Nana (manga)

Nana (ナナ) is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa, serialized in Cookie published by Shueisha. The manga derives its title from the name of the two main characters, both of whom are called Nana. One comes from a small town and follows her friends and boyfriend to Tokyo with the hope of having the dream life that she wishes for. The other comes to Tokyo with the goal of making it big with her band, Black Stones. The two Nanas meet on a train ride, then later while looking at the same apartment and decide to rent it together. The series chronicles their friendship and their lives as each chases their dreams. The author of the manga is currently sick and still recovering from the sickness. It was reported in late April 2010 that she has returned home from the hospital and that she does not know if or when she will return to work.

Nana is presently being released in North America by Viz Media. It was serialized in the Shojo Beat until the August 2007 issue, and continues to be released in tankōbon volumes. The manga has also been adapted into a highly successful live-action film with a sequel released on December 9, 2006, and an anime adaptation that premiered on April 5, 2006. The anime adaptation has subsequently been announced as licensed for release in North America by Viz Media. Funimation got the broadcast rights to Viz Media's dub and it premiered on the Funimation Channel on September 19, 2009.

Plot
Nana Osaki 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 (Toranesu in Japanese), 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, 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.

The two Nanas meet on a train by chance, both on their way to Tokyo. After a string of coincidences, they come to live together in an apartment numbered 707 (nana means "seven" in Japanese). Despite having contrasting personalities and ideals, the Nanas like and respect each other a great deal.

Nana Osaki gives Nana Komatsu the nickname Hachi (after Hachikō, because she is weak-willed and has characteristics that resemble a puppy, and also as a joke since hachi means "eight" in Japanese).

While BLAST begins to gain popularity at live gigs, the two Nanas face many other issues together, especially in the areas of friendship and romance. The story of Nana revolves heavily around the romance and relationships of the two characters as one seeks fame and recognition while the other seeks love and happiness.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa, the individual chapters of Nana premiered in Cookie in 2000 where it ran until June 2009, when the series was put on hiatus due to Yazawa being ill. Yazawa returned from hospital in early April 2010, though has not specified when or if she will resume the manga. The chapters have been collected and published in 21 tankōbon volumes in Japan by Shueisha.

Nana is licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media. It was serialized in Viz's manga anthology Shojo Beat, premiered in the launch July 2005 issue where chapters appeared until the August 2007 issue. The series continues publication in manga book form, with 20 volumes released as of January 5, 2010.

Films
Two film adaptations have been made for Nana. The first, Nana, was released on September 3, 2005. The film stars Mika Nakashima as the punk star Nana Osaki, and Aoi Miyazaki as Hachi (Nana Komatsu). The DVD edition was released on March 3, 2006. The film did quite well at the Japanese box office, grossing more than 4 billion yen, staying in the top 10 for several weeks. A sequel, Nana 2, was announced right after the first debuted. However, on August 4, 2006, Toho stated that shooting would begin mid-September and that the film was to be released on December 9, 2006. Aoi Miyazaki and Ryuhei Matsuda would not be reprising their respective roles as Nana Komatsu and Ren Honjo; as such, their roles were assigned to Yui Ichikawa and Nobuo Kyou, respectively.

Anime
Nana has been adapted into an anime series, directed by Morio Asaka and animated by the studio Madhouse. 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 first DVD release was on July 7, 2006. The anime series was intended to be equal to the manga and it was adapted until the 12th tankoubon to avoid filler. According to Junko Koseki (editor of Nana in Shueisha) and Masao Maruyama (president of Madhouse) a second season is probably going to be aired once the manga series is finished. Two girls, both named Nana and of the same age, coincidentally meet on a train trip to Tokyo. They soon find theirselves living with each other under the same roof because of an even bigger coincidence. Even though they share the same name and age, they differ in just about everything else. Even so, through hard experiences in love and life, a strong friendship is born between them, as both Nanas grow through their hardships and struggle to win the odds. [Note: This live-action plot goes up to the equivalent episode 19 of the TV series].

 Songs Inspired From "Nana" 

01. BEAT 7 �The Theme of LOVE for NANA� / 高見沢俊彦 (Takamizawa Toshihiko of The Alfee)

02. GIMME ALL OF YOUR LOVE !! (ENG) / Tommy heavenly6 for BLACK STONES

03. Twinkle / 木村カエラ (Kimura Kaela) for BLACK STONES

04. REVERSE / TETSU69 for TRAPNEST

05. stay away / abingdon boys school for BLACK STONES

06. I miss you? (ENG) / Do As Infinity for BLACK STONES

07. バンビーノ (Bambino) / 布袋寅泰 (Hotei TOmoyasu) featuring もりばやしみほ for TRAPNEST

08. Sleepwalking / Glen Matlock & The Philistines featuring Holly Coock (from SEX PISTOLS) for BLACK STONES

09. Sugar Guitar / SKYE SWEETNAM for TRAPNEST

10. 黎明時代-レイメイジダイ- (reimei jidai) / ジャパハリネット (Japaharinet) for BLACK STONES

11. BLACK CROW / SEX MACHINEGUNS for BLACK STONES

12. Two Hearts / ZONE for TRAPNEST

13. Cherish (ENG) / 大塚愛 (Ootsuka Ai) for TRAPNEST

Video games
There is a Nana game released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) platform. The PS2 game was produced by Konami and released on 17 March 2005. A PlayStation Portable (PSP) game, Nana: Everything Is Controlled By The Great Demon King!? (ナナ: すべては大魔王のお導き!?) was released on 6 July 2006.

A Nintendo DS game, Nana: Live Staff Mass Recruiting! Beginners Welcome (ナナ: ライブスタッフ大募集! 初心者歓迎) was released by Konami in June 2007.

Reception
Volumes 19 and 20 were the third and fifth highest selling (respectively) manga books of 2008. Volumes 1 and 2 were listed on YALSA's "2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens" list. The first twelve volumes of the manga series have cumulatively sold over 22 million copies. As in 2005, it has sold over 34,500,000 making it the fourth best selling shōjo manga worldwide. In 2003, the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo.