yazawa is known for her focus on fashion that’s as deep as her dramatic characters.

Overall:
This anime feels very personal to me. It feels as though someone put your life underneath a magnifying glass and examining every painful experience you’ve gone through. It puts certain elements in your life into perspective and it can sometimes make you feel fortunate about making the decisions you did. So I thank Nana and Ai Yazawa heavily for that.
It’s a must watch for every woman in their twenties!

Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms is set in a aesthetically pleasing medieval-styled fantasy world of mystical cloths, imprisoned princesses and warring kingdoms.
The movie focuses on motherhood, self sacrifice, forgiveness and the hardships of life.
The main character Maquia is a timid fifteen year old girl from the clan of the separated also known as the lorph. An ancient clan of blonde haired people who weave Hibiol, a piece of cloth that marks the passage of time and contains messages that only the lorph can read. After a tragic event in her homeland, Maquia finds herself alone until she finds a baby boy. Maquia then ... makes a big decision to raise this child as her own despite being a child herself and from then we follow the mother and son on their journey.

This movie will make you SOB!!! I have never watched a film that has touched me so dearly. It will make you call up your Mom at 3am sobbing about how much you love her or hate her even.

The cinematography is stunningly beautiful, the characters are full of life and energy, perfect pacing, music was spectacular and fitted the description of a sorrow filled fantasy movie and the ending was so bittersweet.
The purest movie with the purest type of love - a Mothers Love.