Nana by Ai Yazawa won the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo category in 2003 and has over 50 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. And it’s no wonder why this particular work by Yazawa-sensei became so popular. Its rich and complicated characters, each just a little bit broken like most people, make their interactions and choices, both good and terrible, feel like they could originate from the reader’s own life.
This manga about relationships may easily descend into a soap opera-like melodrama, but its realistic portrayal of characters saves it from being labeled so. Nana tells the story of two girls who share the same name and how their lives are joined by fate, starting from a coincidental meeting on a train to Tokyo. Nana Komatsu, a young woman who’s had endless boyfriend troubles, moved to Tokyo to find a new love and take charge of her life. Nana Osaki, a cool, confident, and focused girl, enters Tokyo and cracks open the underground punk scene in order to be Japan’s top rock’n’roll star.
The reason why Nana Komatsu was given more importance than Nana Osaki
Those who have read the story would know that Nana Komatsu was written with a lot more depth and emotion than Nana Osaki. Though the story did focus on Nana Osaki’s life as Japan’s top rockstar, Nana Komatsu is more relatable for readers because she moves to Tokyo just to show both him and herself that she is capable of independence.
Her nickname is “Hachi”—a shortened version of Hachiko because she always tries to be kind and faithful to her friends, like the dog from the Hachiko legend. That folklore states that Hachiko’s 53-year-old owner died suddenly from a brain hemorrhage at work. However, Hachiko did not know that and went to the Shibuya Train Station every afternoon when the train arrived for the rest of his 10 years, waiting for him to come back.
Series creator Ai Yazawa wrote Hachi as the main character because she felt readers would sympathize with her more. According to Yazawa-sensei, she paid a lot of attention to Hachi but the same wasn’t the case for Nana Osaki.
I created Hachi this way because there are probably a lot of girls like her. First of all, I decided to create a person that the reader could sympathize with and relate to. Nana, I created on a whim (LOL). That’s why she has a sad story. I prefer story-wise for them to be more serious.
The story of Nana is filled with heartbreaks and betrayals and if Nana Osaki didn’t disappear all of a sudden, she would tell the readers herself how she felt distraught.
The sad story of Nana Osaki
Nana Osaki didn’t have a happy beginning either, as is the illegitimate daughter of Uehara, who left Nana daughter in the care of her grandmother when she was four years old. Osaki was even falsely accused of prostitution and expelled from school but she didn’t care about it as much as her grandmother’s fatal illness.
Some time later, she meets Ren Honjo and is instantly captivated by him. As a result, she accepts his offer to join the band he’s starting with Nobu and their friend named Yasushi Takagi. As Nana and the band got really popular, she wanted to take her relationship with Ren to the next level by moving in with him. The two shared an intense relationship until Ren revealed he had been offered a huge deal to play guitar for Trapnest in Tokyo. Although Ren and Nana still loved each other, they agreed that a long distance relationship was pointless and eventually broke off.
After moving to Tokyo, Nana Osaki meets Nana Komatsu, a.k.a., Hachi, and becomes fiercely protective of Hachi, going so far as to feel extreme jealousy when anyone appears to be taking “her” Hachi away. Hachi helps reunite Nana with Ren by inviting Nana to a Trapnest concert back in her hometown. At first Nana turns down the invite, but eventually she gives in.
Later in the series, Nana Osaki gets back with Ren and marries him. But she misses Hachi and feels that Hachi always chooses Takumi over her. However, things get to go south when Osaki realizes her mom’s alive and everything falls apart with her band BLAST. In chapter 81, Nana is still grappling with the aftermath of Ren’s death and her panic attacks grow worse. This continued to worsen overtime and Nana has cut contact with everyone and has fled to England, with Hachi and the others searching for her.
In the end, Osaki continues to sing as a solo singer and has grown out her hair and dyed it blond.
Nana is now available to watch on Netflix.
